Pops6927,
I'm posting this, not only to give your thread another bump, but because I think it is something newcomers like myself, can benefit from & use.
Now my personal questions: (I think I may have asked some of these in another thread, but can't find it right now.)
1. Will this brine work on "any" whole meat? beef, lamb, pork, fish, poultry? (I understand cure will make pork and poultry hammy tasting) Yes
2. Will it work for drying meats like jerky, and dried beef hunks? Wife loves SOS, but I hate all the salt, from the jarred stuff she buys. See my sig line for dried beef; you can reduce the salt if you are salt-sensitive to as low as ¼ cup per gallon of brine vs. 2 cups. Make sure you smoke to about 175° to get firmness in the meat for slicing thin.
This next question is very important to me!
3. Do I have this right? As long as the curing brine is made with 1 TBSP per gal of water, and then, as long as meat is fully covered, it will work. Say, I mix a gal of your recipe, but only use a pint of it, in a small Ziplock bag with some jerky strips. The jerky will still brined safe and sound, the same as if I had used the whole gal? Yes, the whole thing is concentration within a given volume; once concocted, changing the volume does not change the concentration.
4. Is that TBSP a "Heaping tbsp." or level tbsp? You mentioned that a heaping tbsp. equals about an ounce, but your recipe only said a tbsp. Yes, a level tablespoon (tbsp) measures out to .85 oz. on my scale; a "heaping" tbsp measures out to 1 oz approx. The maximum concentration is achieved at 3.84 oz. per gallon, so you can see that I use far less; only enough to do the job. You soak a little longer with a milder brine and the meat is more tender and less tinny taste.
5. I see that your recipe says "up to" 3 + tbsp. is safe for one gal water. If I wanted a more shelf stable, or longer product, then I should use more than I tbsp? And if it was something to be consume rather quickly within a couple of weeks, then only one? All brined meats should require refrigeration at a minimum, and freezing if longer than 14 days. Dry cured and long-smoked meats can be kept longer at room temp for more shelf stability, but this is an entirely different process - the long smoking times add preservatives to the meat itself from the smoke, drying and preserving it (the smoke ring effect).
6. I know you put a few times in your original post, of times, but wondered if you could expand on the time to brine various meats to be safe a bit more?
7. I have heard a tiny bit about you, and your Dad's store. I love and respect family history's, and love seeing how things were done in the past. I also love old photo's of the same. When you have time, could you please PM me and send some links & photo's, of your past with your dad, that I could enjoy? I'd appreciate that immensely Pops!
Thank you so much for your time, and contributions to the site, to benefit others.
Humbly your student,