Low Sodium Bacon

[metalman1976]

I switched over from wet cure to dry cure long time ago and never looked back. My question is how low of a salt level can you go, if any salt at all, with cure #1. I typically use 1 tsp cure #1, 1 tbsp Mortons coarse kosher salt and 2 tbsp brown sugar per 5 lb pork belly . I believe it's relatively 1% each for salt and sugar. Also can you cure just using cure #1 with only spices and seasoning - no salt or sugar?

 

[thirdeye]

My Lower-Salt bacon calls for 1.8% salt, or 18.5 grams of salt per 1000 grams of pork belly. It's actually a hair more because of the salt in the 2.5 grams of Cure #1 I add. I've seen other people's recipes that call out 2.5% or 3% salt.

Yes, you can cure meat by using Cure #1 alone or Cure #1 with a small amount of canning salt but it's very difficult to evenly distribute such a small amount. Do a Google search for 'Greg Blonder Dry-Rub Pastrami', and you can read about his process. I tried it and it was not for me. The beef had the right color and texture, but I found the flavor seriously lacking.

 

[metalman1976]

I've found the 1% works good for my preference, any lower would be bland and any higher tastes like a salt lick.
I'm just gathering info because moderators on another forum are telling people the lowest limit you can safely go is 1.5% salt and I'm trying to shut that stupidity down...