  Strange quark matter in beta equilibrium at high densities is studied in a
quark confinement model. Two equations of state are dynamically generated for
the {\it same} set of model parameters used to describe the nucleon: one
corresponds to a chiral restored phase with almost massless quarks and the
other to a chiral broken phase. The chiral symmetric phase saturates at around
five times the nuclear matter density. Using the equation of state for this
phase, compact bare quark stars are obtained with radii and masses in the
ranges $R\sim 5 - 8$ km and $M\sim M_\odot$. The energy per baryon number
decreases very slowly from the center of the star to the periphery, remaining
above the corresponding values for the iron or the nuclear matter, even at the
edge. Our results point out that strange quark matter at very high densities
may not be absolutely stable and the existence of an energy barrier between the
two phases may prevent the compact quarks stars to decay to hybrid stars.
