Curing bacon: Day 3

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In order to ensure the meat has an appealing red colour, and is not a greyish one, we're injecting a liquid solution into the meat that gives it that colour and ensures that the curing process happens in the thicker parts of the meat.

Weighing an appropriate amount of the "Honey-Glo cure" powder.



The powder is then added to warm water, and stirred until it is dissolved. Then salt is repeatedly added and stirred until the water has 55% salinity.



This is the current state of the pork after two days of curing. The lighting is unfortunately a little dark. The accrued liquid was poured down the drain, as it was going to be replaced by the "Honey-glo Cure" liquid.



Another piece of pork turned up, in this case it is wild pork, hunted somewhere up in the hills.



The curing liquid is injected into both pieces of meat. The liquid was poured from the plastic jug into a butcher's injection doodad. Then the doodad was sealed and air pumped in to get the pressure up so that the liquid would get pumped out.

The meat is penetrated in a lot of places to ensure that the liquid is present throughout the inside of the meat. I didn't get a photo of it in action, but the injection spike has holes down the sides, meaning liquid gets squirted sideways in all directions inside the meat - not forward.



Injecting in one of the many other locations.



With both pieces of meat injected with the colouring liquid, the remaining liquid is poured over them in the container to sit for a day.



There's some plan to shuffle them round tomorrow, so they both get to soak in the liquid.

Next post: Curing bacon: Day 5