# Newbie to bacon curing



## Ladyfarmer (May 15, 2020)

I’m new here and need some help/advice. I was told by someone that I could use Excalibur Golden Brown Sugar Cure as a dry rub for bacon.  So I rubbed down my bacon with this and put it in the fridge 6 days ago. I was turning it every day or two and today it was green and grey tinged. Liquid was even a little blueish in the container. I rinsed it off in cold water and put it back in the fridge. Is it ruined?  Or can it be saved?


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## chef jimmyj (May 16, 2020)

Looks like the Excalibur Brown Sugar Cure is 0 .75% Nitrite, Salt and Brown Sugar. It is intended to be Injected. Unless " Someone " is very knowledgeable, or Expert, on Nitrite and Curing Meat...Always follow the Manufacturer's Instructions.
What was the Belly's weight?
How much of this cure did you apply?
Blue, Grey or Green is not a color you would expect to see in a bag of curing belly. How does it smell?
Considering you are using the cure in a manner not intended by the manufacturer and you have an anomalous result, I  suggest you contact Excalibur and ask them. A Search here shows no posts of members using Excalibur Brown Sugar Cure.
I don't know how close Excalibur is to Morton Sugar Cure but, there may be some guys that use Morton's that can help...JJ


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## daveomak (May 16, 2020)

I use the Excallibur cures for bacon.....  Let me lead you through this....

At 0.76% nitrite, there is some number crunching we have to do.....

A 9# pork belly needs (9# x 454 = 4,086 grams) (4,086 grams X 0.000200 Ppm max)  = 0.82 grams of nitrite for 200 Ppm nitrite cure in 9# of belly...
each gram of cure contains....  1 x 0.0076 (%) = 0.0076 grams of nitrite

A total of 0.82 grams nitrite needed / 0.0076 grams nitrite per gram = 108 grams of cure mix to attain the needed nitrite for the belly cure....

To check that number,  108 grams cure mix X 0.0076 (% nitrite in the mix)  = 0.82 grams nitrite....

To simplify this for the next time....  108 grams cure mix / 4086 total meat = 0.026 = 2.6% addition of the cure mix will give you 200 Ppm nitrite in the meat..






						Country Brown Sugar Cure - Walton's
					

Complete cure with brown sugar, made especially for hams.  Country Brown Sugar Complete Cure from Excalibur Seasoning.




					www.waltonsinc.com
				




Here is the info for Bacon Rub Cure....   I don't use it...  I can't find ANYWHERE where Erythorbate is allowed in a rub applied cure...   So I now use the Turkey injection cure...
The bacon rub cure  adds WAY too much salt to the meat for my liking, about 4%...  The Turkey cure doesn't add enough salt so I add a bit of kosher salt, (calculated of course)....

Since Excalibur seasonings are about +/- 85% salt, adding  2.6%, by weight, to the meat, will return about 2.2% salt or less...   If you shoot for 150 Ppm nitrite in the belly, 150/200=0.6 x 2.2% salt = 1.32% salt or less..
I hope this makes sense...  sometimes this stuff confuses me for awhile...  then it comes around... 
I'll be glad to go over this in a PM conversation....    Hover over  my avatar and click on "Start Conversation"


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## daveomak (May 16, 2020)

Ladyfarmer said:


> I’m new here and need some help/advice. I was told by someone that I could use Excalibur Golden Brown Sugar Cure as a dry rub for bacon.  So I rubbed down my bacon with this and put it in the fridge 6 days ago. I was turning it every day or two and today it was green and grey tinged. Liquid was even a little blueish in the container. I rinsed it off in cold water and put it back in the fridge. Is it ruined?  Or can it be saved?


Check your fridge temperature...  make sure it's 36-38 F....    The rainbow of colors could be from fat and the light refracting off of it...  like oil on water....  same exact thing...


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## Ladyfarmer (May 16, 2020)

daveomak said:


> Check your fridge temperature...  make sure it's 36-38 F....    The rainbow of colors could be from fat and the light refracting off of it...  like oil on water....  same exact thing...


Fridge temp runs around 38-40.  I do have it in a clear plastic container.


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## daveomak (May 16, 2020)

Check the fridge with an accurate thermometer....  I use a glass of water and stick the therm in the water after overnight stay in the refer.....


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## Ladyfarmer (May 16, 2020)

daveomak said:


> I use the Excallibur cures for bacon.....  Let me lead you through this....
> 
> At 0.76% nitrite, there is some number crunching we have to do.....
> 
> ...


Ok I didn’t use the bacon rub cure though. I got the “Golden brown sugar cure” from a butcher supply store. The guy there told me he just rubs down the bacon with it til it’s coated and flips it every several days or so adding more if needed. Usage on the box says to use 2 lbs of cure in 1 gallon of water for a 10% pump. I questioned him on this and he told me to ignore that part...wishing I wouldn’t have now. But no, I did not measure any of the cure. Just applied it evenly as I could.  So, at this point do I just cut my losses and start over?


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## Ladyfarmer (May 16, 2020)

daveomak said:


> Check the fridge with an accurate thermometer....  I use a glass of water and stick the therm in the water after overnight stay in the refer.....


I will try that. I have a good digital thermometer.


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## daveomak (May 16, 2020)

My butcher told me the same thing....    
Can you weigh what you have left in the bag to "guesstimate" how much you used ???
That woud be a good starting point...


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## daveomak (May 16, 2020)

If that doesn't work, take out about 2.6% the weight of the meat and look at it....   
The nitrite will dissipate with time and heat....   
If you think it was WAY too much, you can soak the meat in ice cold water for a bit...   
Think about what the butcher said...   No one has gotten sick from his bacon...   
That's a good lesson to find another butcher OR copy your thread and give him a copy...
He could use a lesson in the proper techniques for using cure.....


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## pc farmer (May 16, 2020)

Great info 

 daveomak


I am just here to learn from this.


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## Ladyfarmer (May 16, 2020)

daveomak said:


> My butcher told me the same thing....
> Can you weigh what you have left in the bag to "guesstimate" how much you used ???
> That woud be a good starting point...


Well I would but I bought a 50 pound box of cure. We butchered five hogs with another family so I wanted to make sure we would have enough to last us a long time.   I used probably around a 3/4 cup of the cure for 5 pounds of belly.


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## Ladyfarmer (May 16, 2020)

pc farmer said:


> Great info
> 
> daveomak
> 
> ...


Good deal. Learn from my mistake. It’s a sin to waste good bacon.


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