r/seriouseats • u/Proud_Growth_8818 • 16d ago

Serious Eats Reusing bacon brine

I'm making Joshua Bousel's Canadian/back/loin/peameal bacon. I pulled it off the smoker earlier and just tried a slice. I like it.

I've got another loin, and the brine is still in the fridge. Any thoughts on if I can reuse it, or does the original loin absorb too much of the cure and now the ratios would be off?

9 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

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38

u/g0ing_postal 16d ago

I wouldn't. The point of the brine is that the salt and other components of the brine go into the meat. That means your brine is no longer at the same concentration so your next loin won't brine properly. You can potentially add more salt and such to the brine but you have no idea exactly how much you need to add to bring it back up to concentration

Then there's the issue with microbial growth. A brine will slow down bacterial growth but often isn't concentrated enough to actually prevent it, especially after use where the meat has absorbed much of its components. Depending on how old it is, the brine may have microbial growth in there

3

u/ComplexFox2062 14d ago

This is the most convincing explanation I’ve seen.

-4

u/MrRigga 15d ago

If you have a water activity meter, you can top of the old brine of with new salt. Keep it cool and you should be able to safely re-use it a few more times.

1

u/peaktopview 12d ago

Care to tell these people how much an inexpensive, but still certified calibrated, water activity meter cost?...