Brine cure

[tomwal]

Hi all, I have a 5kg pork loin I would usually dry cure, but have never used a brine to cure my pork, does anyone have a good brine recipe for a loin this size or can you point me in the right direction on the forum.

Thanks


Wal

[warston]

Hey Wal and welcome to the forums !

here is something may could help as a first attempt of making wet cure ham:
http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=4862

[tomwal]

Thanks warston.


Wal

[yotmon]

Hi Tom, Im in the same boat as yourself. Fancied curing a piece of pork by the 'wet' method. I picked up a cheap piece of bonless leg from Asda which is half the size of your joint. It looked a nice piece in the pack but when I've opened it, it looks like 'Edward scissor hands' boned it out ! there are slashes everywhere, so I had to be careful to get the cure in all the knucks and crannies. I've been advised by 'them who know' to go for the pump and rub method which basically injects half the cure into the meat with a 10% brine calculated on the weight of your meat. The rest is rubbed in the same as a dry cure. I followed the instructions on 'Wheels' calculators on the site and was advised that it would be okay to omit the saltpeter.
I know this isn't what you've asked for, but is supposed to be a lot quicker and safer method of curing. Also have a look at the recent post by Capt. Wassaname posted a couple of days ago, were he has cured a ham by the injection method.
Hope this helps.

Ste.

[captain wassname]

I am doing a 3kg (2996 gm) leg of cheap pork tonight.
I will use an 8% injection rather than the 6% I have been using in responce from a comment from Salmo. Namely he wanted it "moist"
I will also be using for the first time Phosphate because Dan did an experiment and concluded that pork cured with phosphate lost less weight when cooked.
Im not in a position to recommend or otherwise the use of phosphate as yet
Here is the injection part of the cure.
23gms salt
3.5 gms cure #1
15 gms sugar
6gms phosphate
this totals 47.5 gms.
Since I want an 8% injection then I need 240(8% of 3kg)-47.5=192.5 gms water.
If you leave out the phophate you need another 6 gms water
For the rub I will use 22gms salt,4 gms cure#1 and 15 gms sugar
Wrap in clingfilm place in tupperware tray (in case of leaks) leave in the fridge for 12 day,turning every 2 days The great thing is that you cannot overcure using this method as long as you have 2.5 gms cure #1 for every kilo of meat.

Jim

[tomwal]

Thanks guys, I'm going to try a pump and rub, see how it goes, Ste, I bought a leg of pork from ASDA it was that badly butchered I ended up using it for pulled pork, tasty though...


Wal

[crustyo44]

Hi,
Being a bit of a health freak, personally I would leave out the Phosphate. We are eating already too much chemicals, cures are a different kettle of fish altogether and must be used for a long and healthy life.
I have used Wheels' cure recipe for quite some time and found it great.
Before you smoke any cured meat, just slice of a bit and fry it first as a test to see if you like the salt content, if too high to your liking, soak it for a few hours and try it again. Then smoke it.
I find that Pork neck fillet/scotch fillet are better to eat as a smoked meat due to it being juicier, better fat distribution in the meat.
Smoked loin I find dry-ish. Scotch fillet is cheaper than loin as well.
That's my opinion for what it's worth.
Good luck.
Jan.

[captain wassname]

Hi Jan phosphate not recommended but Ill try most things once.

Jim

[DanMcG]

Looking forward to your results.

[crustyo44]

Hi Jim,
I fully agree with you, no doubt I will try phosphate as an ingredient one day, if we use it every day, that is, if you eat hamburgers every day, you might have a health problem.
Regatrds,
Jan.

[Salmo]

Jim
Is the Phosphate in your recipe the product sold on this site as Supaphos?
Cheers

[captain wassname]

Yes I had a lot of bother dissolving it.
Next time Ill mix it in the water before it cools down.

Jim

[Salmo]

Thanks Jim
Look forward to hearing about the result.

Mel

[captain wassname]

Progress report
Pork weighed 2800 to start
injected 240 gms brine,
uncovered it and rinsed weighed 2947.It had leaked a fair bit

Think Ill go back to 6% inject where possible.

Ill leave it overnight take a slice off for a gammon sarnie then cook the bugger.
Will post back on the morrow re pre and post cooked weights.

Jim

[captain wassname]

simmered it until internal temp was 69 deg,
finished weight1968 gms.

Bloody cheap supermaket meat.

Jim