# Too much curing salt?



## Brewdiver82

I'm curing and making my own bacon using the dry brine method for the first time and I think I messed up.  My pork belly was 11.22lbs that I cut in half for easier handling.  My dry brine recipe is:

2lbs dark brown sugar
1.25lbs salt
2 tablespoons pink curing salt
3 tablespoons pepper

I know that 1tbs of pink salt per 5lbs isn't bad, but during the brine process I would pour out the liquid and add in more brine for the first few days.  I ran low on brine so I made up another batch exactly like the first and used that as well.  Now I'm thinking that's where I messed up as I was thinking that the amount of curing salt was proportional to the amount of dry brine I was making and now I'm seeing that it's used in those amounts per pound of meat so in doing this I put the meat in contact with double the amount of curing salt that I should have?  

Today I rinsed it and soaked it in cold water for an hour and it's drying in my fridge and I had planned on smoking it tomorrow.  Now I'm wondering if I should toss it.  If anyone with experience can chime in I'd greatly appreciate it.  

Thanks


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## chef jimmyj

Find a NEW Recipe!!! First off by volume, it's *1 teaspoon *of Cure #1 per 5 pounds meat used as a dry rub. You are correct, adding a second batch of cure Doubled an already 2x too much cure. Even at the amount you used you are still not at toxic levels and cooking will dissipate more nitrite so no need to toss it. Recipes on SMF have been peer reviewed for safety and can be trusted. Stuff off the Net are often inaccruate. For Bacon... Add your calculated amount of cure #1 and other flavorings to the meat, bag and cure at 7 days per inch thickness, turning and massaging daily. Do Not remove or add anything. If a drier bacon is desired, at the end of the curing time, remove from the bags, rinse pat dry and rest on a rack in the refer for a couple days. to firm, and smoke it...JJ


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## wild west

That recipe is bad. Not only is the pink salt way more tham you need but the salt and sugar levels should each be around 2% of the weight of the meat dependimg how salty or sweet you like your bacon. In this recipe the salt is over 11% and the sugar is almost 18%. Fry up a test piece before you smoke. You may want to soak it longer before you smoke it.


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## daveomak

WW is spot on...   You need to ditch that recipe and spend more time here...


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## Bearcarver

Brew,
I gotta agree with the comments above.

Actually: When you're first starting with something new, especially something you're going to cure, it would be good if you would put your Plan down in a Thread Starter, and let the Veteran smokers have a look. You'll get a bunch of comments & some good directions from the Veteran Peanut Gallery.

Bear


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## Brewdiver82

Thanks for the replies and the info.  I cut a test piece and it's still very salty but I'm not going to try and save it.  I picked up another pork belly today to start over, but I may experiment with hot and cold smoking different woods with my first one to see what I want to go with for my second batch but I probably won't eat much of it if I used 4x the curing salt that I should have.  

I've browsed around on the site and I can't find many other recipes for bacon cures.  Is there a page or repository I'm not seeing?  I'd like to stick with a dry cure since I don't have room for a wet cure in my fridge.  

Thanks again


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## chef jimmyj

You must have missed these. Buck Board and Canadian all use the same procedure, just different amounts of cure and seasoning based weight, and takes longer because they are thicker. Any recipe can be adapted to any pork cut or weight...JJ

http://smokingmeatforums.com/index.php?threads/dry-cured-bacon.244310/

http://smokingmeatforums.com/index....dry-rub-cured-7-4-7-16-7-17-7-18-7-23.265232/

http://smokingmeatforums.com/index.php?search/137816/&q=dry+cured+bacon&o=relevance&c[title_only]=1


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## Brewdiver82

Bearcarver, I saw your extra smoky recipe and went off that.  I picked up a new 9lb pork belly at costco.  I was hoping they'd have some 11 or 12 pounders like last time but not today unfortunately.  I picked up some tender quick at sportsmans warehouse and measured out 1 tablespoon of TQ per pound of meat but I upped the brown sugar a bit to 1 heaping tablespoon per pound and threw in a tablespoon of course ground black pepper.  Hopefully this batch will turn out a bit better than the last.


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## Brewdiver82

Chefjimmyj thank you for the links.  Too bad all the top bacon curing recipes aren't all centralized in one sticky thread or something lol.


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## Bearcarver

Brewdiver82 said:


> Bearcarver, I saw your extra smoky recipe and went off that.  I picked up a new 9lb pork belly at costco.  I was hoping they'd have some 11 or 12 pounders like last time but not today unfortunately.  I picked up some tender quick at sportsmans warehouse and measured out 1 tablespoon of TQ per pound of meat but I upped the brown sugar a bit to 1 heaping tablespoon per pound and threw in a tablespoon of course ground black pepper.  Hopefully this batch will turn out a bit better than the last.




That's Great!
My "Step by Steps" were designed to accommodate Smokers just starting out, and that "Bacon (Extra Smoky)" is a big favorite among a lot of guys who have tried it.
I would have given you that link earlier (above), but it looked like you were set on using Cure #1.
Let me know if you have any questions on it.

Bear


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## chef jimmyj

Brewdiver82 said:


> Chefjimmyj thank you for the links.  Too bad all the top bacon curing recipes aren't all centralized in one sticky thread or something lol.



That would be nice, but there are Hundreds of bacon threads, going back over 10 years. That could keep one compiling for a long time, and 90+% start or include the same. Weigh and mix, X Salt + Y Sugar + Z Cure, based on Weight. Rub and rest 14 days, turning and massaging daily.  The Search function really is your best starting point then feel free to post question or contact the frequent flyers directly. We are all happy to help you make Magic!...JJ


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