Wet curing in cold weather.

[Billy Rhomboid]

Have a fair amount of bacon and hams in brines for the last week or so. They are outside in a shed. Usually the temperature in tehr e at this time of year is just about right for them, but it's -6 out there tonight. Presumably these temperatures will arrest the curing process, but will it simply resume when the temperature comes back up and I resume my timings from then?
Or will the meat be deteriorating in the meanwhile?
Obviously I am counting on normal temperatures being resumed in a day or two, not permafrost through till February.
What do you think?

[grisell]

Although the brine will probably not freeze until -5, maybe -10 C, the meat in it will freeze at about -2 C if it's not saturated with brine. A parallell is fish that live in the Polar regions and have anti-freeze substances in their blood, because otherwise their blood would freeze since the sea water there has a constant temperature of -2 C.

If there is a large amount of brine, I doubt it will get that cold in only a few days. Check with a thermometer!

Personally, I think that theoretically freezing could hurt the product since it bursts the cells. You will also as you said have to add those frozen days to the total curing time. If that is a noticeable difference is another matter though.

[wheels]

If it's a saltpetre cure then it will certainly be 'dormant'. I'm not so sure about what temps Nitrite works down to.

Phil

[saucisson]

As far as I'm aware, nothing works unless NO2 is generated... Bugs can do nitrate to nitrite to NO2 all alone, but it is slow and won't work if it is too cold.

Nitrite alone won't work either without bugs.

It's just sidestepped the first step...

BUT: ascorbic acid will produce NO2 from nitrite without bugs...

[grisell]

[---]
BUT: ascorbic acid will produce NO from nitrite without bugs...

So will the meat, too! The meat is acidic in itself. The bugs are only necessary in the reduction of NO3 -> NO2 as far as I know.

[wheels]

Perhaps the best thing would to be to put it somewhere warmer.

Phil

[Billy Rhomboid]

I think that's what I shall do, in fact. Simplest solution always best.

Physically shifting 80 litre barrels filled with meat and brine is the next challenge.

The meat has not frozen, nor the brine obviously. I am sure I remember it saying in Maynard's manual that a temperature of between +2 and +4 C was required for the curing process to work, though.

According to the weather forecast the temperature should rise above 0 again tomorrow here for the foreseeable few days, but I presume the brine will hold its coolth for a bit longer.

[wheels]

Physically shifting 80 litre barrels filled with meat and brine is the next challenge.

Blimey, are you starting a factory?

Phil