# Cure Calc Help Needed, Confused for first time bacon attempt



## Markl (Oct 13, 2022)

Going to try my first attempt at making some bacon.  I have the pork belly, Cure #1, salt, sugar.  I found posts that state a good rule of thumb is:
.25% Cure #1
1.5% Salt
1.0% Sugar
What I don't get is the calculator on DiggingDogFarm where I cannot seem to alter the input for cure from it's default 6.5% value and it also shows a 156PPM Nitrate value ( are these linked?).  What's the difference between this 156 parameter and the Cure #1?
Basically, I'm not trusting the numbers I'm seeing, if correct, can someone explain the 6.5%?

Thanks, Mark


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## TNJAKE (Oct 13, 2022)

You don't change the cure box. It's set at a default .25% cure. The 6.25% is just indicating the amount of nitrites in cure #1


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## TNJAKE (Oct 13, 2022)

Cure #1 is made up of 6.25% nitrite and 93.75% salt fyi


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## rexster314 (Oct 13, 2022)

Trust it grasshopper. Been using that calculator for over 5 years


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## indaswamp (Oct 13, 2022)

^^^what Jake said.


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## DougE (Oct 13, 2022)

What Jake said, the 6.25 is just there to tell you that this calculator is based on curing salts containing 6.25% sodium nitrite, which is standard for what is sold in the US under names such as Cure#1, Instacure#1, Prague powder#1, etc. Curing salts sold in other countries often have less sodium nitrite than what we get here in the US.


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## Markl (Oct 13, 2022)

Thank guys!  Appreciate the education, never saw anything that explained the 6.25.  I like to understand the what and why, rather than blindly follow.  Guessing the 156 ppm is another default setting used for this curing process.


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## TNJAKE (Oct 13, 2022)

Markl said:


> Thank guys!  Appreciate the education, never saw anything that explained the 6.25.  I like to understand the what and why, rather than blindly follow.  Guessing the 156 ppm is another default setting used for this curing process.


The 156ppm is used because that's the regulatory standard for nitrites in cure when referring to a dry cure. When using that calculator all you do is plug in your meat weight in grams, salt and sugar in desired percentage and press calculate


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## DougE (Oct 13, 2022)

Markl said:


> Thank guys!  Appreciate the education, never saw anything that explained the 6.25.  I like to understand the what and why, rather than blindly follow.  Guessing the 156 ppm is another default setting used for this curing process.


Pretty much middle of the road at 0.25% cure ...... it insures that you have enough cure to do the job while keeping you safe if you overshoot a little. I just do my own calcs at 
0.25% cure#1 
1.5% salt, 
0.75% sugar


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## DougE (Oct 13, 2022)

200ppm nitrite is the max by FDA standards in a dry cure, if I recall correctly. So 156ppm gives you a little room for error.


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## TNJAKE (Oct 13, 2022)

Heres a good read if you want to dive deeper






						curing means saving or preserving meat
					

curing means saving or preserving meat and the definition covers preservation processes such as: drying, salting and smoking




					www.meatsandsausages.com


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## DougE (Oct 13, 2022)

Do yourself a favor and buy this book: Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages by Adam and Stanley Marianski. It's somewhat in depth, but still an easy read and will answer any questions you have on curing and sausage making.


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## Dave in AZ (Oct 13, 2022)

I hate to say it, but there may be some  confusion potential in this thread, if read without stating dry or wet cures..  Some only applies to ham... bacon has its own chemical limits that are different. 156ppm is for ham products if immersed, not bacon.  Advice and techniques can get confusing and be wrong, if you don't spell out EXACTLY what curing method you're using, a dryrub, brine immersion,  or pumped.  So 156ppm is fine if dryrub, but if you make a brine and immerse it, the total ppm put into the brine is 120, and that is based off weight of meat PLUS the water.

I constantly see these limits incorrectly exceeded when folks advise making a strong (high cure1 sodium nitrite) brine, which does give 120ppm if exactly 10% of meat weight is injected/pumped into meat... but then they advise to dump rest around meat and let it soak.  This usually exceeds allowed ppm with either of the 2 Calculation Methods, pumped or immersion, given in the Inspectors Handbook.

These limits are referenced with their sources in the USFDA FSIS Processing Inspectors Calculation Handbook.  You can download it for free, google it, and it is a pretty easy read and gread document to have, because it tells you exactly how to correctly calculate the alliwed chemical amounts in a pickle, dry rub, pumped/massaged method, etc.  From that document,  page 28, Nitrites used in Bacon, Ingredient Limits:
120ppm required if pumped, with caveats.
120 ppm max if immersion cured.
200ppm max if dry rubbed.
Hope this helps!






P.s.


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## DougE (Oct 13, 2022)

a maximum of 200 PPM of potassium nitrite for dry cure. Is that not what I already said? Actually I said a max of SODIUM NITRITE, but I think you meant the same thing.


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## Dave in AZ (Oct 13, 2022)

DougE said:


> a maximum of 200 PPM of potassium nitrite for dry cure. Is that not what I already said? Actually I said a max of SODIUM NITRITE, but I think you meant the same thing.


DougE, your post was good and spot on.. i just posted up the source because no one was stating dryrub vs. Wet.  I see diggingdogfarm calc and genuineideas referenced all the time (other forums) for calculating wet brines, and folks seem to leave that default 156ppm in there.  When folks make a bunch of posts referring to 156ppm as good, and folks don't explicitly state it is dryrub, then some future reader will see it, and just use it to calculate their immersion brine.  When there are 3 widely used different methods, with 2 different nitrite safety standards, I just think its always a good thing to be sure that factoid gets mentioned.  1000 folks will read this later, researching how to make bacon,  who never post-- throwing out 120ppm and  referencing the source doc can only help folks. ;)


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## TNJAKE (Oct 13, 2022)

TNJAKE said:


> The 156ppm is used because that's the regulatory standard for nitrites in cure when referring to a dry cure.


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## DougE (Oct 13, 2022)

D
 Dave in AZ
 point taken. Having done a ton of research, and having good tutors, here, good resources, etc, going about curing without reliable guidance is a fool's errand.


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## DougE (Oct 13, 2022)

156ppm is what we use to remain in the safe zone, Jake, but it is not the maximum allowable limit. We stick here because the cure will be effective at this number while allowing for some wiggle room before reaching unsafe levels of nitrite levels. Lower than 156ppm can still be effective, and somewhat over that is still safe, but it's a good number to get proper cure while keeping within safe nitrite levels in finished product.


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## TNJAKE (Oct 13, 2022)

I just thought 156ppm for dry cure. And up to 200ppm for wet brine. Either way, beer lol. I'm still learning


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## DougE (Oct 13, 2022)

TNJAKE said:


> I just thought 156ppm for dry cure. And up to 200ppm for wet brine. Either way, beer lol. I'm still learning


Me too as far as learning. You can go higher concentrations with wet brines because not all of the nitrate will end up in the meat.


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## Markl (Oct 13, 2022)

I am doing a dry rub.  Mix the ingredients place in a sealed bag and place in the fridge turning everyday for x days.  X = 8 to 10 days, still working on x.


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## TNJAKE (Oct 13, 2022)

Markl said:


> I am doing a dry rub.  Mix the ingredients place in a sealed bag and place in the fridge turning everyday for x days.  X = 8 to 10 days, still working on x.


I do mine for 14 days. I have a slab of beef belly dry curing right now


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## SmokinEdge (Oct 13, 2022)

156ppm nitrite is the maximum for commuted meats (sausage) 200ppm for dry rubs.
Dry cured products that will age for a couple months or more go up to 625ppm nitrite.

Brines are a totally different animal and the USDA recommends a brine strength as high as 1973ppm nitrite, this is to be injected at 10% meat weight and not covered with the same brine.


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## DougE (Oct 13, 2022)

Markl said:


> I am doing a dry rub.  Mix the ingredients place in a sealed bag and place in the fridge turning everyday for x days.  X = 8 to 10 days, still working on x.


I generally do bacon for 14 days. Doesn't matter how thick the slab is. 14 days.14 days is well past the minimum time to complete the curing process, but the extra time allows for flavor development, and it's really not worth rushing it through at the bare minimum if you're going to go through all this work.


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## SmokinEdge (Oct 13, 2022)

Dave in AZ said:


> I hate to say it, but there may be some  confusion potential in this thread, if read without stating dry or wet cures..  Some only applies to ham... bacon has its own chemical limits that are different. 156ppm is for ham products if immersed, not bacon.  Advice and techniques can get confusing and be wrong, if you don't spell out EXACTLY what curing method you're using, a dryrub, brine immersion,  or pumped.  So 156ppm is fine if dryrub, but if you make a brine and immerse it, the total ppm put into the brine is 120, and that is based off weight of meat PLUS the water.
> 
> I constantly see these limits incorrectly exceeded when folks advise making a strong (high cure1 sodium nitrite) brine, which does give 120ppm if exactly 10% of meat weight is injected/pumped into meat... but then they advise to dump rest around meat and let it soak.  This usually exceeds allowed ppm with either of the 2 Calculation Methods, pumped or immersion, given in the Inspectors Handbook.
> 
> ...


Pumped bacon, specifically, is limited to 120ppm nitrite and must also contain a cure accelerator like sodium erythorbate, but this only applies to pumped bacon. The USDA    Would like all bacon limited to 120ppm, but if dry cured, the upper limit still applies at 200ppm, and if making pancetta you could go to 625ppm, although that is not needed.


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## SmokinEdge (Oct 14, 2022)

Markl said:


> What I don't get is the calculator on DiggingDogFarm where I cannot seem to alter the input for cure from it's default 6.5% value and it also shows a 156PPM Nitrate value ( are these linked?). What's the difference between this 156 parameter and the Cure #1?
> Basically, I'm not trusting the numbers I'm seeing, if correct, can someone explain the 6.5%?


The guys have answered your question.

I will add that the calculator is showing the 6.25% as the amount of nitrite in cure #1. Other cure blends may have a different nitrite percentage, so only use cure #1 with this calculator. This nitrite percentage (6.25%) is the default value for this calculator and cannot be changed to work with a different cure salt.

cure #1 contains 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% sodium chloride (salt). If we apply cure #1 at a rate of .25% to the meat weight we will impart 156ppm nitrite. This is the maximum allowable in going nitrite for commuted products like sausage, but it’s also a safe zone to apply to whole muscle products like belly, loin or even hams. 200ppm is the maximum allowable in going nitrite for whole muscle but it’s generally accepted that 156ppm is sufficient. .25% cure #1 has become a standard in general meat curing. We apply this percentage by weight, 1.1g per pound of meat or 2.5g per Kg (1000g) of meat.

You can always check your math this way.

Meat) 1000g

Salt) 1.5% solve: 1000 x .015= 15g

Cure #1) .25% solve: 1000 x .0025= 2.5g

Sugar) 1.0% solve: 1000 x .01= 10g

Now, the difference between my math illustration and the calculator is that my total salt will be 1.75% (because we have to add the salt and cure #1 together to get total salt) 1.5% + .25% = 1.75% total salt.
However, when you plug 1.5% salt into the calculator it will allow for the salt in cure #1 and will adjust the salt amount to allow for this. So with the calculator if you plug in 1.5% salt this will be your all in final salt percentage including cure #1.

Clear as mud?


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## Markl (Oct 14, 2022)

God I love this site and the people on it.  Ask for help and get a wealth of knowledge to get on the right path to advance into this area.  Can't wait to post photo's and results of my first attempt at this!  Odds are very good because of the people here!


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## JC in GB (Oct 14, 2022)

Markl said:


> Going to try my first attempt at making some bacon.  I have the pork belly, Cure #1, salt, sugar.  I found posts that state a good rule of thumb is:
> .25% Cure #1
> 1.5% Salt
> 1.0% Sugar
> ...



After doing a fair bit of research I came up with my 10% brine method for making bacon.

It is very simple and has worked for me every time.

Meat weight in kg + 10% meat weight in H2O

For every kg of meat and water

25 g sugar
16 g salt
 3 g cure #1

Mix dry ingredients with H2O add to meat and seal in bag flip every day smoke after 10 days.

JC


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## Markl (Oct 29, 2022)

Well its been 14 days in the fridge curing.  Cut and fried a couple pieces to test.  Tasted pretty good, back in the fridge uncovered now and tomorrow will give it a 4-6 hickory cold smoke.  Waiting to see what I end up with in a few days.


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## TNJAKE (Oct 29, 2022)

It's gonna be tasty. Finished my beef bacon yesterday. 12hr cold smoke. Probably slice it up Monday. Can't wait to see yours


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## DougE (Oct 29, 2022)

It'll be delicious. I don't recall ever having bad bacon, but what I cure myself is above and beyond what you buy at the store. Everyone I've given it to agrees. A few have started bringing me meat to turn into bacon for them.


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## Dave in AZ (Oct 29, 2022)

JC in GB said:


> After doing a fair bit of research I came up with my 10% brine method for making bacon.
> 
> It is very simple and has worked for me every time.
> 
> ...


Glad it's working!
It is probably important to point out to folks, if you are going to post cure recipes, that this would not pass a USFDA FSIS inspection for any bacon for sale in the US.  You can of course do what you want in your own kitchen, but I believe you should note when you personally choose exceeding govt allowed nitrate levels, so you can allow readers the knowledge to make their own informed decision as to whether they want to follow the USFDA health and safety guidelines or ignore them...

Immersion cured bacon is limited to 120ppm sodium nitrite.  This comes to 1.9g cure#1 per kg of meat and water.


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## SmokinEdge (Oct 29, 2022)

Dave in AZ said:


> Glad it's working!
> It is probably important to point out to folks, if you are going to post cure recipes, that this would not pass a USFDA FSIS inspection for any bacon for sale in the US.  You can of course do what you want in your own kitchen, but I believe you should note when you personally choose exceeding govt allowed nitrate levels, so you can allow readers the knowledge to make their own informed decision as to whether they want to follow the USFDA health and safety guidelines or ignore them...
> 
> Immersion cured bacon is limited to 120ppm sodium nitrite.  This comes to 1.9g cure#1 per kg of meat and water.


Dave, you need to relax. You have posted this many times, and while I agree generally with what you are saying, you are hammering on brine cure, but the original poster here has clearly stated that he is dry rubbing, and as such is well within USDA regulations. To go farther, if you are going to push FSIS, USDA regs for brine cure at 120ppm nitrite then please include their additional regulations on using a cure accelerator such as sodium erythorbate, that’s an equal regulation. Please educate yourself and have some fun, I’m happy to go as deep as you like on this subject, so if you are confused, please ask.


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## Markl (Oct 30, 2022)

Cold smoked for 5.5 hours, how's it look?


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## SmokinEdge (Oct 30, 2022)

Looks delicious. Nice work. What was your process and type (s) of wood?


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## Dave in AZ (Oct 30, 2022)

Markl said:


> Cold smoked for 5.5 hours, how's it look?
> View attachment 647439


Looks great!  How's it taste?


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## Markl (Oct 30, 2022)

Dave in AZ said:


> Looks great!  How's it taste?


Taste is different, not in a bad way.  Maybe a little too smokey as I only tried an outside piece.  Need to slice off another piece and try that.


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## SmokinEdge (Oct 30, 2022)

Markl said:


> Taste is different, not in a bad way.  Maybe a little too smokey as I only tried an outside piece.  Need to slice off another piece and try that.


Bag it and let it rest in the fridge a couple days. The smoke will mello and spread even in the meat.


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## DougE (Oct 30, 2022)

Looks great! Like SE said, give it a few days in the fridge for the flavors to meld.


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## Markl (Oct 30, 2022)

2nd piece was better.  Thanks guys, bag it is!


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## DougE (Oct 30, 2022)

Heck, most of the time, I just put mine on a rack in the fridge after it comes off the smoker and bag it the next day. It takes a little playing around, but once you hit on a method that gives you the flavor you want, you will never look back.


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## Brokenhandle (Oct 30, 2022)

Looks great to me! I too now rest my bacon in fridge uncovered for 2 days. Better start on your next batch...this one will be gone soon!  I recently did 33 lbs, mostly just for my wife and I but will share some with kids...we love our bacon!

Ryan


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## Markl (Oct 31, 2022)

SmokinEdge said:


> Looks delicious. Nice work. What was your process and type (s) of wood?


Had to split the slab as it was to big for my food saver bags.  Weighed each slab and applied a mix of cure, salt and sugar based on the calculations  for each.  I was going for some maple flavor and not sure if I did this part correctly, I put 4 tablespoons of pure maple syrup in each bag.  I put some ground peppercorn in 1 bag, but very light amount, maybe too light, but my first time with this.

After a 14 day rotation, rinsed and placed the slabs on a rack in the fridge for 24 hours.  I have a Pit Boss pellet smoker, 1100sq in, so used a smoke tube with hickory pellets.  Outside temp varied from 42 to 55 and inside temp from 60 to 72 degrees and smoked for 5.5 hours.  

Will slice it all up in a day or two and plan on my next batch.  Pretty sure I can improve on what got, but not bad and thanks again to everyone's help with understanding the process.

Mark


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## SmokinEdge (Oct 31, 2022)

Markl said:


> Had to split the slab as it was to big for my food saver bags.  Weighed each slab and applied a mix of cure, salt and sugar based on the calculations  for each.  I was going for some maple flavor and not sure if I did this part correctly, I put 4 tablespoons of pure maple syrup in each bag.  I put some ground peppercorn in 1 bag, but very light amount, maybe too light, but my first time with this.
> 
> After a 14 day rotation, rinsed and placed the slabs on a rack in the fridge for 24 hours.  I have a Pit Boss pellet smoker, 1100sq in, so used a smoke tube with hickory pellets.  Outside temp varied from 42 to 55 and inside temp from 60 to 72 degrees and smoked for 5.5 hours.
> 
> ...


Nice work. Keep after it and enjoy.


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## Dave in AZ (Nov 4, 2022)

Francesco Rossi said:


> Hi all. Faced the problem of converting nitrite salt (content 0.2%) and Prague powder (6.25%). The recipe calls for 2.5 grams of Prague powder. (in proportions of nitrite salt with a content of 0.2%) should be added 30 times more? then the product will be very salty (75g instead of 25g according to the calculator).
> I’ll explain right away that getting Prague powder is problematic, but nitrite salt is quite cheap and is sold in many stores ....
> Therefore, I would like to use local nitrite salt. according to the manufacturer's instructions, use ratio of 0.01% -0.5% on raw materials.
> Is this volume of nitrite salt enough to treat the product?


I think before I'm willing to commit, you need to be more exact with your wording to be sure: "nitrite salt (content 0.2%) "... since you're using a generic product name, nitrite salt, that no one can be sure of it's content from your post,  you probably need to exactly state 0.2% SODIUM NITRITE and 99.8% salt.

If that is a true content, then for 1000g meat, 1.5% salt you'd use 15g of that stuff, which would give you 0.03g sodium nitrite.  1 milligram (0.001g) per kilogram (1000g) is 1 part per million... to get to 150ppm you need 0.15g of sodium nitrite.  That is 5 times more than your stated percentage of nitrite gives.  So you'd have to use 75g of the salt mix, which is also what you said you thought it was... and yeah, that is 7.5% salt, about 5 times too high for most things.

It is a really weird and un-useful mixture if it is really just 0.2% nitrite, be a lot more useful at 1% so it's a direct salt replacement...


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## SmokinEdge (Nov 5, 2022)

Francesco Rossi said:


> Hi all. Faced the problem of converting nitrite salt (content 0.2%) and Prague powder (6.25%). The recipe calls for 2.5 grams of Prague powder. (in proportions of nitrite salt with a content of 0.2%) should be added 30 times more? then the product will be very salty (75g instead of 25g according to the calculator).
> I’ll explain right away that getting Prague powder is problematic, but nitrite salt is quite cheap and is sold in many stores ....
> Therefore, I would like to use local nitrite salt. according to the manufacturer's instructions, use ratio of 0.01% -0.5% on raw materials.
> Is this volume of nitrite salt enough to treat the product?


You are wise to ditch this product as to effectively cure with it would result in uneatible meat for salt content. In Europe many countries have standardized a product called Peklosol this salt product is white like salt and contains .6% sodium nitrite. The idea is to control nitrite concentration with salt percentage. At 2.5% salt the nitrite would be about 150ppm, but this product is 3x as strong as what you have nitrite wise making your nitrite salt about as useful as just regular salt. Much better to find some Prague powder or cure #1.


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