In Germany... someone double check my math

[Steve M]

Hi everyone...

My wife and I always throw a big St. Paddy's Day party. It's out big shin-dig for the year. We'd always go to the local butcher shop in NJ where we lived, where they brined their own brisket, and it was always delicious.

Well, back in February, we moved to Germany and wouldn't you know... it's impossible to find a corned beef over here (as far as I can tell). So, my wife decided that she was going to make her own corned beef (we can get flat cut brisket).

So, the recipe I found has us using 3/4 c. salt and 2 tsp. of pink curing salt #1 (Prague Powder #1), which brings me to our second problem. We can't find pink curing salt #1. What they sell is called Pökesalz (pickling salt).

What I've come up with is that Prague Powder #1 is 93.75% salt and 6.25% Sodium Nitrite (NaNO2).
The Pökesalz is 99.6% salt and 0.4-0.5% NaNO2. So PP#1 has about 14x the amount of NaNO2 than the Pökesalz.

So, when I convert the US recipe I get:
3/4 c salt = 36 tsp salt
2 tsp of PP#1 (@ 6% NaNO2) = 1.875 tsp salt & .125 tsp NaNO2
Overall I have 37.875 tsp salt and .125 tsp NaNO2

So for the Pökesalz I would use
28 tsp of Pökesalz (@.045% NaNO2) = 27.875 tsp salt & .125 tsp NaNO2.
So, to make the salt/NaNO2 the same, I need to add 10 tsp salt to bring the total to:

10 tsp salt
28 tsp Pökesalz

Am I doing this right? Should I just give up on the whole thing and go get Schnitzel? ;)

Thanks!

 

[tropics]

Check Cabelas Germany they may have it you could always order cure #1
Richie

 

[atomicsmoke]

From my googling i found pokesalz ia 0.6% nitrite. Don't know how reliable the source is ...looked "official". Better check with the manufacturer.

Your math is good. If you redo it for 0.6% nitrite you need 10.42X more pokesalz than cure#1. Which means 20.84 tsp of pokesalz and 17.16 tsp of salt.

I recommend you switch to weights (instead of volume). Salt grain sizes might be different in Germany.

 

[rjob]

I am far from an expert but this statement is on the https://www.meatsandsausages.com/ site:
This cure calculator allows for precise calculation of Cure #1 when making comminuted products such as sausages.

In these products Cure #1 is added directly to ground meat. American standards permit 156 parts per million (ppm) of sodium nitrite to be added to ground meat.

Cure #1 contains 6.25% of sodium nitrite and 92.75% of salt.

The Polish cure calculator calculates the amounts of European Peklosol that can be added to ground meat.

European regulations permit 150 parts per million (ppm) of sodium nitrite to be added to ground meat.

Peklosol contains 0.60 % of sodium nitrite and 99.40% of salt.

The statement can be found with their cure calculator https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/cure-calculator
Hope this helps.

 

[Rings Я Us]

Don't they have the pokesalz dry cure that goes with the pokesalz pickling?

I think both get used together.

Maybe not.. :D

 

[daveomak]

When using the 0.6% nitrite salt, if you add it to the meat, to make corned beef, to get the salt at an acceptable level for consumption, add it at a rate of 125Ppm nitrite.. that will render 2% salt in the meat....
The calculation...
454 grams = 1#..
454 X 0.000125 (Ppm) = 0.05675 grams of nitrite to achieve 125 Ppm...
0.05675 / 0.6% nitrite salt (0.006) = 9.46 grams (of 0.6% nitrite in salt) = 125 Ppm..
9.46g - 0.057g nitrite = 9.4g salt
9.4g / 454 x 100 = 2.1% salt in the meat...

125 Ppm is acceptable for bacon making in the US...

 

[bob-whie]

Spelled Pokelsalz? 0.4% - 0.5% nitrite

Pokesalz

• bob-whie
• Feb 27, 2018

Pokesalz

 

[bob-whie]

What I've come up with is that Prague Powder #1 is 93.75% salt and 6.25% Sodium Nitrite (NaNO2).
The Pökesalz is 99.6% salt and 0.4-0.5% NaNO2. So PP#1 has about 14x the amount of NaNO2 than the Pökesalz.

So, when I convert the US recipe I get:
3/4 c salt = 36 tsp salt
2 tsp of PP#1 (@ 6% NaNO2) = 1.875 tsp salt & .125 tsp NaNO2
Overall I have 37.875 tsp salt and .125 tsp NaNO2

So for the Pökesalz I would use
28 tsp of Pökesalz (@.045% NaNO2) = 27.875 tsp salt & .125 tsp NaNO2.
So, to make the salt/NaNO2 the same, I need to add 10 tsp salt to bring the total to:

10 tsp salt
28 tsp Pökesalz

Your math is pretty close.
You need 13.88888 times the Pokelsalz to equal a 6.25% cure.(6.25 divided by.45%)

Assuming this is a dry rub, the Pokelsalz alone at 3/4 cup (225 grams) will adequately cure the brisket, no additional salt should be necessary. Probably why Pokelsalz is formulated the way it is and is called a pickling salt.

One other thing Europe frequently uses Potassium Nitrite, don't know the conversion.
Pickling salt belongs to the class of commercial salts and can be a mixture of common salt with sodium nitrite (NaNO 2 , food additive: E 250, or potassium nitrite (KNO 2 food additive: E 249) or sodium nitrate (sodium nitrate, food additive: E 251).