Pops6927's Wet Curing Brine

[wrestler75]

I used course sea salt on the top with garlic, brown sugar, onion powder, and pepper. In the brine I used fine sea salt. I always add less salt. I do not like my bacon to salty.

 

[wrestler75]

I made this recipe again and substituted slenda brown sugar for regular and added maple extract. The fry test was AMAZING....

 

[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:

Pops, 

I made a post already and it disappeared, probably something I failed to do, so going to try it again.

I see you're using Sea Salt here, my question being :
Is it fine or coarse ?
My comment regarding it would be if it is coarse, and I am using fine, would I scale the "1 cup" back to say 2/3 cup ?
If you are using a fine version then all is good, but I am trying to follow your recipe closely and would like to know.
I am getting my recipe in order for the trial runs that will commence in the next couple of weeks, very excited  :)
Thankyou ahead of time, I have heard so many speak of your recipe and have some great ideas already from all the good reads here on SMF!

Sincerely,
Virgin Briner/newbie to forum

Guy

 

[radioguy]

N4YNU,

You are correct about measuring the salt. I have used Pops brine with great results. I weigh all my dry ingredients to insure consistency. I use kosher or sea salt. Through tasting and trials I use 125g salt, 90g white sugar and 100g Brown sugar.

Good luck, nice to see another amateur radio op too!

RG

 

[n4ynu]

N4YNU,

You are correct about measuring the salt. I have used Pops brine with great results. I weigh all my dry ingredients to insure consistency. I use kosher or sea salt. Through tasting and trials I use 125g salt, 90g white sugar and 100g Brown sugar.

Good luck, nice to see another amateur radio op too!

RG

RG,

Thankyou for that, I sent Pops a PM as well, I will record your weights for the ingredients in my recipe text file, I am assuming by saying I was correct in my measuring that you were referring to the 2/3 cup fine in place of the 1 cup course, I am going to do like I have seen many do here, like you do, and convert my measurement to grams as opposed to cups and so on.

Thanks Again,

Guy

 

[TKOBBQ1]

OK I'm doing my first belly bacon with Pop's brine, I've read this tread in its entirety. But I'm still a little confused on some information that seems to contadict each other. I mixed 1 gallon of Pop's brine per the directions. Cut two bellies (approx 12lbs. each) into sizes that would fit in a 5 gallon bucket. Poured brine over bellies and weighted with a plate with water filled ziplock bag to keep them submersed. Is this correct? Some say in this thread that the brine is only good for 12lbs. of meat.

 

[unclejhim]

You should be good to go.

 

[n4ynu]

OK I'm doing my first belly bacon with Pop's brine, I've read this tread in its entirety. But I'm still a little confused on some information that seems to contadict each other. I mixed 1 gallon of Pop's brine per the directions. Cut two bellies (approx 12lbs. each) into sizes that would fit in a 5 gallon bucket. Poured brine over bellies and weighted with a plate with water filled ziplock bag to keep them submersed. Is this correct? Some say in this thread that the brine is only good for 12lbs. of meat.

I have seen the same here and there, I remember 15 lbs though LOL

From what I have learned regarding this Brining/Curing Recipe of Pop's is that the weight is no matter using this liquid brine recipe as long as the meat is covered and remains submerged, in other words the larger amount of meat, the more wet brine/cure you would need to cover it and then it would be compensated for, so the wet cure is a bit different, and Pop's Wet Curing recipe is designed for a longer soak to account for the lower concentration, as well it is supposed to produce a more tender and more tasty meat in the end.
If you have these stacked tight in there as your only using a gallon ? for all that meat, in my opinion you may want to separate the slabs, if they are stacked tight, the brine/cure should have access to most all the surface area of the slabs, if stacked then you would have issues with the even penetration of the cure and the brine in my opinion, so might want to set up meat in bucket to be sure you get maximum contact between the meat and liquid, this is the primary reason they suggest stirring, moving shaking etc, to reposition and make sure that all the meats surface is open to the cure penetrating all the meat, it would affect the brine as well, regularly stirring would most likely keep spice and seasoning mixed well to, and on a long cure every so many days would suffice or more often if able, shorter cure times, the frequency would increase.

So if it is stacked, stand the slabs up in the bucket and just mix another gallon or half a gallon to cover it.

All else fails and you want to hear it from a far more experienced person, just wait and I am sure one will chime in soon, or you can send Pop's a PM and he will surely reply, I have asked him a few questions I was unsure or confused about myself.

 

[daveomak]

OK I'm doing my first belly bacon with Pop's brine, I've read this tread in its entirety. But I'm still a little confused on some information that seems to contadict each other. I mixed 1 gallon of Pop's brine per the directions. Cut two bellies (approx 12lbs. each) into sizes that would fit in a 5 gallon bucket. Poured brine over bellies and weighted with a plate with water filled ziplock bag to keep them submersed. Is this correct? Some say in this thread that the brine is only good for 12lbs. of meat.

When curing meats...   Ppm nitrite is what cures the meat...    Ppm is calculated weight : weight....  156 Ppm is a general number for most stuff...    

To obtain 156 Ppm nitrite... 1 tsp. of cure #1 per every 5#'s of stuff will get you 156 Ppm nitrite....  

When doing a liquid brine, the weight of the water needs to be considered when figuring the Ppm nitrite....

Water weighs 8.35 #'s per gallon..

So if you have 2 each 12 # bellies and submerged them in 1 gallon of water.....  24#'s bellies and 8.35 #'s of water ~ 35#'s of stuff when you figure salt, sugar, cure etc.... 

Therefore, 7 tsp. cure #1 would be the safe / proper amount to add to the brine/cure...   OR   3       2  1/3 TBS. of cure #1...   my error....    Thanks Bear....

If I'm being too technical when it comes to curing, I apologize..  Just thought folks would like to know the correct way to make a curing brine...

 

[n4ynu]

 

OK I'm doing my first belly bacon with Pop's brine, I've read this tread in its entirety. But I'm still a little confused on some information that seems to contadict each other. I mixed 1 gallon of Pop's brine per the directions. Cut two bellies (approx 12lbs. each) into sizes that would fit in a 5 gallon bucket. Poured brine over bellies and weighted with a plate with water filled ziplock bag to keep them submersed. Is this correct? Some say in this thread that the brine is only good for 12lbs. of meat.

I have seen the same here and there, I remember 15 lbs though LOL

From what I have learned regarding this Brining/Curing Recipe of Pop's is that the weight is no matter using this liquid brine recipe as long as the meat is covered and remains submerged, in other words the larger amount of meat, the more wet brine/cure you would need to cover it and then it would be compensated for, so the wet cure is a bit different, and Pop's Wet Curing recipe is designed for a longer soak to account for the lower concentration, as well it is supposed to produce a more tender and more tasty meat in the end.
If you have these stacked tight in there as your only using a gallon ? for all that meat, in my opinion you may want to separate the slabs, if they are stacked tight, the brine/cure should have access to most all the surface area of the slabs, if stacked then you would have issues with the even penetration of the cure and the brine in my opinion, so might want to set up meat in bucket to be sure you get maximum contact between the meat and liquid, this is the primary reason they suggest stirring, moving shaking etc, to reposition and make sure that all the meats surface is open to the cure penetrating all the meat, it would affect the brine as well, regularly stirring would most likely keep spice and seasoning mixed well to, and on a long cure every so many days would suffice or more often if able, shorter cure times, the frequency would increase.

So if it is stacked, stand the slabs up in the bucket and just mix another gallon or half a gallon to cover it.

All else fails and you want to hear it from a far more experienced person, just wait and I am sure one will chime in soon, or you can send Pop's a PM and he will surely reply, I have asked him a few questions I was unsure or confused about myself.

Grabber,

If you have read Pop's Curing method, then you know that the amount of cure is less and is certainly safe, and it only applies to the water weight, not the meat weight, there is a lot of discussion regarding this, but, he used this recipe and wet brining method for a business and produced meats for sale and no one ever had issues, not to mention his recipe and method was State and Federally inspected and approved, he went through regular inspections.

If you have read that thread then you know all this, so stick to the recipe and you will have safe success and better tasting meat, if you are dry rub/curing then the game changes and you have to account for all the weight, not so with this recipe and method, more cure is not better for the meat and less cure with longer curing time as stated makes for tastier and more tender meat.

Just be careful that the meat is not stacked preventing brine/cure from having open contact to as much of the meat as possible, and try and move it as stated to make sure it all has exposure to the liquid equally if not constantly.

Many people are using this recipe and curing / brining according to it, this is why I decided to use it, for the results and for the safety, and in my opinion the simplicity, if the meat is not covered then make enough accordingly to cover meat and you are good, just make sure you pay attention to the curing times for Pop's recipe, otherwise the meat will not be cured thru and thru, and if it is over 2" thick then inject, if you follow the recipe to the letter then you will be safe and have better tasting and more tender meat, there are hundreds if not thousands using this same recipe with fantastic results as Pop had for his business all those years being inspected by the food police hehehe

You can still add spices if you need to after the brine/cure prior to cold smoking or slow cooking/smoking if you choose to, that is personal preference  

 

Follow the recipe and you are good, just mix the specified amount of cure with each gallon of water, make sure it stays submerged and not stacked where liquid cannot contact meat and you will be golden !
That is why it is so wonderful, it is silly simple ! 

 

[Bearcarver]

 
When curing meats...   Ppm nitrite is what cures the meat...    Ppm is calculated weight : weight....  156 Ppm is a general number for most stuff...    

To obtain 156 Ppm nitrite... 1 tsp. of cure #1 per every 5#'s of stuff will get you 156 Ppm nitrite....  

When doing a liquid brine, the weight of the water needs to be considered when figuring the Ppm nitrite....

Water weighs 8.35 #'s per gallon..

So if you have 2 each 12 # bellies and submerged them in 1 gallon of water.....  24#'s bellies and 8.35 #'s of water ~ 35#'s of stuff when you figure salt, sugar, cure etc.... 

Therefore, 7 tsp. cure #1 would be the safe / proper amount to add to the brine/cure...   OR 3 1/3 TBS. of cure #1...

I thought 1 TBS = 3 tsp.

Bear

 

[n4ynu]

If you have read Pop's Curing method, then you know that the amount of cure is less and is certainly safe, and it only applies to the water weight, not the meat weight, there is a lot of discussion regarding this, but, he used this recipe and wet brining method for a business and produced meats for sale and no one ever had issues, not to mention his recipe and method was State and Federally inspected and approved, he went through regular inspections.

If you have read that thread then you know all this 

 

 

OK I'm doing my first belly bacon with Pop's brine, I've read this tread in its entirety. But I'm still a little confused on some information that seems to contadict each other. I mixed 1 gallon of Pop's brine per the directions. Cut two bellies (approx 12lbs. each) into sizes that would fit in a 5 gallon bucket. Poured brine over bellies and weighted with a plate with water filled ziplock bag to keep them submersed. Is this correct? Some say in this thread that the brine is only good for 12lbs. of meat.

I have seen the same here and there, I remember 15 lbs though LOL

From what I have learned regarding this Brining/Curing Recipe of Pop's is that the weight is no matter using this liquid brine recipe as long as the meat is covered and remains submerged, in other words the larger amount of meat, the more wet brine/cure you would need to cover it and then it would be compensated for, so the wet cure is a bit different, and Pop's Wet Curing recipe is designed for a longer soak to account for the lower concentration, as well it is supposed to produce a more tender and more tasty meat in the end.
If you have these stacked tight in there as your only using a gallon ? for all that meat, in my opinion you may want to separate the slabs, if they are stacked tight, the brine/cure should have access to most all the surface area of the slabs, if stacked then you would have issues with the even penetration of the cure and the brine in my opinion, so might want to set up meat in bucket to be sure you get maximum contact between the meat and liquid, this is the primary reason they suggest stirring, moving shaking etc, to reposition and make sure that all the meats surface is open to the cure penetrating all the meat, it would affect the brine as well, regularly stirring would most likely keep spice and seasoning mixed well to, and on a long cure every so many days would suffice or more often if able, shorter cure times, the frequency would increase.

So if it is stacked, stand the slabs up in the bucket and just mix another gallon or half a gallon to cover it.

All else fails and you want to hear it from a far more experienced person, just wait and I am sure one will chime in soon, or you can send Pop's a PM and he will surely reply, I have asked him a few questions I was unsure or confused about myself.

Grabber,

If you have read Pop's Curing method, then you know that the amount of cure is less and is certainly safe, and it only applies to the water weight, not the meat weight, there is a lot of discussion regarding this, but, he used this recipe and wet brining method for a business and produced meats for sale and no one ever had issues, not to mention his recipe and method was State and Federally inspected and approved, he went through regular inspections.

If you have read that thread then you know all this, so stick to the recipe and you will have safe success and better tasting meat, if you are dry rub/curing then the game changes and you have to account for all the weight, not so with this recipe and method, more cure is not better for the meat and less cure with longer curing time as stated makes for tastier and more tender meat.

Just be careful that the meat is not stacked preventing brine/cure from having open contact to as much of the meat as possible, and try and move it as stated to make sure it all has exposure to the liquid equally if not constantly.

Many people are using this recipe and curing / brining according to it, this is why I decided to use it, for the results and for the safety, and in my opinion the simplicity, if the meat is not covered then make enough accordingly to cover meat and you are good, just make sure you pay attention to the curing times for Pop's recipe, otherwise the meat will not be cured thru and thru, and if it is over 2" thick then inject, if you follow the recipe to the letter then you will be safe and have better tasting and more tender meat, there are hundreds if not thousands using this same recipe with fantastic results as Pop had for his business all those years being inspected by the food police hehehe

You can still add spices if you need to after the brine/cure prior to cold smoking or slow cooking/smoking if you choose to, that is personal preference  

 

Follow the recipe and you are good, just mix the specified amount of cure with each gallon of water, make sure it stays submerged and not stacked where liquid cannot contact meat and you will be golden !
That is why it is so wonderful, it is silly simple ! 

Grabber

Stick to the recipe  

 

Pops6927's Wet Curing Brine

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

It works and has worked and the Food Inspectors approved it, and it is still working for thousands.

Here is the question from the Thread :

• biteme7951
• 
•  
• offline

• 207 Posts. Joined 3/2010
• Location: Michigan
• Points: 11

Pops,

Is there a general guideline as to the ratio of meat to brine??  I want to make sure that I have mixed enough brine, but don't want to mix up way more than I need either.

Thanks for all your posts...they have helped me a lot!!!

Barry.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Smokin Al's Reply XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And here is a Pasted answer from Al first and then Pop's on the subject :
 

• SmokinAl
• OTBS & Premier member
• 
•  
• offline

• 23,236 Posts. Joined 6/2009
• Location: Central Florida (Sebring)
• Points: 1175

There is no ratio, you just have to use enough to completely submerge the meat. The only ratio is cure to water . If you can cover the meat with 1 gallon, then you only need enough cure for 1 gallon.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX And POPS Reply XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

• 
  

• Pops6927
• OTBS, SMF Premier Member, Resident Meathead, Trusted Authority
• 
•  
• offline

• 5,789 Posts. Joined 7/2008
• Location: Fort Worth, Tx.
• Points: 192

SmokinAl is 100% correct; mix up one gallon, if that's not enough mix up either a half or another whole gallon as needed.  I just did two 4lb. fryers in a 5 gal. bucket and used two gallons, one didn't cover them sufficiently, you want to use that general concept for an indicator.

A little salt and sugar, a bit of cure and a gallon of water makes magic in a bucket!

Pops §§  

 




That should take care of the issue for you Grabber, two very experienced people, of which, one was the user of the recipe in a family business that sold meats to people every day, case closed 

 

 

[TKOBBQ1]

Thanks all, I'll continue with my current batch.

 

[n4ynu]

Thanks all, I'll continue with my current batch.

Can't wait to hear the results !

I have not done any Bacon yet, and me and the Wife LOVE Bacon  

 

[n4ynu]

 

 
When curing meats...   Ppm nitrite is what cures the meat...    Ppm is calculated weight : weight....  156 Ppm is a general number for most stuff...    

To obtain 156 Ppm nitrite... 1 tsp. of cure #1 per every 5#'s of stuff will get you 156 Ppm nitrite....  

When doing a liquid brine, the weight of the water needs to be considered when figuring the Ppm nitrite....

Water weighs 8.35 #'s per gallon..

So if you have 2 each 12 # bellies and submerged them in 1 gallon of water.....  24#'s bellies and 8.35 #'s of water ~ 35#'s of stuff when you figure salt, sugar, cure etc.... 

Therefore, 7 tsp. cure #1 would be the safe / proper amount to add to the brine/cure...   OR 3 1/3 TBS. of cure #1...

I thought 1 TBS = 3 tsp.

Bear

Bear is on point  

 

[n4ynu]

 

OK I'm doing my first belly bacon with Pop's brine, I've read this tread in its entirety. But I'm still a little confused on some information that seems to contadict each other. I mixed 1 gallon of Pop's brine per the directions. Cut two bellies (approx 12lbs. each) into sizes that would fit in a 5 gallon bucket. Poured brine over bellies and weighted with a plate with water filled ziplock bag to keep them submersed. Is this correct? Some say in this thread that the brine is only good for 12lbs. of meat.

When curing meats...   Ppm nitrite is what cures the meat...    Ppm is calculated weight : weight....  156 Ppm is a general number for most stuff...    

To obtain 156 Ppm nitrite... 1 tsp. of cure #1 per every 5#'s of stuff will get you 156 Ppm nitrite....  

When doing a liquid brine, the weight of the water needs to be considered when figuring the Ppm nitrite....

Water weighs 8.35 #'s per gallon..

So if you have 2 each 12 # bellies and submerged them in 1 gallon of water.....  24#'s bellies and 8.35 #'s of water ~ 35#'s of stuff when you figure salt, sugar, cure etc.... 

Therefore, 7 tsp. cure #1 would be the safe / proper amount to add to the brine/cure...   OR   3       2  1/3 TBS. of cure #1...   my error....    Thanks Bear....

If I'm being too technical when it comes to curing, I apologize..  Just thought folks would like to know the correct way to make a curing brine...

Dave,

I like the math lessons, seriously, I am preparing to convert all my measurements to weight, I read your posts on the measurements, and others of course as well, but I appreciate the math and figures, it is helping me get all this mess in my head in order and re-acclimated, I have dealt with figures and math my whole life but never cooking ingredients, I mean I know what a TBS is and so on, but not all this per pound, per gallon and conversions from 1 TBS and how many TSP it is and so on and on, so no offense here Sir, your posts help me a lot ! 

 

[n4ynu]

N4YNU,

You are correct about measuring the salt. I have used Pops brine with great results. I weigh all my dry ingredients to insure consistency. I use kosher or sea salt. Through tasting and trials I use 125g salt, 90g white sugar and 100g Brown sugar.

Good luck, nice to see another amateur radio op too!

RG

RG

I am pleasantly surprised to find more than a few of us in here, pretty cool, I am getting ready here soon to set my equipment back up in the house, we have been renovating, so equipment got stashed until clean air is secure LOL 

73's 

 

[n4ynu]

I made this recipe again and substituted slenda brown sugar for regular and added maple extract. The fry test was AMAZING....[GALLERY="media, 482284"][/GALLERY][/quote]
That looks very very tasty, cannot wait to do some Bacon !  [img]https://statich.smokingmeatforums.com/smilies/yahoo.gif

 

[smoking4fun]

So after reading through all 19 pages (so far) of this thread, I have a question on the addition of "other" add-ons, such as garlic/onion/spices...and I apologize if it was already covered, I may have formulated the question AFTER I read the part of the thread that addressed this...if I want some spice added to the brine, should I add powdered pepper (such as powdered cayenne/anch/etc.) or fresh garlic/fresh onion/fresh peppers?  Or does it matter whether it is powered or fresh?

 

[crankybuzzard]

 
So after reading through all 19 pages (so far) of this thread, I have a question on the addition of "other" add-ons, such as garlic/onion/spices...and I apologize if it was already covered, I may have formulated the question AFTER I read the part of the thread that addressed this...if I want some spice added to the brine, should I add powdered pepper (such as powdered cayenne/anch/etc.) or fresh garlic/fresh onion/fresh peppers?  Or does it matter whether it is powered or fresh?

I use fresh herbs, crushed garlic, and crushed peppercorns quite often in this brine.