Cure #1 wet brine question

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Smkryng

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Oct 14, 2017
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I decided to cure a chicken last night and made a half batch of pops wet cure brine. First thing this morning I realize that I halfed everything but the pink salt so I have a level tablespoon in a half gallon of brine. Am I still at an acceptable level or is it to much?
 
I found my way to the curing section, probably where I should have posted this and if I understood pops brine post correctly the maximum amount of cure is 3.84 oz per gallon of water. Doing the math I think I’m still around half the maximum amount of cure allowed and within safe limits. I’m feeling a little better about this and think I answered my own question.
 
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The limit on cure #1 in brine is about 4 TBS (3.8 I think) per gallon of brine.
pops brine is set at the minimum. You are good to go, especially for just over night. Uptake of cure in poultry is faster than red meat, but your bird is safe.
 
Your almost at an equilibrium brine.
1 gallon of water is 8.345 pounds. A chicken at 5 pounds looks like this:
8.345x454= 3788.63 grams
Chicken 5 pounds, 5x454=2270 grams.
3788.63+2270=6058.63grams total.
Now solve for cure #1,
6058.63 x 0.000156=0.945146 / 0.0625= 15.122 grams of cure #1
Your current 1 level Tbs is about 17 grams cure #1.
Even at a 24hr soak, your bird has no where near 156ppm. Probably closer to 90ppm. You are way safe.
 
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Thanks everyone, after a little more digging I figured I was good but better safe than sorry. All the feedback I got set my mind at ease and I actually learned something so win/win I reckon.
 
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Couldn't give a better reply before , darn keyboard kept disappearing . I use the low salt version of Pop's on chicken an add 1/2 tsp of lemon extract to the mix . It's really good if you like a hint of lemon . I do Black pepper only on the skin when I do that . I have a couple threads on it if you're interested .
 
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Couldn't give a better reply before , darn keyboard kept disappearing . I use the low salt version of Pop's on chicken an add 1/2 tsp of lemon extract to the mix . It's really good if you like a hint of lemon . I do Black pepper only on the skin when I do that . I have a couple threads on it if you're interested .
Definitely interested in that. I’m for sure gonna be doing a cure on poultry again. That was the most juicy, tender bird I’ve ever eaten. I suspect that a cure is in order on my next holiday turkey as well. Lemon pepper bird is gonna be something I look into. I’ll look for those posts. Thanks!
 
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