grey green spots on bacon

[Tiffin]

So im making some buckboard bacon with the high mountain kit. dry cured for 10 days as per isntructions.
Took the meat out today to smoke it and there is a couple spots that are grey/greenish. absolutely no smell though. Im sure ive read in places that this is normal from the curing process. But id rather refer to my experts on here.

Thanks, Tiffin

[rexster]

I think you had too much cure on those spots

[Tiffin]

So I would assume it is still safe to eat then?

[Habanero Smoker]

Having green/greyish spots on the pork is not part of the normal curing process. There should be an external color change (generally not green/greyish), but it should be fairly uniform across the meat. If it is an iridescent sheen, that will be common.

As mentioned, one cause could be the application of too much sodium nitrite in those spots causing nitrate (nitrite) burn, but with a commercial cure mixture it is difficult to get large concentration of sodium nitrite in a few spots. That generally occurs if you are using pure sodium nitrite, or salt peter and making you own cure mixture, that are not blended properly. Another cause could be oxidation. The exposure to too much light and oxygen, can cause this discoloration. Another cause could be you cured at too low of a temperature, and the curing process was not completed. But curing for 10 days, it is not likely that is a cause. A forth reason can be spoilage. I have had some pork go bad while curing. It was somewhat slimy at the areas of the discoloration, and had a slight odor, so I threw it out. Just note that smell is not always a sign to indicate if the meat is spoiled or not.

I can't give you a definitive answer to whether the meat is good or not.

[KyNola]

Tiffin, if you still have the meat could you post a photo of it so the spots in question can be seen?  Could help some of the experts to give you a better idea of what may have occurred.

[Tiffin]

Unfortunately I cannot. The meat has already been smoked as I had other things to smoke that day as well. It has not been consumed yet though.