Curing salt

[Graham Austin]

Hi Everyone , I am new here and after spending days scouring through all the internet information I clapped my eyes on I finally decided to turn to you guys in the hope someone can clear up a few doubts I have , I just recently bought the book from Paul Peacock on curing ham , meats and noticed he uses curing salt supacure which dominates most of his recipes .. theres my first problem , I live in Mexico and cant buy it here ... but I can buy Instacure prague powder 1 and 2 , its mega expensive here because its imported from the USA , so skipping throught the book from the late Mr Peacock he did make a reference to supacure and instacure 1 .. he states supacure can be replaced by :
Salt ::: 22.5g
Cure #1 ::: 2.5g
Sugar ::: 8g
for every 1 kilo of meat

so another doubt arises ... in his book he has a recipe for a wet cure bacon which calls for :
CURING SALT 500g
BROWN SUGAR 300g
WATER 4000 g
CLOVES 2
BLACK PEPPER
AND HERE COMES MY PREDICAMENT ...in the video on you tube which goes hand in hand with this formula the weight of meat looks to be approx 3 kilo , it doesnt actually state the precise weight of the meat .. but even at a wild guess of it being 5 kilo the instacure replacement doesnt add up ..???
so am I correct in assuming I cant use it per 1:1 ?? so for 5 kilo of meat i would use fives the amounts stated ie ..instacure 12.5g , etc etc ??
Ok another question before my wife divorces me .. can i make my own curing salt ie supacure ?? Mr Peacock states supacure is :
97% Salt
2% Potassium Nitrate E252
1% Sodium Nitrite E250 so therefore I would assume that would give me :
970g Salt
20g PN E252
10g SN E250 to make up 1kilo of curing salt which resembles Supacure ???

AMEN .. THANKS FOR LISTENING TO AN OLD FOOL LIKE ME ALL THE WAY FROM MEXICO ...its just I really want to start making my own bacon , sausages etc etc

[wheels]

Welcome. As an old fool, you've come to the home of old fools.

But, the one thing us old fools do know is about curing salt!

In the UK it's now my bedtime - but I, or another old fool, will help you shortly!

Welcome.

Phil

[Graham Austin]

ha ha ... so old fools unite and thanks for ur warm welcome !!!

[wheels]

Hi

Paul Peacock was an ambassador for a company who sell Supacure/Supracure. No doubt that's why he recommended it.

The recommended usage rate for this product will result in bacon that does NOT comply to either EU or US regulations. I would use Prague #1 for bacon and cooked hams as more recipes are written for this than any other; Prague #2 for air dried products. I would not recommend mixing a batch of either yourself. It's fraught with hidden problems.

The figures he gives for dry cured bacon using cure/Prague #1 are fine:

Per Kg:
Salt 22.5g
Sugar 8g
Cure/Prague #1 - 2.5g

Brine/wet curing is another beast altogether.
Many of use favour an adaption of a method called equilibrium curing; we only add enough salt/cure etc to achieve the level we want when the meat and brine have got to the stage where they have equal levels of salt etc throughout. If we just used the levels per kg of the ingredients above multiplied by the combined meat and water weights, this would achieve this. However, tests carried out by a forum member show that the meat will be 85% towards equilibrium in 10 days per kg but that full equilibrium will take considerably longer - certainly well in excess of 20 days per kg and probably much longer, hence the need for an adaption. In the adapted method, we adjust the levels of the ingredients to achieve the levels we want in 10 days per kg.
To save you having to number crunch everything, you can use this (beta version) calculator. It's the figures on the RH side that you're interested in:

http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/calcul ... uilibrium/

It should be noted that the brine will need to be in a fairly tight fitting container (or vac/ziplock bag) to cover the meat. This is necessary to be able to create a brine with sufficient salt to keep the product safe throughout the curing period. I would not use this on pieces of meat above 3kg.

I hope this helps. Do not hesitate to post back here if you are concerned about any of it.

Phil

Edited to correct typos and add link

[Graham Austin]

Hi Phil , thanks for the great advice and help , just ordered some Prague #1 , should be here by the end of the week .
Graham

[Graham Austin]

Hi Phil , tight fitting container such as a tupperware which the meat just sits in fairly tight but still a small space all around for the brine to work it's magic ???
Can I just add whilst I am here that this site and the Localfoodheroes site are a godsend to a beginner like me and others I imagine ... its like ending up in Valhalla ... Thankyou to the admins and founders of these wonderful sites , you all do an amazing job with your dedication and passion !!
Graham

[Graham Austin]

just had a quick dabble at the calculator thingybob ... wow , are you merlin ressurected ?? when I said do ya magic I never expected you'd follow through .. hey presto .. amazing .. Thankyou , Thankyou and finally THANKYOU !!

[Graham Austin]

Is 2.25% Salt enough or should i go a bit higher ?? ( I do like it my food a bit on the salty side ) .

[Graham Austin]

Hi , got another query .. just received a kilo of curing salts ( white ) which contains sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate , salt , glycerine and anit caking ingredient .. ( no % are listed of quantities of listed ingredients ) but they say to use at the ratio of 1.5kg Curing Salt to prepare a 100 Litros brine ( salmuera ) . can anyone deduct from this info how much % of sodiums are present in this salt ??

[Graham Austin]

Hi , ok I have just got off the phone after speaking with a guy from a company who sells curing salt ( supacure style , white ) , contains glycerine and 10% Sodium Nitrite ??? , am I correct in my knowledge that Instacure #1 contains only 6.5% Nitrite ??? How would I adjust formulas to accomodate the higher % of Nitrite ??
Thanks

[wheels]

Salt's a personal thing. if you like it a bit more salty, try 2.5% to start.

The EQ calculator and my (big) one for bacon allow you to enter different nitrite %'s.

HTH

Phil

[Graham Austin]

Thanks Phil !!!

[Graham Austin]

Hello , can anyone give me a guide of approx. how much ground black pepper and dried herbs I can use in a pork loin weighing 1700grams , Water 850grams , Brine Percent 9.3% .
Thanks once again
Graham

[wheels]

I just use a sprinkle. But, it's up to you - you could add chilli, or up the black pepper for a hotter taste, Or, even add none to let the meat shine.

[Graham Austin]

Hello , it was a bit of stress to find a tupperware bowl that could accomodate the meat neatly and tightlt in order for it to be submerged in the brine ( 1700g of meat to 850g of brine solution ( cure ) ..in the end I just used a ziplock bag ...