Pops6927's Wet Curing Brine

[daveomak]

REMSR, morning.....   A few things have changed....   Folks died and no one knew what they died from....   Some salt had nitrites and nitrates already in it from mother nature...    There was no world wide media reporting the deaths...   there was no scientific community studying why folks died and what caused it...  

Back when, average life expectancy was......  see chart....  folks were dying from a myriad of things...   Fortunately today, cause and effect has lengthened our lives considerably...

Life Expectancy.jpg

• daveomak
• May 7, 2016

 

[atomicsmoke]

Main difference between now and back in the day is the quality of meat. Store bought meat today is likely contaminated when you buy it. The one you ate when you were a kid was likely clean. You knew where it came from. Skipping a few sanitation steps was not enough to turn the meat bad.

 

[remsr]

Yes I took all that into condition and remember well without checking that 65 was the average life expectancy. I was born in 1944 so I have seen a few things and yes I am sure people got sick and even died from many things that were not diagnosed back then and communication back then was only slightly better than smoke signals, so we weren't vary well informed. I come from a vary large family. My grand parents on my mothers side had 16 children. Grandma died at age 60 but grandpa lived to be 101. What I am wondering about is that I know how good was handled and prepared in our family and no one got sick or died from food poisoning. But now I am personal experienceing food poisoning, wthout herring about it on TV which is often. There is something else going on that wasn't going on in my day and that is what I would like every one to know. It seems the risk is much greater now, even though we have many modern ways of staying save in addition to out knowledge. I myself practice safe food prep and conditions and now that I know that boiling cure is not safe I will never boil it again and make sure everyone I know is informed.

 

[remsr]

That makes sense

 

[williemcd]

So perhaps 3 days of brining for cut belly?  It shouldn't take too long to penetrate would it?

 

[foamheart]

 
So perhaps 3 days of brining for cut belly?  It shouldn't take too long to penetrate would it?

Curing Times

“Curing times vary with meat, but generally overnight to 2-3 days for chickens and turkeys, 8-10 days buckboard bacon, 10-14 days belly bacon, pork shoulder, whole butts, 3-4 weeks whole hams, 10-20 days corned beef (fresh beef roasts, briskets, rolled rib roasts, etc.)   If whole muscle is more than 2" thick, then inject so it can cure i/o as well as o/i, and/or in and around bone structures, etc.”

 

[ozziehunter]

I just want to double check that i havent stuffed up here. I did a batch of venison jerky following pops recipe plus adding a few spices. I didnt weigh the meat as my scales broke and just put about 3 pounds of strips into the full gallon of water. Strips are about 1/4 inch thick some are thinner. Its been brining for 40 hours. Im i stiil ok or do i bin it. 

I thought the recipe didnt watter the meat to brine ratio but now after going through other posts on here im not sure.

cheers

brett

 

[daveomak]

 
I just want to double check that i havent stuffed up here. I did a batch of venison jerky following pops recipe plus adding a few spices. I didnt weigh the meat as my scales broke and just put about 3 pounds of strips into the full gallon of water. Strips are about 1/4 inch thick some are thinner. Its been brining for 40 hours. Im i stiil ok or do i bin it. 

I thought the recipe didnt watter the meat to brine ratio but now after going through other posts on here im not sure.

cheers

brett

You are fine if you added the 1 gallon ingredients.... FWIW...  Sugar is a huge molecule compared to salt...  the longer in the brine, the better for the sugar adsorption... Although the table below is for making sausage, the cure #1 rates apply to "most" meat curing products..... 1 TBS. of cure #1 ~ 15.6 grams of cure #1....  which will effectively cure ~14#'s of meat and water in a refrigerated brine...  The cure will be a little high but will be effectively reduced during the "cooking" process....  sooooo, there are no worries....

real simple curing brine:

 for every 1 gallon of water, add:

1/3 - 1 cup sea salt (depending if you're on a lo-salt diet)

1 cup granulated sugar or Splenda[emoji]174[/emoji]

1 cup brown sugar or Splenda[emoji]174[/emoji] brown sugar mix

1 tbsp cure no. 1 pink salt

Use as directed, more is not better and it can be toxic. To ensure that the cure is distributed more evenly in your sausage, mix it with the liquid that your recipe calls for, or mix it with the meat prior to grinding.

Use as follows:

Cure per pound of ground meat/fat:
U.S. Measurements

Amount of Meat/Fat	Amount of Cure
Vol.	Wt.
1 lb.	1/4 tsp.	.05 oz.
2 lbs.	3/8 tsp.	.08 oz.
3 lbs.	1/2 tsp.	.10 oz.
4 lbs.	3/4 tsp.	.15 oz.
5 lbs.	1 tsp.	.20 oz.
10 lbs.	2 tsp.	.40 oz.
15 lbs.	1 Tbsp.	.55 oz.
20 lbs.	1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp.	.80 oz.
25 lbs.	1 Tbsp. + 2 tsp.	1.00 oz.
50 lbs.	3 Tbsp. + 1 1/4 tsp.	2.00 oz.
100 lbs.	1/4 C. + 2 Tbsp. + 2 tsp.	4.00 oz.

tsp. = teaspoon; Tbsp.= Tablespoon; C. = cup.
oz.= ounce

Although cure #1 has salt in the mix, when using it in sausage making additional salt needs to be added.

 

[ozziehunter]

thankyou. but juts to clarify. With this brine. It doesn't matter how much meat i put into it as long as i stay under the 14 pound "limit" per gallon of brine. So it is no different for 1 pound of meat vs 12pounds of meat. 

Also does the ppm change depending on the thickness of the meat. And if so do i then need to adjust the amount of cure slightly. I should add that im still building my smoker so this is being done in an electric dehydrator

 

[daveomak]

Pops brine is safe for about anything that can be submerged in one gallon of water....

Since you are curious about curing, the "mathematical" steps to proper curing involve a grams scale and a pounds scale.... 

Sausage max. Ppm nitrite 156 .....  that number is also used when using a rub, that I call "dry brining"...  or in a wet brine...  or in an injection....

Weigh the meat, if using a brine, weigh the brine, when injecting, weigh the meat..

Ppm is based, in our case, on weights....  Converting to grams really helps to understand Ppm... 

If you have 1,000,000 grams of meat and add 1 gram of sodium nitrite, the meat has 1 Ppm nitrite in it...

If you have 1,000,000 grams of meat and water combined, and add 1 gram of sodium nitrite, after a considerable amount of time, the meat will contain 1 Ppm nitrite...  (The USDA does not differentiate the sodium content, if you add potassium nitrite the nitrite has a different calculation and the potassium is not differentiated)

There are several ways to calculate the proper amount of nitrite... 

#'s of meat X 0.25% = the amount of cure #1 for ~156 Ppm nitrite...

Grams of meat or meat + water brine X 0.000156 = amount of nitrite in grams to achieve a 156 Ppm concentration...   SINCE sodium nitrite is almost impossible to measure accurately, AND it is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS to have around, cure #1 was assembled for home users to use...   to convert grams of nitrite to grams of cure #1 for a proper amount to add to the meat, divide the grams nitrite by the % nitrite in the cure....  in this case, cure #1 is 6.25% nitrite...  sooooo.....8,563 grams of meat or meat + brine X 0.000156 = 1.34 grams of nitrite divided by 0.0625 (% nitrite in cure #1) = 21.4 grams of cure #1 would be the proper addition.

Finally, if needed, #'s of stuff X 1.1 grams per pound of cure #1 for a 156 Ppm mix....

If you need any assistance, or my tutorial was a bit confusing, PM me anytime and we can discuss curing.....   Dave

 

[wrestler75]

I forgot to add salt to my brine and I am on day 10 for my belly bacon.  I I did add pink curing salt but I just did not add the sea salt.  What should I do any recommendation?

 

[unclejhim]

I would add the salt now and extend the brine time.

 

[wrestler75]

Well I had dumped out the brine already and had it sitting in the fridge to smoke...........I decided to give the bacon a big coat of sea salt onion power garlic and pepper and let it sit over night.  I know there will be no equalization of salt in the meat.  After a late night of reading the forum the sea salt is flavoring and the cure is required.  My bacon will not be salty for the most part but will be cured and safe to smoke.  Am I right?  All your opinions matter........ 

 

[dr k]

Well I had dumped out the brine already and had it sitting in the fridge to smoke...........I decided to give the bacon a big coat of sea salt onion power garlic and pepper and let it sit over night.  I know there will be no equalization of salt in the meat.  After a late night of reading the forum the sea salt is flavoring and the cure is required.  My bacon will not be salty for the most part but will be cured and safe to smoke.  Am I right?  All your opinions matter........ 

I usually add one third cup of kosher salt to one gallon of Pops cure. The specific gravity of the dissolved sugars is still higher and more dense than the myoglobin in the muscle so it should still flow in over the time it was curing but maybe not as efficiently without added salt. I'm not sure about the heavy salt coating on the outside. I would brush off or rinse off and put in the fridge to form the pellicle for a day and see how turns out. Some of us do low salt cures so a no added salt other than pink salt that you added I'd think would be ok.
-Kurt

 

[wrestler75]

20160628_071553.jpg

• wrestler75
• Jun 28, 2016

Thanks Kurt....I had a nice pelicle formed after a nice rest in the fridge. I am 9 hours in a cold smoke in my MES with amazen filled with apple and hickory...

 

[dr k]

20160628_071553.jpg

• wrestler75
• Jun 28, 2016

Thanks Kurt....I had a nice pelicle formed after a nice rest in the fridge. I am 9 hours in a cold smoke in my MES with amazen filled with apple and hickory...

Let us know how well the cure penetrated and how it tastes with the salt free cure, and how the heavy salting on the outside worked for you.
-Kurt

 

[wrestler75]

 

[wrestler75]

20160628_195903.jpg

• wrestler75
• Jun 28, 2016

20160628_193042.jpg

• wrestler75
• Jun 28, 2016

Always wanted to make my own bacon...Brined a 20 lb. pork belly 12 days ago. Took it out yesterday and let it form a nice pelicle for today's 14 hour apple/hickory wood cold smoke. All I can say is I will never buy bacon again...The was amazing. I elected not to wash off salt in the outside. It was perfect....my wife and kids loved it as well. Will freeze a bit in the morning and slice and vaccum seal.

 

[dr k]

20160628_195903.jpg

• wrestler75
• Jun 28, 2016

20160628_193042.jpg

• wrestler75
• Jun 28, 2016

Always wanted to make my own bacon...Brined a 20 lb. pork belly 12 days ago. Took it out yesterday and let it form a nice pelicle for today's 14 hour apple/hickory wood cold smoke. All I can say is I will never buy bacon again...The was amazing. I elected not to wash off salt in the outside. It was perfect....my wife and kids loved it as well. Will freeze a bit in the morning and slice and vaccum seal.

I'm glad it turned out great. Looks like the salt free wet cure did its job.
-Kurt

 

[n4ynu]

 
real simple curing brine:

 for every 1 gallon of water, add:

1/3 - 1 cup sea salt (depending if you're on a lo-salt diet)

1 cup granulated sugar or Splenda[emoji]174[/emoji]

1 cup brown sugar or Splenda[emoji]174[/emoji] brown sugar mix

1 tbsp cure no. 1 pink salt

stir thoroughly until clear amber color, pour over meat, inject if necessary to cure from inside-out as well as outside-in

weight down with a partially filled 1 qt or 1 gal. ziploc bag or bags to keep meat immersed

Curing times vary with meat, but generally overnight to 2-3 days for chickens and turkeys, 8-10 days buckboard bacon, 10-14 days belly bacon, pork shoulder, whole butts, 3-4 weeks whole hams, 10-20 days corned beef (fresh beef roasts, briskets, rolled rib roasts, etc.)   If whole muscle is more than 2" thick, then inject so it can cure i/o as well as o/i, and/or in and around bone structures, etc.

You can add any other flavorings you'd like, this is just the basic curing brine. 1 heaping tablespoon of cure is about 1 ounce.  The maximum concentration allowed safely is 3.84 ounces per 1 gallon of brine (24 lbs.per 100 gallons: 16 oz. x 24 = 384 ounces, 1/100th is 3.84 ounces).  You can experiment with different concentrations as long as you keep it between those parameters:

I see you're using sea salt here, my question would be, are you using a coarse or fine sea salt, and I know you have spoken of this conversion or or I have read it from one of the many posts I have looked at, but, if yours is coarse, then would I scale back the max from say 1 cup to 2/3 cup, and then if I wanted less scale back from the 2/3 cup ?
If yours is fine then all is good, but I wanted to ask, trying to stick very close to your recipe here.

Thankyou Ahead of time Pops !

Newbie 

Guy

Guy