Grey bacon

(David Pegg) #1

So I’ve done a few attempts at bacon, two dry curing following Richards recipe,and one wet cured. They don’t turn pink at all, and not much liquid expels from them. They are dull and sort of grey brown and they taste…’ interesting’ . Not quite bacon and not quite roast pork. It’s definitely curing salt #1 I’m using. Any ideas?

(Richard Morris) #2

My prague salt isn’t very red. That is as I understand it a cosmetic option for curing salts rather than a primary component. I haven’t tried a wet cure for bacon tho. My bacon doesn’t turn very pink but it’s not grey. That doesn’t sound right.

I also smoke mine so that may also contribute to a “red ring” on the meat.

(Arlene) #3

I have used just himalayan pink saltk for years. Curing salt is unnecessary, as are nitrites. I smoke the bacon after curing. Always turns out fabulous. Maybe the source of your bacon slab needs to change? Just a thought.

(Richard Morris) #4

The bacteria that causes botulism can apparently grow a colony on a Sodium Chloride salted meat, that’s the main reason why we use Nitrites.

#5

What temperature and ambient moisture are you preparing the meat in? This has great influence on the final product.

(David Pegg) #6

I’ve smoked mine completely when cooking the bacon

(David Pegg) #7

I have had them sitting in a plastic container in the fridge once. Another time in zip lock bags with very little air in the fridge. Another time submerged in water (wet cure).
All taste the same! Not very appetizing

The meat is pork loin from Costco. Once I got pork side + belly from a butcher, same result :confused:

#8

My guess is too much moisture. My parents used to cure meats…thick salt crust on outside, no sealing in bags. Just suspended in cool, dry place with no sunlight. See if you can tie a string around pork, and suspend in your fridge. I’m in the middle of a 30 day ZC experiment right now, but what I’m planning to do in the near future is cure a duck breast in my fridge using this suspended technique method. Makes an elegant cured meat, and very delicious.

(Richard Morris) #9

Yeah I had mine in culinary trays on racks in the fridge … so that would have been dehumidifying too.

#10

image.jpg1536×2048 891 KB

Here is an example cured pork jowl that I cooked with today. The string is there because they hang it to cure. Humidity control and circulation of air is very important when curing.

(David Pegg) #11

Even for bacon? Man I didn’t think I would have to worry about rigging up a humidifier and fans + controller for bacon :frowning:

(Richard Morris) #12

LOL I’ve asked Jules to ask chef if he can find us some guancialle.

We’ve only seen it once in Canberra and the pierce we had was about 1/8th of the size of that.

(Meeping up the Science!) #13

Random trivia insertion: often the off grey color comes from metmyoglobin nitrite. Normally, with curing compounds, the nitric acid reacts with myoglobin to make it pretty and red and stuff. Light and oxygen can cause the new compound (which I forget) to break down into the metmyoglobin nitrate, which makes the meat look grey. The oxidation breaks down the colored pigments that form.

#14

Get your hands on this stuff…looks like good quality salumi

http://www.salumi.com.au/portfolio/guanciale-sea-salt-black-pepper-cured-pork-cheek/

#15

If I were you, I would try hanging it in your refrigerator. Suspend it from one of the racks, put it at the back so that people don’t bump into it accidentally. It will probably work because of temp and humidity control.

I’ve seen it done two ways…and I’m talking the old fashion technique with no fancy appliances…how they used to do it even before electricity

  1. hang and dry in a cold room downstairs, like the basement of the house, encrusted with thick layer of salt, and you cut off the crust, eat the cured core

  2. hang and dry in a room that has a fireplace, which removes moisture from the air. Don’t hang too close to the fireplace, because you don’t want the heat

This is old world European techniques past down from generations…sounds crazy now, with all the food handling regulations, but that’s how it used to be

(Richard Morris) #16

Noice - capital city foods! I will have to get onto that :slight_smile: