First time wet curing pork belly

[bigolebillsbbq]

Hey everyone,

I’m not sure if there is already a post out there, but I was wondering if anyone can help me out here.

I currently have a slap of pork belly about an inch and a half thick weighing 8.48 pounds.

I have pink curing salt (Hoosier Hill Farm Prague powder #1).

My concern is that on the bottle of the curing salt it says 1 oz per 25 pounds of meat. But most other places are saying 1 teaspoon per 5 pounds.

I wasn’t sure if anyone would
Be able to help me out with a recipe for how to wet cure this pork belly with just salt, curing salt and water.

If someone can help, I would really appreciate it! I’m new to this and would love to learn!

thanks!
Bill

 

[indaswamp]

Both amounts are correct. 1 ounce of curing salt is about 5 tsps. so 1 tsp. per 5 pounds is 5 tsps. per 25#...

with a wet cure, you need to weight the water for the brine and add it to the weight of the meat-that is the weight you use to calculate how much cure you need. This will be an equilibium cure so some of the cure will stay in the water, the rest will migrate into the meat and both will equalize concentrations.

 

[bigolebillsbbq]

okay okay that makes way more sense now!

So is there a rough number for how much water people usually use? Or is it just up to me?

Like if I used 1.5 gallons (12 pounds - 8 pounds per gallon) then I would add the 12 pounds to my 8.48 pounds of meat, equalling 20.48 pounds so like 4 tsps of pink cure #1?

Thanks for your reply! It’s very helpful!

 

[indaswamp]

1 gallon of water =8.345#......

 

[bigolebillsbbq]

Both amounts are correct. 1 ounce of curing salt is about 5 tsps. so 1 tsp. per 5 pounds is 5 tsps. per 25#...

with a wet cure, you need to weight the water for the brine and add it to the weight of the meat-that is the weight you use to calculate how much cure you need. This will be an equilibium cure so some of the cure will stay in the water, the rest will migrate into the meat and both will equalize concentrations.

okay okay that makes way more sense now!

So is there a rough number for how much water people usually use? Or is it just up to me?

Like if I used 1.5 gallons (12 pounds - 8 pounds per gallon) then I would add the 12 pounds to my 8.48 pounds of meat, equalling 20.48 pounds so like 4 tsps of pink cure #1?

Thanks for your reply! It’s very helpful!

 

[indaswamp]

You will get a lot of different advice on the amount of water to use. I try not to go less than 50% of the meat weight...But when using 50% water, I usually add a little more cure...

 

[DougE]

For combined weight of meat and water:
.25% cure#1
1.5% salt
I suggest .75% sugar of choice
Also suggest you weigh everything in grams. It makes the calculations a hundred times easier.

That or go with Pop's brine:

Pops6927's Wet Curing Brine

real simple curing brine: for every 1 gallon of water, add: 1/3 - 1 cup sea salt (depending if you're on a lo-salt diet) 1 cup granulated sugar or Splenda174 1 cup brown sugar or Splenda174 brown sugar mix 1 tbsp cure no. 1 pink salt stir thoroughly until clear amber color, pour over...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[bigolebillsbbq]

1 gallon of water =8.345#......

Ok, so I would change my weight up still, but again, is there a specific amount of water needed based on w

You will get a lot of different advice on the amount of water to use. I try not to go less than 50% of the meat weight.

hmmm okay! Thanks for the advice! I appreciate it!! I’m going to try this out soon!

 

[radioguy]

You can take a look at Pops brine for curing bacon..I like to use this one. Its pretty simple method. I've modified it a bit to suit my tastes...reduced salt.

RG

Pops6927's Wet Curing Brine

Pops6927's Wet Curing Brine

real simple curing brine: for every 1 gallon of water, add: 1/3 - 1 cup sea salt (depending if you're on a lo-salt diet) 1 cup granulated sugar or Splenda174 1 cup brown sugar or Splenda174 brown sugar mix 1 tbsp cure no. 1 pink salt stir thoroughly until clear amber color, pour over...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[bigolebillsbbq]

For combined weight of meat and water:
.25% cure#1
1.5% salt
I suggest .75% sugar of choice
Also suggest you weigh everything in grams. It makes the calculations a hundred times easier.

That or go with Pop's brine:

Pops6927's Wet Curing Brine

real simple curing brine: for every 1 gallon of water, add: 1/3 - 1 cup sea salt (depending if you're on a lo-salt diet) 1 cup granulated sugar or Splenda174 1 cup brown sugar or Splenda174 brown sugar mix 1 tbsp cure no. 1 pink salt stir thoroughly until clear amber color, pour over...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Okay I’m just trying to calculate this now. If my total weight is 20.997 pounds, my cure #1 would be equal to 5.24…but I’m not sure if that means it’s 5.25 tsps or table spoons or what.. and then for regular salt my number is 31.4955…again not sure what the measurement would be

I appreciate your help!

 

[bigolebillsbbq]

You can take a look at Pops brine for curing bacon..I like to use this one. Its pretty simple method. I've modified it a bit to suit my tastes...reduced salt.

RG

Pops6927's Wet Curing Brine

Pops6927's Wet Curing Brine

real simple curing brine: for every 1 gallon of water, add: 1/3 - 1 cup sea salt (depending if you're on a lo-salt diet) 1 cup granulated sugar or Splenda174 1 cup brown sugar or Splenda174 brown sugar mix 1 tbsp cure no. 1 pink salt stir thoroughly until clear amber color, pour over...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Thanks! I’ll check it out for sure! Might make it easier!

 

[indaswamp]

use a cure calculator...
https://genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/nitritecuringcalculator.html

use 150, 175, or 200ppm nitrite....

 

[DougE]

Okay I’m just trying to calculate this now. If my total weight is 20.997 pounds, my cure #1 would be equal to 5.24…but I’m not sure if that means it’s 5.25 tsps or table spoons or what.. and then for regular salt my number is 31.4955…again not sure what the measurement would be

I appreciate your help!

It's going to be way easier to calculate if you use grams.
Example, for every 1000 grams you use 2.5 grams of cure

 

[bigolebillsbbq]

use a cure calculator...
https://genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/nitritecuringcalculator.html

use 150, 175, or 200ppm nitrite....

Thanks! Now I will just need to figure out the salt amount

 

[bigolebillsbbq]

It's going to be way easier to calculate if you use grams.
Example, for every 1000 grams you use 2.5 grams of cure

OHHHH okay duh sorry thanks!!

 

[bigolebillsbbq]

It's going to be way easier to calculate if you use grams.
Example, for every 1000 grams you use 2.5 grams of cure

So my cure percentage is 0.0025 % per 1000grams?

 

[DougE]

So my cure percentage is 0.0025 % per 1000grams?

It's 0,25%, which is 0.0025x1000g

 

[Fueling Around]

Thanks! Now I will just need to figure out the salt amount

There is also calculators for that process
https://genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/saltbrinecalculator.html

Actually spend an hour (or more) and read all the articles Dr. Blonder has written
https://genuineideas.com/food.html

 

[Fueling Around]

And invest $20 for a decent milligram scale off Amazon

 

[Sven Svensson]

Pop’s brine. Simple. Easy to make. Works every time. No weighing. It just works.