First hot smoked bacon questions.

[Pa_BBQ]

First go at making hot smoked bacon and have a few questions.
Brown vs White Sugar when not looking for sweet and as little sugar as possible?
Pink curing salt concerns, is this over-hyped?
What scale do you use to weight curing salt with it being so little?

 

[checkrd past]

I'm no expert on bacon , but my first batch came out really salty.keep that in mind

 

[bschoen]

I use brown sugar, not sure it matters.
I think it (pink salt) is way over-hyped, but I am not a food scientist...
I use this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071GYVQF3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Baychilla]

If its not volume and smaller than whole grams a coffee/barista scale that measures in 10ths of a gram. Alternatively I'd search Amazon for gram scales.

 

[thirdeye]

Sugar is primarily used to buffer the salt, flavor from sugar is subjective, brown sugar can give your slab a slightly darker color.

By 'overhyped' did you mean is pink salt dangerous, or did you mean is it needed?

Use the most accurate scale you can get your hands on. The proper weight of pink salt determines the PPM (parts per million) calculation. Many agree on 2.5 grams of pink salt per 1000 grams of pork belly, this gives you 156 PPM.

 

[halfcocked]

Could not find pink salt on the grocery shelf so I ordered a pound of nitrite over the internet. Have been using the 96% kosher salt to 4% nitrite formula for several years now and works fine for me. Since I have no way to color it, I keep the stuff far out of normal reach and have marked the container "POISON". It can kill if consumed in quantity but I feel its essential for preservation of pork belly.

 

[sleebus.jones]

Cure #1 very easy to find on the net

https://www.alliedkenco.com/cure-1-80oz-5lb.aspx

Cure #1 is based off of 6.25% nitrite, so if you are using a 4% strength and using Cure #1 quantities, you aren't getting enough in your meat block.

 

[thirdeye]

Could not find pink salt on the grocery shelf so I ordered a pound of nitrite over the internet. Have been using the 96% kosher salt to 4% nitrite formula for several years now and works fine for me. Since I have no way to color it, I keep the stuff far out of normal reach and have marked the container "POISON". It can kill if consumed in quantity but I feel its essential for preservation of pork belly.

Just curious about a few things: What is the consistency of pure sodium nitrite, and how do you insure proper suspension since you are using a coarse Kosher salt for the carrier? How (or if) you adjust the amount of your 4% curing salt when recipes call for Cure #1 which is a 6.25% curing salt? And, are you calculating the parts per million to see what that number is?

 

[halfcocked]

Just curious about a few things: What is the consistency of pure sodium nitrite, and how do you insure proper suspension since you are using a coarse Kosher salt for the carrier? How (or if) you adjust the amount of your 4% curing salt when recipes call for Cure #1 which is a 6.25% curing salt? And, are you calculating the parts per million to see what that number is?

Sorry about that I meant to write 94% salt and 6% nitrite. Everything I read about this before getting it is that mixing in a container (stirring) or as I did shaking in a baggie does the trick. Nitrite comes in a fine powder form. At least the one I got did. I weigh the nitrite on an battery supplied electric scale that is good to X.00. I don't think you can go wrong on the low side, and with 6% I can't go wrong on the high, which is the dangerous side.

 

[jstrand]

I use brown sugar, never used white so i can't tell you if there's a difference.
No concerns over pink salt, your saliva and vegetables contain way more nitrite than you'll use on curing your bacon.
This is the scale i use, it only goes to the tenth but I honestly don't think going to the hundreth is necessary. My opinion.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SC3LLS/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I just use Diggingdogfarm calculator, it's already set at 156 ppm.

 

[halfcocked]

I use brown sugar, never used white so i can't tell you if there's a difference.
No concerns over pink salt, your saliva and vegetables contain way more nitrite than you'll use on curing your bacon.
This is the scale i use, it only goes to the tenth but I honestly don't think going to the hundreth is necessary. My opinion.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SC3LLS/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I just use Diggingdogfarm calculator, it's already set at 156 ppm.

I use the same manufacture scale only the model that goes to .00.

 

[jstrand]

I use the same manufacture scale only the model that goes to .00.

I actually meant to get that one but wasn't paying attention. But its literally a couple grains for a tenth. I either just round up or down to the nearest tenth.
I also have that ozeri or whatever it's called scale for weighing the slabs.

 

[thirdeye]

Sorry about that I meant to write 94% salt and 6% nitrite. Everything I read about this before getting it is that mixing in a container (stirring) or as I did shaking in a baggie does the trick. Nitrite comes in a fine powder form. At least the one I got did. I weigh the nitrite on an battery supplied electric scale that is good to X.00. I don't think you can go wrong on the low side, and with 6% I can't go wrong on the high, which is the dangerous side.

Okay, that sounds better. I was mainly concerned with the nitrite settling out and causing hot spots on your bacon or jerky.

I use brown sugar, never used white so i can't tell you if there's a difference.
No concerns over pink salt, your saliva and vegetables contain way more nitrite than you'll use on curing your bacon.
This is the scale i use, it only goes to the tenth but I honestly don't think going to the hundreth is necessary. My opinion.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SC3LLS/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I just use Diggingdogfarm calculator, it's already set at 156 ppm.

And Diggy's calculator takes into account the salt that is in the pink salt, so it's a tick more accurate than the standard calculation I use.

And guys.... calibrating your scales couldn't be easier or cheaper. A US nickle weighs exactly 5 grams. I use 5 nickles to confirm the high end of 25 grams.

 

[halfcocked]

Okay, that sounds better. I was mainly concerned with the nitrite settling out and causing hot spots on your bacon or jerky.




And Diggy's calculator takes into account the salt that is in the pink salt, so it's a tick more accurate than the standard calculation I use.

And guys.... calibrating your scales couldn't be easier or cheaper. A US nickle weighs exactly 5 grams. I use 5 nickles to confirm the high end of 25 grams.

I weigh coins on mine (mostly cents) all the time. 2.5g for zinc, 3.1 copper (give or take depending, LOL). So I know its close enough for government work (or weighing nitrites).ray: