Hi everyone, complete novice to curing meat here. I'm quite interested in historical recipes and reenactment and lately I've been wanting to try some old, traditional cures. The only issue I have is with quantities, particularly with regard to saltpetre. Most of the recipes come from a time when it wouldn't be uncommon to lay a whole half of a pig in a trough, covered in salt and sugar and muslin cloth to keep the flies away. Obviously I might struggle with that right now...
These are some of the dry cures I've collected (spices etc not included):
Cure 1:
For a "small side of pork" (half a pig?)
6oz salt
8oz brown sugar
1oz saltpetre
Cure 2:
For a "15 score pig" (300lb)
2lb salt
8oz brown sugar to each piece (of pig)
0.5 or 1oz saltpetre
Cure 3:
20lb piece of meat
2lb salt
1/4lb of coarse raw sugar
1/4lb of saltpetre
Cure 4:
1 hind quarter, cut to shape
1lb coarse salt
4oz brown sugar
1oz saltpetre
Cure 5:
A 3-4lb joint
3/4lb sea salt
3/4lb brown sugar
2oz saltpetre
Cure 6:
For a "large ham"
1lb salt
8oz coarse sugar
2oz or more of saltpetre
Cure 7:
For a hindquarter
1/4lb salt
8oz coarse sugar
2oz or more of saltpetre
Cure 8:
25lb of meat
1lb salt
6oz sugar
2oz saltpetre
Cure 9:
For a 25lb or so piece of meat
8oz salt
Enough brown sugar to rub down meat
2oz saltpetre
Those are the cures I'd like to understand better. Can anyone help me modernise them a bit (so I don't accidentally poison myself) and scale them down to more manageable ratios, so I could apply them to joint-sized cuts e.g. of pork belly? I'm inclined towards 1 tsp of saltpetre for a joint, and enough salt to cover. I'm not afraid of using the saltpetre or large quantities of salt, I just want to make sure there's no mistakes in the recipes. Many thanks
These are some of the dry cures I've collected (spices etc not included):
Cure 1:
For a "small side of pork" (half a pig?)
6oz salt
8oz brown sugar
1oz saltpetre
Cure 2:
For a "15 score pig" (300lb)
2lb salt
8oz brown sugar to each piece (of pig)
0.5 or 1oz saltpetre
Cure 3:
20lb piece of meat
2lb salt
1/4lb of coarse raw sugar
1/4lb of saltpetre
Cure 4:
1 hind quarter, cut to shape
1lb coarse salt
4oz brown sugar
1oz saltpetre
Cure 5:
A 3-4lb joint
3/4lb sea salt
3/4lb brown sugar
2oz saltpetre
Cure 6:
For a "large ham"
1lb salt
8oz coarse sugar
2oz or more of saltpetre
Cure 7:
For a hindquarter
1/4lb salt
8oz coarse sugar
2oz or more of saltpetre
Cure 8:
25lb of meat
1lb salt
6oz sugar
2oz saltpetre
Cure 9:
For a 25lb or so piece of meat
8oz salt
Enough brown sugar to rub down meat
2oz saltpetre
Those are the cures I'd like to understand better. Can anyone help me modernise them a bit (so I don't accidentally poison myself) and scale them down to more manageable ratios, so I could apply them to joint-sized cuts e.g. of pork belly? I'm inclined towards 1 tsp of saltpetre for a joint, and enough salt to cover. I'm not afraid of using the saltpetre or large quantities of salt, I just want to make sure there's no mistakes in the recipes. Many thanks
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