Changed my mind on wet curing after 10 years

Always thought wet curing was a waste of time on small flatwork jobs. Last month on a patio in Phoenix, the owner insisted we do it and the slab came out way stronger with zero cracks. Anybody else get stubborn about a method and get proven wrong?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_anthony1mo ago

You ever had that moment where you just had to eat crow and admit you were wrong? That's me with wet curing too. Started doing it on every pour now, even the small stuff.

miles_grant351mo ago

Yeah and honestly @the_anthony it took me way longer than I'd like to admit to come around. I fought wet curing for months thinking it was just extra work for no real payoff. Then I did a side by side comparison with the same meat and the wet cured one was just better all around, less weepy and more tender. Now I do it on everything too, even little 3 pound pork loins. The trick I found is to seal the bag tight and leave it in the fridge at least 8 hours, that makes a way bigger difference than doing it for just an hour or two. I still do dry cures for some things like thick steaks, but for poultry and chops it's wet all the way now.