any bacon experts?

Always go by weight and use these multipliers. Cure #1 .0025. Salt .03. Sugar .0125. This is assuming you’re doing a dry rub. Seasonings after that are up to you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Glad you are enjoying it! There are a few experts here. I am not one of them, but love doing it too. I'm sure they will pop in a little later.

Cheers!

You know what the defination of an expert is? An ex is a has been, and a spurt is a drip under pressure. :biggrin1:

Some general guidelines for dry curing pork bellies for bacon:

Range for SALT is 1.85% to 3%. (2.2% to 2.5% is a popular range) (My last few batches have been 1.85%, and I like the lower salt version, but it might not be for everyone)

Range for SUGAR is 1% to 2% (some prefer white sugar, others prefer brown sugar. Substituting some maple sugar is an option as well.)

Amount of PINK SALT (Cure #1) is .25%. Which is 2.5 grams for every 1000 grams (1 kilogram) of whole muscle meat. This does not change and equals 156 parts per million, which is recommended for nitrite cures.

Signature Seasonings – amounts are optional and adjusted to taste. For example a sprinkle of cracked pepper is all it takes to make pepper bacon. Other seasonings include fenugreek, garlic, maple syrup.

jbelson said:

I guess I've fond my answer...
"You use 1 teaspoon for 5 pounds (2 kg) of meat,"

Click to expand...

If you have a digital scale, verify it's accuracy by weighing a nickle, which is exactly 5 grams. Then use it to weigh your pink salt in grams. Measuring spoons are notorious for being wrong. If you want to verify your teaspoon measuring spoon..... weigh one level teaspoon of pink salt, it should weigh 4.1 grams.

Been using this for over 5 years now. Makes it simple to get the correct amounts for the ratios you want


http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html

rexster314 said:

Been using this for over 5 years now. Makes it simple to get the correct amounts for the ratios you want


http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html

Click to expand...

And here is a second cure calculator that can follow US or EU regulations:

http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/calculator/dry_cure_bacon/

Take note that Martin's calculator as well as the Local Food Heroes calculator take into account the salt that serves as the carrier in pink salt.

thirdeye said:

If you have a digital scale, verify it's accuracy by weighing a nickle, which is exactly 5 grams. Then use it to weigh your pink salt in grams. Measuring spoons are notorious for being wrong.

Click to expand...

I agree with Thirdeye, weighing is the only accurate measure.


Let me say that the three most important principals for curing are Accuracy, Sanitation, and a reliable recipe / formulation.

There is just no substitution for accuracy when it come to health and safety of your family when curing meats. When curing meat; the cure ingredients should always be weighed, never measured, for safety, accuracy, and consistency.

The problem with volume measurements is that they are simply just approximates. You will see recipes on the internet that call for varying amounts of cure for the same weight of meat, some call for 1 teaspoon for 5 pounds, some call for two teaspoons, and even some that call for 3 or 4 teaspoons for the same 5 pounds of meat.

So the question is, which recipe has the correct measure?
There is only one simple answer; NONE OF THEM
Simply because the ingredients need to be weighed and not measured.

To give a brief example why we should weigh the ingredients, let me use salt for an example. Is a cup of salt merely a cup of salt?

1 Cup Table salt: - 300 grams (10 5/8 ounces)
1 Cup Morton’s kosher: - 250 grams (8 3/4 ounces)
1 Cup Coarse sea salt: - 210 grams (7 3/8 ounces)
1 Cup Diamond Crystal kosher: - 135 grams (4 3/4 ounces)
1 Cup Maldon sea salt: - 120 grams (4 1/4 ounces)

Because of the crystal properties of different salts, the size of the crystal dictates the weight of the salt.

As we see above, the measure of salt is not equal or consistent with one another. However when weighed, the weight will always be consistent, no matter which type of salt you use.

Lots of good advice and links here. The recipes you use can vary a bit, but one of the most important factors to keep consistent is the pink salt, for safety reasons. As mentioned, go by weight not volume.

If you're looking for back of the napkin math to estimate pink salt, use 1g pink salt for 1 pound of meat. If you look up different recipes and break down the math you'll see that most of them end up equalling between 0.8g-1.2g pink salt per pound, so the 1g to 1lb ratio gets you right in the ballpark.

I totally get the need to be precise in the ratios for the cure. The thing I struggle with is "dosing" the cure on to the meat. The last time I did a dry cure (duck leg pastrami) I had about 25% of the dry cure left after getting good coverage on the meat. The one time i did bacon i remember have left over cure. What do I do at that point? Just dump the rest on there?

Following this topic

The USDA does allow for up to 200ppm in dry cured bacon so in that case it's a 0.32% multiplier or .0032. Personally I just stick with the 156ppm that is used in sausage.

There are several things that make this all confusing. Some books have you mix a batch using various ratios and then apply a certain amount of that mixture to the meat. Then there's the salt box method vs. equilibrium cure. Then I think people are trying to convert a metric weight approach to teaspoons and tablespoons and the math just gets weird.

The 1 teaspoon to 5 lbs is a decent rule of thumb just to kind of double check yourself but weighing the ingredients is superior.

Of all the books out there so far I find the Marianski book to be the best. It's way more sausage oriented but there's a good bacon recipe in it.

If you are doing a cure with precisely measured ingredients you need to get it all on the meat. You'll find the meat will soak it up pretty quickly.

JAKs Q & brew said:

I totally get the need to be precise in the ratios for the cure. The thing I struggle with is "dosing" the cure on to the meat. The last time I did a dry cure (duck leg pastrami) I had about 25% of the dry cure left after getting good coverage on the meat. The one time i did bacon i remember have left over cure. What do I do at that point? Just dump the rest on there?

Click to expand...

My procedure for applying cure to bacon is to weigh the belly after any trimming, then calculate my salt, sugar and pink salt. I mix the salt and pink salt together, then incorporate the brown sugar as sometimes brown sugar is a little moist. If using white sugar, I'll just mix all three together. Next I divide the amount in half, again by weight. I apply the first half to all four edges, and the fat face. I apply the second half only to the lean face, and put the belly in a zipper bag, adding any leftover cure to the bag. I also add one or two tablespoons of bottled water to the bag as sort of a head start to the curing process.

I do a similar thing with whole muscle beef jerky... dividing the calculated amount of curing mixture & seasonings into two equal parts. I lay out all my sliced meat and apply one half of the curing mixture. Then I turn all the pieces and apply the second half to the meat.

The following recipe is from a large volume commercial operation. Always weigh your dry ingredients and feel free to add other flavor components, but don't mess with the ratios below.

Sweet Bacon

50 lbs. Pork Belly
1.25 lbs. Kosher Salt
1 lb. Brown Sugar
4 oz. TCM (Tinted Cure Mix, AKA Instacure, AKA Prague Powder #1)

Mix your dry ingredients well and rub well on each side of your Pork Bellies. It will not look like enough for 50 lbs. but it is! Place them overlapping in a deep plastic meat lug and stick in your refrigerator (I usually remove the bottom vegetable bin in my refrigerator for mine to fit).

Overhaul once per day, meaning take the Pork Belly on bottom and rotate it to the top of the pile. Liquid will start to accumulate at the bottom of the lug and you need to rotate your slabs every day for an even cure. This cure will take 7 to 10 days for 1 1/2" thick belly.

Next - Rinse your slabs really well, or soak them in cold water for a while. At this point you could pat dry, air dry in a cold spot for a while, or stick in the fridge uncovered overnight to allow a pellicle to develop (Sticky skin helps smoke adhere).

Cold Smoke as long as you can with your set up. I try to do it on a cold day in my FEC-100 hanging the slabs with a hotel pan full of ice between my firebox and the bacon. To start off I light a 12" Amazin Smoke Tube with Apple Pellets which will go for about six hours. After that I crank up the FEC-100 in smoke mode for a couple of hours at 180 to 200 degrees until I get the color I want. Let the finished bacon rest for a day in the fridge, slice, and cryovac!

^^^^ Nice information. Thanks for the commercial tips!

I am not trying to be a smartass.I have an old smokehouse behind my Great Grandad's home house,about 20 yards from the original "Outhouse".I would love to know how many pounds of meat have been cured and smoked in there.They used salt,pepper(red and black),and that was mostly to keep bugs away,sugar,saltpeter.No electricity,no scales,no nothing but old knowledge.I realize we can no longer buy saltpeter(Thanks terrorists),pink salt took it's place.I agree with using all the technology we have at a fingertip to be and keep safe.I just think some people overthink curing meat with salt and other stuff that has been done for centuries.I do not fault anyone for wanting to make sure what they are feeding their family is safe.I just think some take it to extremes.Happy smokin.

Great thread, I am going to make some bacon soon.
I want to use as little sugar as possible, so will stay at the low end on salt.

Pa_BBQ said:

Great thread, I am going to make some bacon soon.
I want to use as little sugar as possible, so will stay at the low end on salt.

Click to expand...

Low sugar for dietary reasons, or because you just don't like a sweet bacon? Lower salt percentage bacon recipes usually need less sugar since part of sugar's job is to smooth out the salty taste. I've seen Splenda, Stevia, and Splenda brown sugar used in wet curing brines, just not in dry cures.

Generally speaking, using a skin-off piece of pork belly with a somewhat even thickness of 1” to 1.5”:

Range for SALT is 1.85% to 3%. (2.2% to 2.5% is a popular range)
Range for SUGAR is 1% to 2%
Amount of PINK SALT (Cure #1) is .25%. This does not change and equals 156 parts per million, which is recommended for nitrite cures.
Additional Seasonings – amounts are optional and adjusted to taste

But, I've seen some folks posting a formulation with as low as 0.7% sugar.

I'm trying to be a smart ass here. I consider myself a bacon expert. I have cooked and eaten and cooked with many pounds of it in the last 30 or 40 years.

Most of it Petit Jean brand. If you've never had Petit Jean, besides it tasting so good, the grease solidifies at a much lower temperature because it doesn't have a bunch of water injected in to it.

Wright brand bacon is really good, and affordable, but the grease is just not the same.