Sugar Free Curing?

[atomicsmoke]

The fat content is a ruse, to divert attention from the possibility of users getting cancer, from using their product for bacon, when the USDA states "Nitrate is not allowed" when making bacon.... A slight-of-hand deal.... IMO....

Lol...imagine morton mentioning the C word in their warnings....it would be like a meat packer putting cholesterol warning on their pork butts.

 

[daveomak]

 

[mski2]

Please cite the article where you found the "600 degrees" to form nitrosamines..

pg 236 Marianski's book 600 deg., but Wade got the gov article from I'd go by that.
This is wearing me out, think Ill go cook some Bacon.
BTW does anyone have a dry cure for bacon without sugar just dextrose ?

 

[browneyesvictim]

That was an outstanding read Wade! Thank you for posting that. I feel a lot smarter now knowing the back story.

I am going to draw a couple of conclusions or take-aways from what I now know.

- I wont be using Tenderquick any longer for curing bacon because it has some cure #2 (Nitrate) in it. Don't need it anyway.
- I will continue to use Martins Nitrate-less tenderquick substitute I posted (post #44)
- I am likely going to start adding a nitrosamine inhibitor to this dry cure such as Sodium Erythorbate or Ascorbate as suggested by the USDA.
- Use of a nitrosamine inhibitor in a WET brine could be prohibitive.. however injection "Pumping" is looking more viable for me now.

 

[atomicsmoke]

That was an outstanding read Wade! Thank you for posting that. I feel a lot smarter now knowing the back story.

I am going to draw a couple of conclusions or take-aways from what I now know.

- I wont be using Tenderquick any longer for curing bacon because it has some cure #2 (Nitrate) in it. Don't need it anyway.
- I will continue to use Martins Nitrate-less tenderquick substitute I posted (post #44)
- I am likely going to start adding a nitrosamine inhibitor to this dry cure such as Sodium Erythorbate or Ascorbate as suggested by the USDA.
- Use of a nitrosamine inhibitor in a WET brine could be prohibitive.. however injection "Pumping" is looking more viable for me now.

I understand the inhibitors work by reducing the nitrite level. If you add the inhibitor when you start curing how do you know you will have enoug nitrite? Or is the inhibitor added when the meat is cured?

 

[browneyesvictim]

As I understand it, It doesn't reduce the nitrite level per-se. It inhibits the formation of Amines, or something like that.

"In May 1978, on the basis of USDA and industry data, USDA issued a final regulation, reducing the level of nitrite that could be used in curing bacon from 200 ppm to 120 ppm and requiring that the nitrite be used in combination with 550 ppm of sodium ascorbate or erythorbate."

"Today, USDA still enforces the levels required by the May 1978 regulation- 120 ppm of nitrite used with 550 ppm of sodium ascorbate or erythorbate.


EDIT: Just looked it up. (Sodium Erythorbate): "it increases the rate at which nitrite reduces to nitric oxide, thus facilitating a faster cure and retaining the pink coloring. As an antioxidant structurally related to vitamin C, it helps improve flavor stability and prevents the formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines"
​

 

[Bearcarver]

pg 236 Marianski's book 600 deg., but Wade got the gov article from I'd go by that.
This is wearing me out, think Ill go cook some Bacon.
BTW does anyone have a dry cure for bacon without sugar just dextrose ?

You had the right idea, but the wrong Temp.
The main thing is "Don't Burn your Bacon".
It really isn't hard to Not burn your Bacon.

Bear

 

[David Leopold]

I’m going to bring this thread back around to the original topic because i was just looking for this info.

Curing without sugar? My wife wants to cut sugar, like ALL sugar, and would love my bacon to be sugar free. So it’s not an issue to use a typical dry cure like Discos and just omit the brown sugar? Or add some sugar substitute if she wished?

On the topic of WHY it is added, I think it would also partly help the actual curing process. Maybe not so much in a small amount dry rub which is also using curing salt. But consider the non curing salt method, where you pack the belly in LOTS of salt and sugar. Like buried. Yes bacteria and bugs like sugar, but in high concentrations it actually kills germs. Honey for example is anti-bacterial. But I think in a dry rub it must just be for flavour.

 

[daveomak]

Sugars are used to cut the bitterness of the salt.. I add 1% sugar to my bacon... So, if you eat 100 grams of bacon for breakfast, (~1/5 #), you are getting ~1 grams of sugar... Plus what's in the meat naturally...

 

[David Leopold]

Probably not even 1g really. When you consider that you add that 1% sugar, but then some of it dissolves out into the liquids that get discarded when you pull the meat out of the curing bag or bucket. And then usually most people rinse and often soak in clean water for a bit. So a bit of that 1% is drawn back out. I just explained that to her and she seems not too worried about eating the bacon now:) especially when I showed her that one little pack of her sweetener has 3g of carbs itself anyway. Lol. We agreed that I will use the same recipe as before but I will just cut the sugar down a bit for her. Should turn out just fine.

 

[daveomak]

Holey Kow !!!! you have a wife that succumbs to reason... Very fortunate my NEW friend... You are #1 lucky dude !!!

 

[David Leopold]

Well, only because my homemade belly bacon won her over. Hahaha

 

[daveomak]

 

[jbchurchill]

Sugars are used to cut the bitterness of the salt.. I add 1% sugar to my bacon... So, if you eat 100 grams of bacon for breakfast, (~1/5 #), you are getting ~1 grams of sugar... Plus what's in the meat naturally...

i don't see bacon on the list...

 

[daveomak]

i don't see bacon on the list...

Bacon is not listed as a fruit....

....