Pork Belly Brine

[leafsfan]

Hello,

I am looking to make some bacon with some pork belly I purchased and was hoping someone could answer a few questions.

I am going to use Pops simple brine recipe, I am assuming if I follow his concentrations of water/cure it will be safe regardless of how much meat is being brined since the cure is diluted sufficiently by the water?  Or should the amount of brine used be calculated based on the weight of the pork belly?

Edit:  I found another thread from Pops that answers this question indicating that the cure/water ratio is important.  Brine to meat doesnt matter as long as there is enough to cover the meat.

Also Pops simple brine does not indicate distilled water is to be used, however online there seems to be a lot of recipes suggesting to use distilled.  Im sure there will be mixed opinions but is distilled water required?

Thanks in advance,
Dan

 

[SmokinAl]

I would use distilled water, or at the very least, purified water.

Al

 

[browneyesvictim]

Its only my opinion, but I believe it has to do with your water source.

- If you are on a municipal water supply there probably will be chlorine, organics and/or other impurities out of the tap. Even if you have a home filtration system or some other water filter it still may not remove all that it should. Have it tested or buy the test kits commercially available.

- If you are on a well- it depends on the quality of the underground supply. In- home water quality should be tested on a regular basis anyway to know what is present.

- "Purified" does not mean by just boiling the water.

- Filtering water with pitcher filters or inline cartridges is not a guarantee they are going to purify and remove all contaminates. You need very specific filters to remove some elements if they are present.

- A water softener is not the same as a filteration system!

- A Reverse Osmosis system would be a good option for purifying water if you had it.

- Gallon water jugs are cheap at just about any supermarket- distilled or purified.

IMHO- Unless you have a known exceptionally pure source of water your best bet will be to go buy some gallon jugs for making the brine. In fact they would be good to have around in case of emergencies anyway (ie power outages).

 

[wild west]

Hello,

I am looking to make some bacon with some pork belly I purchased and was hoping someone could answer a few questions.

I am going to use Pops simple brine recipe, I am assuming if I follow his concentrations of water/cure it will be safe regardless of how much meat is being brined since the cure is diluted sufficiently by the water?  Or should the amount of brine used be calculated based on the weight of the pork belly?

Edit:  I found another thread from Pops that answers this question indicating that the cure/water ratio is important.  Brine to meat doesnt matter as long as there is enough to cover the meat.

Also Pops simple brine does not indicate distilled water is to be used, however online there seems to be a lot of recipes suggesting to use distilled.  Im sure there will be mixed opinions but is distilled water required?

Thanks in advance,

Dan

my understanding is with pops brine you need to consider the weight of the water as well as the salt sugar and meat for a proper ppm of cure calculation

 

[leafsfan]

Thanks for the replies.

My water is municipal and is supposed to be good, however if distilled is what is recommend i will use it.  Its not like its expensive.

As for the brine, for my first time I plan on following Pops recipe exactly.  Sugar/Salt levels recommended.

 

[crankybuzzard]

 
Thanks for the replies.

My water is municipal and is supposed to be good, however if distilled is what is recommend i will use it.  Its not like its expensive.

As for the brine, for my first time I plan on following Pops recipe exactly.  Sugar/Salt levels recommended.

Most all, I said most all, municipalities will have water that is fine to cook with and will be ok for doing the brine you are looking at.  All of my brines, and I do a LOT each year, come right from the tap on the Richardson, TX water supply.

I agree with your thoughts on following Pop's recipe exactly for the first time.  Get your feet wet and then play with it some on the next batch.

 

[leafsfan]

Thanks, I went ahead with distilled water just to be sure.