# Salt Equalization?



## inkjunkie (Feb 11, 2015)

I understand what it is....I think...but how does it get performed? Tomorrow will be day 15 for some 2", at its thickest, bellies that have been sitting in Pops Brine. Would like to try and get it in the smoker, if possible, next Monday.


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## daveomak (Feb 11, 2015)

Pretend you are sitting in your recliner breathing.....  you take in air, consume the oxygen, expel carbon dioxide....  If the oxygen from the rest of the room didn't rush in to equalize the oxygen molecules that were consumed or converted to CO2, OR the CO2 molecules didn't rush away  because there were too many CO2 molecules in front of you........   

You would suffocate from too much CO2 and Lack of O2.....    Equilibrium.....  

Salt in the brine...  no salt in the meat....   things exchange places until it is in balance...


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## mr t 59874 (Feb 11, 2015)

inkjunkie said:


> I understand what it is....I think...but how does it get performed?


Water seeking it's own level.  A dry sponge absorbing water until it can take no more.

Research osmosis.

Hope this helps.

Tom


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## inkjunkie (Feb 11, 2015)

DaveOmak said:


> Pretend you are sitting in your recliner breathing.....  you take in air, consume the oxygen, expel carbon dioxide....  If the oxygen from the rest of the room didn't rush in to equalize the oxygen molecules that were consumed or converted to CO2, OR the CO2 molecules didn't rush away  because there were too many CO2 molecules in front of you........
> 
> You would suffocate from too much CO2 and Lack of O2.....    Equilibrium.....
> 
> Salt in the brine...  no salt in the meat....   things exchange places until it is in balance...






Mr T 59874 said:


> Water seeking it's own level.  A dry sponge absorbing water until it can take no more.
> 
> Research osmosis.
> 
> ...


So how does one achieve salt equalization?


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## mr t 59874 (Feb 11, 2015)

inkjunkie said:


> So how does one achieve salt equalization?


Simply make your brine or rub per manufacturers recommendation and let it cure for the recommended amount of time.

It's magic.

Tom


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## wade (Feb 11, 2015)

When the meat goes into the brine the salt in the brine is very concentrated however there is "none" (not strictly true) in the centre of the meat. Whilst it in the brine the salt gradually diffuses into the centre, however unless it in there for long enough for it to fully diffuse throughout the entire volume of the meat then you will still get a concentration gradient of salt between the surface and the centre. Leaving the meat to stand once it is removed from the brine will then aĺlow the concentration of salt to become equalied throughout the whole of the meat.


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## inkjunkie (Feb 11, 2015)

Wade said:


> When the meat goes into the brine the salt in the brine is very concentrated however there is "none" (not strictly true) in the centre of the meat. Whilst it in the brine the salt gradually diffuses into the centre, however unless it in there for long enough for it to fully diffuse throughout the entire volume of the meat then you will still get a concentration gradient of salt between the surface and the centre. Leaving the meat to stand once it is removed from the brine will then aĺlow the concentration of salt to become equalied throughout the whole of the meat.


So while it is in the fridge for the pellicle to form this is also helping it equalize?


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## daveomak (Feb 11, 2015)

A better pellicle will form in front of a fan at room temp....


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## gary s (Feb 11, 2015)

I do both for the Pellicle  Fridge and then on the counter under a fan while I'm waiting on my smoker

Gary


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## wade (Feb 11, 2015)

Yes. Any salt gradient will continue to equalise (even whilst it is being smoked) until the salt concentration becomes consistent throughout the meat. I have not tested this myself but i have seen it recommended that the meat should be left for at least 5 days for this to occur.


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## atomicsmoke (Feb 11, 2015)

Wade said:


> Yes. Any salt gradient will continue to equalise (even whilst it is being smoked) until the salt concentration becomes consistent throughout the meat. I have not tested this myself but i have seen it recommended that the meat should be left for at least 5 days for this to occur.


Hmmm...I foresee a new experiment.


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## mr t 59874 (Feb 11, 2015)

Wade said:


> Yes. Any salt gradient will continue to equalise (even whilst it is being smoked) until the salt concentration becomes consistent throughout the meat. I have not tested this myself but i have seen it recommended that the meat should be left for at least 5 days for this to occur.


Exactly what I told him in e-mails. Two days equalization, smoke (mine is for approx. three days), then two additional days for smoke equalization.

Tom


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## Bearcarver (Feb 11, 2015)

I Dry cure my Bacons, and I only give it an extra over night in the fridge to equalize, since it's been equalizing all along during the 8--10--12--or 14 days in cure. Doesn't hurt to give it more, but I feel that's plenty of time.

Then I give it 2 days & 2 nights in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap after smoking for the smoke to even out throughout the meat. Then 4 hours in the freezer before slicing.

Bear


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## mr t 59874 (Feb 11, 2015)

Bearcarver said:


> Then 4 hours in the freezer before slicing.
> 
> Bear


And I'll bet you have a slicer too.  
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






   Here it's, how do you like your bacon sliced, just in case I get it that way? 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





T


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## Bearcarver (Feb 11, 2015)

Mr T 59874 said:


> And I'll bet you have a slicer too.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


LOL----Absolutely----Some people amaze me how they can slice by hand. I'd probably get it 1/8" on one end & 3/8" at the other.

I need the slicer!!

Bear


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## gary s (Feb 11, 2015)

I used Bear's Step by Step for Canadian Bacon and Belly Bacon, I am pretty good at slicing thin, but --------------------------  slicer should be here this afternoon.

Gary


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## wade (Feb 11, 2015)

atomicsmoke said:


> Hmmm...I foresee a new experiment.





Mr T 59874 said:


> Exactly what I told him in e-mails. Two days equalization, smoke (mine is for approx. three days), then two additional days for smoke equalization.
> 
> Tom


Lol Atomic - I will have to save up for a while first following the cost of the current lab tests - 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Hi Tom - DanMcG sent me a great link that contained this information following some other research that was done on Sausagemaking.org. Although even here the 5 days was also just an educated guess.

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=6314&p=54737&hilit=immersion#p54737

_"The 10 day per kg curing period should be followed by an equalisation period to allow the cure ingredients to spread evenly throughout the meat. Within reason this should be lengthy probably a minimum of 5 days per kg – however we have no tests to show the movement after curing so these are our thoughts based solely on the movement during the curing period – they may be different post cure."_


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## mr t 59874 (Feb 11, 2015)

Wade said:


> Lol Atomic - I will have to save up for a while first following the cost of the current lab tests -
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks Wade,  I know nothing about curing sausage. It's nice to purchase something's and not have to compare them to your own.

The link discusses wet brine or immersion, I only use dry rub on bacon as we prefer the flavor and texture.

Tom


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## wade (Feb 11, 2015)

Mr T 59874 said:


> Thanks Wade,  I know nothing about curing sausage. It's nice to purchase something's and not have to compare them to your own.


Those were my first thoughts when someone first suggested I look there - but contrary to what the name suggests there are some great general curing resources there... even for dry curing - which is my preferred method too.


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## mr t 59874 (Feb 11, 2015)

Wade said:


> Those were my first thoughts when someone first suggested I look there - but contrary to what the name suggests there are some great general curing resources there... even for dry curing - which is my preferred method too.


Will study closer, always willing to learn something new.  Seems the older I get, the more learning I need.  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Thanks again,

Tom


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## diggingdogfarm (Feb 11, 2015)

_"The 10 day per kg curing period should be followed by an equalisation period to allow the cure ingredients to spread evenly throughout the meat. Within reason this should be lengthy probably a minimum of 5 days per kg – however we have no tests to show the movement after curing so these are our thoughts based solely on the movement during the curing period – they may be different post cure."_

Times required for equalization depend on a lot of different factors and will be different for different classes of meat cuts or even individual cuts.
Temperature, size/thickness, fat content, geometry of the piece of meat, surface area in relation to the size/thickness of the meat, muscle orientation in relation to cuts, water percentage, diffusion coefficient of the piece of meat, etc.
Hundreds of papers have been written on the subject of diffusion of salt and cure in meats.

Home curers generally rely on experience and general rules of thumb to produce an acceptable product....patience certainly helps. :smile:

@inkjunkie,

For next time....
A reliable course of action would be to go with a combination cure...dry mix on the outside and some pumped brine on the inside...you can even leave the piece of meat whole.
To use a minimum amount of MTQ...measure out the total amount of MTQ required...divide that MTQ in half...add water to one half (to fully dissolve the cure it takes roughly 3 to 1, water to cure)...chill the brine and evenly inject. Rub the remaining MTQ on the outside.
If you do a good job injecting, it speeds-up curing and equalization time considerably.


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## mr t 59874 (Feb 11, 2015)

Thanks' DDF,  Very useful information.  I will start using it on my larger cuts of meat.

Thanks' again,

Tom


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## wade (Feb 11, 2015)

DiggingDogFarm said:


> Times required for equalization depend on a lot of different factors and will be different for different classes of meat cuts or even individual cuts.
> Temperature, size/thickness, fat content, geometry of the piece of meat, surface area in relation to the size/thickness of the meat, muscle orientation in relation to cuts, water percentage, diffusion coefficient of the piece of meat, etc.
> Hundreds of papers have been written on the subject of diffusion of salt and cure in meats.


That's great Martin. If you can point me in the direction of a couple of good papers on this that you would recommend they should be great as reference reading material.

Cheers

Wade


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## diggingdogfarm (Feb 11, 2015)

Here's a good place to start.....
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=salt+nitrite+diffusion&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0,33
As you know, papers reference other papers easily leading to even more information.

This is interesting.....
*Simulation of salt diffusion in a pork (bacon) side using 3D imaging.*

I have a bunch of information somewhere, but I think that most of it was buried (and is still buried) in a storage locker when I moved here 5 years ago.


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## wade (Feb 12, 2015)

DiggingDogFarm said:


> Here's a good place to start.....
> https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=salt+nitrite+diffusion&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0,33
> As you know, papers reference other papers easily leading to even more information.
> 
> ...


Hi Martin - a very interesting mix of articles

The 3D imagery one was obviously a presentation and it would have been great to hear the dialog to go along with it. The slides were very promising but I bet the whole presentation was great. As this was from 2007 I guess there is little chance of getting that now 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






. Some very interesting modeling and simulation work. I see that they conclude that they hope to use these models to see "how accurately we can predict salting time/final mean salt concentration". Do you know if they published the results showing how well their simulations modeled actual meat? It would be good to see how closely these modeled reality.

From the other link the only ones that looked as if they relate to the diffusion rate of salts into pork are the ones from the Journal of Food Science - but unfortunately they are subscription only. I don't mind paying to read an article but before I do which one of these two are you recommending?

Cheers

Wade


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## diggingdogfarm (Feb 12, 2015)

Did you see both pdf files associated with the 3D project?

The cost of some of those papers is crazy.

I found a lot of free stuff while researching the subject over several years.

Try refining your search right in Google.....
salt diffusivity pork pdf

Google Advanced Search makes it easier.

I also found a lot of references in meat science books...there's a lot of information to be had via the available previews of some of those books in Google Book Search.


HTH


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## wade (Feb 12, 2015)

Oh yes. That gives a bit more information regarding their simulation slides. I would now be great to see how close their simulation matched actual salt absorption.

Cheers

Wade


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