New guy needs help - salty bacon

[Mmmm Meat]

I did an introduction post over in the Initial Greeting Section. I'm trying to correct what is an apparently frequent problem for first attempts at making bacon ( from what I gather after googling the topic "home cured bacon too salty").

I (stupidly) used a dry brine recipe I found on Youtube to cure a 12 lb pork belly - 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup brown Sugar, pepper, tarragon, maple syrup and Prague Salt. I ordered the wrong curing salt Morton Tender Quick, and used something like only 3 TBSP of that in the mix. After four days in the fridge, I did a test of an internal slice of one of the slabs and found the meat already too salty on frying, and it lost it's red color too. I put the bacon back in the fridge while I searched the internet for awhile and found that that I'd probably used too much salt and the wrong curing salt and/or not enough of the Morton TQ. I did a quick order on Amazon and received a jar of Prague Powder yesterday. I added 1 tsp/5lb ratio of pink salt to the meat and left it overnight to check this morning, which is now day seven in the curing process.
I checked the saltiness of a new internal portion of the bacon - way too salty, but a bit more color on frying it up. I've rinsed the meat well and moved it into a water bath in an attempt to reduce the saltiness. My plan is three hours of soaking (perhaps with a taste test at mid-point) and then re-bagging the meat with appropriate amount of pink salt diluted in maybe a cup of water for each slab. Back into the fridge for perhaps another three days then test it again.
I guess, if the bacon looses enough salt in the soak today, I could go ahead and smoke it, just accepting the poor coloration as a lesson in humility. I'm hoping though that the additional time in the curing salt might improve the coloration on cooking. I have no idea if the meat will actually draw in that curing salt without any additional salt to osmotically move the curing salt into the meat.
Does anyone suggest a different course of action?
Thanks! George

 

[SmokinEdge]

I never use TQ and the salty is the reason, plus it contains nitrates (cure salt in #2) that we don’t need for bacon. Only nitrite (cure #1) is needed.
I make bacon with a dry rub made in % salt and sugar to meat weight. I weigh everything. No measuring cups. I don’t like salty bacon, so I use the minimum amount of salt at 1.5% I also don’t like overly sweet bacon that burns in the pan, so I use 1% sugar. Cure #1 is used at 1.1 grams per pound of meat.

As to the pickle you are in now, soaking in water and changing the water every hour or so is about all you can do. Keep the water cold. If I understand correctly, you applied about 1/4 as much TQ to the bacon as need. That sat for 4 days. Then you added cure #1 to that at about 2 1/2 tsp Let that set for 3 more days?

If so, I would not add any more cure to the meat. We cannot know how much nitrite is in the belly at this point. It is under cured for sure, but by how much.? Soak until the salt is acceptable then hot smoke it to internal temp of 150* live and learn.

Next time ask here on the forum for instructions to make bacon. We will not steer you wrong.

 

[SmokyMose]

Wow George, you have a lot of salts going on. I doubt if you're going to soak the salt out of it, but maybe.
I hate to say it, but I would consider starting over. That being said, the meat isn't ruined. Just salty.
Prague Powder (#1 cure) is a different animal than Tender Quick.
Like SmokinEdge said, hot smoke it (or just fry it) and try again....

 

[SmokinEdge]

Wow George, you have a lot of salts going on. I doubt if you're going to soak the salt out of it, but maybe.

I’m guessing right at or just north of 3% salt. It’d have a bit to it for sure.

 

[Mmmm Meat]

I’m guessing right at or just north of 3% salt. It’d have a bit to it for sure.

Thanks all. Yes - quite a bit of salt. After 1.5 hour soak, it was much, much easier to eat. I gave it another hour in the soak and then went with the pink salt soln. I'll let you all know how this all ends up. Thanks again.
G.

 

[Mmmm Meat]

I never use TQ and the salty is the reason, plus it contains nitrates (cure salt in #2) that we don’t need for bacon. Only nitrite (cure #1) is needed.
I make bacon with a dry rub made in % salt and sugar to meat weight. I weigh everything. No measuring cups. I don’t like salty bacon, so I use the minimum amount of salt at 1.5% I also don’t like overly sweet bacon that burns in the pan, so I use 1% sugar. Cure #1 is used at 1.1 grams per pound of meat.

As to the pickle you are in now, soaking in water and changing the water every hour or so is about all you can do. Keep the water cold. If I understand correctly, you applied about 1/4 as much TQ to the bacon as need. That sat for 4 days. Then you added cure #1 to that at about 2 1/2 tsp Let that set for 3 more days?

If so, I would not add any more cure to the meat. We cannot know how much nitrite is in the belly at this point. It is under cured for sure, but by how much.? Soak until the salt is acceptable then hot smoke it to internal temp of 150* live and learn.

Next time ask here on the forum for instructions to make bacon. We will not steer you wrong.

Thanks for your input. I didn't even know there was a forum until I started researching solutions to my problem. I'll read up before my next adventure.
The concentrations of the nitrites is important for sure, though I question whether a low concentration (hypotonic) pink salt solution added late in the game can actually be taken up by a hypersaline piece of meat. I kind of doubt it, though it may be that lower concentrations of nitrite in the meat might result in uptake by the meat. The first frying will reveal how successful I was.

 

[Brokenhandle]

One thing you can also do if it turns out too salty for your liking... use it cut up into small pieces for adding into other dishes... green beans, bbq beans and such, just cut back on salt you might otherwise add.

Ryan

 

[SmokinEdge]

Thanks for your input. I didn't even know there was a forum until I started researching solutions to my problem. I'll read up before my next adventure.
The concentrations of the nitrites is important for sure, though I question whether a low concentration (hypotonic) pink salt solution added late in the game can actually be taken up by a hypersaline piece of meat. I kind of doubt it, though it may be that lower concentrations of nitrite in the meat might result in uptake by the meat. The first frying will reveal how successful I was.

Pink salt is 6.25% nitrite and 93.75% pure salt. The nitrite follows the salt penetration into the meat. So it rides along with the salt. Exactly what the level of nitrite uptake is currently in the belly cannot be known, however the cure#1 you applied was at the rate of 156ppm the TQ you applied was another 120ppm total nitrate/nitrite. Total you have applied about 276ppm to the belly where only 156ppm are allowed for food safety.

Generally it’s excepted that nitrite travels into the meat at 1/4” per day. On belly because it is flat that’s 1/4 per side or 1/2” per day. At this point I would not apply more nitrite. Dry ribs are more powerful in curing than wet brines because of the concentration of salt on the meat. I would guess the nitrite in that belly is around 120ppm now. More than enough to do the job. All commercial bacon is pumped with pickle and they are limited to 120ppm because of the formation of nitrosamines when the bacon is fried at high heat. Nitrosamines are linked with cancer in some studies.

All I’m saying is don’t add More nitrites.

 

[jmusser]

Also the possibility of adding it into some future things in a grind form. I do a lot of venison thinks like brats, burg and sausage that I put ground bacon into. Just a thought on how to save if to salty in addition to recommendations above. Good luck, welcome to SMF and remember, mistakes are valuable if you learn from them. I learn lots!

 

[Mmmm Meat]

Pink salt is 6.25% nitrite and 93.75% pure salt. The nitrite follows the salt penetration into the meat. So it rides along with the salt. Exactly what the level of nitrite uptake is currently in the belly cannot be known, however the cure#1 you applied was at the rate of 156ppm the TQ you applied was another 120ppm total nitrate/nitrite. Total you have applied about 276ppm to the belly where only 156ppm are allowed for food safety.

Generally it’s excepted that nitrite travels into the meat at 1/4” per day. On belly because it is flat that’s 1/4 per side or 1/2” per day. At this point I would not apply more nitrite. Dry ribs are more powerful in curing than wet brines because of the concentration of salt on the meat. I would guess the nitrite in that belly is around 120ppm now. More than enough to do the job. All commercial bacon is pumped with pickle and they are limited to 120ppm because of the formation of nitrosamines when the bacon is fried at high heat. Nitrosamines are linked with cancer in some studies.

All I’m saying is don’t add More nitrites.

Great input. I value your knowledge in the curing process. I'll take your recommendation.
Thanks!

 

[daspyknows]

I have used the Pops brine recipe on here with the Prague powder. Both times the bacon was not salty. 2 week brine and about 8 hours smoking at 175-200. Only problem is it doesn't last long enough since friends want as much as I will share.

 

[smokeybo]

Use less kosher salt,
If you're using 1/2 cup try 1/3
If still too salty, after you cure it soak it in a ziplock bag of tap water for half an hour then do a test strip,
If still too salty change the water and wait another 30 mins,
After the 2nd or 3rd run you'll know the percentage of salt for pork belly that you like,
I don't use nearly as much as the standard "doggy" calculator says to use
I'd rather have sweeter than saltier

 

[Mmmm Meat]

Use less kosher salt,
If you're using 1/2 cup try 1/3
If still too salty, after you cure it soak it in a ziplock bag of tap water for half an hour then do a test strip,
If still too salty change the water and wait another 30 mins,
After the 2nd or 3rd run you'll know the percentage of salt for pork belly that you like,
I don't use nearly as much as the standard "doggy" calculator says to use
I'd rather have sweeter than saltier

Thanks for the input. I smoked the slabs today and have them in the fridge to cut tomorrow. I had to test it after about six hours in the fridge, so I cut off a couple of slices and fried them up. Incredible flavor, but still a bit too salty. Maple syrup bacon with Applewood smoke is incredible stuff!

 

[Braz]

There's no bad bacon. Some's just better than others.

 

[Mmmm Meat]

Happy ending to the story. The bacon did turn out fine. Though I thought it was a bit salty yesterday, several other samples revealed the salt was not way out of line at all. Coloration ranged from a bit too cured on some of the ends to a bit too light in color in the middle of the slabs. Frying left the meat low in color, I assume due to the lack of nitrites in those areas but all-in-all it turned out better than I had hoped for a first try. Thanks all again for your help and suggestions for future batches.

 

[SmokinEdge]

I wouldn’t turn it down. Looks good.

Since you are a new baconeer, try cutting smaller belly pieces like 2-2 1/2 pounds. Cure them with different ratios of salt/ sugar to find what you like and have yourself a recipe.

First convert meat weight to grams (454 grams per pound)
1lb = 454g
Salt @ 1.5%
454 x 0.015= 6.81g per pound.

sugar @ 1.0%
454 x 0.01= 4.54g per pound

cure #1
For 156ppm
1.1g per pound of meat.

mix together and rub on to all sides of the belly. I usually do this on a baking sheet to catch all of the cure that doesn’t stick to the meat. Then into a plastic ziploc bag along with whatever cure is in the pan. Remove air and seal. Refrigerate 1 day for every 1/4 inch of thickness plus 2 days. Turn daily.