TOO MUCH PINK SALT

[amosleis]

I screwed up and read a recipe wrong and used too much pink salt for a wet brine on a ham. I used 6 tbsp of pink salt for a 10 lb ham. mixed it with 2 gallons of water 2 cups of salt and 3 cups of brown sugar. it has been sitting in the brine for about 5 days now. I was planning to smoke it after 7 days. Is the meat safe to eat or should i toss it and start over.

 

[tallbm]

Hmmmm DaveOmak will likely have some good direction for you. As of now I wouldn't smoke it. Too much of that stuff can be VERY baaaaaaaaad!

 

[amosleis]

this is the recipe i followed

 

[amosleis]

instead of using LEM product i used standard pink salt from the store.

 

[atomicsmoke]

Pop's says that maximum safe quantity in his brine (used by many here) is 3.84oz/gallon. If your tbsp were not heaping you probably used around 4oz for 2 gallons so you are within the safe limits pop posted.
Personally i use as little as I can of that stuff (about 1/5 of what you used).
I don't think this amount of nitrite will cause any immediate problem.

 

[Rings Я Us]

There are recipes that use 8 Tbsp in less than 2 gallons.. some recipes heat this liquid to desolve the stuff though. Not sure if it's same .

 

[motocrash]

instead of using LEM product i used standard pink salt from the store.

Pink salt from the store like Himilayan pink salt or cure #1 ?

 

[amosleis]

cure#1

 

[david r]

I got really worried and thought I used to much cure for a wet brine, but wet brines you use more than dry. I did some reading on the subject and realized I that for wet brining I was cool. I use Alton Browns Brine he uses on Corned Beef http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/corned-beef-recipe-1947363 and had much success. the ratio seems on par with yours to me. I'd eat that ham!

 

[petewoody]

I got really worried and thought I used to much cure for a wet brine, but wet brines you use more than dry. I did some reading on the subject and realized I that for wet brining I was cool. I use Alton Browns Brine he uses on Corned Beef http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/corned-beef-recipe-1947363 and had much success. the ratio seems on par with yours to me. I'd eat that ham!

That recipe suggests 2 tablespoons of saltpeter. That is enough to kill a large number of people. I assume he means Cure #1 but this is typical of celebrity cooks who (carelessly) offer information like this.

 

[SmokyMose]

That recipe suggests 2 tablespoons of saltpeter. That is enough to kill a large number of people. I assume he means Cure #1 but this is typical of celebrity cooks who (carelessly) offer information like this.

I totally agree about the “celebrity cooks” thing. I even get that magazine and like it, but if I see something involving curing or smoking I just turn the page.
Wikipedia says Saltpeter is Sodium Nitrate, which would be #2 cure...

 

[noboundaries]

The very first time I made Canadian bacon, or what I call Cabackian bacon, I used a recipe off the internet that called for WAY too much cure #1. My wife and I had painful, swollen joint gout for WEEKS! It took gallons of tart cherry juice at $24/gallon to cleanse our systems, which floods you with sugar. That much sugar in your system causes its own problems, but I am VERY careful now when I make bacon to get the cure just right.

If you have any doubt, throw it out and start over. Believe me, it ain't worth it.

 

[pc farmer]

The very first time I made Canadian bacon, or what I call Cabackian bacon, I used a recipe off the internet that called for WAY too much cure #1. My wife and I had painful, swollen joint gout for WEEKS! It took gallons of tart cherry juice at $24/gallon to cleanse our systems, which floods you with sugar. That much sugar in your system causes its own problems, but I am VERY careful now when I make bacon to get the cure just right.

If you have any doubt, throw it out and start over. Believe me, it ain't worth it.

WOW. Sorry that happened.

 

[smokin vegas]

I screwed up and read a recipe wrong and used too much pink salt for a wet brine on a ham. I used 6 tbsp of pink salt for a 10 lb ham. mixed it with 2 gallons of water 2 cups of salt and 3 cups of brown sugar. it has been sitting in the brine for about 5 days now. I was planning to smoke it after 7 days. Is the meat safe to eat or should i toss it and start over.

I am so glad that I read your thread since I got my smoker I have had joint and back pain. I use pink slat all the time in fact I just ordered some more. OK I am getting older and all this pain can be due do that but still I will not not use any any pink salt for a while and see if my back especially improves. What about Cure # 1 I put 3/4 of a teaspoon in 4 pounds of ground pork. Is that to much?

 

[noboundaries]

3/4 tsp of cure #1 for 4 lbs of ground pork is just about right.

As far as back pain, I doubt it is pink salt. If exercise doesn't help, and you have received any seasonal or age related shots recently, check the side effects and you might find your culprit.

 

[tropics]

I am so glad that I read your thread since I got my smoker I have had joint and back pain. I use pink slat all the time in fact I just ordered some more. OK I am getting older and all this pain can be due do that but still I will not not use any any pink salt for a while and see if my back especially improves. What about Cure # 1 I put 3/4 of a teaspoon in 4 pounds of ground pork. Is that to much?

You would be better off using a scale 1.1 grams per pound
Richie
http://www.awscales.com/portable-precision-scales-01-gram/229-amw-100-digital-pocket-scale

 

[smokin vegas]

3/4 tsp of cure #1 for 4 lbs of ground pork is just about right.

As far as back pain, I doubt it is pink salt. If exercise doesn't help, and you have received any seasonal or age related shots recently, check the side effects and you might find your culprit.

Actually it is probably a combination of things. I exercise mostly stretching exercises/low impact. I have found that if I eat meat especially pork my pain intensifies. If I eat mostly vegetables/vegetarian and fish diet my pain significantly reduces. I have been smoking most our meat because I could smoke enough meat to last a week and we could just heat and eat. Of course I was brining and using pink salt, curing most the meat every time I smoked. I do smoke vegetable too like eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, onion, garlic etc with no pink salt.

 

[daveomak]

I screwed up and read a recipe wrong and used too much pink salt for a wet brine on a ham. I used 6 tbsp of pink salt for a 10 lb ham. mixed it with 2 gallons of water 2 cups of salt and 3 cups of brown sugar. it has been sitting in the brine for about 5 days now. I was planning to smoke it after 7 days. Is the meat safe to eat or should i toss it and start over.

Morning.... OK.... An equilibrium cure/brine is the safest and easiest if done correctly...
According to the USDA, combine ingredients based on the weights of all the ingredients, according to legally allowed ingredients...
Cure#1 should be at 156 Ppm nitrite addition.. that's 1 tsp. per pound of stuff... salt I like 2%... white sugar 1%...
Your liquid weighs about 10#'s per gallon when you weigh the salt, sugar etc...
Ham weighs about 10#'s...
So, you have 30#'s of stuff to cure....
That calculates out to 2 TBS. of cure#1 to be in compliance...
Cure and stuff penetrates meat at about 1/4" per day...
So, today is about day 6... about 1 to 1 1/2" penetration into the meat...
I'm gonna guess that's about 1/3rd the thickness of the meat...
2 TBS cure is about 1/3 the amount you added...
So, another guess is.... The meat has absorbed, approximately, the correct amount of cure necessary for a proper cure based on 3X's the cure initially added to the brine..
What I would do is, remove the ham from the bucket and place in a zip bag... place it in the refrigerator for as long as you can wait.... maybe next Wednesday... Be sure your fridge is around 38-40 deg. F so the penetration will be as fast as possible... cold slows down the curing process... For the last 24 hours, remove the zip bag to help dry the outer part of the meat so smoke will take well... Smoke and cook...

Does what I noted make sense ??? Hope I didn't screw that explanation beyond recognition...

Next ham, try my method... http://smokingmeatforums.com/index.php?threads/ham-from-fresh-picnics-update-10-21-money.236375/

 

[daveomak]

There is one more thing you could do... Inject some cure along the bones and joints...
The batch you have mixed up, take out 40 grams and add 80 grams water or stock to it... inject all 120 grams along the bones and joints.. That will insure the bone area is cured....

 

[david r]

That recipe suggests 2 tablespoons of saltpeter. That is enough to kill a large number of people. I assume he means Cure #1 but this is typical of celebrity cooks who (carelessly) offer information like this.

I always use cure #1. there seems to be confusion in how saltpeter, Prague Powder and cure 1 are marketed. but yeah, good looking out.