Bacon and cure #1, such a tiny amount...just making sure!

Weighing the meat on a good scale is critical in getting an exact amount of cure #1 / salt / sugar. You should also weigh in metric to make it easier to calculate and have a more accurate amount of ingredients.

Salt is necessary to cure the meat. Salt helps to pull the moisture from the cells and dissolves the salt mixture and them distributes it back into the cell structure of the meat.

Sugar help to cut the edge of the salt when consuming the finished product.

When curing, the items should be weighed (not measured) for accuracy, consistency, and food safety. Using the metric mode is much more accurate.

When making bacon use the following ratios...

Cure #1 - the ratio is 0.025% (Multiplier .0025)
Salt - the ratio is 3% (Multiplier .03)
Sugar - the ratio is 1.25% (Multiplier .0125)

Weigh the pork belly in grams, record the weight and multiply using the above Multiplier to get the exact ratio for each ingredient.

EXAMPLE:
If you have a pork belly the weighs 1 Kilogram (1000 grams) the results would be as follows...



Weight of pork belly = 1000 grams

Cure #1 - 1000 X .0025 = 2.5 Grams of Cure #1

Salt - 1000 X .03 = 30 Grams of Salt

Sugar - 1000 X .0125 = 12.5 Grams of Sugar
You can add other spices/flavorings after the above ingredients have been weighed and mixed.


Just replace the 1000 with the actual weight in grams of each pork belly and multiply to get the required amount of each ingredient for each pork belly. Harbor Freight has a nice inexpensive electronic scale that switches between grams and pounds with a touch of a button.

be careful with cure don't adjust that amount. you can add stuff for flavor but not the cure. at higher levels it can be lethal its no joke.

I made sopressatta and I also thought the amount of instacure looked too slight but I followed the directions and amounts. The real test came with the first taste. I survived

MadMan:

That's great info, thanks for the share. Now a further question: Is that for a dry cure only? What if I wanted to do a wet cure? Wouldn't it be more about the concentration of the ingredients in the brine than it is the total weight? I mean if I cured it in a 5 gallon bucket full of water vs 1 gallon, I'd need different amounts of cure/salt/sugar correct?

From personal preference, I like dry cured bacon over wet cured bacon. The additional water that is absorbed into the bacon lengthens cooking time and dilutes the flavors. But you answer is below.

hammb said:

MadMan:

That's great info, thanks for the share. Now a further question: Is that for a dry cure only? What if I wanted to do a wet cure? Wouldn't it be more about the concentration of the ingredients in the brine than it is the total weight? I mean if I cured it in a 5 gallon bucket full of water vs 1 gallon, I'd need different amounts of cure/salt/sugar correct?

Click to expand...

Yes that is for applying the cure as a dry agent on the pork belly. You will find that as the pork belly cures it will release liquid, turning daily will help to redistribute the cure. Even though there is liquid present, this is still a dry cure.

.
.

=================================================

WET CURES.....

The current USDA Minimum is 125 ppm and the Maximum is 200ppm Nitrite for Brined/Pickled Meats.

It is also recommended that the meat be pumped WITH 10% brine of their initial weight of the meat to insure even curing and prevent "Bone Sour" So for a 10 pound ham (160oz) 16 ounces of the brine solution should be injected into the meat around the bone as well as deep in the center. (Bone Sour would not apply to pork belly so I do not inject pork belly)

85 Grams of Cure#1 per gallon of water yields and 140ppm nitrite and 113.4 yields 188 ppm nitrite, both are safe. Again I go close to the middle to allow for any loss due to variances/tolerances.

So my basic wet cure is as follows for each gallon.
1 Gallon of Water
90 Grams Cure #1
400 Grams Kosher Salt
150 Grams Sugar

Once the above items are mixed, you can add your spices/flavoring to the brine. Dissolve these ingredients in hot water to make sure they are fully dissolved, then let cool to below 40 degrees before adding the meat.

Again salt and sugar will vary slightly according to the type of meat being cured. Salt can vary between 200 grams and 600 grams according your taste. Sugar can vary from 50 grams to 350 grams depending upon your taste.

The main concept one must grasp is that formulations for dry and wet cures drastically differ from each other.


Another issue to consider here and take into consideration is nitrite burn....

Excessive use of nitrate (too much) and/or nitrites can cause severe oxidation of the meat pigment producing an iridescent green pigment. This form of greening of cured meats is referred to as nitrite burn.

With a proper dry cure, it is almost impossible to experience nitrite burn (over cured) which can produce an off color and texture to the end product if left to cure a little longer the projected curing time. Nitrite burn is more common with the use of curing brines, but if you stay within the targeted curing times all is well.