Out of cure #1

[Mike D]

I seem to have used my cure #1 with my first brine cured ham. This leaves me with 4kg of pork loin to turn into bacon and no cure. However I do have a bag of saltpetre, plenty of sugar and plenty of salt!

Can I do bacon dry cure with saltpetre?? If so, what are the ratio's to use and is it still 1 day per 1/2" thickness of meat??

Thanks in advance!

[captain wassname]

Mike: Yes use at 0.5 gms per kilo(500ppm) to a max of .7gm per kilo.You need to adjust your salt level to compensate for the salt you are not using in the cure#1.I personally use the 1 day per 1/2 in. but with a minimum of 15 days.
You will probably taste the difference I prefer it.
Hope this helps

Jim

[captain wassname]

Mike: Sorry I forgot,if you have some, use sodium ascorbate at 0.4 gms per kilo.

Jim

[Mike D]

Thanks for the quick reply Jim. That's ahem, saved my bacon

Would you have the ratio's of sugar and salt to use too per kg of meat so I can knock up a spreadsheet for future use?

[captain wassname]

Mike: Since cure#1 is94.12% or 93.75% salt(depending on where purchased) you can just use your present spreadsheet and add on the amount of cure no 1 you were using e.g. if you were using 2.5 gms of cure #1 per kilo just add on 2.5 gms of salt per kilo to your answer. Im afraid I know nothing of spreadsheets,Im a pencil and paper man.

Jim

[Mike D]

Thanks Jim. That's all I needed to know - I can amend my "cures" spreadsheet. All I do is put in the weight of meat and it spews out the number of grams of sugar, salt, cure #1 - and now saltpetre for various "sweetcure"; "normal" cure etc, etc

[wheels]

Mike D

For all intents and purposes, on your spreadsheet you can treat saltpetre calculations in the same way as cure #1 BUT the level of active cure (nitrite in the case of cure #1, nitrate for saltpetre) is 100% not 5.88% (Sausagemaking .org cure #1 is 5.88%, US cure #1 - 6.25%).

The salt level should then (in theory) increase accordingly.

Phil

[Mike D]

Thanks Phil. I will amend my spreadsheet to the 5.88% active ingredient as I buy my cure #1 from this site.

Fortunately, I managed to scrape together just enough cure #1 to do my bacon early this morning - I am using the Wheels "sweetcure" mix, and my initial thought was that the remaining cure #1 wasn't enough, however it was (just) when I weighed it out.

I'll be using my saltpetre next time - no point in it hanging around doing nothing!

[wheels]

Mike

There is some concern in some quarters about using saltpetre for frying bacon; you may be aware it is banned in the US.

(I have no qualms about it, but felt it only right that I let you know)

Phil

[Mike D]

Hmmmm...I may just have to get some cure #1 on order then!

Thanks Phil!!

[Chuckwagon]

Hi Mike,
Let me tell you... nothing, absolutely nothing... slips by ol' Phil Young! He's as sharp as a needle eh? And he's right about saltpeter being discontinued in the U.S.A. in bacon and many other meats after 1975. Cure #2 (containing BOTH nitrite and nitrate) is no longer used in bacon either. Richard (Rytek) Kutas explains why in his book:
"Instacure #2 should not be used for cooked or smoked bacons. It has been found that very small amounts of sodium nitrite are required to cure bacon. A combination of sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate in cured bacon has been found to produce nitrosamines (cancer-producing cells) when fried at high temperatures. This problem exists only with bacon and not with ham, sausage, luncheon meats or any orther cured meats".

Cure #1 contains nitrite only. (6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% sodium chloride (salt).
Cure #2 contains both nitrite and nitrate. (6.25% sodium nitrite, 4% sodium nitrate, and 89.75 sodium chloride (salt). This formula is used for dry-cured sausages where curing time allows the nitrate to gradually break down into nitrite. (It is actually nitrite that cures meat).

Good luck with your bacon Mike. By the way, have you tried your own honey-rubbed bacon? It's incredible and I'd be happy to send you a recipe.

Best wishes, Chuckwagon

[Batman]

Mike, I normally use a home-made mixture of Cure #1 and saltpetre, using 150ppm each, I don't think a bit more or less would make much difference.

The one thing about using saltpetre is that, if my memory is right, is it needs a slightly higher temperature for the biological/chemical processes to work. I think the suggested optimum temp range is 5-8C but I can't find the original reference for that, maybe others can comment. I also believe that these nitrAte reactions are also slower than the nitrIte reactions. I would personally put it in the 'warmest' part of the fridge, (top shelf) to cure and leave it a couple of days longer.

[wheels]

TonyB

That is my understanding about the temp and Nitrate reaction also.

NitrAte needs to react with 'bacteria type thingies' in the meat to convert to NitrIte before it can start work - NitrIte, of essence doesn't. How much NitrAte converts varies with each piece of meat so it is less predictable than NitrIte.

Phil

[Oddley]

Hi All, We have had the nitrosamines debate on numerous occasions, so I have a stick with which, I'm gonna try and keep it at bay.. .

It may be true that potassium nitrAte is banned in bacon in America, but that is not the case in the UK. Most commercial bacon has the FSA limits of nitrIte and nitrAte. The American FDA is notoriously careful, (from what I understand) in case of class actions. Suffice to say, that from what I have read, we get some 80-90% of our nitrAte from vegetables, a minute amount from cured meats.

That is of course if you follow a reasonable diet, you know the one , the one, I keep meaning to follow.

[Mike D]

Thanks for that chaps. I now have some options available for when I run out of cure #1 in future.