u/IKissedHerInnerThigh

I recently made an equilibrium-cured back bacon from a 1.4 kg pork loin. It was vacuum packed and cured for 10 days in the fridge using a Turkish curing salt labelled as "Prague Salt #1" from Amazon Turkey (I'm British and I live in Georgia)

https://www.amazon.com.tr/gp/aw/d/B0FHFBJTZ2?psc=1&ref=ppx\_pop\_mob\_b\_asin\_title

When I bought it, I noticed it wasn't a standard formulation:

Label states 0.6% sodium nitrite (rather than the more common 6.25% Prague Powder #1).

The curing salt itself is an extremely bright red/fuchsia colour. I contacted the seller and he said the Amazon listing is wrong and they refuse to change it (alarm bells), I also questioned the vivid colour of the salt and he said it's fine, it won't colour the meat.

The cure itself seemed to go well. The meat smells fresh, feels nicely firm, and the cure appears to have penetrated evenly.

However, when I removed it from the bag I found the entire rind had turned a vivid fluorescent pink/red, and the colour doesn't wash or rub off. It looks like the dye has actually penetrated the skin rather than just staining the surface.

I've used curing salts before and expect a little surface staining, but I've never seen anything like this.

My questions are:

Has anyone else seen curing salt dye penetrate pork rind this aggressively?

Is this simply an unusually strong food dye, or would this make you question the product itself?

Would you be comfortable eating the bacon if everything else (smell, texture, cure) seems normal?

I've attached photos of both the curing salt and the finished pork.

Thanks :)

[effacé]

Breakfast of champions.

Not so many holes on the top as shop ones, but the holes were throughout the inside. They tasted delicious and gave me a sugar rush 🤤😵‍💫

It still has flavour, maybe cookies or something?

I make this about once a month, absolute classic

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Battered chicken balls, onion,, pineapple, red peppers, garlic. Mine was finished with fresh chillies as if I'd put them in the dish my Mrs wouldn't speak to me for days...

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Sauce is ketchup, white vinegar, pineapple juice, water, sugar, bit of salt and msg.

Simmered for 2hrs with ginger and star anise, then hard fried and finally braised in honey, ginger, soy and stock, put to one side and then stir fried some veg pork added back in and sauced using some of the braising liquid and reduced til sticky.

His favourite spot in the afternoon sun.

I make this as it's cheaper, tastier and has no nasty additives like some shop bought stuff.

You'll need a stick blender for this all in one method though...

2 eggs

480ml sunflower oil

1tbsp Coleman's mustard powder

2tbsp red wine vinegar

1tsp salt

Pop it all in a tall narrow blender measuring jug (they normally come with the blender)

Submerge the blender all the way to the bottom, turn it on at medium speed, leave it at the bottom for 15sec then slowly raise it to the top and you'll see the mayo emulsifying. Pop in a clean jar, fridge it and eat within a week.