Batched bacon cure seasoning?

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wesir

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Anyone know how reliable a salt/sugar/cure mix would be if you make it in a big batch? Was watching one of the Chuds bbq videos where he makes a batch of it and just seemed like due to the different granule sizes it would lead to inconsistent results with EQ curing. If it works it seems like it would save some time as there's only 1 thing to measure.

 

smokininthegarden

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That is something I have never been comfortable with trying. There is the possibility that some of the mix ingredients could settle to the bottom and not be included in what gets removed from the batch. When working with a product where some of the mix ingredients are critical
(Cure #1, #2 etc.) It just don't seem worth taking the risk
Just to save a few minutes of time.

Cal
 

JckDanls 07

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That is something I have never been comfortable with trying. There is the possibility that some of the mix ingredients could settle to the bottom and not be included in what gets removed from the batch. When working with a product where some of the mix ingredients are critical
(Cure #1, #2 etc.) It just don't seem worth taking the risk
Just to save a few minutes of time.

Cal

I agree with this 100%... this has been discussed before and everybody (most) came to the same conclusion... it's not worth the risk...
 

SmokinEdge

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No, just No, adopt better practices than what’s in that video.

1) The ingredients will “classify“ meaning they will separate by weight and granule size.
2) You have no real idea how much salt, sugar or cure #1 you are actually applying to any given piece of meat.
3) Using this method will not produce consistent curing results.
4) Mixing up cure for each piece is so easy, even a caveman can do it.
 
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DougE

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4) Mixing up cure for each piece is so easy, even a caveman can do it.
This is how to do it. By figuring the total weight of all the meat and calculating cure from that, it's going to be inconsistent. Some of the pieces may gett too much, some not enough.
It takes a little longer to do the calcs for each piece, but by doing so you know each piece will come out the same, cure wise, salt wise, and sugar wise. Short cuts are great in cases where they can be used, but this isn't one of those if you want safe, consistent product.
 
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6GRILLZNTN

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Thinking back to the days when I would just "wing it" with stuff (especially cure)......nevermind, I'd rather not think about it. HA!
 

SmokinEdge

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This is how to do it. By figuring the total weight of all the meat and calculating cure from that, it's going to be inconsistent. Some of the pieces may gett too much, some not enough.
It takes a little longer to do the calcs for each piece, but by doing so you know each piece will come out the same, cure wise, salt wise, and sugar wise. Short cuts are great in cases where they can be used, but this isn't one of those if you want safe, consistent product.
Many different providers of “curing salts or mixes” though so that can be another option. Sausage Maker has some. These are pre-blended to insure they all stay together, but mixing up your own bulk cure is not advisable.
 

DougE

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Many different providers of “curing salts or mixes” though so that can be another option. Sausage Maker has some. These are pre-blended to insure they all stay together, but mixing up your own bulk cure is not advisable.
Even so, if you have 5 pieces of meat of varying weights, what's to say that each piece got what it needed with a bulk cure without doing one by one by weight.
 
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DougE

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Or maybe I misunderstood the question. That does happen from time to time lol.
 

DougE

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Many different providers of “curing salts or mixes” though so that can be another option. Sausage Maker has some. These are pre-blended to insure they all stay together, but mixing up your own bulk cure is not advisable.
Yeah, it was me. I didn't read the OP close enough. Still recommend mixing cure for each piece of meat, though, just to keep consistent.
 
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wesir

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Figured that would be the consensus, I currently have a spreadsheet that I toss the weight into and it does fine. If I ever tried that method I'd probably leave the cure out of it so I at least knew that was always right, as is I mostly just cure with salt/sugar/cure as whenever I add pepper it all just gets washed away and doesn't leave behind much flavor, easier to add it before the smoke.
 
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DougE

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Figured that would be the consensus, I currently have a spreadsheet that I toss the weight into and it does fine. If I ever tried that method I'd probably leave the cure out of it so I at least knew that was always right, as is I mostly just cure with salt/sugar/cure as whenever I add pepper it all just gets washed away and doesn't leave behind much flavor, easier to add it before the smoke.
Yeah, spices aside from salt and sugar pretty much remain on the surface and don't really penetrate the meat.
 

DougE

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whenever I add pepper it all just gets washed away and doesn't leave behind much flavor, easier to add it before the smoke.


I started out doing it, but I don't rinse after cure is complete anymore. Just take the slabs out of the bag and onto a drying rack. Whatever spices (pepper,garlic,etc) remain on the surface.
 

SmokinEdge

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I started out doing it, but I don't rinse after cure is complete anymore. Just take the slabs out of the bag and onto a drying rack. Whatever spices (pepper,garlic,etc) remain on the surface.
When salt, sugar and spices are in the percentage that you want this is the nice feature, no rinse so all of the flavors stay put As they should. Best of curing practices.
 
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wesir

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Yeah, spices aside from salt and sugar pretty much remain on the surface and don't really penetrate the meat.
I pureed like 10 jalapenos one time thinking some of the heat would end up in the meat, only thing it did was give it a green tint, probably better off rubbing it down with dehydrated ones afterwards.

I started out doing it, but I don't rinse after cure is complete anymore. Just take the slabs out of the bag and onto a drying rack. Whatever spices (pepper,garlic,etc) remain on the surface.
That doesn't end up being super salty or anything? Will have to try that
 

DougE

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that doesn't end up being super salty or anything? Will have to try that
If you're doing an equilibrium cure with the salt done by meat weight, it will never be saltier than what you added in your curing mix. Between cure and additional salt, what I do is 1.75% total salt, so my end product can never be more than that, rinsed or not.
 
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SmokinEdge

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If you're doing an equilibrium cure with the salt done by meat weight, it will never be saltier than what you added in your curing mix. Between cure and additional salt, what I do is 1.75% total salt, so my end product can never be more than that, rinsed or not.
That’s exactly how it works.
 
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wesir

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If you're doing an equilibrium cure with the salt done by meat weight, it will never be saltier than what you added in your curing mix. Between cure and additional salt, what I do is 1.75% total salt, so my end product can never be more than that, rinsed or not.
I do 2.5% salt, 1.5% sugar, guess I could drop the salt down a bit.
 

DougE

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I do 2.5% salt, 1.5% sugar, guess I could drop the salt down a bit.
Just remember to figure salt from the cure at 0.25% plus what regular salt you add. Yes, you can come down from 2.5% salt, but I wouldn't go much below 1.75% combined salt (cure + additional salt). Salt is what drives the whole process and you need enough to get the cure into the meat. Sugar, I go 0.75% since we don't like overly sweet bacon.
 

DougE

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Try a run at:
0.25% cure#1 (this number does not change)
1.5% salt
0.75% sugar
Additional spices like pepper and garlic can be dusted on after applying the cure mixture. Let it ride a couple weeks, overhauling every day or two.
This will give you a bacon that isn't overly salty nor sweet and can be adjusted some for taste on future runs.

We are talking dry brines here, but if you want to do a wet brine, the weight of the water needed to cover needs to be figured in, but I recommend dry brines.
 
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