Firs time making bacon

[JBPilot]

Ok guys, this is my first time making bacon. I‘m planning on cold smoking it using my amnps tray with cherry dust. I’m planning on doing 3-4 6-8 hour smokes with a rest in the fridge overnight in between. I am using a basic recipe from here consisting of .25% cure #1, 1.5% coarse ground kosher salt (coarse ground is all I had), and .75% brown sugar. I put all that into a bag and mixed it well then added the pork belly and made sure the whole thing is covered in the cure mix. I’m planning to flip/massage the belly every day or other day for 10-12 days before I start the cold smoke process.

1.802Kg Belly
45.05g cure #1
270.3g salt
135.15g brown sugar

Can y’all just tell me if I’m off base here? Does this all look right?

Here’s a few pictures just because everyone loves pictures!

 

[mr_whipple]

Your math is way off. I think you moved a decimal point somewhere. 4.5 grams of #1 is .25% of 1802 grams. Same for your salt at 1.5% (27.03 grams) and sugar at. 75% (13.5 grams)

That much #1 is 2.5 % which is way too high. I don't know where that puts you at ppm but I'm sure it's off the chart, as in unsafe to eat.

 

[JBPilot]

Crap, I’ll wash it off now. Thanks for the catch! Looking at my numbers now it should have been obvious that I was using WAAAAYYY too much!

it had only been on there for an hour or so, shouldn’t be a problem to just wash it off and start over right?

 

[SmokinEdge]

Crap, I’ll wash it off now. Thanks for the catch! Looking at my numbers now it should have been obvious that I was using WAAAAYYY too much!

it had only been on there for an hour or so, shouldn’t be a problem to just wash it off and start over right?

Yup just wash it off since it was only an hour. And start over. mr_whipple gave you solid numbers for the amounts. Watch that decimal point in the future, it makes a huge difference.

1802g (no decimal)
1.5% (0.015 )
0.75% (0.0075)
0.25% (0.0025)
The percentage written as a decimal number.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Also, you can use diggingdogfarms cure calculator to figure out what you need. Type in the weight of meat and what percentage of salt and sugar you want...cure amount is set so you can't mess it up.

Ryan

 

[JBPilot]

Thank you SmokinEdge yeah, I know it makes a big difference and I feel like a dunce. Thank you for the numbers. I’ve done plenty of sausage and other stuff. It was just a lapse. Thank you again mr_whipple for the catch! I’ll update this later with pictures during the smoke. Other than that monumental screwup with math does everything else look good to y’all?

This is why I asked y’all!

 

[thirdeye]

Brokenhandle is correct about the ease of using Martin's "digging dog farm" online calculator. And in all honesty it is more accurate than most long-hand calculations because it accounts for the amount of salt used as the carrier for sodium nitrite in Cure #1. In other words the total salt is spot on.

I learned about curing before the internet and it's always good to understand the math behind an online calculator or spreadsheet. Here is snippet I have posted often. Once you realize how easy it is to work with the metric system, everything falls into place.

Curing Mathematics - I strongly suggest buying a gram scale and weighing the Cure #1 in grams, and it's just as easy to weigh the salt and sugar because grams and kilograms work hand in hand with percentages. For example let's say you have a 5.29 pound (2.4 kilogram) pork belly and decide on a formulation that is 2% salt, 1.5% sugar and 0.25% Cure #1. For every kilogram (1000 grams) of meat you will need:

• 20 grams of salt
• 15 grams of sugar
• 2.5 grams of Cure #1

Here is a sample calculation if you have a 2.4 kilogram pork belly. You multiply the grams needed per kilo times the weight in kilos of your pork belly:
20g X 2.4kg = 48g of salt
15g X 2.4kg = 36g of sugar
2.5g X 2.4kg = 6g of Cure #1

 

[JBPilot]

Thanks thirdeye I did do everything in metric because like you said, it really is easier. I just screwed up the decimal point.

I really appreciate the help everyone!

 

[SmokinEdge]

Other than that monumental screwup with math does everything else look good to y’all?

Lol, don’t beat yourself up to much. Glad you posted what you did and it was caught and fixed. Otherwise wise it looks like you will make some very tasty bacon. 1.5% salt and .75% sugar is what I use also (when you add the .25% cure #1, the total salt is 1.75% that’s the sweet spot for me). How long you going to cure for?

 

[JBPilot]

Lol, don’t beat yourself up to much. Glad you posted what you did and it was caught and fixed. Otherwise wise it looks like you will make some very tasty bacon. 1.5% salt and .75% sugar is what I use also (when you add the .25% cure #1, the total salt is 1.75% that’s the sweet spot for me). How long you going to cure for?

I’m not beating myself up too much. In my profession (pilot) you’ve got to be able to admit mistakes and learn from them.

My plan was to go about 10-12 days curing depending on my work schedule. After that I was planning to just cold smoke them with 3-4 different 6-8 hour smoking sessions. After that I’d let it set about 24 hours in the fridge then slice and bag up to save.

I’m not 100% positive but I think your recipe is what I was copying to make my bacon.

I’m equal parts excited and scared. Excited for the good bacon, scared that I’m not going to want any store bought bacon after this!

 

[SmokinEdge]

Sounds like you have a good plan. I’ll be watching for the results.

Biggest problem you’ll have after this first one will be a steady supply of affordable bellies.

 

[poacherjoe]

Biggest problem you’ll have after this first one will be a steady supply of affordable bellies.
[/QUOTE] Is $3.69 per pound a good price for pork belly ?

 

[DougE]

Biggest problem you’ll have after this first one will be a steady supply of affordable bellies.

His biggest problem is he will want to cure everything in sight.

 

[fxsales1959]

I didn't know you was supposed to measure it. I'm about 3 years in making my own and haven't died yet.

 

[DougE]

And in all honesty it is more accurate than most long-hand calculations because it accounts for the amount of salt used as the carrier for sodium nitrite in Cure #1

Long as you know how much salt the cure#1 will add (.25%), calculating long hand works fine. I prefer to know how to do it myself. What if the calculator I use disappears from the net? What if I have something I need to cure right this minute, and I have no internet access?

 

[SmokinEdge]

Long as you know how much salt the cure#1 will add (.25%), calculating long hand works fine. I prefer to know how to do it myself. What if the calculator I use disappears from the net? What if I have something I need to cure right this minute, and I have no internet access?

And every important, to you book written, should be purchased in paper print. Stored proper, those books hold knowledge indefinitely. Even in a power outage. No batteries required. In your head is good too, but you can’t pass it along when you go, but a printed book can.

 

[daveomak]

Long as you know how much salt the cure#1 will add (.25%), calculating long hand works fine. I prefer to know how to do it myself. What if the calculator I use disappears from the net? What if I have something I need to cure right this minute, and I have no internet access?

For mostly everything I use 1.5% salt (x0.015), 1% sugar (x0.010) and 0.25% cure#1 (x0.0025)... Let it sit in the refer for12-14 days.. Rinse lightly, back in the refer for another couple days on a wire rack...

 

[DougE]

For mostly everything I use 1.5% salt (x0.015), 1% sugar (x0.010) and 0.25% cure#1 (x0.0025)... Let it sit in the refer for12-14 days.. Rinse lightly, back in the refer for another couple days on a wire rack...

I pretty much do the same, but I do .75% on the sugar

 

[JBPilot]

I’m already curing and smoking all kinds of stuff! (My sister-in-law wanted cheese and cheese-it’s which were apparently amazing!) as for the price, I wish I could get a pork belly for $3.xx a pound. If I can find it here it’s in the $5.xx + range.

 

[thirdeye]

What if the calculator I use disappears from the net? What if I have something I need to cure right this minute, and I have no internet access?

No internet??? Let's not let that shut down a good thing....