First-Time EQ Cure - Update

[Steve in AL]

This is my first-time bacon cure, EQ method, dry-rub. The raw pork belly (about 1 in thick) weighed in at 958g, and I used 17g salt (aiming for 1.75%), 2.5g Cure #1 (aiming for 0.25%), 14g brown sugar (maybe too much, I know, but wanted to try for a sweeter taste), and 1/2 tsp black pepper.
Been flip-flopping the zip-lock bag each day - after 4 days, the curing belly is taking on a brownish-red look, appears OK I think...
The belly went into the 37* fridge on 12/07, and I want to let the cure run for only 7 days - is this too short a cure time in the fridge?

 

[SmokinEdge]

The blotchy color on the outside is caused by oxidation, this is normal. The inside will be pinkish red.

7 days it will be cured and you can smoke it, but the flavor will be better at 12-14 days in cure. I try to make my whole process take 14 days, this includes a day for smoking and at least one day for resting before slicing. You don’t have to wait that long but the finished product has a better flavor going longer.

 

[Steve in AL]

Thanks Edge, I may have to curb my impatience and just leave it in the cure for a few more days!

 

[SmokinAl]

As Edge said, most of us go at least 14 days. Then dry 4 days, I smoke mine for 10-12 hours, then dry for 4 more days. Then freeze for a couple of hours & slice. So my process from start to finish takes about 3 weeks.
Al

 

[Steve in AL]

Thanks Al, I will be using my MB vertical for hot smoking at ~200* so I guess I'll be headed for 150* on the internal temp reading - that might be as short as a few hours in the smoking, I don't know yet.

 

[Dave in AZ]

Your recipe sounds good, you will love it, EQ gives you great repeatable control of flavor.
Here is a brining and cure time calculator, tab3. Useful to get min times. As others above, I think bacon flavor is better if I go 2 weeks. But depending on when I am home, sometimes I need to go earlier, so this calculator is nice for then.

Great reading from this brilliant guy on salt and cure diffusion too.

salt brining calculator

 

[Steve H]

Yup. Good advice above. Let us know how it comes out.

 

[cutplug]

I thought that an EQ brine was a wet brine?

 

[Dave in AZ]

I thought that an EQ brine was a wet brine?

Can be done wet, but easier and faster, if no injection, to be a dry rub. If done wet, you need to let it sit for approximately 2 weeks, long enough that the water meat system can actually equalize. Shorter times, like days or a week, USFDA guides you towards "weight uptake method" to calculate curing. For EQ, more time is needed to actually equalize, and of course meat size drives that time. Commercial ops don't have that time/money to waste, so fsis handbook says liquid EQ brining is most often used commercially for small odd shaped stuff like snouts, where individual weighing is impractical. But it is very useful allowed cure method for home producers where time is not a huge bankrupting production cost. ;)

Can't wait to see finished pic from S Steve in AL , I think he will love it!

 

[SmokinEdge]

Can be done wet, but easier and faster, if no injection, to be a dry rub. If done wet, you need to let it sit for approximately 2 weeks, long enough that the water meat system can actually equalize. Shorter times, like days or a week, USFDA guides you towards "weight uptake method" to calculate curing. For EQ, more time is needed to actually equalize, and of course meat size drives that time. Commercial ops don't have that time/money to waste, so fsis handbook says liquid EQ brining is most often used commercially for small odd shaped stuff like snouts, where individual weighing is practical. But it is very useful allowed cure method for home producers where time is not a huge bankrupting production cost. ;)

Can't wait to see finished pic from S Steve in AL , I think he will love it!

When doing EQ with brine it takes longer, 3 weeks would be the minimum and the reason is that the salt percentage in the brine continues to drop as the meat piece diffuses the salt. So at first the curing is relatively fast but after a week or 10 days the salt available in the brine is lower and diffusion is slower so it takes more time to equalize the longer it goes, if that makes sense. In traditional brine curing we have very high salt values like 6-8% as this diffuses into the meat there is still plenty of salt strength to push the cure, so this becomes a time game as to how many days to pull and it’s much faster specially because of the high salt content, but if left to long that salt will be to high in the finished product. Hence the purpose of EQ brining is to not over salt the meat, but it takes much longer and is less predictable than dry cure mostly because no two pieces of meat are the same.

Now with dry brine EQ, the salt we apply is 100% salt, not diluted, so even if we only apply 1.5% salt to meat weight, it’s still 100% salt. This works much faster than wet brining because there is really nothing to dilute the salt except for the meat so the salt all goes into the meat and we have a perfectly salted finished product no matter if 1 week or 3 weeks in cure, it can’t be over salty, just like wet brine EQ, but much faster.

 

[DougE]

So at first the curing is relatively fast but after a week or 10 days the salt available in the brine is lower and diffusion is slower so it takes more time to equalize the longer it goes, if that makes sense.

It actually does. Salt is going to move quickly to where there is no salt at all, but the process slows down the closer it comes to being balanced. Not exactly the same, but kind of like the rate at which meat temp rises is fast at first, but slows as meat temps become closer to pit temp.

 

[SmokinEdge]

It actually does. Salt is going to move quickly to where there is no salt at all, but the process slows down the closer it comes to being balanced. Not exactly the same, but kind of like the rate at which meat temp rises is fast at first, but slows as meat temps become closer to pit temp.

Exactly.
And keep in mind that the salt percentage in brine is in that collective brine, and not all of that is touching the meat, it in the brine over on the edge of the tub or bag. Meaning the salt concentration is not all available to the meat at once like it is with a dry rub.

 

[DougE]

Exactly.
And keep in mind that the salt percentage in brine is in that collective brine, and not all of that is touching the meat, it in the brine over on the edge of the tub or bag. Meaning the salt concentration is not all available to the meat at once like it is with a dry rub.

Yep, the salt in the brine has to equalize as well, as the salt moves into the meat.

 

[Steve in AL]

So much good information being shared here among those who no doubt actually know what they are doing ... certainly the collective knowledge will benefit this "bacon newbie," and I'm so glad I stumbled into this forum - thanks to all for the feedback & comments!

 

[DougE]

Things get a little deeper than some prefer at times, but too much information is better than not enough. So long as it is correct.

 

[Steve in AL]

Doug, I appreciate the details in the discussions here, and am amazed at the numerous websites that say, " a teaspoon of this and a cup of that, and wait three days..." to have super-tasting bacon... well, maybe so, but maybe not... I'd rather delve into the details and hopefully advance with greater accuracy to a known result.

 

[DougE]

Doug, I appreciate the details in the discussions here, and am amazed at the numerous websites that say, " a teaspoon of this and a cup of that, and wait three days..." to have super-tasting bacon... well, maybe so, but maybe not... I'd rather delve into the details and hopefully advance with greater accuracy to a known result.

If you want to do it safely, and with repeatable results, some exacting measurements are needed, and bacon isn't going to become bacon in 3 days. Depending on the thickness, you may well get a complete cure in that timeframe, but flavor development takes more time, which is why I go 14 days on bacon.

 

[Fueling Around]

Doug, I appreciate the details in the discussions here, and am amazed at the numerous websites that say, " a teaspoon of this and a cup of that, and wait three days..." to have super-tasting bacon... well, maybe so, but maybe not... I'd rather delve into the details and hopefully advance with greater accuracy to a known result.

Website info is often risky.
The worst is the bad advice given in print form as books.

Another dry brine advocate here. Wet takes up sooo much space in the cooler.

If you see the term "gradient brine" be very very cautious.
Thanks SmokinEdge . There was another thread that we both posted, and I couldn't remember gradient. You filled in the blank spaces.

 

[cutplug]

Can be done wet, but easier and faster, if no injection, to be a dry rub. If done wet, you need to let it sit for approximately 2 weeks, long enough that the water meat system can actually equalize. Shorter times, like days or a week, USFDA guides you towards "weight uptake method" to calculate curing. For EQ, more time is needed to actually equalize, and of course meat size drives that time. Commercial ops don't have that time/money to waste, so fsis handbook says liquid EQ brining is most often used commercially for small odd shaped stuff like snouts, where individual weighing is impractical. But it is very useful allowed cure method for home producers where time is not a huge bankrupting production cost. ;)

Can't wait to see finished pic from S Steve in AL , I think he will love it!

I have always done dry just because of space in the fridge but the calculator you posted shows water as an ingredient so that got me off track.
Cure On!

Can be done wet, but easier and faster, if no injection, to be a dry rub. If done wet, you need to let it sit for approximately 2 weeks, long enough that the water meat system can actually equalize. Shorter times, like days or a week, USFDA guides you towards "weight uptake method" to calculate curing. For EQ, more time is needed to actually equalize, and of course meat size drives that time. Commercial ops don't have that time/money to waste, so fsis handbook says liquid EQ brining is most often used commercially for small odd shaped stuff like snouts, where individual weighing is impractical. But it is very useful allowed cure method for home producers where time is not a huge bankrupting production cost. ;)

Can't wait to see finished pic from S Steve in AL , I think he will love it!

 

[Steve in AL]

On Tue 12/13 I did two more small pieces of belly I had in the freezer, again dry-rub with the same basic simple salt/brown sugar/black pepper cure recipe I used before on the first piece on 12/07 ... so I hope to be doing some smoking of all three pieces just about on or before Christmas Eve... I'll no doubt be making some recipe/process adjustments after a taste-test on these first runs....