Bacon curing times
 

Can bacon be over cured? If so is it simply just more salty, or is it dangerous.

I can tell you details next week 8-)

Got two butts for buckboard bacon in the fridge for 13 days now and wont be able to cook em until next friday cause im way too busy at work. Leaving for a 600 miles trip in a couple of minutes. :x


Hope the butts are still okay. If theres the smalles doubt, ill dump them.

DM

IMO it would most likely be a salt issue. If the meat is kept at a good temp and was good when it went in, then there shouldn't be a problem with the meat going bad. Heck, Dr BBQ keeps brisket in the cry o vac for 50 days, so bacon in a cure should hold for that long.

I did a 14 day cure on my first Buckboard...it was fine! :-P Not too sure about anything longer than that.

It shouldn't be dangerous. Once in awhile you get a package of commercial bacon
that's so salty that you can't eat it..I'm guessing that's the result of being cured
too long. Old time sailors use to carry salt pork on sailing ships..packed in barrels
with plenty of salt. That stuff would last for months. If you've ever had salt pork,
it is very salt, and usually requires at least a couple of good soaks before you can use it. Prosciutto is raw salt cured ham...cured a long time. Salt's quite a
preservative..if it smells o.k., should be all right.

i just did my bacon after curing for a week-came out fine but i used 1/2 the salt the recipe called for. if you use tenderquick i'd suggest reducing the salt by 1/2 as that stuff can get too salty.

If your concerned about it being salty. Here is an old farm girl trick, thanks Mom.

put it in boiling water for just a few minutes, that will remove a lot of the salt, then soak as usual.

14 to 21 is a regular time for curing, then when you add the smoke to it, if you can keep it cold smoked instead of cooking temperature smoke, you can end up with a product you can virtually use as a door stop, till you rinse it off, and slice off some rashers to cook.

If you ever see the process of making country ham it can be either a kill or cure for some folks, the outside can get a little dusty, but the inside sure is good once you slice past the crust.