# New to curing looking for guidance



## stackhsc (Jan 31, 2021)

Hi all. I’ve been doing some research on curing for a few weeks. I decided to take the plunge and have started a few recipes but now realize the recipes may have some gaps in information. 
They are intended for a regular fridge cure   .
They are dry cures and done in percentages, in one recipie it specifies under 200g meat but the other ones didn’t specify this so the size of meat I used is over 200g. I used 2.5 percent and 0.25 prauge1. I’ve got them in zip locks well coated and most of the air pushed out of them. In one place it suggests 5-7 days but I’ve seen on other sites that cure time  is dependant on weight and thickness.  The meat I’m using is around 800g

I guess I’mlooking for input on how long, or better yet how to determine how long I should allow them to rest with the cure.
Next I’m looking for guidance as to if I can still dry these in a regular fridge or if I really sure have a decidcated chamber. I’ve been toying with picking up a used mini fridge and may go that route anyway  

I really appreciate any feed back and guidance to understanding the science/reasons behind how this stuff is done. 
thanks.


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## indaswamp (Jan 31, 2021)

So are these whole muscles you are curing? Describe what you are trying to make. Some dry cures need cure #2 for the longer drying time.


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## stackhsc (Jan 31, 2021)

indaswamp said:


> So are these whole muscles you are curing? Describe what you are trying to make. Some dry cures need cure #2 for the longer drying time.


No, not whole muscles. Just what I would think are small cuts of meet. About 800 grams starting weight, so about 2 pounds. One is a piece of top round, the other a piece of pork loin (not traditional but I figured inexpensive, easy to get and no big loss if it goes bad) 
It’s early in so if these pieces are too large for a shorter drying time then I could easily make them smaller.


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## Murray (Jan 31, 2021)

Cure time also depends on thickness of the meat, you don’t mention the thickness.


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## stackhsc (Jan 31, 2021)

Murray said:


> Cure time also depends on thickness of the meat, you don’t mention the thickness.


They are both about 3 inches thick.


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## indaswamp (Jan 31, 2021)

stackhsc said:


> No, not whole muscles. Just what I would think are small cuts of meet. About 800 grams starting weight, so about 2 pounds. One is a piece of top round, the other a piece of pork loin (not traditional but I figured inexpensive, easy to get and no big loss if it goes bad)
> It’s early in so if these pieces are too large for a shorter drying time then I could easily make them smaller.


By 'whole muscle' I mean intact....as in not ground up like a sausage.  

For whole intact muscle, you can figure cure time to be 1/4" per day, plus 2 days for every inch just for insurance. Also, shape matters as round or oval will cure a little faster than a flat piece like say bacon. So at 3" thick, that's 12 days plus 6 days...18 day cure minimum. 

Also, cure #1 is used when the product will be dried in 30 days or less. Cure #2 is used when cure time is longer than 30 days. A 3" piece would take longer than 30 days to dry cure.


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## stackhsc (Jan 31, 2021)

indaswamp said:


> By 'whole muscle' I mean intact....as in not ground up like a sausage.
> 
> For whole intact muscle, you can figure cure time to be 1/4" per day, plus 2 days for every inch just for insurance. Also, shape matters as round or oval will cure a little faster than a flat piece like say bacon. So at 3" thick, that's 12 days plus 6 days...18 day cure minimum.
> 
> Also, cure #1 is used when the product will be dried in 30 days or less. Cure #2 is used when cure time is longer than 30 days. A 3" piece would take longer than 30 days to dry cure.




Ok. So if I were to slice them to 1 inch it would be 6 days in the salt. Then dry. Would this work?


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## indaswamp (Jan 31, 2021)

Yes, that would work. Which cure did you use? Cure #1 or cure #2?


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## stackhsc (Jan 31, 2021)

indaswamp said:


> Yes, that would work. Which cure did you use? Cure #1 or cure #2?


I used 1, that’s what the recipies called for but as I said the first one called for a very small portion of meat.  Actually the second two didn’t state any cure 1, or 2 but I calculated by weight and used 1. I don’t have 2 and can’t seem to find any locally yet  but am looking. 

I just went to verify, apparently I overestimated on thickness. They are both 1 3/4. So they would be 9 day cure??? If that’s the case do you think I can still do them in the fridge or should I still thin them down to just under an inch each?


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## indaswamp (Jan 31, 2021)

What are you making? Bacon? Lomo? That will determine the recommended moisture loss. From that you can figure out the drying time.


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## stackhsc (Jan 31, 2021)

indaswamp said:


> What are you making? Bacon? Lomo? That will determine the recommended moisture loss. From that you can figure out the drying time.


It’s a fake prosciutto and a  Bresaola  I believe it’s 35 percent loss from the post cure weight?


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## indaswamp (Jan 31, 2021)

The prosciutto will likely be fine if it has a high fat content. Fat only has 15% moisture so the piece will dry fast. The breasola might achieve 30% weight loss in one month.


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## stackhsc (Jan 31, 2021)

indaswamp said:


> The prosciutto will likely be fine if it has a high fat content. Fat only has 15% moisture so the piece will dry fast. The breasola might achieve 30% weight loss in one month.


Do you have charts or references that I can take a look at or is it just an experience thing?  I’d like to build up some reference and knowledge on it so I can try to ask more informed questions lol. 
Thanks.


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## indaswamp (Jan 31, 2021)

Start here and read...
https://www.meatsandsausages.com/

Buy the book: Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages by Stanley and Adam Marianski

And when you are ready for making Salami, buy The Art of Making Fermented Sausages by the same authors.


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## stackhsc (Jan 31, 2021)

indaswamp said:


> Start here and read...
> https://www.meatsandsausages.com/
> 
> Buy the book: Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages by Stanley and Adam Marianski
> ...



Thanks man.


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## stackhsc (Feb 23, 2021)

indaswamp said:


> By 'whole muscle' I mean intact....as in not ground up like a sausage.
> 
> For whole intact muscle, you can figure cure time to be 1/4" per day, plus 2 days for every inch just for insurance. Also, shape matters as round or oval will cure a little faster than a flat piece like say bacon. So at 3" thick, that's 12 days plus 6 days...18 day cure minimum.
> 
> Also, cure #1 is used when the product will be dried in 30 days or less. Cure #2 is used when cure time is longer than 30 days. A 3" piece would take longer than 30 days to dry cure.



Hi. Just for clarification. I’ve seen this formula again but this time it seemed to be to be implied that the cure could penetrate 1/4 inch a day. So a 2 inch piece that had cure on both sides would take 4 days as it’s being penetrated from both sides and the. 2 days extra for the inch so 6 days total. Where as the way I took it from what you wrote it would be twice that at 12 days.


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## indaswamp (Feb 23, 2021)

stackhsc said:


> Hi. Just for clarification. I’ve seen this formula again but this time it seemed to be to be implied that the cure could penetrate 1/4 inch a day. So a 2 inch piece that had cure on both sides would take 4 days as it’s being penetrated from both sides and the. 2 days extra for the inch so 6 days total. Where as the way I took it from what you wrote it would be twice that at 12 days.


It is assumed that the cure will penetrate from all sides in the calculation. it penetrates 1/8" from all sides.


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## stackhsc (Feb 24, 2021)

indaswamp said:


> It is assumed that the cure will penetrate from all sides in the calculation. it penetrates 1/8" from all sides.


Ok. Thanks. I’ve seen it said both ways so just wanted to be sure


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## kentucky fisherman (Feb 24, 2021)

I can't help with the meat you've already started, but I was a dry cure novice like you about two months ago. I started with pork loins, turning them into Canadian bacon, which is really more like ham. Do a search and find Bearcarver's instructions for Canadian bacon, which is what I used. It calls for Morton Tender Quick, which is a mixture of fine salt, cure (not sure which one), and fine sugar. I've used that recipe twice now and found it understandable, easy to follow, and the results are excellent. I realize you may want to produce other cured products, but thought I'd toss out that Bearcarver's is a good recipe for starts.


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## stackhsc (Feb 24, 2021)

kentucky fisherman said:


> I can't help with the meat you've already started, but I was a dry cure novice like you about two months ago. I started with pork loins, turning them into Canadian bacon, which is really more like ham. Do a search and find Bearcarver's instructions for Canadian bacon, which is what I used. It calls for Morton Tender Quick, which is a mixture of fine salt, cure (not sure which one), and fine sugar. I've used that recipe twice now and found it understandable, easy to follow, and the results are excellent. I realize you may want to produce other cured products, but thought I'd toss out that Bearcarver's is a good recipe for starts.



Thanks.  The ones I started.... well so far one of the ones I started turned out really well. Just a bit in the salty side but otherwise I’m happy.  A bit of learning a bit of beginners luck and lots of good knowledge from forums like this helped lol.


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## indaswamp (Feb 24, 2021)

Have you bought the book *The Art of Making FERMENTED SAUSAGES* by Stanley and Adam Marianski? If not, buy it today. Best $20 bucks you will spend learning about this hobby. Read it cover to cover....it is all in the book. Read it cover to cover at least 5 times, you will learn more as you make salami so refer back to it often.


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## SmokinEdge (Feb 24, 2021)

stackhsc said:


> I used 2.5 percent and 0.25 prauge1.


I’m guessing you applied 2.5% salt and 0.25% cure #1 (Prague)? If so, and you think it’s salty, I would cut the salt to 2.0% then add cure. This will give you 2.25% salt. Not recommend to go much below that on dried product.

What you have done looks real good. Congratulations.


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## stackhsc (Feb 24, 2021)

indaswamp said:


> Have you bought the book *The Art of Making FERMENTED SAUSAGES* by Stanley and Adam Marianski? If not, buy it today. Best $20 bucks you will spend learning about this hobby. Read it cover to cover....it is all in the book. Read it cover to cover at least 5 times, you will learn more as you make salami so refer back to it often.



Yes  I have it after you recommended it in one of these threads :).  Working my way through it.


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## stackhsc (Feb 24, 2021)

SmokinEdge said:


> I’m guessing you applied 2.5% salt and 0.25% cure #1 (Prague)? If so, and you think it’s salty, I would cut the salt to 2.0% then add cure. This will give you 2.25% salt. Not recommend to go much below that on dried product.
> 
> What you have done looks real good. Congratulations.


Thanks. Yes your assumptions are correct. Appreciate the info on the minimum salt level too.


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## indaswamp (Feb 24, 2021)

Will also not be as salty if not dried to 40%. Try it at 30%.


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