curing

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vince m

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jan 9, 2016
41
14
plano il
Does anyone know where to get solid curing info everywhere I seem to look has different measurments on how much pink salt to use and say if you use to much people get sick thanks in advance.
 
If you plan on doing much curing, I recommend you get an electronic scale to weigh stuff...   0-100 grams capacity will allow for accurate weights for cure, spices and seasonings to replicate future recipes...   

There are different amounts of cure to be used for different "styles" of curing and different meats.... 

Bacon, as an example...  in a brine, pumped and massaged, 120 Ppm max. allowed ingoing nitrite...   Dry rubbed, 200 Ppm max. allowable ingoing nitrite..   Those are the USDA standards for a commercial operation...

....USDA maximum allowable ingoing nitrite amounts....

120 Ppm ingoing equals 0.88 grams cure #1 per pound....

200 Ppm ingoing equals 1.45 grams cure #1 per pound...

156 Ppm ingoing nitrite is recommended for ground meat as in sausages and that equals 1.13 grams cure #1 per pound...
 
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Does anyone know where to get solid curing info everywhere I seem to look has different measurments on how much pink salt to use and say if you use to much people get sick thanks in advance.

The books written by Stan and Adam Marianski are great resources for curing and sausage making.

Dave is right on target about weighing your curing salts and using a GOOD scale. When it comes to grams, accuracy is important.
 
Umm, what are you wanting to cure for the most part? I doubt you are going to jump into a hard salami next week per say. If you are just starting out, Morton's Tender Quick is a good cure that uses both sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate. It is labeled to be dosed by volume to weight, i.e., you use 1 TBL to 1 LB. of meat. I use it a lot for dove breasts and smaller cuts of meat that would render cure#1 useless. 

Pink salt really should be reserved for large batches of sausage or brines in my opinion. I use pink salt for bacons, hams,  corned beef and pastramis etc. all in brines.

I do second the notion and HIGHLY recommend a good digital scale.
 
....USDA maximum allowable ingoing nitrite amounts....

120 Ppm ingoing equals 0.88 grams cure #1 per pound....
200 Ppm ingoing equals 1.45 grams cure #1 per pound...
156 Ppm ingoing nitrite is recommended for ground meat as in sausages and that equals 1.13 grams cure #1 per pound...

Dave I can't thank you enough for breaking this down this way!! I don't think I'm alone in being confused and somewhat intimidated by the sometimes overly scientific lingo used in discussions on curing. When the topic turns to parts per million my eyes glaze over and I lose focus quickly. This explanation makes it easy for the non scientifically minded like myself (i.e. Dummies) to decipher and safely cure meats and sausage. POINTS!
 
Bum, morning and you are welcome.... 

Ppm is the number of parts in a million....  

454 grams / 1,000,000 = .000454 ...   multiply that by 120 for 120 parts in a million....  

.000454 x 120 = 0.05448....  That is how much nitrite is need for the 120 Ppm.... 

Cure #1 is 6.25% nitrite or 0.0625......  

0 .05448 divided by the percentage nitrite in the cure = how much cure you need to add....

.05448 / 0.0625 =  0.87 grams cure #1

****************

or 454 x 0.000120 / 0.0625 = 0.87
 
How would any cut of meat render pink salt useless?
Say for 1 Lb. of dove breasts. Very hard to measure it out and distribute it evenly. I use both pink salt and tender quick, depending on which one is easier to measure for the amount of meat I'm doing.

Pink salt in brines, TQ as a dry rub. Just my opinion.

That's all I meant by that. 
 
 
Say for 1 Lb. of dove breasts. Very hard to measure it out and distribute it evenly. I use both pink salt and tender quick, depending on which one is easier to measure for the amount of meat I'm doing.

Pink salt in brines, TQ as a dry rub. Just my opinion.

That's all I meant by that. 
Makes sense.
 
If you measure out the salt, sugar, and spices required for the dish, then add the correct amount of cure #1, it will be no different than trying to spread TQ equally all over the meat....

I have a batch of mix I use for fish made up in a zip bag....  When I want to smoke a fish, I weigh out 18 grams per pound of fish and sprinkle it over the fish...    salt is perfect, sugar is perfect, spices are perfect and the cure #1 is the correct amount....  My fish turns out exactly the same every batch...
 
Hi this is my first post and my first beef snack stick attempt.
I bought a seasoning pack from cabelas that came with the spice and cure.
The cure said 1 3/4 teaspoon per 1 pound of meat. I had 7 pounds so I just put in
1 3/4 x 7 of the maple cure like it said. I've read other places that it's 1 tsp per 5 pounds of meat. Did I put too much cure on? I just followed what the package said, but my sticks are VERY salty.
 
Hi this is my first post and my first beef snack stick attempt.
I bought a seasoning pack from cabelas that came with the spice and cure.
The cure said 1 3/4 teaspoon per 1 pound of meat. I had 7 pounds so I just put in
1 3/4 x 7 of the maple cure like it said. I've read other places that it's 1 tsp per 5 pounds of meat. Did I put too much cure on? I just followed what the package said, but my sticks are VERY salty.
I just looked up "Cabelas Snack Stick Kits' and they don't give the amount of cure or salt...     Following the package directions was the right thing to do...    Was the "CURE" in a separate envelope ??  
 
Yes the cure was in a separate white bag. There was another bag for theseasoning. I just didn't want to to hurt anybody with too much cure. I'm it too sure why they are so salty then. I guess next time I'll just hold back on spices?! These are the instructions it came with and the bag itself. Hopefully I uploaded that right. Thank you for reply,


 
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