Watch out for that new 'quick cure' pork belly method going around

I saw a video last week from a guy in Denver showing how to cure pork belly for bacon in just 48 hours using a crazy high salt and sugar ratio. Tried it on a 10-pound piece, following his numbers exactly. The outside was like leather and the inside was still raw, completely ruined the batch. I lost about $80 in meat and a day's work. The old 7-day cure with Prague powder #1 is slow, but it works every single time. This shortcut just doesn't let the cure penetrate properly. Has anyone else run into this and found a safe way to speed up the process without wrecking the product?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancyramirez28d ago

Holy crap, 10 pounds of ruined pork belly? That's brutal lol.

rivera.hannah28d ago

What a shame about that pork belly. I had a similar disaster trying a three day cure last fall. What finally worked for me was cutting the belly into smaller, two pound slabs before curing. They took the salt and sugar evenly in about four days. It's not instant, but it's faster and safer than trying to rush a whole piece.

the_leo28d ago

Yeah losing a day's work is the real kicker. But just to be clear, Prague powder #1 is the curing salt, the 7-day part is just the time for the salt and sugar to get all the way through.