Worried that I used too much cure no. 1 on duck bacon

[joshc123]

Veteran duck hunter and brand new to curing meats I wanted to try and make duck bacon. Unfortunately I didn’t find this forum before I made it. I found two recipes online, one said to use .25% per pound or what I’m now reading on this forum 1 tsp. per 5lbs. The other I found said 1 tablespoon for 6 duck breasts. Total weight of 8 skin on breast I had was 4 lbs. I weighed out my normal salt with a scale that weighs to the gram and then used no more than 1 tablespoon of cure no.1. I rubbed the mixture into the breast and vacuum sealed them for 5 days, pulled them out, rinsed, dried and smoked. I was talking to a friend about it and they warned me about curing salt so I did a lot more research and found this forum. I’m now worried I used too much and it will be harmful. Is it ok to eat or should I throw it out?

 

[DougE]

The .25% is correct. Best to use grams for measuring cure #1. 1000 grams of meat x.0025=2.5 grams of cure#1. For your 4 pounds of meat, 1814 grams x .0025 = 4.5 grams of cure#1 Weigh each piece of meat, and calculate each separately so each piece gets the right amount.
SmokinEdge or indaswamp can probably better tell you if you got too much cure or not.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Total weight of 8 skin on breast I had was 4 lbs. I weighed out my normal salt with a scale that weighs to the gram and then used no more than 1 tablespoon of cure no.1.

You have problems.
Cure #1 is applied safely at 0.25% Or 1.1 grams per pound of meat. The teaspoon thing to 5# meat works, but I weigh cure and don’t measure it.
The problem is you used 1 Tablespoon of cure #1 on 4# of meat. That’s about 18.0 grams cure where only 4.4g were needed. That’s a no go in a dry rub.

Is that a miss print? Tablespoon? Or was it a teaspoon?

 

[joshc123]

You have problems.
Cure #1 is applied safely at 0.25% Or 1.1 grams per pound of meat. The teaspoon thing to 5# meat works, but I weigh cure and don’t measure it.
The problem is you used 1 Tablespoon of cure #1 on 4# of meat. That’s about 18.0 grams cure where only 4.4g were needed. That’s a no go in a dry rub.

Is that a miss print? Tablespoon? Or was it a teaspoon?

Unfortunately not a miss print it was a Tablespoon. When making it in the future I believe a wet cure is more reliable in making sure it penetrates evenly. Is that correct? Also are the ratios the same for wet cure as dry cure. Sorry for so many questions just eager to learn a new way of making duck.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Unfortunately not a miss print it was a Tablespoon. When making it in the future I believe a wet cure is more reliable in making sure it penetrates evenly. Is that correct? Also are the ratios the same for wet cure as dry cure. Sorry for so many questions just eager to learn a new way of making duck.

With small pieces of meat, yes it is easier to evenly cure them in a brine. poultry Pieces are a good example. Equilibrium brine is simple to mix up and very effective.
Weigh water and meat then add salt in a percentage to the aggregate weight. Converting the weights into grams keeps things simple.

Water weighs 8.33lb per gallon
multiply pounds by 454= grams.
8.33x454= 3781.8 grams.

4# duck breasts
4x454= 1816 grams
add these two together
3781.8 + 1816= 5597.8 (it’s ok to round this to 5598)

Solve for salt (between 1.5 and 2.5% per taste)
5597x0.015= 83.9 g pure salt (non iodized)

Solve for cure #1 (total weight x 0.25%)
5597x0.0025= 13.99 grams

Solve for sugar (I like to stay about half the salt, YMMV)
5597x0.0075= 41.97 grams.

(Keep in mind that we need to include the salt in cure #1 to the final total of salt. We apply cure at 0.25% so in this case, I figured for 1.5% salt but with the 0.25% cure #1 our total salt is now 1.75% In the brine.)

In brining this way our meat can never be more salty, sweet or have more nitrite than the percentage we applied no matter if it’s in brine one day or two weeks. The idea is that the meat and water will equalize.

 

[daveomak]

The FSIS table below shows.... Maximum ingoing amount of nitrite and nitrates...
Dry cured meats, which your duck breast is, is allowed UP TO 625 Ppm nitrite...
Nitrite dissipates, from meats, over time and when heat is applied, and when cure accelerator is applied... ((cure accelerator should only be applied into ground meats (sausage etc.) or meats that are injected))... and the meat in question should be immediately processed in a smoker...
Hot smoking the breast or oven cooking on a wire rack "should" dissipate the nitrite... Also blooming the breast, for an extended period of time, should dissipate excess nitrite...
The USDA/FSIS is not clear, from what I have found, exactly what method or time is used when the 625 Ppm is applied...
In my opinion, using the above-mentioned cooking methods, the meat will be safe to consume...
My calculations show the breast is ~585 Ppm nitrite..
The USDA has tested meats from the store, where purchased, and found only 20-30 Ppm nitrite remaining... So between the cooking cycle and time, the nitrite reduction is significant....

 

[SmokinEdge]

Unfortunately not a miss print it was a Tablespoon. When making it in the future I believe a wet cure is more reliable in making sure it penetrates evenly. Is that correct? Also are the ratios the same for wet cure as dry cure. Sorry for so many questions just eager to learn a new way of making duck.

I encourage you to buy Stanley Marianski’s book “Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages” for continued learning on the subject.

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/attachments/marianski-1-jpg.518611/