Belly Pork Bacon Cure Question!

[rblake80]

Hi all,

Having spent a long while curing and smoking fish for friends and family, I have just taken the plunge into the wonderful world of curing bacon!

Having scanned through a lot of posts I'm sure that someone out there will hopefully be able to answer my question.

I have a piece of belly pork approx 1.54Kg in weight and am planning on mixing a cure based on the Ruhlman Charcuterie Dry Cure Mix as follows...

450g salt
425g dextrose
75g pink salt

However, I want to use the commercially available Curing Salt (from www.sausagemaking.org) in place of the Salt and Pink salt in the above cure recipe.

My question is how much weight of dry cure would I need based on these measurements to cure 1Kg of meat?
By knowing this as a measurement, I would be able to work the figures backwards and then obtain a figure that would enable me to mix a dry cure in the the quantity needed to cure each specific piece of meat, rather than mixing a big batch!

Thank you for listening and I look forward to your replies...

Richard

[wheels]

Richard

Welcome.

Does Ruhlman not say what amount of meat this cure is for? I'm guessing around 50lbs?

Phil

[saucisson]

Also, can I double check are you planning to dry cure?

If so I would use :

30g all purpose curing salt
24g dextrose

per kilo of meat

Dave

[rblake80]

Hi Dave,

I am planning to dry cure the bacon....

Ruhlman's figures for ratio of cure to weight of meat seem rather too vague!
the book states using 50g of pre mixed cure for between 1.5 - 2.25kg meat hence my question...

Thanks for both of your replies.... unless I hear otherwise I shall dry cure using the 30g curing salt to 24g dextrose mix.

I'm planning to keep bagged up with the cure for 7 days and then smoke for flavour. I'll keep you posted!

Richard

[lemonD]

Dave,
Is Franco's all purpose curing salt the same as cure#1?

LD

[wheels]

Also, can I double check are you planning to dry cure?

If so I would use :

30g all purpose curing salt
24g dextrose

per kilo of meat

Dave

Dave

This will give approx 2.4% Dextrose - I know that Dextrose is less sweet than sugar but I think this would be too sweet for my taste

Do you have details of the Nitrite and Nitrate % of the all purpose curing salt - it would be useful for future reference?

Phil

[saucisson]

Dave,
Is Franco's all purpose curing salt the same as cure#1?

LD

No, it is salt with the "right" amount of cure in it to completely replace the ordinary salt plus cure with just the general purpose curing salt. However it has both nitrite and nitrate in it. I will see if I can find out what exactly is in it.

Phil, I calculated that on the basis of the recipe Richard wanted to copy, so I'm assuming he wants it sweet.

DAve

[rblake80]

you're exactly right... I'm curing the bacon to be on the sweet side. Based on how the bacon turns out i'll fine tune the salt/dextrose balance as desired.

I'm quite used to fine tuning any brines/cures from smoking fish, but the hardest part is always finding a reliable and easily repeatable method. Thanks to your help you've certainly aided me with my query!

[captain wassname]

Hi I am a newcomer to bacon curing (only three lots) I used the all purpose curing salt from this site.The instructions are clear 15g per kilo and thanks to Phils help 7.5gms sugar per kilo. This is a decent starting point and after youy first batch you can make adjustments regarding sweetness i.e.more/less sugar maple syrup treacle spices or herbs without the need to buy ready made mixes.

Hope this helps It worked for me.


Jim

[wheels]

I'd forgotten that we've been here before, and that the cure instructions say 15g per kg!

Jim's 15g all purpose cure/7.5g sugar will give approx. 1.47% salt and 0.75 sugar - he obviously likes the bacon that way - others may prefer sweeter/saltier - but, he's right, you've got to start somewhere!

Given this information, my own preference would be for 15g All Purpose Cure, 8g Sugar and an additional 3g-5g salt (per kg). Apply 90% to the meat, 10% to the skin.

Phil

[captain wassname]

sorry to have given the wrong impesion but the cure I used gave a fairley neutral flavour if you are seeking a sweeter cure I am mereley sugessting this as a starting point.

As a first timer one needs a starting point.

I have a loin in the fridge at the moment with the 15g+7gm cure with 2tbs maple syrup (775gm joint) this willbe cured in 2 days and ready for eating in 5 days and I am willing to post then. You must be aware that sweet/salty is a subjective opinion. So I would say If you prefer a sweet cure try
15 gm cure 7gm muscavado plus 7gms of your preferred sweetener.

this should give youma decent startig point for a sweet cure

[saucisson]

I'd forgotten that we've been here before, and that the cure instructions say 15g per kg!

Doh, me too, point me over there Phil

Dave

[wheels]

Dave

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=4305

Jim

I love the idea of the maple syrup - you obviously like the sweet cures - others have done honey and (surprisingly to me) marmalade.

Let us know how it goes.

Phil

[captain wassname]

Richard

Incstrutions on Francos all purpous curing salt clearly state usage at 15gm per kilo and I have used thecure and it works

as mentioned if you you require a saltier cure add more salt >if you require a sweeter cure add more sweetener but do not mess with theinstructions i.e.15gm per kilo

JIm

[saucisson]

Noooo! I even posted in the thread Phil :roll:

OK, you should not use more than 15g of general purpose curing salt per kilo of meat, until we can establish what is in it. (I will make enquiries on the forums's behalf)


For total salt:

I cure with 25g total salt as a base. It seems I have made a rod for my own back now as my children don't enjoy bacon anywhere else as they now say other bacon is too salty. (:roll: ) I dread to think what commercial bacon has in it in that case.

20-30g seems to be the broad limits I have come across for home cure, 15g seems a bit low to me, but I'm happy to learn

From my own experience 25-30g seems to give a drier cure, while 20g needs a bit more careful looking after in the fridge. But this is all anecdotal, I am no expert.

Dave