FS Cure injection

[tallbm]

I'd actually have preferred they had kept both separate and added an extra box that showed total salt from the cure+ additional salt. Someone using my numbers at 1.5% salt plus the 0.25% from the cure has to already know what the calc is doing and that they have to input 1.75% in the salt value box to get my cure out of the calc.

I think it would be nice to see the values of salt from cure as well as how much salt to add to hit the %.

I might not have explained it very well but the digging dog calculator will ensure you don't go over the salt % you enter.

So in your recipe if they enter your 1.5% salt it will ensure that the salt from the cure and the extra salt they tell you to use will add up to be 1.5% salt total and not go over. So it should be good, but yeah they don't call it out separately which can definitely be confusing :)

 

[SmokinEdge]

I appreciate you watching out and letting me know. The last thing I want to do is put bad info out there and suggest faulty tools.

Yeah the math itself is always correct, when done correctly . I should have double checked, I'm usually more thorough but we all fall short sometimes :D

No worries my friend. It happens.

 

[DougE]

I think it would be nice to see the values of salt from cure as well as how much salt to add to hit the %.

I might not have explained it very well but the digging dog calculator will ensure you don't go over the salt % you enter.

So in your recipe if they enter your 1.5% salt it will ensure that the salt from the cure and the extra salt they tell you to use will add up to be 1.5% salt total and not go over. So it should be good, but yeah they don't call it out separately which can definitely be confusing :)

The first bacon I ever did, I was shooting for 1.75% total salt. Going in, I knew that my cure was going to add 0.25%. What I didn't know was that the DD calc adds the salt from the curing salt and regular salt, so I put 1.5 in the salt entry box, and that's exactly what I got. Not the 1.75% I expected, but 1.5% total salt (cure+additional salt combined). I know how the calc works now, so it's not an issue, but I just do my own math now. Only takes a minute or two to do the calcs myself.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Only takes a minute or two to do the calcs myself.

That calculator doesn’t break down, and when it’s goofy you know it right away. Best practice.

 

[DougE]

That calculator doesn’t break down, and when it’s goofy you know it right away. Best practice.

Yeah, if something looks out of the ordinary, I figure I missed a decimal point somewhere and redo.

 

[Fueling Around]

No calculator is perfect especially with the Canadian government trying to be guardian angels by changing the nitrite percentages and the suppliers calling it the same as the US #1. It is close, but happy that you D Dicky caught that 1.25% difference.

I use the Blonder calculators.
The brine (salt)

salt brining calculator

The cure (nitrite)

nitrite curing calculator

If someone wants to do a straight brine and doesn't want to do the math the brine calculator is spot on.

 

[SmokinEdge]

No calculator is perfect especially with the Canadian government trying to be guardian angels by changing the nitrite percentages and the suppliers calling it the same as the US #1. It is close, but happy that you D Dicky caught that 1.25% difference.

I use the Blonder calculators.
The brine (salt)

salt brining calculator

The cure (nitrite)

nitrite curing calculator

If someone wants to do a straight brine and doesn't want to do the math the brine calculator is spot on.

That is a nice calculator, but it doesn’t allow you to adjust for percentage of nitrite in the cure, this calculator assumes the US standard of 6.25% nitrite.

When folks start asking questions about how to solve for nitrite ppm with a cure outside our 6.25%, it’s the long math.

 

[Fueling Around]

Yep and the Diggin Dog doesn't allow a nitrite % change either.

I remember JC in GB built a calculator a few years ago.
Maybe we can team up and create a cure calculator that allows a variable nitrite percentage?

 

[DougE]

I remember JC in GB built a calculator a few years ago.
Maybe we can team up and create a cure calculator that allows a variable nitrite percentage?

I dunno. If you use the DD or other calcs based on 6.25% nitrite with, say, salt that has 5%, it won't get you in as much trouble as having a calc set at 5% or less and using cure higher in nitrite.

 

[Dicky]

I wish I had of joined this group about 400 pounds ago !

I wish I had of joined this group about 400 pounds ago !

Perfect, thanks. Very much for all the info on this… certainly can be confusing.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Personally, I understand that curing has a range, and that range is rather large in terms of food safety. 5% nitrite versus 6.25% is in no way life altering. I also would not go to great length to change my recipe to accommodate that difference.

What I do have issues with is the blind trust in curing calculators. We all want to give Folks an easy way and safe way to cure, but not all automated methods are good Nor safe. Funny how it takes long math to check a calculator, yet nobody knows or wants to know the long math. This is necessary in this hobby.

 

[tallbm]

The first bacon I ever did, I was shooting for 1.75% total salt. Going in, I knew that my cure was going to add 0.25%. What I didn't know was that the DD calc adds the salt from the curing salt and regular salt, so I put 1.5 in the salt entry box, and that's exactly what I got. Not the 1.75% I expected, but 1.5% total salt (cure+additional salt combined). I know how the calc works now, so it's not an issue, but I just do my own math now. Only takes a minute or two to do the calcs myself.

Doing the calcs yourself is definitely the best way.

Diggingdog sometimes helps me when I talk to people in real life who's eyes start to glaze over the moment I start to mention doing a percentage and multiplying etc. lol.

 

[DougE]

Diggingdog sometimes helps me when I talk to people in real life who's eyes start to glaze over the moment I start to mention doing a percentage and multiplying etc. lol.

When I tell someone how to do it I do it like this.

"Weigh the meat in grams and do the following:

Cure#1 at 0.25% (6.25%nitrite) Multiply the weight by 0.0025 (this never changes)

Salt at 1.5% ... multiply meat weight by .015 (total salt between cure and additional salt will be 1.75% with this recipe)

Sugar at 0.75% ... multiply meat weight by 0.0075.

This will give you a solid baseline to work from. If you want a little more salt, or sweeter bacon, feel free to play around with the additional salt and sugar percentages, but leave the cure number alone."

 

[JC in GB]

Personally, I understand that curing has a range, and that range is rather large in terms of food safety. 5% nitrite versus 6.25% is in no way life altering. I also would not go to great length to change my recipe to accommodate that difference.

What I do have issues with is the blind trust in curing calculators. We all want to give Folks an easy way and safe way to cure, but not all automated methods are good Nor safe. Funny how it takes long math to check a calculator, yet nobody knows or wants to know the long math. This is necessary in this hobby.

"Only in mathematics will we find truth." Cardnial Borusa

JC

 

[thirdeye]

When I tell someone how to do it I do it like this.

"Weigh the meat in grams and do the following:

Cure#1 at 0.25% (6.25%nitrite) Multiply the weight by 0.0025 (this never changes)

Salt at 1.5% ... multiply meat weight by .015 (total salt between cure and additional salt will be 1.75% with this recipe)

Sugar at 0.75% ... multiply meat weight by 0.0075.

This will give you a solid baseline to work from. If you want a little more salt, or sweeter bacon, feel free to play around with the additional salt and sugar percentages, but leave the cure number alone."

And like the cowboy said.... There's more than one way to fall off a horse.

I also use grams as my base units, but convert grams to kilograms. This eliminates some decimal positions from your multipliers. For example, if I want 1.5% salt I know that I need 15 grams of salt for every kilogram of weight. And my constant for Cure #1 is 2.5 grams for every kilogram of weight.

I also use the kilogram format for my sausage recipes and base sausage ingredient amounts on 1-kilogram of meat weight. So, 15 grams of salt per kilogram of meat gives me 1.5% salt. And it makes sizing up a sausage recipe really easy.

 

[tallbm]

When I tell someone how to do it I do it like this.

"Weigh the meat in grams and do the following:

Cure#1 at 0.25% (6.25%nitrite) Multiply the weight by 0.0025 (this never changes)

Salt at 1.5% ... multiply meat weight by .015 (total salt between cure and additional salt will be 1.75% with this recipe)

Sugar at 0.75% ... multiply meat weight by 0.0075.

This will give you a solid baseline to work from. If you want a little more salt, or sweeter bacon, feel free to play around with the additional salt and sugar percentages, but leave the cure number alone."

Yeah that's as concise as you can make it.

The people I mention are simply just mathematically challenged if it goes beyond counting the cash in their wallet :P

 

[JC in GB]

I dunno. If you use the DD or other calcs based on 6.25% nitrite with, say, salt that has 5%, it won't get you in as much trouble as having a calc set at 5% or less and using cure higher in nitrite.

My calculator crashed and burned in my first attempt. My first attempt at Python. I am thinking a phone app would be more useful. I am going look into that.

JC

 

[JC in GB]

There are a couple brining calculator apps on Google Play. I tried them both and they work well enough to calculate salt and cure amounts. Not perfect though. The free one by Virgilio Brunetti allows you to pick salt concentration. Neither shows for a sugar calculation. You could go back and put sugar % in for salt to get the weight of sugar.

JC

 

[JC in GB]

Yep and the Diggin Dog doesn't allow a nitrite % change either.

I remember JC in GB built a calculator a few years ago.
Maybe we can team up and create a cure calculator that allows a variable nitrite percentage?

I am in...

JC

 

[Retired Spook]

When I tell someone how to do it I do it like this.

"Weigh the meat in grams and do the following:

Cure#1 at 0.25% (6.25%nitrite) Multiply the weight by 0.0025 (this never changes)

Salt at 1.5% ... multiply meat weight by .015 (total salt between cure and additional salt will be 1.75% with this recipe)

Sugar at 0.75% ... multiply meat weight by 0.0075.

This will give you a solid baseline to work from. If you want a little more salt, or sweeter bacon, feel free to play around with the additional salt and sugar percentages, but leave the cure number alone."

What about water weight?

A. how does a person determine how much water to use in the first place (presume the meat will be placed in a 1 or 2-gallon ziploc for the duration of the cure)?
B. where does the weight of the water enter into your calculation?

I want to try an equilibrium cure for a 3.03-lb prime tri tip to smoke for a pastrami and I am more confused after reading all of this than I was before I started