First time doing an equilibrium cure

[Kyleblun]

This is my first attempt at curing bacon. I followed this recipe below:

Ingredients
Pork Belly

For the cure (dry rub):
3 oz Prague Powder #1
28 oz Kosher Salt
17 oz Brown Sugar

Instructions:
Using a scale weigh the ingredients accordingly and mix together kosher salt brown sugar, and Prague Powder #1 thoroughly to make the cure mixture. The quantities specified in this recipe is enough to cure roughly 56 lbs of pork belly. Simply dividing each quantity in half will yield enough mixture to cure approximately 28 lbs of raw pork belly.

Using a scale, get the total weight of the pork belly. Then calculate 24 grams of the cure for each pound of belly you have. For instance: a 5 lb. belly will need 120 grams of cure.

The recipe says it will be cured in 7-10 days. Today is day 6 and the pork belly has firmed up a little, but still feels spongy in parts. Should I add more salt or just wait a few more days? Also, how will I know when it is properly cured?

 

[daveomak]

HOLD IT !!!!!
Cure#1 should be used at a rate of 1 tsp. per 5#'s or 1.1 grams per pound..
Salt, I use 1.75% or ~8 grams per pound
Sugar I use 1% or ~4.5 grams per pound
That calculates to ~ 13.5 grams per pound...

 

[bregent]

Wow, that's way too complicated and the numbers don't add up. Way too much salt and more #1 cure than needed. Just use a cure calculator like http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

You better not use 3oz of cure1 on a 5lb belly or this could be your last of ANYTHING.....Like Life.
Do some reading or ask questions here BEFORE YOU START THIS.

YIKES

 

[daveomak]

bregent ... Check out the numbers....

I just want new folks to understand the WHY stuff works and how...

HOLD IT !!!!!
Cure#1 should be used at a rate of 1 tsp. per 5#'s or 1.1 grams per pound..
Salt, I use 1.75% or ~8 grams per pound
Sugar I use 1% or ~4.5 grams per pound
That calculates to ~ 13.5 grams per pound...

 

[bregent]

I just want new folks to understand the WHY stuff works and how...

Dave, I was replying to the OP, not to you -we both replied at the same time. Your numbers look fine, the OP's are out of whack.

 

[bregent]

You better not use 3oz of cure1 on a 5lb belly or this could be your last of ANYTHING.....Like Life.

He's not using that much. He's making a big batch of dry rub and dividing that based on the weight of the slap. But the base recipe (for 56 lbs) calls for too much cure, salt and sugar.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

bregent ... Check out the numbers....

I just want new folks to understand the WHY stuff works and how...

HOLD IT !!!!!
Cure#1 should be used at a rate of 1 tsp. per 5#'s or 1.1 grams per pound..
Salt, I use 1.75% or ~8 grams per pound
Sugar I use 1% or ~4.5 grams per pound
That calculates to ~ 13.5 grams per pound...

View attachment 508889

Geee Dave

You got 26,661 posts and you still dont know nuthin......LOL ....JK amigo

 

[olaf]

The cure and salt are high. If this is perfectly mixed you are at 3.3% salt 1.9% sugar and 200ppm cure. If it's not perfectly mixed its at ???

 

[bill1]

...For the cure (dry rub):
3 oz Prague Powder #1
28 oz Kosher Salt
17 oz Brown Sugar
...Then calculate 24 grams of the cure for each pound of belly...

The original numbers aren't too far off, 30-40% higher than referenced calculators, assuming these ingredients are evenly distributed among 56 # of meat. Most of those calculators are based on an individual eating ~2# of meat per day, which isn't overly conservative for steak, but seems to be for bacon, so if you use your recipe, just eat a little less.

3oz (by weight) of cure is 85grams. For a 56# meat cure, that's 1.5g per pound. That's 36% more than Dave's suggestion, so eat 36% less than Dave does.

I'm also assuming you're using ounces as a unit of weight (16 oz per pound) and not as a volumetric unit (where a pint, or 16 fluid ounces, is the volume of a pound of water.) Since salts are ~2x the density of water, if the "ounces" you used to measure were volumetric or "liquid" ounces (e.g. from a measuring cup) your 1.36 factor (over Dave's) becomes 2.7 or almost 3x too much.

But it's your 2nd statement that truly worries me. 24 grams per pound is 22 times Dave's number and is even 16 times than your earlier 3oz per 56# number. Now you're into real troubling concentrations. I hope you used 1.1 or 1.5 grams of cure per pound of meat, NOT 24 g/#.
And I hope they were measured with a scale, not a cup or similar volume device.

 

[SmokinEdge]

This is my first attempt at curing bacon. I followed this recipe below:

Ingredients
Pork Belly

For the cure (dry rub):
3 oz Prague Powder #1
28 oz Kosher Salt
17 oz Brown Sugar

Instructions:
Using a scale weigh the ingredients accordingly and mix together kosher salt brown sugar, and Prague Powder #1 thoroughly to make the cure mixture. The quantities specified in this recipe is enough to cure roughly 56 lbs of pork belly. Simply dividing each quantity in half will yield enough mixture to cure approximately 28 lbs of raw pork belly.

Using a scale, get the total weight of the pork belly. Then calculate 24 grams of the cure for each pound of belly you have. For instance: a 5 lb. belly will need 120 grams of cure.

The recipe says it will be cured in 7-10 days. Today is day 6 and the pork belly has firmed up a little, but still feels spongy in parts. Should I add more salt or just wait a few more days? Also, how will I know when it is properly cured?

Don’t mix up cure like this. It’s not like rub, where you make up a bunch then apply it to different pieces of meat at different times.

To do this correctly, weigh the piece of meat, add 0.25% cure #1 as a percentage to weight, then add the salt as a percentage of meat weight. 1.5 to 2.0% then add sugar again as a percentage for flavor. Do this for each piece of meat you want to cure. If it’s a big piece like a 20# ham, then you will want to mix up an injection.
If you mix up a big batch of cure and not use it all at once on one piece of meat, the cure salt will classify itself to the bottom of the mixture and not stay mixed at all. This is a dangerous approach to curing and I do not suggest you continue on.

 

[bregent]

But it's your 2nd statement that truly worries me. 24 grams per pound

I think what he means is 24 grams of the mixed dry rub - not cure #1. At least I hope so.
You're right that the amount of #1 cure is only 30% higher than recommended and is not a real problem. But the salt and sugar are 70-90% more than what most folks use so it's going to be very salty, and might tend to burn while cooking with that much brown sugar.

 

[thirdeye]

Can you post a copy of the 'recipe'? No disrespect, but people new to curing are notorious for misrepresenting the amounts (grams, kilograms, ounces, teaspoons) and so forth. And initially their description of the technique might send up a red flag, yet sometimes it all works out just fine.

The worst case example I can attest to is a published recipe that called for sodium nitrite as an ingredient, (not a curing salt containing sodium nitrate) but sodium nitrite purchased in raw form from a chemical supplier. The book publisher never bothered to respond to an email or the letter addressing this grave error.

 

[PolishDeli]

This seems to be the source of the recipie:

https://www.atbbq.com/thesauce/recipes/bacon/

It's fine, but written a bit lousily.
Better sources exist.

 

[Fueling Around]

Welcome to Smoking Meat Forum (SMF).

It is not possible to estimate cure penetration by feel. if your instructions say 7-10, I would go 10-14 in case your curing temps were in the lower 30's.
Don't add more of anything and just wait.
Your belly is already going to be very salty and very sugary. I guess it will be close to a lot of commercial bacon.

The nitrite (cure) level is higher than what most here at SMF use to cure, but still in acceptable SAFE levels.

Awaiting your results in another week or so.

 

[Kyleblun]

I wish that I had found this forum before I started curing because It would have saved me a lot of uncertainty. I appreciate the comments and advice.

The pork belly is quite a bit firmer this morning and I will smoke it with hickory wood this weekend and hopefully it will turn out OK. Will let you guys know.

Any suggestions on a maple cure recipe for my next batch?

 

[Kyleblun]

This seems to be the source of the recipie:

https://www.atbbq.com/thesauce/recipes/bacon/

It's fine, but written a bit lousily.
Better sources exist.

Yes it is. Please let me know about sources you recommend. Thanks

 

[daveomak]

Marianski is the man to follow...

 

[smokerjim]

I wish that I had found this forum before I started curing because It would have saved me a lot of uncertainty. I appreciate the comments and advice.

The pork belly is quite a bit firmer this morning and I will smoke it with hickory wood this weekend and hopefully it will turn out OK. Will let you guys know.

Any suggestions on a maple cure recipe for my next batch?
I would slice a piece off and fry it before you smoke it , if it's to salty soak it in fresh water to remove some salt then test again.

 

[thirdeye]

Most authors tend to put everything into a logical recipe format (ingredients and procedure) which is fine and dandy.... but using a dry equilibrium cure on a pork belly as an example, some authors tend to lead you in the direction of their personal combination of ingredients. It's better to show the ranges of salt and sugar that can be used, then you can decide what's best for YOU. Of course the percentage of Cure #1 is a fixed amount and will not change.

Something like this is what I'm talking about:
Mixing The Cure - The percentages listed below are based on the weight of a trimmed pork belly.

• Salt - The recommended range of salt is between 1% and 3%. I use canning salt, but sea salt or kosher salt works fine. Do not use iodized table salt.
• Sugar - The recommended range of sugar is between 0% and 3%. You don't actually need sugar in your cure, but it mellows the salt and adds flavor as well as color. A higher percentage of sugar will increase chances of your bacon burning when frying.
• Cure #1 - The amount of Cure #1 is set by the USDA at 0.25%. Do not increase or decrease this amount, and always measure Cure #1 carefully and accurately.

Another omission from some authors are aromatics. You can add other things during the curing process or before smoking. Black pepper is a very common addition to bacon. Anyways, once you decide on your preferences everything falls into place.

I favor a lower salt bacon, and use a lower percentage of white sugar. My current favorite formulation is 1.5% salt, 1% sugar and I sprinkle the pork belly with cracked pepper, garlic powder and put a tablespoon of crushed bay leaves into the curing bag. The Cure #1 amount is always 0.25% and since the sodium nitrite component is suspended in a salt carrier my actual salt % is about 2%.... so keep that in mind. After rinsing I re-apply cracked pepper.