Rytek's recipe and Cure #1

[graystratcat]

I've been making smoked jerky now for more years than I care to admit and through the years have tweaked my favorite recipe to exactly how I like it, but it was originally based on Rytek's recipe from his 'Revised Edition' which I believe came out after revision 1.  Well, today, I went back to Rytek's book to take a look at his base recipe - I haven't looked at his original recipe in quite some time -  and I was kind of surprised by what I found, thus the reason I'm posting this inquiry to all my learned smokin' brethren.

Following is his recipe for jerky.  Note, he mentions air drying it instead of smoking it, but I'm not sure if that would have any bearing with my conundrum.....

For 3 pounds of beef or venison:

1 TBS Salt

1 level TSP Prague Powder #1 (i.e., cure #1)

1 TSP OP

1 TSP GP

1 TSP CBP

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

It's line 2 of the recipe that got me.  1 TSP of cure #1 for 3 pounds of meat?  Now I always follow manufacturer's directions as to cure....so tell me all.... is this a safe level of cure #1 as specified in the recipe for 3 pounds of meat when compared to the golden rule of 1 level TSP per 5 pounds of meat?  If so, please help me with that math as to PPM's.....

Also, if someone has a later edition of the book, would they mind checking to see if this recipe has changed based on the amount of either meat or cure #1?

Signed

Confused in Nitriteville.....

 

[daveomak]

Salt, morning.... I was looking up Jerky in my Rytek book and it ain't there... too old a book I guess...   Then I went to Susan Minor's site and I think you are using the cure amounts for Ground Meat in your whole meat recipe....

I don't think jerky is considered ground meat....

I am headed to the cure section for whole meats and will report back.....  Dave

Back.... I'm confused....  In Omak..... Now everyone knows as much as I do...  Can you scan Rytek's book for us to look at ???

++++++++++++++

It's line 2 of the recipe that got me.  1 TSP of cure #1 for 3 pounds of meat?  Now I always follow manufacturer's directions as to cure....so tell me all.... is this a safe level of cure #1 as specified in the recipe for 3 pounds of meat when compared to the golden rule of 1 level TSP per 5 pounds of meat?  If so, please help me with that math as to PPM's.....

Use as follows:

Cure per pound of ground meat/fat:

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.	.60 oz.
20 lbs.	1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp.	.80 oz.
25 lbs.	1 Tbsp. + 2 tsp.	1.00 oz.
50 lbs.	3 Tbsp. + 1 tsp.	2.00 oz.
100 lbs.	6 Tbsp. + 2 tsp.	4.00 oz.

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

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WedlinyDomowe
[h2]How to Apply Cures[/h2]
Well, there are two approaches:

• Like an amateur - collecting hundreds of recipes and relying blindly on each of them. You lose a recipe and you don’t know what to do. And how do you know they contain the right amount of cure?
• Like a professional - taking matters in your own hands and applying cures according to the USA Government requirements.

In case you want to be the professional, we are enclosing some useful data which is based on the U.S. standards. Comminuted products - small meat pieces, meat for sausages, ground meat, poultry etc. Cure #1 was developed in such a way that if we add 4 ounces of Cure #1 to 100 pounds of meat, the quantity of nitrite added to meat will conform to the legal limits (156 ppm) permitted by the Meat Division of the United States Department of Agriculture.

That corresponds to 1 oz. (28.35 g) of Cure #1 for each 25 lbs. (11.33 kg) of meat or 0.2 oz. (5.66 g) per 5 lbs. (2.26 kg) of meat.

Comminuted Meat (Sausages)	Cure #1 in ounces	Cure #1 in grams	Cure #1 in teaspoons
25 lbs.	1	28.35	5
5 lbs.	0.2	5.66	1
1 lb.	0.04	1.1	1/5
1 kg	0.08	2.5	1/2

Cured dry products - country ham, country style pork shoulder, prosciutto, etc. These products are prepared from a single piece of meat and the curing ingredients are rubbed into the surface of the meat several times during the curing period. Nitrite is applied to the surface of the meat or poultry as part of a cure mixture. If you look at the FSIS nitrite limits table on page 36 you will see that the maximum nitrite limit for Dry Cured Products (625 ppm) is four times higher than for Comminuted Products (156 ppm).

To cure meat for sausages (comminuted) and to stay within 156 ppm nitrite limit we have to apply no more than 1 oz of Cure #1 for each 25 lbs of meat. To dry cure 25 lbs of pork butts and to stay within 625 nitrite limits we need 4 times more of Cure #1, in our case 4 ounces. Keep in mind that when you add Cure #1 (there is 93.75% salt in it) you are adding extra salt to your meat and you may re-adjust your recipe.

Meat for Dry Curing	Cure #1 in ounces	Cure #1 in grams	Cure #1 in teaspoons
25 lbs.	4	113.4	20
5 lbs.	0.8	22.64	4
1 lb.	0.16	4.4	3/4
1 kg	0.35	10.0	1.5

The reason that there are much higher allowable nitrite limits for dry cured products is that nitrite dissipates rapidly in time and the dry cured products are air dried for a long time. Those higher limits guarantee a steady supply of nitrite.

 

[rbranstner]

It should be 1 tsp per 5 lbs of meat like Dave mentioned. I didn't know that ground meat and whole meat were possible getting different amounts of cure. As far as I understood it they were all the same.????

 

[BGKYSmoker]

I use 1 tsp per every 5 lbs of meat regardless if strip or ground. 5 lbs is 5 lbs, 25 lbs is 25 lbs and so on.

 

[rbranstner]

I use 1 tsp per every 5 lbs of meat regardless if strip or ground. 5 lbs is 5 lbs, 25 lbs is 25 lbs and so on.

Thanks for confirming that.

 

[graystratcat]

Dave, thanks for the research.  Just for clarity as to what I'm actually using, I stick with the 1 level tsp of cure #1 per 5 pounds of meat guideline.   And you're correct, I am making whole muscle jerky.  As for your Rytek book not having a jerky recipe, am I correct in assuming you have version 1 of the book (hence your reference to 'too old I guess')?  I'm pretty sure my 'Revised Edition' is the first release AFTER edition one, so mine is pretty old too.

The reason I posted this was to query the rest of ya'll as to your thoughts about his recipe and amount of cure.  As I mentioned above, I was kind of surprised when I went back to his book since I've been using my own recipe for so long...and I use the 1 tsp per 5 pounds of meat ratio.....

-Salt

 

[smokinhusker]

I thought they were all the same. 

 

[daveomak]

Salt, I posted what the "authority" recommends... That is the maximum allowable.... After thinking about your situation with strips of jerky, penetration of the cure would be almost instantanious...

The drying time would be very short and the dissipation of nitrites would be minimal... So, you and Rytek are right...

I believe the "steady supply" is for curing for up to 14 days....

The reason that there are much higher allowable nitrite limits for dry cured products is that nitrite dissipates rapidly in time and the dry cured products are air dried for a long time. Those higher limits guarantee a steady supply of nitrite.

Sorry for any confusion.... I do not want to start another "discussion" on cures... just trying to answer a question using examples from the experts.... Dave

 

[diggingdogfarm]

The jerky in that recipes isn't 'dry' cured, it's cured in what amounts to a marinade.
Marinated for approximately 24 hours, then dried for 3-4 hours at 145-150 degrees.
The high level of cure isn't necessary (or a good idea) in that recipe.

The original recipe.....
http://www.sausagemaker.com/beeforvenisonjerky.aspx

 

[big casino]

If you read the above chart you can think of it as dry curing, it definitely is not ground meat,  it's the amount of residual nitrite that is important not that amount you use in the recipe, as Dave mentioned the nitrite dissipates quickly

I just recently had a discussion about he amount of nitrite in ryteks dry cured bacon, I even called the sausage maker and asked questions, you can do that about any recipe

oh and I have the revised addition of ryteks book 2008, same recipe

 

[diggingdogfarm]

The thin slicing and large surface area makes it more akin to ground meat than whole cuts.
Do as you wish, but that much nitrite isn't necessary.

 

[DanMcG]

If you call it a dry cure then you're allowed 625ppm and the tsp per 3 pounds equals 275ppm

If you figure it as an immersion cure you'd need to know the weight of the brine and the meat. (Using method #2) Since the majority of it is water based sauces lets figure it's equal to water weight. plus a little more or about .303 Lb. and the weight of the meat which is 3 lbs. or 3.3+/- pounds total.
That works out to 250ppm, and you're allowed 200ppm in an immersion brine.

 

[big casino]

let see if I did this right...LOL

1tsp=4grams 4x.0625=.25 nitrite

1 lb = .454 grams x 3 =1362

.25/ 1362=.000184

.000184 x 1,000,000 184ppm

I would impress myself if this is correct

some one please check this out

 

[DanMcG]

let see if I did this right...LOL



1tsp=4grams 4x.0625=.25 nitrite


1 lb = .454 grams x 3 =1362


.25/ 1362=.000184


.000184 x 1,000,000 184ppm




I would impress myself if this is correct



some one please check this out

Isn't a Tsp of #1 6 grams?

LOL that .0625 looks funny :ROTF (inside joke)
You math is right as you posted it Big C

 

[big casino]

Well I didn't run over and check my cure#1  I just searched how many grams were in a tsp and it said roughly 4 grams

 

[DanMcG]

who said?
Sorry I was editing while you were posting

 

[big casino]

Dan I owe all that math to you, because of our conversation also I was looking up how to do the formula and I found some posts on another forum on a thread that had been started by you...LOL

Thanks Sense!

oh and by the way here is the source

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_teaspoons_in_a_gram

 

[DanMcG]

So sorry grasshopper :biggrin:. but your link doesn't say what they're weighing. A teaspoon of feathers weighs less then a teaspoon of lead.

Just saying :sausage:

 

[big casino]

LOL but what weighs more a lb of feathers or a lb of lead?

 

[sausageboy]

Deleted by SausageBoy!