Pops brine

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Nodak21

Meat Mopper
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Jul 24, 2018
280
262
Grand Forks ND
Hello. I want to cure a pork belly using pops bring. Do you add 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of brown sugar to the 1tablespoon and 3/4 cup salt and 1 gal water? Thanks for any help
 
I use it all the time . I like the low salt version . I just mixed some up today for a whole chicken .
Per the 1 gallon of water I use :
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 TBLS cure one
Optional - 1/2 tsp lemon extract . ( for poultry )

I used to use the original of 1 cup measures , but I found it to salty for me .
 
I’m with chopsaw chopsaw in that I use it all the time. I seem to always something in the brine. I’ve got 3 Easter hams soaking right now. But I’m a 3/4 Cup guy. The 1 cup is too salty and the low salt is a tad too low for us but it’s still really good and it works.
1 gallon of water with 10# meat with 1 cup salt (fine grain) with 1 Tbs of cure #1 would net about 3.5% salt. Up the meat weight and the salt % goes down, lower the meat weight and the the salt % goes up. It’s variable in a brine.

With 10# meat and 1 gallon water, the 1/2 cup salt would net real close to 1.75% salt. Much more palatable, but the curing process takes longer. Salt is the driver (horsepower) of curing. Higher salt = faster cure, lower salt = slower cure. Remember, change the meat weight and you change the salt %.
 
The greatest thing of Pop's brine us it's easy! All you have to do is find what you like...the low salt version or full strength version or something in between. Especially when you're a newbie and don't understand the whole curing thing and all the percentages. I know, I was one of them newbies!

Ryan
 
The greatest thing of Pop's brine is it's easy! All you have to do is find what you like...the low salt version or full strength version or something in between. Especially when you're a newbie and don't understand the whole curing thing and all the percentages. I know, I was one of them newbies!
Exactly .
 
I seem to always something in the brine.
Me too . We can't hardly eat chicken without it being in Pop's overnight .

I bought the briner buckets with the lock ring . Those things make it even easier if you have room for them .
 
I meant 1 tablespoon cure #1 pink salt. Thanks again


Nodak21 Nodak21 , morning.. There are 2 technical problems using Pops brine... Let me explain...

The USDA says, Ppm is how to add nitrite to any meat... Ppm is weight vs. weight... 150 grams of nitrite dissolved in 1,000,000 grams of water = 150 Ppm nitrite...

I did a test using my measuring spoons...
Teaspoons 001.jpg

There is a 25% difference in weight between these 2 teaspoons volume measure...

A gallon of water with the sugar and salt weighs ~10#...

The meat weight is an important part in determining the Ppm nitrite calculation to insure accurate additions...

If you add a 6# roast or a 10# roast to your bucket, there is a 20% difference in the total weight of the 2 buckets you will be adding nitrite... add in the 25% difference that could be present in the measuring spoons and the amount of nitrite added...

Sodium nitrite food poisoning in one family - PubMed (nih.gov)
Abstract
Sodium nitrite is used as a coloring agent or preservative in food, as well as an antimicrobial agent in meat and fish and some cheeses. In high amounts it can be toxic for humans, causing methemoglobinemia. This is an unusual and potentially fatal condition in which hemoglobin is oxidized to methemoglobin (MHb), reducing the amount of oxygen that is released from hemoglobin, similar to carbon monoxide poisoning. MHb levels of 70% are generally lethal, but the existence of underlying anemia, acidosis, respiratory compromise, and cardiac disease may exacerbate the toxicity of MHb. We present a case of poisoning with sodium nitrite in three family members after eating homemade sausages given to them by their neighbor who was a butcher. According to the findings of the veterinary inspectorate in charge of food control in this case, the concentration of sodium nitrite in the homemade sausages was about 3.5 g per 1 kg of meat, almost 30 times higher than allowed according to legislation. In this case report, a 70-year-old man died about 7 h after consuming the meal, while two women, 53 and 67 years of age, respectively, were admitted to a toxicology clinic the following day due to food poisoning, with the maximum concentration of MHb in blood of 33.7 and 20.4%, respectively. They were discharged 3 days later. The autopsy of the deceased man showed sodium nitrite poisoning with a relatively low concentration of MHb in his blood - 9.87%. Death was attributed to the exacerbation of hypertensive and ischemic heart disease, resulting from accidental sodium nitrite poisoning. The presented cases illustrate the necessity of close cooperation between the authorities, medical staff, veterinary inspectorate, and forensic pathologists in determining the source of poisoning, the cause of death of the victim, and preventing the outbreak of poisoning among a greater number of consumers.


Then there's the salt...
SALT varieties weight-volume.png


Depending on the brand of salt you use, there could be over a 100% error in the amount of salt added...


Please transition from volume measure to using weights...

You are responsible to insure quality when the food you prepare will feed others...


...
 
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