Hi, folks, can I ask for some help?
I've been making bacon for 5/6 years, and never had a problem till now. I use belly of pork, trimmed of bone, skin and excess fat. I dry cure it with a cure like Saucissons (21g salt, 10g sugar and 0.2g saltpetre per kilo). It gets one day per 1/2" in a ziplock bag in the fridge, turned daily. Then, it gets rinsed and left in the bottom of the fridge for another 2-4 days.
At this stage, I normally smoke it, but with this batch I had no time (had to go away over Xmas) so I got my butcher to slice it then vac-pack it. This went into the fridge. When I opened it yesterday, it was off - a very nasty smell from the bag.
I need to know why. Apart from the lack of amoking, it was exactly the same recipe and quantities as before. I've had it vac-packed before and it worked. I'm wondering if the curing didn't work properly (it drew much less liquid than usual - relevant?). Is the cure too old (I mixed this batch maybe 2 years ago)?
Any ideas and help will be appreciated.
Thanks