pink salt

[cleanbbqdave]

I decided to take a full brisket and put in a brine to make a pastrami.
I was following a recipe for the brine and it seem like he was putting a lot of pink salt in.
The pink salt bag says 1 tsp for 5lb of meat. Is this for dry brine or even for wet because i put in like 7 tsp for a gallon of water.
Appreciate any pointers from anyone.

I was using Chuds bbq recipe.

 

[SmokinEdge]

You are fine.
the 1tsp per 5 pounds is correct.
The standard brine around here is 1Tbs per gallon water. You are pretty close to same. And are safe.

 

[chef jimmyj]

1tsp for 5 pounds is for a Dry Rub or in Sausage. For Brine curing add 0.25% of the total weight of the Meat and Water. Pops Brine uses 1Tbs per Gallon water, other sources recommend 2Tbs. The amount you used is fine. But get yourself a Gram scale and go by weights for accuracy and repeatability...JJ

 

[cleanbbqdave]

1tsp for 5 pounds is for a Dry Rub or in Sausage. For Brine curing add 0.25% of the total weight of the Meat and Water. Pops Brine uses 1Tbs per Gallon water, other sources recommend 2Tbs. The amount you used is fine. But get yourself a Gram scale and go by weights for accuracy and repeatability...JJ

this is what chuds bbq says,
" Brine: 1 Gallon Water 350g salt 350 brown sugar 42g pink salt " that seems like alot?

 

[chef jimmyj]

That would add twice the amount of cure need in you were soaking a 10 pound Brisket in that brine. Total of about 0.5% cure. Not Toxic but not needed either...JJ

 

[chef jimmyj]

That would also be 4% Salt in the meat! THAT'S A SALT LICK NOT PASTRAMI!
You need to forget that recipe and anything else on the site!...JJ

 

[SmokinEdge]

this is what chuds bbq says,
" Brine: 1 Gallon Water 350g salt 350 brown sugar 42g pink salt " that seems like alot?

If we do an equilibrium brine,
Water weighs 8.33 pound per gallon so, let’s say you have a 15# packer brisket,
8.33 + 15 = 23.33 pounds convert that to grams,
23.33 x 454 = 10591.82g total meat and water.

So let’s do 2% salt and 2% sugar,
10591.82 x 0.02= 211.83 grams Salt.
Sugar same at 211.83 grams.
Cure #1 we would go 10591.82 x 0.0025 = 26.47g
This gives us 156ppm available.

There are also calculators for this that are plug and play.

 

[smokerjim]

i use pops brine which calls for 1 heaping tablespoon of cure, his brine is on the low end of recommended use. but it's easier for me rather then weighing everything, i determined (or was told) years ago that i'm not the sharpest knive in the drawer.

 

[cleanbbqdave]

If we do an equilibrium brine,
Water weighs 8.33 pound per gallon so, let’s say you have a 15# packer brisket,
8.33 + 15 = 23.33 pounds convert that to grams,
23.33 x 454 = 10591.82g total meat and water.

So let’s do 2% salt and 2% sugar,
10591.82 x 0.02= 211.83 grams Salt.
Sugar same at 211.83 grams.
Cure #1 we would go 10591.82 x 0.0025 = 26.47g
This gives us 156ppm available.

There are also calculators for this that are plug and play.

how long would you leave the in brine? Im thinking 10 days?
also i think i around that 26 grams, i did in tsp so idk forsure.

 

[SmokinEdge]

how long would you leave the in brine? Im thinking 10 days?
also i think i around that 26 grams, i did in tsp so idk forsure.

If you use equilibrium brine, 10 days would be minimum and I would lean towards 2 weeks. The nice thing about EQ curing is that even if you left it in brine for a full month, you would not be over salty or over cured. The meat comes to balance with the brine. That’s why we make the brine with the percentages we want to end up with in final product.

 

[cleanbbqdave]

If you use equilibrium brine, 10 days would be minimum and I would lean towards 2 weeks. The nice thing about EQ curing is that even if you left it in brine for a full month, you would not be over salty or over cured. The meat comes to balance with the brine. That’s why we make the brine with the percentages we want to end up with in final product.

i put my meat in yesterday, should i empty it out and do the eq brine? or just use the one i did already?
aka Brine: 1 Gallon Water 350g salt 350 brown sugar 42g pink salt " (i did a little less salt and like i said earlier around 7 tsp if cure salt)

 

[SmokinEdge]

i put my meat in yesterday, should i empty it out and do the eq brine? or just use the one i did already?
aka Brine: 1 Gallon Water 350g salt 350 brown sugar 42g pink salt " (i did a little less salt and like i said earlier around 7 tsp if cure salt)

You are fine with what you have from a safety stand point. Will be a bit on the salty side though.
Question, how much does the brisket weigh?

 

[Fueling Around]

I would increase the water to 2 gallons to get it closer to a Pop's brine concentration.

 

[cleanbbqdave]

You are fine with what you have from a safety stand point. Will be a bit on the salty side though.
Question, how much does the brisket weigh?

10lb, i do plan on soaking in water after brine to get some of the salt out. probably over night.

 

[SmokinEdge]

10lb, i do plan on soaking in water after brine to get some of the salt out. probably over night.

Probably be a good idea. To lower salt in meat it’s best to change water every couple hours. Over the course of a full day should help a bunch. I would pull it from the brine at 8-10 days.

 

[cleanbbqdave]

Probably be a good idea. To lower salt in meat it’s best to change water every couple hours. Over the course of a full day should help a bunch. I would pull it from the brine at 8-10 days.

thanks so much for your help. This is why this forum rocks!

 

[SmokinEdge]

I would increase the water to 2 gallons to get it closer to a Pop's brine concentration.

This would help for sure. Get the salt down to about 3% cure would still be ok as well.

 

[thirdeye]

7 teaspoons of Cure #1 is 2.375 tablespoons in 1 gallon of water. This is a little hotter than mid-range of the acceptable amount, so you are good. Using an 'equilibrium brine' gives you hands down, the most control over the amount of Cure #1 and the percentage of salt.

But.... brines like Pop's Brine are what I refer to as 'universal brine' because although you don't run through the equilibrium math each time, the amount of Cure #1 has proven to be adequate in a number of scenario's. If you visit with enough people familiar with curing.... the range Cure #1 in 1 gallon of water is from a heaping tablespoon to 3 tablespoons. You will see an upper limit around 4 tablespoons, but now parts-per-million come into play. The variables in a 'universal brine' are the salt amount and the aromatics you like.

13 days ago I mixed a wet corning brine for a chuck roast, and I used 1.5 tablespoons of Cure #1 in 1 gallon of water and beer. I did add plenty of additional corning spices. Tomorrow I'll use my pastrami rub and turn the corned beef into pastrami.

 

[chopsaw]

this is what chuds bbq says,

Call Chuds . Tell them it's over. You found somebody new .

 

[cleanbbqdave]

This would help for sure. Get the salt down to about 3% cure would still be ok as well.

i added roughly half gallon more, no more room for more.
Weird fact though this pick salt is 6.75 sodium nitrite compared to most at 6.25
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