Pops6927's Wet Curing Brine

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I want to cold smoke some brats for flavor, then freeze them untill summer and then finish them on the grill. Will using a wet cure protect the brats from bacteria growth? I am using a MES30 with Masterbuilt cold smoker attacment and the ambient temperature will be about 20*F. This is my first cold smoke and any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Bob


Brats, like stuffed in a casing..... They should have cure #1 added to the meat before stuffing and smoking.....
 
 
No injection, it is only about 2 to 3 inches thick
 In Pop's brine, probably 5 to 7 days. I always go the extra mile though. I'd hate to pull it and then realize that it wasn't completely permeated. I always leave in Pops for........

“Curing times vary with meat, but generally overnight to 2-3 days for chickens and turkeys, 8-10 days buckboard bacon, 10-14 days belly bacon, pork shoulder, whole butts, 3-4 weeks whole hams, 10-20 days corned beef (fresh beef roasts, briskets, rolled rib roasts, etc.) If whole muscle is more than 2" thick, then inject so it can cure i/o as well as o/i, and/or in and around bone structures, etc.”

That's the rules I use, hasn't let me down yet.
 
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hi  

  can you give me a good curing recipes Belly Bacon

thanks  frank68                                                                                       
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hi  

  can you give me a good curing recipes Belly Bacon

thanks  frank68                                                                                       
drool.gif
There is really two basics that are extensively use around here, one is a dry rub cure, and one is a brine cure. Here are two good links, one for each with plenty of notes, suggestions, enhancements, smokes, etc etc...

Bearcarvers Tutorial (Dry Rub)

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/108099/bacon-extra-smoky

Craigs Tutorial (Pops Brine)

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/124885/bacon-made-the-easy-way

Hope they help.
 
I'm hoping that some of you more experienced folks can give me some advice. I've been curing some BBB made from a pork picnic in pops brine mixture for about 18 days. Tonight I pulled it out of the brine to get it ready to dry so I could cold smoke this weekend. When I opened the container things smelled a little "funny". I wouldn't say rotten egg smell exactly, but kind of close and the brine and meat are kind of slimy. The Meat looks fine and after a rinse in cold water the smell seems to have gone away. 

So the question is, did I goof and ruin this batch,or is this somewhat normal. I haven't read any experiences like this in other threads and the handy search bar hasn't produced any hits. This is my first run with wet curing/brining meat for smoking so forgive the newbie question. 
 
Was the meat in the refer the entire time.... Did you mix/stir it during the 18 days..... Did you inject the brine along the bones when first setting up and into the meat...
If all that was done, you should be fine.... here is a note on "ropey, slimy brine"..... Dave

 
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Thanks for the reply Dave. After I posted this last night I tried a bunch of different searches here and on Google. Realizing that slimy was spelled slimy and not slimey netted a ton more results and lead me to a thread with your exact attachment. I had carved up my picnic into smaller chunks before the brine so there was no need to inject. I did stir everything at day 8 and it all seemed normal at that time. 

Thanks again for the reply and the information. 

Scott. 
 
Thanks for the reply Dave. After I posted this last night I tried a bunch of different searches here and on Google. Realizing that slimy was spelled slimy and not slimey netted a ton more results and lead me to a thread with your exact attachment. I had carved up my picnic into smaller chunks before the brine so there was no need to inject. I did stir everything at day 8 and it all seemed normal at that time. 

Thanks again for the reply and the information. 

Scott. 

Scott, morning..... Cutting up a leg into chunks and then curing, makes more sense to me.... No need to worry about bone sour, incomplete curing etc.... I have even cut up beef roasts when making pastrami.... cures faster.... slices easier.....

Anyway, glad you found out what you needed to know.....

Dave
 
I'm going to read through this thread a few times and try absorb this information.. I have 40# of trimmed, skin on pork bellies to cure and don't want to screw it up.

Great thread. :)
 
this is the most amazing thread  so thank-you for re-posting  it all ~~~i have a question in regards to Michael Rhulmans method of brine versus Pops brine method ~~i do realize they are quite different methods  but i have  Rhulman's book on Charcuturie  states  a quotion of 2 liters water ~~3/4 cup kosher salt ~~1 cup brown sugar~~4 teaspoons Progue powder #1  for the insta cure ~~ his method is  to cure 2 pounds  per-day refrigerated of coarse ~~~~~this is quite a bit shorter brine time than pops brine recipe  and he does advocate using brown sugar ~~many others do as well ~~ then one soaks it for a couple hours to remove some of the salt ~`dry well ~`and then let set in the fridge overnight to air dry well so the smoke will adhere instead of steaming ~~~ my question has anyone tried Michael Rhulmans method  and how did you like it ~~i have also seen some recipes on this site for making black forrest ham using as much a 4 tablespoons Progue powder #1 ~~per 1 gallon of water ~~~seems like quite a bit to me but wondered if this is so one does not have the longer curing time in the fridge and would it tend to be safe as far as the bacteria does then go ??? thank-you for any response  ~~Miss~~Belle ~`a~~Que ~~I am wanting to cure and smoke a po 4 pound pork butt into a ham form by mothers day for my kids  and have been a bit late getting to the party here ~~smile 
 
The more cure no. 1 you add, the shorter the brining time.  The maximum per gallon of water is 3.84 oz (5 tablespoons) of cure.  

I prefer a longer, weaker brine as prescribed by my dad, who was NYS Inspected daily in his meat and grocery store and had State certification on his brine.  According to him (and backed up by NYS Inspection), he contended that by lowering the amount of cure in his brine and lengthening the time in the cure, it would produce a product that was still fully cured and also tenderized by the lengthened enzyme action in the brine and be more tender, and was allowed by the State to cure for longer times with a weaker cure.  Of course, he had his 'curing sugar' mixed up to his specifiications by the Aula company (then in Detroit?) and shipped by rail in 300lb. barrels, dropped off at the rail station down the street, which he would pick up (side note: I'd ride with him as a boy when he would pick up a barrel and often admired the house sitting next to the station - it used to be a hotel.  A couple years after Linda and I got married, we purchased that house and I remodeled the front room into a beauty shop for her - it was called "The Depot Beauty Shoppe", lol!). 

Sorry, I digress!  Soon, he had to have a minimum order of 600 lbs. of it shipped to him, then 900 lbs., then they stopped making it near the end of his ownership of the store  I had the foresight to rip off the barrel label and stock it in a box of store papers.  30 years later I came across it and developed my own interpretation of my dad's brine with common ingredients, know known as "Pop's Brine", and utilizing his same method of a slow, safe cure for tenderness.

The label:


This was after Aula sold their company to ITC and I could see the writing on the wall that the era of my dad's "Special Cure" was going to end.

So, to make a long story longer, lol, that's the story of how my brine interpretation came to being, with one factor, that curing for a longer time in a milder brine will produce a product ready to heat or cook that requires no soaking before or after smoking, because the salt level is more to the user's palate.   I have since modified my brine to a 'lo-salt' version cutting all the ingredients in half (except the curing salt) - salt, sugar and brown sugar - ½ cup vs. 1 cup each.  After 5 strokes I had to.

That is why my curing brine is weaker.
 
I love the little personal history stories you toss in once in awhile, Pops.

I think that is what makes so many of us, "feel" a connection, to you and your Dad.
 
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