FDA Processors calcs.Is method one viable for home curers.

[captain wassname]

thr curse of curing

2 out of 4 aint bad for3.25 am.

NCPaul.
Thank you. Ill doubtless be back to bother you with more typos.

Jim.

[wheels]

There is further analysis of the test results here:

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... ght=method

Phil

[jasonmolinari]

Hey guys, sorry to revive this old thread, but i have a question.
I can see in the FDA book where method 2 is illustrated to calculate PPM of cure...
but where in method 2 does it show the calculation of equilibrium salt and sugar in teh meat based on the brine %?

for example in this test NCPaul did, the brine was a 10% brine, and somehow method 2 showed that the meat will end up with a 3.5% salt concentration at equilibrium..
how was that 3.5% calculated? I don't see it in the processors book.

thanks

[wheels]

I did:

(salt gm x 100) / (total brine gm + meat gm)

So for NCPaul's:

(salt gm x 100) = 60.02 x 100 = 6002

(total brine gm + meat gm) = 600.11 + 1199.82 = 1799.93

6002 / 1799.93 = 3.334574122

added: I've done this based just on the added salt - the 3.5% you quote includes the natural salt in the meat.

HTH

Phil

[jasonmolinari]

Oh i see. So you just calculated the % of salt in teh total weight, since it's seen as a single item. Makes sense. Thanks

[wheels]

I think that it's the same method as for calculating the cure PPM but just expressed as a percentage instead.

Are you 'up to something' special?

Phil

[jasonmolinari]

Nope...nothing Phil..i was just wondering how i can make my lardo less salty next time...and i realized that i hadn't calculated the equilibrium salt...just the equilibrium nitrite!
Turns out i'm at about 16% by calculation...which explains why it's salty!

now i know!

[NCPaul]

The handbook doesn't show an example of a salt calculation because it isn't a regulated substance. In the case of lardo, the calculations are more complicated. Meat has about 80 % water (roughly) but lardo has only about 5 %. You might want to reconsider your calculation with this in mind. I've never analyzed pork fat for % NaCl so I can't be very sure about this. I refuse to comment about nitrite in lardo.

[jasonmolinari]

Thanks Paul. how do you suggest i account for the much lower water content of fat? Basically not add it to the total brine weight when running the numbers? Or add only 5% of it's weight to that?

[NCPaul]

I would count the lardo as 5 %. Here's what's puzzling to me, if the 5 % water in the lardo was completely saturated with salt (about 22 %), the total salt in the lardo would only be 1.1 %. I wouldn't normally think of this as salty. It could be a taste perception sort of thing. Maybe I'll buy a piece of salted fatback and test the interior of it to see if this thinking is correct.

[wheels]

It certainly complicates matters. Maybe the only simple way around it at present is just to adjust the salt level by the taste of the end product.

NCPaul
When I was analysing your figures before, I played with including the water-in-the-meat in the calculations . I have to say that all I did was manage to confuse myself! However, given that this equilibrium method of calculation looks at the system as a whole, I'm sure that it should come into it somewhere. i.e. if we are looking at the water in the system, we can't just ignore the water in the meat - all, or at least some, of it must be relevant to the calculation.

I'd appreciate your thoughts?

Phil

[jasonmolinari]

NCPaul, if you have the ability to test the fat for salt content, I'd be happy to send you a block of my lardo. Just sacrifice some to testing, and eat the rest.

That way we have an actual data point. I know exactly what i put in, and how long it brined...it will give us a good, real world, idea of salt absorption.

What do you think?

[NCPaul]

We'll try. PM sent.

[wheels]

Did anything ever come of the Lardo tests Paul?

Phil