pounds of belly per gallon of Pop's brine?

[cueinco]

I've searched through the forums and read lots of the posts about Pop's brine and bacon. I'm assuming this question has been asked before but I'll be darned if I can find it. 

How many pounds of pork belly can I reasonably expect to brine in a gallon of Pop's brine? I've read posts about folks using 5 pounds per gallon so I'm assuming that'll work fine. 

I brined a bunch of pork loin in about 3 quarts of Pop's but it didn't come out very pink. I now suspect that it was due to my adding the cure #1 to boiling water, sugar, and salt. I then cooled the mixture with ice. I now know not to do that. One post stated that cure#1 should not be heated. So, reading all those old posts did set me straight on one problem.  

Thanks for the help. 

 

[chef jimmyj]

The last Belly I brined was 11 pound cut in three pieces. I put each in a large zip top bag and devided the brine among them...JJ

 

[bmaddox]

Since Pop's brine works through establishing an equilibrium I don't think there is a max capacity. It should come down to the size of the container you are using and ensuring that everything is properly covered. 

Hopefully @Pops6927  will stop by and answer. 

 

[daveomak]

1 TBS. = 3 tsp. ... theoretically will cure 15# of stuff... that 15#'s is meat and water to obtain a desired amount of nitrite.... give or take.... I think Pops recommends a heaping TBS but I could be mistaken... sooooo, that could be 20#'s of stuff if it is 1 1/3 TBS....

 

[cueinco]

Thanks Jimmy for providing an answer based on experience. Thanks Dave for providing the rationale. My take on both your answers is that somewhere between 10 and 15 pounds per gallon is going to work and that 20 pounds of meat per gallon is probably pushing it. 

I picked up my pork belling this morning at Costco so I'm off to go get the process started. Thanks again for taking the time to respond....Greg

 

[driedstick]

I am going to be watching this,,, As I want to do a belly and was wondering the same thing,,,I guess as long as everything is covered with brine it would be good?? 

DS
 

 

[bmaddox]

 
I am going to be watching this,,, As I want to do a belly and was wondering the same thing,,,I guess as long as everything is covered with brine it would be good?? 

DS
 

That was always my thought process. You can only submerge so much meat in a gallon of brine before parts are out of the brine. I have done 10 pounds of ham in pops brine and that was all I could fit without making more brine.