apple juice in cure for bacon

[Older smoky]

has anyone ever tried a little apple juice in their cure for bacon

 

[SmokinEdge]

has anyone ever tried a little apple juice in their cure for bacon

Welcome to the forum.

The juice will burn up the cure before it has a chance to do its job. You cannot mix cure #1 with anything acid like juice.

 

[Fueling Around]

Hard to think of apple juice as acidic, but it has a low ph.
Better to use apple wood for the smoking.

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[Older smoky]

Welcome to the forum.

The juice will burn up the cure before it has a chance to do its job. You cannot mix cure #1 with anything acid like juice.

thanks i was about to mess up a lot of bacon thanks again

 

[Older smoky]

is apple juice that acidic?

 

[indaswamp]

Yes, most commercially sold juice has acid added for shelf stability.

 

[SmokinEdge]

is apple juice that acidic?

Yes, typically has a PH of 3.5-4.0 about the same as Worcestershire sauce. Best advice is never mix juices or fruits with nitrites

 

[hondabbq]

OOPS!!! I once added some OJ and some instant coffee to pops brine and it came out fine. Cured all the way through. Tasted fantastic. I didnt write the recipe down. LOL.

 

[chopsaw]

I once added some OJ and some instant coffee to pops brine and it came out fine.

I use orange or lemon extract . 1 tsp per 1 gallon of Pop's .

 

[zwiller]

No joke I actually did this one time. OMAK style injection. I first did 50:50 water:juice and that worked so I did 100% juice. No issue. It was canadian bacon. While it is acidic, do not think it is acidic enough to burn the cure. The results were good but nothing mind blowing so never did it again. If I were to approach it again I would do like Rich said, flavor extracts. That and/or apple wood for the smoking.

 

[chopsaw]

I know it's said " Don't use acidic " stuff , but I've never had an issue with it either .
Maybe because it's a low volume thing .

 

[normanaj]

I've done it with cranberry juice blends through it was cut with water.

 

[indaswamp]

No joke I actually did this one time. OMAK style injection. I first did 50:50 water:juice and that worked so I did 100% juice. No issue. It was canadian bacon. While it is acidic, do not think it is acidic enough to burn the cure. The results were good but nothing mind blowing so never did it again. If I were to approach it again I would do like Rich said, flavor extracts. That and/or apple wood for the smoking.

I don't think it's as big a problem if injecting. Remember, most acids work as a cure accelerator, so if it is injected, it just reduces the nitrite faster to NO gas, and that gas is absorbed into the meat to cure the meat. Can be an issue when the Nitrite is reduced before it enters the meat like with a brine.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Take some glasses and line up your favorite acid liquids and pour a little in each glass. Then get your cure #1 and sprinkle a finger pinch into each glass watching for fizz or bubbles. If it’s does then your seeing the nitrite burn off or convert to nitric oxide. Some will be instant and some make take a couple seconds to bubble, if it doesn’t then that liquid is probably ok.