Pops6927's Wet Curing Brine

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The ones I smoked were hot smoked and they look like roast pork (white) now.  I cooked a piece that was still in the fridge and it also only turned white, tasted like salty pork chop, not like bacon.
 
The ones I smoked were hot smoked and they look like roast pork (white) now.  I cooked a piece that was still in the fridge and it also only turned white, tasted like salty pork chop, not like bacon.

Either you forgot the curing salt or you used far too little; the pork was not cured.
 
 
real simple curing brine:

 for every 1 gallon of water, add:

1/3 - 1 cup sea salt (depending if you're on a lo-salt diet)

1 cup granulated sugar or Splenda[emoji]174[/emoji]

1 cup brown sugar or Splenda[emoji]174[/emoji] brown sugar mix

1 tbsp cure no. 1 pink salt

stir thoroughly until clear amber color, pour over meat, inject if necessary to cure from inside-out as well as outside-in

weight down with a partially filled 1 qt or 1 gal. ziploc bag or bags to keep meat immersed

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.

You can add any other flavorings you'd like, this is just the basic curing brine. 1 heaping tablespoon of cure is about 1 ounce.  The maximum concentration allowed safely is 3.84 ounces per 1 gallon of brine (24 lbs.per 100 gallons: 16 oz. x 24 = 384 ounces, 1/100th is 3.84 ounces).  You can experiment with different concentrations as long as you keep it between those parameters:
What is the shelf life of this brine?  How long is it good for once I mix the instacure #1 into the gallon of water?  Can I mix it up, add half of the gallon of brine to a ziploc of chicken and then store the other half gallon of brine in the fridge until I need to brine meat again in a week or so?
 
Not sure if this has been covered, but I am doing a brine for canadian bacon later tonight.  Most of the recipes say mix the ingredients for the brine and heat to a simmer.  One recipe said add the pink salt after it has cooled.  Does it matter if I add it during the heating process or not?  I have my ratios right now thanks to this thread.

Thanks
 
Thanks for the quick reply!  There are a lot of recipes out there I think are wrong.  They don't mention to not add the pink salt until after the brine has cooled down.  They keep running these pork loins on sale so I figured I would try some canadian bacon.  Only have done belly bacon so far.  Can't wait to try this one.
 
What is the max length you can leave a loin in the Brine?  Reason I ask is I have a 7lber in the brine and it is going to be done Saturday (9 days) and I've been asked to take a little trip where  wouldn't be back till Sunday to pull it out.  Would an extra day or two make a difference?

Thanks, much!
 
 
What is the max length you can leave a loin in the Brine?  Reason I ask is I have a 7lber in the brine and it is going to be done Saturday (9 days) and I've been asked to take a little trip where  wouldn't be back till Sunday to pull it out.  Would an extra day or two make a difference?

Thanks, much!
You will be fine.

I had bone in loins cure for 3 weeks.
 
Got a couple whole hams in Pops brine, pulled them out of the fridge today to check on them. There was a slight alcohol smell, not sour or rotting smell, just like an early fermentation smell. I pulled the hams, washed them well, dumped and cleaned/sanitized the tub, mixed up some new clean brine, and put them back in the fridge.

My question after the fact, is if that is a normal occurance? The last hams I did, the brine got cloudy, but no off smells.

Thoughts? Did I need to worry? Did I do the right thing?
 
 
Got a couple whole hams in Pops brine, pulled them out of the fridge today to check on them. There was a slight alcohol smell, not sour or rotting smell, just like an early fermentation smell. I pulled the hams, washed them well, dumped and cleaned/sanitized the tub, mixed up some new clean brine, and put them back in the fridge.

My question after the fact, is if that is a normal occurance? The last hams I did, the brine got cloudy, but no off smells.

Thoughts? Did I need to worry? Did I do the right thing?
All is good....  You must have used brown sugar.....   the contaminants in it started the fermentation process....  

...click on pics to enlarge....

 ...
 
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Got a couple whole hams in Pops brine, pulled them out of the fridge today to check on them. There was a slight alcohol smell, not sour or rotting smell, just like an early fermentation smell. I pulled the hams, washed them well, dumped and cleaned/sanitized the tub, mixed up some new clean brine, and put them back in the fridge.

My question after the fact, is if that is a normal occurance? The last hams I did, the brine got cloudy, but no off smells.

Thoughts? Did I need to worry? Did I do the right thing?
All is good....  You must have used brown sugar.....   the contaminants in it started the fermentation process....  

...click on pics to enlarge....

 ...
Thanks Dave. I did use brown sugar as per Pops recipe. As well I used pure maple sugar.

In these articles you posted, they mention to scald the package? I assume they meant the barrels/drums back in the day? Would the meat surface have been scalded too?
 
Not to long ago I dropped a piece of butt into Pops Brine. To be safe I also injected it...heavily. Was a small hunk-o-meat, still gave it 12 days. Quick rinse prior to a test fry, had 0 salt taste. Cold smoked it over Apple pellets....for 35 hours. Had some this morning....the taste was incredible.
Can Pops Brine be used on a Pork Loin to make Canadian Bacon? If so any suggestions on spices, both in the brine and prior to smoking?
 
Not to long ago I dropped a piece of butt into Pops Brine. To be safe I also injected it...heavily. Was a small hunk-o-meat, still gave it 12 days. Quick rinse prior to a test fry, had 0 salt taste. Cold smoked it over Apple pellets....for 35 hours. Had some this morning....the taste was incredible.
Can Pops Brine be used on a Pork Loin to make Canadian Bacon? If so any suggestions on spices, both in the brine and prior to smoking?

Works for cb and alot of stuff.

I only use the brine with nothing in it. Add spices while forming the pelicle.

For cb, I dont add anything.
 
Works for cb and alot of stuff.

I only use the brine with nothing in it. Add spices while forming the pelicle.

For cb, I dont add anything.
Thanks for the quick tesponse.
Just to make sure I understand your response. You use just the basic brine? And when you make CB you add nothing to the meat, spice wise?
Just made some CB, my first try. I purchased....
https://www.himtnjerky.com/Buckboard-Bacon-Cure.html

Meat is very flavorful...
 
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