Bacon using the 10% brine method

[JC in GB]

Good day all. Just got done making 2 bellies of bacon this weekend. I used the 10% brine method and cured for 13 days. A bit longer than I normally do my cure but circumstances demanded it.

I took a good amount of photos for your enjoyment. I had family over helping yesterday so I got a dearth of photos for slicing and bagging.

I sliced my bacon with a Globe G12 slicer and packed it with a Cabela's vacuum sealer.

Making sure scales are working and calibrated: (10 g test weight)

Pork belly in store package:

Calculation sheet:

Cure mix:

Measuring Vacuum bag for fit:

Belly in bag ready for cure mix:

Cure added and sealed. Ready for cure in fridge.

Smoked, sliced, and packaged. Brown sugar bacon and molasses bacon.

 

[smokerjim]

Looks like some good bacon

 

[JC in GB]

Looks like some good bacon

It turned out very well. Smoked with a combination of Cherry, Pecan, and Maple wood.

JC

 

[SmokinEdge]

It turned out very well. Smoked with a combination of Cherry, Pecan, and Maple wood.

JC

Excellent. Pecan and cherry are my mix for all things cured. Nice work Jc.

 

[thirdeye]

Nice color on that, and I like the gold bags

What was the reasoning to use Cure #1 at the rate of 3g/kg of total weight?

 

[JC in GB]

Nice color on that, and I like the gold bags

What was the reasoning to use Cure #1 at the rate of 3g/kg of total weight?

Nice color on that, and I like the gold bags

What was the reasoning to use Cure #1 at the rate of 3g/kg of total weight?

Thanks. This bacon turned out wonderfully. I may keep this wood smoke combo for a bit. I got the gold bags for a bit of market appeal. It works.

The reasoning I came to for using 3g/kg of cure #1 is that it is recommended that using a dry brine method, the NaNO2 concentration is recommended to be 200 PPM. In a wet brine method, the NaNO2 concentration is generally 120 PPM. Seeing as I am using a minimal amount of liquid, I thought that a slightly higher nitrate concentration was warranted. I recalculated to a PPM of 187 for the 10% cure bacon. From all I have read, this is still within safety margins. Would you recommend using a 120 PPM concentration?

In doing my research, I came upon this website. Some really detailed information here.

This is a search for NaNO2

Sodium Nitrite

Sodium Nitrite | NaNO2 or NO2.Na or NNaO2 | CID 23668193 - structure, chemical names, physical and chemical properties, classification, patents, literature, biological activities, safety/hazards/toxicity information, supplier lists, and more.

pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

JC

 

[thirdeye]

The reasoning I came to for using 3g/kg of cure #1 is that it is recommended that using a dry brine method, the NaNO2 concentration is recommended to be 200 PPM. In a wet brine method, the NaNO2 concentration is generally 120 PPM. Seeing as I am using a minimal amount of liquid, I thought that a slightly higher nitrate concentration was warranted. I recalculated to a PPM of 187 for the 10% cure bacon. From all I have read, this is still within safety margins. Would you recommend using a 120 PPM concentration?

I see where you are headed, and would agree you are still within the accepted concentration. I've never used 120 ppm. I grew up around Grandparents that used the salt box method, and I'm guessing saltpetre as the nitrate source in those early years. I would guess with volumetric measuring. Later on, I began using the default numbers of 156 ppm, and 0.25% for my Cure #1 calculation.

I prefer dry curing my belly bacon and for Buckboarding other cuts, and I do add a small amount of bottled water to the bags, but this amount is much less than the 10% you used. I have only used curing brines on bacon a limited number of times, but I regularly use use corning brines on beef and pork butts. After discovering the simplicity of Pop's Curing Brine, I now use a variation of it and base my Cure #1 on 22 grams per gallon of water (or water and beer).

 

[JC in GB]

I see where you are headed, and would agree you are still within the accepted concentration. I've never used 120 ppm. I grew up around Grandparents that used the salt box method, and I'm guessing saltpetre as the nitrate source in those early years. I would guess with volumetric measuring. Later on, I began using the default numbers of 156 ppm, and 0.25% for my Cure #1 calculation.

I prefer dry curing my belly bacon and for Buckboarding other cuts, and I do add a small amount of bottled water to the bags, but this amount is much less than the 10% you used. I have only used curing brines on bacon a limited number of times, but I regularly use use corning brines on beef and pork butts. After discovering the simplicity of Pop's Curing Brine, I now use a variation of it and base my Cure #1 on 22 grams per gallon of water (or water and beer).

I have never tried Pop's brine. The reason I came up with the method I am using now is because I had only one shelf worth of fridge space to use for bacon. I tried the dry brine method and although it worked fine, I prefer the ease of just prepping a liquid mix.

Some commercial processors use this 10% brine method for curing bacon as well. The difference is the meat gets injected and tumbled for a few hours while mine stays in the fridge for 10 days in a sealed bag.

There are a number of ways to successfully make bacon; one must simply follow best safety practices while doing their craft.

One of the reasons I like this site so much is the differing methods and approaches to prepping meat safely.

I am really wanting to try making a batch of buckboard bacon in the near future. I haven't so far because I am thinking it will be just like ham or back bacon in flavor/texture.

JC

 

[thirdeye]

I am really wanting to try making a batch of buckboard bacon in the near future. I haven't so far because I am thinking it will be just like ham or back bacon in flavor/texture.

I think the Buckboard name (or Pioneer bacon) was floating around long before Hi Mountain Seasonings marketed their Buckboard curing kit simply because curing was a way around refrigeration. But those guys made it popular on cooking forums for 10 or 15 years. It is a cross-over method with ham or Canadian bacon similarities. I even use 'buckboard' as a verb, as in "I buckborded some chops or pork steaks". Then there is the daveomak ham injection method which I like too. The thread below shows how I used on a butt, a picnic and a loin.

I Made a "daveomak" Ham Using a Picnic Shoulder, a Loin, & a Boneless Butt.

After reading through THIS thread I had to give this technique a try, I'm a big fan of injecting for flavor, and have used injectable brines and cures with good success, so Dave's method for injecting a curing solution was right up my alley. I followed the recipe exactly and stayed very close...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[JC in GB]

I think the Buckboard name (or Pioneer bacon) was floating around long before Hi Mountain Seasonings marketed their Buckboard curing kit simply because curing was a way around refrigeration. But those guys made it popular on cooking forums for 10 or 15 years. It is a cross-over method with ham or Canadian bacon similarities. I even use 'buckboard' as a verb, as in "I buckborded some chops or pork steaks". Then there is the daveomak ham injection method which I like too. The thread below shows how I used on a butt, a picnic and a loin.

I Made a "daveomak" Ham Using a Picnic Shoulder, a Loin, & a Boneless Butt.

After reading through THIS thread I had to give this technique a try, I'm a big fan of injecting for flavor, and have used injectable brines and cures with good success, so Dave's method for injecting a curing solution was right up my alley. I followed the recipe exactly and stayed very close...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

View attachment 673591

Wow, that looks perfect.

 

[SmokinEdge]

thirdeye
I have broken down Pop’s brine for general knowledge for those who use it just to give you a base line of what’s in it nitrite and salt wise, my numbers may vary a little from what you do but we should still be in the same park.

Pop’s Brine:

1 gallon water (8.33 pounds or 3781.82 grams)
1 cup salt (288g)
1 cup sugar
1 heaping Tbs of cure #1 (26g)

Solve for nitrite:
26 x .0625= 1.62 x 1000000= 1625000 divided/ 3781.82= 429.6ppm nitrite in the brine.

Solve for salt percentage:
1c= 288g
288 + 26(amount of cure #1 added)= 314g salt
314 + 3781.82 ( salt and water weight added together)= 4095.82g
314 / 4095.82= .076 x 100% = 7.66% salt.

What this means is If you inject at 10% the meat weight you will inject about 43ppm nitrite and .76% salt. Now if you then cover with the same brine your numbers will go up some both nitrite and salt respectively but since you already injected 10% weight you may get half again in gain. So somewhere around 60-65ppm nitrite and around 1% salt.

If you cover only and don’t inject the salt and nitrite numbers will be much closer to the 43ppm nitrite and .76% salt.

 

[thirdeye]

I have broken down Pop’s brine for general knowledge for those who use it just to give you a base line of what’s in it nitrite and salt wise, my numbers may vary a little from what you do but we should still be in the same park.

~thirdeye~ version of Pop's Brine
Lower in salt, and less sweet.

1 gallon of water
125 grams canning salt
25 grams white sugar
25 grams brown sugar
20 grams Cure #1 (heaping tablespoon)
3/4 teaspoon black pepper

 

[SmokinEdge]

~thirdeye~ version of Pop's Brine
Lower in salt, and less sweet.

1 gallon of water
125 grams canning salt
25 grams white sugar
25 grams brown sugar
20 grams Cure #1 (heaping tablespoon)
3/4 teaspoon black pepper

So your numbers will be a bit lower. I can run them out if you’d like.

 

[thirdeye]

So your numbers will be a bit lower. I can run them out if you’d like.

Please do. I love playing by the numbers... and having an example to go by!

 

[SmokinEdge]

~thirdeye~ version of Pop's Brine
Lower in salt, and less sweet.

1 gallon of water
125 grams canning salt
25 grams white sugar
25 grams brown sugar
20 grams Cure #1 (heaping tablespoon)
3/4 teaspoon black pepper

Solve for nitrite parts per million:

20 x .0625= 1.25 x 1000000= 1250000 / 3781.82= 330 ppm nitrite in brine.

Solve for salt concentration as percentage in brine:

125 + 20= 145
145 + 3781.82= 3926.82
145 / 3926.82= .0369 x 100= 3.69% salt.

Solve for sugar concentration as percentage in brine:

25 + 25= 50
50 + 3781.82= 3831.82
50 / 3831.82= .013 x 100= 1.30% sugar.