Noobie bacon question

[frankdaz]

hey guys I'm new too this site and making bacon thought I had a handle on it but having trouble !! Sooooo I put 1 teaspoon of cure to 1/2 cup salt for 6 pounds of pork belly that I cut in to two pieces ! I was worried that the cure wasn't going to be evenly distributed so I added a bit of liquid to my ziplock bags ! Is that bad ? Also one of the chunks is really red the other looks like regular pork still is that normal ? It's only been one day . Sorry if this is a common question but I can't seam to find any info

 

[daveomak]

1/2 cup of salt , depending on the brand, is a LOT of salt...  3.3% to 5.9%...   1/4 cup would give you 1.6% to 3% salt...   I'd stick with the 1.6% + cure #1..  that will give you 1.85% salt...  pretty good....    Next batch I would weight out 2% salt and add the cure to it...   You don't have to worry about the cure getting distributed evenly..   thoroughly mix into your salt and sugar mix and go for it...    Adding the bit of liquid was GOOD insurance for even distribution..

Below chart shows why weighing out your salt is a good idea....        Dave

SALT varieties weight-volume.png

• daveomak
• Mar 8, 2017

 

[gary s]

  Good morning and welcome to the forum from a sunny and warm day here in East Texas, and the best site on the web.          Lots of great people with tons of information on just about everything.

        Gary

 

[warbirdog]

I'd recommend the Morton Tender quick home meat cure. I cup to 1 gallon water. for a brine cure. $ days in reefer. I just finished apple smoking one yester day and it is great.