# Bacon and cure - How much is too much?



## pugsbrew (Jul 3, 2019)

So, I've been reading through the Bacon Bible by Peter Sherman.  He has included instructions on curing bacon.  His recipes call for 2 tsps of cure for 5 lb of meat.

What am I missing here?  Isn't that twice the amount of normal recipes?  

How much is too much for 5 lbs of meat?


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## SmokinAl (Jul 3, 2019)

1 tsp of cure #1 is the amount needed for 5 lbs. of bacon.
Here is a great calculator for figuring out the salt, sugar, & cure amounts for your bacon.
http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html
Hope this helps!
Al


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## pugsbrew (Jul 3, 2019)

SmokinAl said:


> 1 tsp of cure #1 is the amount needed for 5 lbs. of bacon.
> Here is a great calculator for figuring out the salt, sugar, & cure amounts for your bacon.
> http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html
> Hope this helps!
> Al



Thanks, this is what I use.  I'm just trying to figure out why someone is using twice the amount, and is it TOO much?


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## fivetricks (Jul 3, 2019)

Depends on how you look at it. The 1tsp cure for the 5 lbs of meat is designed at achieve the 156 ppm threshold.

Using twice that much cure obviously would take you well over that amt. However the process of cooking the meat will break down most of the nitrates in the finished product. I personally would use the 1tsp per 5lbs. I actually would use 1.13 g/lb to be even more accurate


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## SmokinEdge (Jan 27, 2020)

pugsbrew said:


> So, I've been reading through the Bacon Bible by Peter Sherman.  He has included instructions on curing bacon.  His recipes call for 2 tsps of cure for 5 lb of meat.
> 
> What am I missing here?  Isn't that twice the amount of normal recipes?
> 
> How much is too much for 5 lbs of meat?



Are you sure that’s not for a brine?  Add water, and that 2tsp work fine.


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