Drying Bacon

[phillmypintpot]

Hi ladies and gentlemen, wonder if you could help me?

I've cured a slab of belly, 3.3Kg boned out weight. It was cured it for a week in Franco's traditional cure, with the addition of some smoke powder. It has been washed, patted dry, rolled in clean tea-towels and left on a rack in the 'fridge. It has been in there for three days, the tea-towels have been changed for clean ones daily and it has been re-rolled and turned over at this stage. The fridge temperarure is 6 Celcius.

My question is:

What is the maximum recommended time i can leave it in the fridge drying without the risk of spoilage?

I want the bacon to be quite dry, to aid slicing.

Is it the case that the dryer it is the longer it'll keep?

Many thanks, in anticipation.

Phill.

[Oddley]

phillmypintpot, most bacteria cannot live in a dry environment. So yes the dryer it is the more resistant it is to spoilage. In the beginning this was the whole point of curing. Too keep meat in good condition for longer.

Please let us know how you get on I for one, would be interested to find out if fridge drying works ok.

[aris]

I leave my bacon uncovered in the fridge - it tends to last for 2 or 3 weeks, but at the end of the day you can't guarantee anything as alot depends on how fresh the meat was in the first place, and what conditions it was stored in and how it was handled etc, etc... To be on the safe side, you should just keep 1 weeks supply in the fridge, and freeze the rest.

[phillmypintpot]

Cheers gents.

I'll let you know how I get on, and the length of time my nerve holds out!

I'll see if I can sort out some photos of the finished article.