Dry Bacon Cure Recipe Question

[deb]

I have a magazine which has an article in it by Maynard Davies about dry curing bacon/ham in a plastic bag. He gives a recipe for the cure which is

8lb salt
2lb sugar
2oz saltpetre

Can someone help out with a couple of questions?

At the moment I have some saltpetre so will use it but I'm probably going to change over to cure#1 (which is used for things that are going to be cooked I believe so is the correct one for bacon). How much of the cure#1 would I use to replace the saltpetre in this recipe?

The rate of use of this dry rub is given as 1�oz per 1lb meat (which works out to around 40g per 500g) and it is left for around 7 days per inch. I believe the bacon cure Franco sells is used at the rate of 40g per 1kg so, this means that twice as much cure is used in the M Davies recipe. Obviously I have no idea of the ratio of salt to sugar etc in Franco's cure and this might well explain why less is used. Do you think if I used the cure as directed by Maynard Davies I'm heading for some unpalatably salty bacon or should it be o.k. If I need to use less of the dry bacon cure overall will I need to increase the saltpetre/cure#1 or should it be left the same?

Thanks for any help you can give. Please don't tell me to use Franco's cure, I like making my own stuff - it's why I cook curries and pizzas when I can buy them from the takeaway!

[Fatman]

Deb

When experimenting it is always best to follow a recipe to the letter and adjust from those results.

Maynard Davies has been curing bacon for appx 3 scores & 10 his recipes will be old fashioned and are very palatable.

The # cures are modern cures normally ready made in factories, with equally tasting results.

Just remember if you find a recipe too salty then just rinse/soak in cold water for a short while to adjust the taste.

One last thing, choose wisely the joint of meat you want to cure.

Good Luck

Fatman

[Parson Snows]

deb

It seems to me that we�ve have been down this road before. To reiterate DO NOT MIX CURES AND RECIPES. In humans the FATAL dose of nitrite is in the range of 22 to 23 milligrams (0.022g to 0.023 g) per kilogram of body weight. If you decide to use Maynard Davies recipe I think that if you reread it these quantities are for curing 100 lb of meat (post the recipe and complete instructions/method if you can). Keep messing with nitrates/nitrites and you will be limiting your curry making days and I�ve got lots of recipes that you could try out and rate.

Kind regards

Parson Snows

PS I did mention that I would be addressing Nitrates/Nitrites in the NEW YEAR

[Fatman]

Parsons

I think Deb is right in that she points out the usage per weight of meat used, does she not?

Regards

Fatman

[Parson Snows]

fatman

once deb has posted Maynard Davies recipe I will comment further. The point that I was making was that

deb wrote

Do you think if I used the cure as directed by Maynard Davies I'm heading for some unpalatably salty bacon or should it be o.k. If I need to use less of the dry bacon cure overall will I need to increase the saltpetre/cure#1 or should it be left the same?

I read from this that deb is considering changing cure quantities and/or mixing cures.


kind regards

Parson Snows

PS Franco's cure is used at a lesser rate as nitrite is more powerful/potent than nitrate.

[Fatman]

Parsons

Well spotted!

My Apologies.

Regards

Fatman

[deb]

Doing my best to try and explain myself.

I will NOT be mixing cure#1 with saltpetre. What I was asking about here was if I used cure#1 in place of the saltpetre how much would I need to use.

If I need to use less of the dry bacon cure overall will I need to increase the saltpetre/cure#1 or should it be left the same? .
What I was trying to get at here was that if I were to use less Dry Cure per pound of meat than given by Maynard Davies (his method uses 1�oz per pound of meat NOT the entire ammount shown in the main recipe) would the fact that as less of the Dry Cure is being used, and therefor less cure#1/saltpetre would be applied to the meat, would the ammount of the cure#1/saltpetre need to be increased so that in effect the same ammount is going into the meat.

Parson, the recipe is basically to mix up the Dry Cure as already shown, rub 1�oz per poud of meat and leave in a plastic bag for around 7 days per inch of meat, wash and dry the meat and then mature it.

I hope I've managed to make myself a bit (well, actually, a lot) clearer. It's one of those things that is confusing to write down - it would be so much better if I could explain myself face to face and the gesticulating I normally use when talking would help to clarify I'm sure LOL!!
Thanks, as always, for your help.

[Fatman]

Deb

I thought I understood you the first time round.

But that is the point of these forums to thrash it out and get it right, well done for raising your question in the first instance.

Lets see if we can answer your query.

In relation to Maynards recipe , it seems he has made enough for 100lb of meat yet as directed use only what you require, I think you mentioned 40grams per lb. Do not add any more saltpetre, remembering saltpetre is used to make the meat pinker/redder and stiffens the meat also, there are more properties but we do not need to go there.

As for the #1 and #2 cures I have no experience with these , so I will leave that to Franco.

Good luck

Fatman

[Parson Snows]

Deb

U.S.STANDARDS

In the U.S. nitrate of any form is no longer permitted in any bacon curing method, the concern being with the formation of nitrosamines. Sodium nitrite (E250) is allowed at a maximum ingoing amount of 200 ppm and Potassium Nitrite (E249) at a maximum ingoing amount of 246 ppm (these figures are for bacon cured with the rind off). If the rind is left on then these figures must be reduced by 10 %.

U.K./E.U. STANDARDS

In the U.K. cured bacon may have a 175 mg/kg (or 175 ppm) residual amount of Sodium nitrite (E250) or Potassium nitrite (E249). This being the residual amount at point of sale to the final consumer, expressed as Sodium Nitrite (NaNO2). There is no given Indicative figure given.

As an ingoing/indicative amount of 200 mg/kg (200 ppm) Sodium nitrite will reduce down to below 175 mg/kg (175 ppm) then also for 100 pounds (45.359 kg) of meat you could use the following cure mixture.

3.488 kg (7 lbs 11 oz) Salt (76.744 %)
907 g (2 lb) Sugar (19.956 %)
150 g (5.25 oz) Cure #1 (3.300 %)
Total Cure weight 4.545 kg (100 %)

Use the above cure mixture at a rate of 100 g per kilogram of meat; therefore if you are going to cure a piece weighing 10 lbs (4.5359 kg) divide everything by 10

350 g (≈ 12 � oz) Salt (76.744 %)
90 g (≈ 3 ⅛ oz) Sugar (19.956 %)
15 g (≈ � oz) Cure #1 (3.300 %)
Total Cure weight 455 g (100 %)

Again use at a rate of 100 g cure mixture per kilogram of meat.

I hope that this answers your questions

Kind regards

Parson Snows

FYI you wrote

I have a magazine which has an article in it by Maynard Davies about dry curing bacon/ham in a plastic bag.

Technically this is not dry cured.

[boslow]

One last thing, choose wisely the joint of meat you want to cure.

Good Luck

Fatman

As a newbie I would like to ask for further guidance on choosing the meat,

[Parson Snows]

boslow

fatman is away until midmonth'ish.

What are you looking at curing? Hams, bacon, corned beef/salt beef?

kind regards

Parson Snows

[boslow]

Currently I cure pork loin using Franco's cure and then adding a range of flavour's to see how it comes out, currently I have a juniper and black pepper cure on a 2kg piece of loin. I was interested in the comment "choose wisely the joint of meat" as I am happy with the chemistry and the process but lacking in the basic knowledge about what meat makes good bacon.

[aris]

I've done couple of loins too - and have not been totally impressed with the. I think belly makes a much nicer piece of bacon.

My current flavouring consists of the cure, pepper, and black treacle.

[Parson Snows]

Boslow

I will let fatman answer fully when he returns, though I would guess that he is referring to the amount of fat present in the meat, also to avoid Pale Soft Exudative (PSE) or Dark Firm Dry (DFD) cuts of meat. These conditions typically apply to pork and rarely affect beef.

kind regards

Parson Snows

[boslow]

Parson Snows.

Thanks for your help, I keep coming back to this forum because of the high level of knowledge and willingness to help others.

Regards

Boslow.