# Dry cure ham Pink salt cure #1



## mr ray ray (Dec 2, 2016)

Have been trying to cure a small boneless ham about 6.6 lbs or 3kg  I have a recipe from Germany it calls for what they have which is Pokelsalz and its only a cure with 0.5- 0.8% nitrite in the salt but we have pink salt which is 6.25% nitrite. now the question on the pink salt it says use a{ tsp = 5grams on my scale per 5lbs of ground meat} would that apply for a ham also? or does the ratio change on the pink salt to something higher?. then what i was thinking was i could use kosher salt and then add in the amount of Pink salt that it calls for per lbs that i would need to  dry cure that ham in end affect creating my own american version of Pokelsalt.             this is what i am trying to recreate this you tube video is in German.


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## atomicsmoke (Dec 2, 2016)

You plan to eat this as is (will not cook it) correct?

For uncooked meats many members here dry cure with cure#2 which has sodium nitrate on top of nitrite. The nitrate is expected to be converted to nitrite thus prolonging the curing effect. However that process is not well documented for us amateurs. If it's your first rodeo go with cure#2 at 0.25% rate of application. The European curing mixes have a lot lower nitrite content. They are ok to use, but some are that low in nitrite that you have to use a lot to reach the desired ppm level. Which makes your product too salty.


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## daveomak (Dec 2, 2016)

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........   and for food safety reasons, after adding the cure #2, keep refrigerated for 2 weeks before you dry age in ~50 deg. F locale...

AND since I don't understand that language, kosher salt addition of ~2.8% should be added to the meat...

Atomic.....  did I get that right ???  Heck, I'm doing this from memory....


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## mr ray ray (Dec 2, 2016)

Thanks for the great advice guys I will take a run at it and post what happens


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## szynka (Dec 9, 2016)

Ray Ray, if you want to follow the recipe exactly, mix 18g of salt with 2g of Cure #1.   That 20g will be the same as the German curing salt (.5% nitrite).  And don't worry about not using enough nitrite.  Too many American hobbyists think that they need to use the maximum allowable amounts, and there is no reason to do so.


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## atomicsmoke (Dec 9, 2016)

Szynka said:


> Ray Ray, if you want to follow the recipe exactly, mix 18g of salt with 2g of Cure #1.   That 20g will be the same as the German curing salt (.5% nitrite).  And don't worry about not using enough nitrite.  Too many American hobbyists think that they need to use the maximum allowable amounts, and there is no reason to do so.


Actually most people here would recommend the minimum not maximum allowable.
This non-American hobbyist provided his opinion to an inquiry made by the OP.
One can make dry ham without any nitrite at all. Just salt.


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## mr ray ray (Dec 10, 2016)

found this on line http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/cure-calculator


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## atomicsmoke (Dec 10, 2016)

So if you use peklosol targeting 150ppm you will have 2.5% salt in the cure. Right on.


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