How to best cure Canadian Bacon using Cure 1 ?

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smokeydokey

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Nov 7, 2011
101
26
Pinetop/lakeside, AZ
Hello All,

I have made CB a couple of times using Tender Quick, dry curing one batch, and doing the same thing to the the second, but splitting the batch, finishing half the last couple of days in apple juice. Both were excellent, the ones with apple juice finishing up about 20% plumper and very moist.

i now have an economy sized tub of Cure #1, and I cant seem to find  a recipe here for curing CB with this. I'm about to atrat curing some bellies for bacon, and I thought I would fill my smoker space with a batch of CB.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance

-Smokey Dokey
 
Smokey, afternoon.... Pops pickle is pretty much OK for any meat.... Instead of straight water, I imagine juice or beer could be added along with spices of choice..... You may have to evap the alcohol on the stove in a pan first...(don't know, just guessing on that alcohol part)....

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110799/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine

Take lots of pics ......  Dave
 
Thanks for the tips Fellas, and thanks to Pops for the original post. I will try this instead of the TQ so I can get a better handle on salt and sugar concentrations.

I'll post a Q-View

-Smokey
 
I'm not 100% sure if what I'm about to say is accurate, so please take this with a grain of salt.  The comment about using juice instead of water caught my attention on this one, the reason being I'm not sure if using an acidic juice instead of water would impact the Sodium Nitrite reaction in any manner based on the pH of the brine.  I know most wet cures call for water and I believe it has to do with Sodium Nitrite being highly water soluble.  I'm not sure if altering the pH would inhibit the solubility of the Sodium Nitrite.  Apple juice has a pH of ~ 3.3 which makes it slightly acidic and it appears to work for SmokeyDokey.  I bring this up for 2 reasons.  First, if pH does impact the solubility of Sodium Nitrate, perhaps using an acidic juice is impacting the effectiveness of Sodium Nitrite and secondly, if there is no impact to the reaction and efficacy then I'd like to try apple juice in my next wet cure for belly bacon.  I'd welcome additional comment on this one.

-Salt
 
I'm not 100% sure if what I'm about to say is accurate, so please take this with a grain of salt.  The comment about using juice instead of water caught my attention on this one, the reason being I'm not sure if using an acidic juice instead of water would impact the Sodium Nitrite reaction in any manner based on the pH of the brine.  I know most wet cures call for water and I believe it has to do with Sodium Nitrite being highly water soluble.  I'm not sure if altering the pH would inhibit the solubility of the Sodium Nitrite.  Apple juice has a pH of ~ 3.3 which makes it slightly acidic and it appears to work for SmokeyDokey.  I bring this up for 2 reasons.  First, if pH does impact the solubility of Sodium Nitrate, perhaps using an acidic juice is impacting the effectiveness of Sodium Nitrite and secondly, if there is no impact to the reaction and efficacy then I'd like to try apple juice in my next wet cure for belly bacon.  I'd welcome additional comment on this one.

-Salt
Go for it...Acid is not an issue, infact since 1970 the addition of Ascorbic Acid ( Vitamin C) or Erythorbic Acid has been has been added to Cures in the US by Law. It avoids issues with Nirtosomine formation...JJ
 
Salt,

A very good point, and a question way about my pay grade.

The way I've incorporated juice in the past for CB is like this:

I've dry cured my loins for the proper time according to meat thickness, 7-9 days. Then, when I was SURE that the meat was cured, I put the loins in a bath of Apple juice for 2 days, figuring that they would plump up, but that the curing process would already be complete, more like icing on the cake if you will. I was planning on forgoing the apple juice in favor of water for just the points you bring up, but I would be very interested in knowing an answer to your question.

I like the effects of the juice for CB made the way I outlined for the flavor, and also for the fact that in a side by side comparison the CB finished in Apple Juice, turned out about 20% plumper, and very flavorful compared to the plain dry cured piece off the same loin.

I have been hesitant to use juice for a 7-11 day brine just because I don't know what effects it would have health wise, but if it is safe, I would do it that way in a heartbeat, as the flavor is superior.

Thanks for a very good point.

-Smokey
 
Based on JJ's response, i will try an apple cure following Pop's recipe, but will probably cut back on the sugar as the apple juice will have a lot of sweetness to it.

I'll post a QView in a couple of weeks after I finish. Thanks to all

-Smokey
 
JJ, thanks for the feedback.  By chance do you know the concentrations dictated by the FDA/USDA for the 2 compounds you listed or might you have a link or two for some additional reading?  I ask since they could be used in very small quantities that might not impact the overall pH of  the brine.  Just intellectual curiosity and I'd like to read a bit more on this. 

-Salt
 
This is what I have...This is a minimum, I can't find a Max but at some point you get Sour tasting meat so I doubt you would want too much acidity...Additionally, you can check with Nepas but I guarantee there is more in Tangy cured Sausages like Slim Jims and Summer Sausage...JJ

About 1970, it was found that ascorbic acid (vitamin C), an antioxidant, inhibits nitrosamine formation.[sup][19][/sup] Consequently, the addition of at least 550 ppm of ascorbic acid is required in meats manufactured in the United States. Manufacturers sometimes instead use erythorbic acid, a cheaper but equally effective isomer of ascorbic acid. Additionally, manufacturers may include alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) to further inhibit nitrosamine production. Alpha-tocopherol, ascorbic acid, and erythorbic acid all inhibit nitrosamine production by their oxidation-reduction properties.

Taken from here...  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_nitrite
 
Last edited:
OK, I've started the grand experiment. I'm using Pops' brine recipe, replacing the  water with apple juice, and have about 10 lbs of loin, 2lbs of jowl, and 6 lbs of belly floating around in it now, as well as a bunch of belly and jowl dry curing to Al Blancher's recipe. A Q-view will be forthcoming. Can't wait to try it all, and thanks for your suggestions.
 
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