bacon.uk wrote:I myself worry more about the small risk from botulinum than that from nitrite.
May I suggest you cure your bacon in a open tray rather than in a bag which is so often used these days.
There are several reasons.
1. Putting the meat in a bag excludes air which is just the conditions in which botulinum thrive.
Salt plus cure will prevent this
2. I have concluded after many trials (I am just starting my 28th batch) that the flavour and texture
are much better when cured in an open tray.
After close to 1000kg a week for over 30 years I can quite honestly say there is no difference between open (tray - lugs in my case) and closed (vacuumed packed)
When I started curing my own bacon I used up to 6% of salt as I was concerned about keeping qualities. It was far to salty and I now use 3.7% and will probably cut down further in the future.
It truly surprises me that when people get down to 2% salt (plus the cure 0.25%) and taste for the first time the actual meat that is not masked by the high salt along with the spicing -- meat should always shine
I vacuum pack and freeze the sliced bacon and it keeps its flavour for at least 6 months.
for months is my recommendation to my clients
I have seen it suggested that bagging is necessary to prevent the nitrite contaminating other meat in the fridge. I regard this as complete nonsense.
There is a thing which is called flavour transfer which actually happens This is the reason one needs to keep things covered in the fridge at home --- Ever wondered why we do not store anything else but meat in our fridges/walk-in coolers
The bacon will certainly dry and mature in the fridge but hanging in a cool larder might be better. I will watch to see how you get on.
7 degrees C is the optimum temperature