# Wet cure calculation



## slavikborisov (Feb 25, 2022)

I think i posted this in the right section.

I'm butchering two hogs tomorrow and might have attempt bacon with the belly's

Just so I'm comprehending everything. 0.25% for cure #1, 1.5% salt, 0.75% sugar for a wet brine.
Ive read mixed posts about weighing the water and meat for just doing pop's brine. I like weighing everything in grams to be precise.  
So if I have a 10lb belly and 1 gallon of water that equals in the metric system....
4.53kg belly + 3.78kg (or 3785ml) water= 8.31kg of water and meat weight
So my weights would be 
Cure #1= 20.77g
Salt = 124.65g
Sugar = 62.32g 

If I increase to 2 gallons of water I would just adjust my values for that additional weight. 

Brine for 10-14 days. Pat dry. Fry test. If good refrigerate for 24 hours. Smoke to and IT of 145.

Please let me know if anyone see any miscalculations here and if its a good starting point for a first time noob.


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## kilo charlie (Feb 25, 2022)

If you're using Pops Brine there is no weighing of meat involved. If you're using another method then by all means weigh everything. 

Pop's Brine is very specific per gallon of water. If you need more than one gallon you make a complete second gallon. You do not try to make a half a gallon etc. The Salt, Sugar and Curing salt in Pop's Brine are weighed for each gallon. The meat weight is not a factor.

Other methods do different things but this is the way from Pops.


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## PolishDeli (Feb 25, 2022)

Math look good.

If you double the water, you do not necessarily double the cure#1.

After brining, soak in water/rinse for 30 min. 

Good luck


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## BrianGSDTexoma (Feb 25, 2022)

Have consider just doing a dry brine?  I have done both ways and cant really tell the difference in bacon.  Dry takes up a lot less room.


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## slavikborisov (Feb 25, 2022)

PolishDeli said:


> Math look good.
> 
> If you double the water, you do not necessarily double the cure#1.
> 
> ...


Thank you!


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## slavikborisov (Feb 25, 2022)

BrianGSDTexoma said:


> Have consider just doing a dry brine?  I have done both ways and cant really tell the difference in bacon.  Dry takes up a lot less room.


Interesting never looked into it ….Do you just put it a plastic bag and follow the same steps?


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## tallbm (Feb 25, 2022)

slavikborisov said:


> I think i posted this in the right section.
> 
> I'm butchering two hogs tomorrow and might have attempt bacon with the belly's
> 
> ...



Here is a calculator that makes this all easy for you.  The key to doing a wet cure is to take the Water Weight + the Meat Weight = Total  Weight.

You then put that Total Weight (in grams) into this calculator and adjust your salt and/or sugar % and you are done (don't mess with Cure#1 value if you have USA style Cure#1).

*Calculator:*
http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html

If you want to do an Equilibrium Brine you use the same calculator and process just don't add any Cure #1 and you have a brine that is good to go.

1 gallon of water weighs roughly 8lbs/3,689gm.

Understand, all the other processes and options being discussed to this point in the thread are good to go.
The approach I'm mentioning is what I usually recommend and discuss because there is no guess work in the numbers. You know exactly how to scale it up or down and you will be precise with your salt, sugar, and cure #1 numbers every time with out worry of over salting, or using too much or too little cure #1 :)

I hope this info helps as you decide which approach works best for you :)


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## tallbm (Feb 25, 2022)

slavikborisov said:


> Interesting never looked into it ….Do you just put it a plastic bag and follow the same steps?



I'll let Brian answer you directly but for bacon a dry brine is easier.
I just posted about how to use that digging dog calculator for wet brine BUT it can also be used for a dry brine.  How?  You use it the same way but there is no water weight to add hahaha.
So Meat Weight = Total Weight.
Punch that in to the calculator with your desired % of salt and sugar and you are done!

I dry brine my bacon. I cut it into big squares that fit 1 gallon plastic bags easily. I then weigh the meat and use the digging dog calculator to figure out my Cure#1, Salt, and Sugar weight for each piece of pork belly and then put that meat into the bag, add the seasonings and cure, massage it all over and seal it.
The salt and cure#1 will travel 1/4 inch (0.635cm) per day on all sides. So you just figure out how many days it needs to penetrate all the way and add a day or 2 to be extra safe and you are done :)


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## DougE (Feb 25, 2022)

Do the dry brine. 
1.5% salt
0.75% sugar
0.25% cure#1

Rub half of the curing mixture on each side of the belly, bag it, and massage and flip daily, or at least every other day. Let it ride in the fridge 14 days. It won't get too salty with length of cure as you're controlling the amount of salt added.


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## slavikborisov (Feb 25, 2022)

tallbm said:


> Here is a calculator that makes this all easy for you.  The key to doing a wet cure is to take the Water Weight + the Meat Weight = Total  Weight.
> 
> You then put that Total Weight (in grams) into this calculator and adjust your salt and/or sugar % and you are done (don't mess with Cure#1 value if you have USA style Cure#1).
> 
> ...




 tallbm
  thank you for that I remeber visiting that site once it’s very handy but I think I’m on the same track as the calculator in case I lose the link or forget and add on paper it easier to remember with 2.5 x (kg of meat) for cure #1 along with salt at 15 x (kg of meat) and 7.5 x (kg of meat) for sugar I was just  double checking the addition of the water and weather I was calculating to correctly if I were to do a wet brine but it sounds like the dry brine is the way to go.
Thank you guys for the input I will be doing a dry brine and see how it turns out! I’ll keep you all posted.


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## slavikborisov (Feb 25, 2022)

DougE said:


> Do the dry brine.
> 1.5% salt
> 0.75% sugar
> 0.25% cure#1
> ...


I will do that thank you!!


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## BrianGSDTexoma (Feb 26, 2022)

slavikborisov said:


> Interesting never looked into it ….Do you just put it a plastic bag and follow the same steps?


Looks like they have you covered.  I drop the salt to 1.75 for me.  Flip the bag everyday.  Give a good rinse and let air dry for a day.


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## slavikborisov (Mar 16, 2022)

First time dry cure turned out great thanks for the help and advice everyone.

i ended up doing .25% cure #1, .75% sugar, 1.5% salt 14 days in ziploc bags
Hot smoke on pellet grill at 180F till 145 IT 
The next day cold smoke for 4-5 hours with pellets which I thought I messed up with the thick white smoke but it worked out well on the test taste!!
Can’t wait to try Canadian bacon which I might have to inject so that’ll be a first as well.


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## DougE (Mar 16, 2022)

slavikborisov said:


> First time dry cure turned out great thanks for the help and advice everyone.
> 
> i ended up doing .25% cure #1, .75% sugar, 1.5% salt 14 days in ziploc bags
> Hot smoke on pellet grill at 180F till 145 IT
> ...




Some good eating right there. Nicely done!


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## pc farmer (Mar 16, 2022)

Looks great.


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## slavikborisov (Mar 16, 2022)

DougE said:


> Some good eating right there. Nicely done!


Thank you!!


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## slavikborisov (Mar 16, 2022)

pc farmer said:


> Looks great.


Thank you!!


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## pc farmer (Mar 16, 2022)

slavikborisov said:


> Thank you!!



Your welcome. This is the first I seen this thread.  I have tried brine and dry cure bacon.  I now dry cure all my bacon.


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## slavikborisov (Mar 16, 2022)

pc farmer said:


> Your welcome. This is the first I seen this thread.  I have tried brine and dry cure bacon.  I now dry cure all my bacon.


Yeah it was much simpler and easier than I thought it would be now I just have to keep my eye out for good pork belly prices.


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## SmokinEdge (Mar 16, 2022)

kilo charlie said:


> The Salt, Sugar and Curing salt in Pop's Brine are weighed for each gallon. The meat weight is not a factor.


Please post up a link or quote to where Pop’s brine ingredients are weighed. They are, as far I as I have seen, all volumetric. Nothing weighed. So random brine with random amounts of meat.


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## SmokinEdge (Mar 16, 2022)

slavikborisov said:


> First time dry cure turned out great thanks for the help and advice everyone.
> 
> i ended up doing .25% cure #1, .75% sugar, 1.5% salt 14 days in ziploc bags
> Hot smoke on pellet grill at 180F till 145 IT
> ...


That is an excellent recipe and pretty much a guaranteed path to success. Nice work. Job well done.
You can also add spices like garlic, onion or pepper, thyme, rosemary, clove pretty much anything to add flavor. The curing recipe you posted is solid and is exactly what I use for my base cure rub. It’s delicious.


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## kilo charlie (Mar 17, 2022)

SmokinEdge said:


> Please post up a link or quote to where Pop’s brine ingredients are weighed. They are, as far I as I have seen, all volumetric. Nothing weighed. So random brine with random amounts of meat.




My apologies for not having a specific quote or link to the weights of each ingredients. While communicating with Pops via PMs we discussed the list of ingredients and the weights of each from which I developed a chart for personal use so that I was making consistent brines by grams and not cups or half cups or heaping tablespoons. 

Clearly I have spoken out of turn and will refrain from doing so again.


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## slavikborisov (Mar 17, 2022)

SmokinEdge said:


> That is an excellent recipe and pretty much a guaranteed path to success. Nice work. Job well done.
> You can also add spices like garlic, onion or pepper, thyme, rosemary, clove pretty much anything to add flavor. The curing recipe you posted is solid and is exactly what I use for my base cure rub. It’s delicious.


Thank you. Yeah i read a few of your post and a couple other people suggesting that ratio and it turn out great. I'm with you on weight vs volumetric measurements as volumetric is to variable based on the source/cut (course vs fine) of the spice and the measure method. Weight in grams or oz will always be the same


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