# Did I ruin my pork??



## Danrb (Apr 21, 2020)

I decided I would like to try making Capicola. I found a recipe online and put the salt/cure/spices on the meat vacuum sealed it and it’s been in the fridge for two days now. I’ve been doing more research and from what I’ve read I put too much Prague powder #2. The recipe called for 1tbsp of Prague Powder #2 for 5.5lbs of meat, but since doing more reading I have found it is supposed to be 1tsp of Prague Powder #2.

Have I ruined the meat?


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## jeffhoon (Apr 21, 2020)

scrap off whatever you can of the slurry pat dry reseal you will not know how salty it is until you try it after ageing.


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## tropics (Apr 21, 2020)

Their is a big difference in Tbsp refers to TABLE Spoon
 tsp refers to TEA Spoon

5 lbs of meat should only get 1 tsp of cure.
I am sure someone else will give you more info 
Richie


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## Danrb (Apr 21, 2020)

tropics said:


> Their is a big difference in Tbsp refers to TABLE Spoon
> tsp refers to TEA Spoon
> 
> 5 lbs of meat should only get 1 tsp of cure.
> ...


Yes I understand the difference is 3X. I followed the recipe before I did adequate research.


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## Danrb (Apr 21, 2020)

jeffhoon said:


> scrap off whatever you can of the slurry pat dry reseal you will not know how salty it is until you try it after ageing.


It’s not the salt I’m worried about. I’m wondering if the extra nitrite and nitrate will be toxic.


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## jcam222 (Apr 21, 2020)

jeffhoon said:


> scrap off whatever you can of the slurry pat dry reseal you will not know how salty it is until you try it after ageing.


It’s not the saltiness that’s the concern but rather the level of nitrate / nitrite in the meat. I don’t have an answer for this from a safety perspective but there are quite a few that will. I’m thinking it’s 6 times what is recommended. Question is how much that permeates in 2 days.


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## jeffhoon (Apr 21, 2020)

Danrb said:


> It’s not the salt I’m worried about. I’m wondering if the extra nitrite and nitrate will be toxic.


Also forgot you should after scrapping off slury  rinse and soak pork  in clean water, for a few hours to 12 hours  just change water every 2 hours or so  and it should draw some of the salt out and nitrates


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## Danrb (Apr 21, 2020)

jcam222 said:


> It’s not the saltiness that’s the concern but rather the level of nitrate / nitrite in the meat. I don’t have an answer for this from a safety perspective but there are quite a few that will. I’m thinking it’s 6 times what is recommended. Question is how much that permeates in 2 days.





tropics said:


> Their is a big difference in Tbsp refers to TABLE Spoon
> tsp refers to TEA Spoon
> 
> 5 lbs of meat should only get 1 tsp of cure.
> ...


yes thanks I know 1tbsp is 3 tsp just trying to find out if there is a way to salvage the mean so I don’t have to toss it


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## Danrb (Apr 21, 2020)

jeffhoon said:


> Also forgot you should after scrapping off slury  rinse and soak pork  in clean water, for a few hours to 12 hours  just change water every 2 hours or so  and it should draw some of the salt out and nitrates


Can I be certain that will pull out enough of the nitrate and nitrite or would I be better off grinding it with more meat and making something different with it?


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## pc farmer (Apr 21, 2020)

I dont know the right answer but 

 chef jimmyj
  will have the answer.  

 daveomak
  too


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## daveomak (Apr 21, 2020)

Evening....   Whether it be cure#1 or cure#2.....  1.1 grams per pound for either one.....
Time to get a grams scale and be more accurate....
That being said, cure penetrates meat at about 1/4" per day or maybe a little less...
Considering the amount you started with, rinse it thoroughly and finish the curing process....
The nitrite will dissipate over time and nitrate is not a problem....  There are vegetables that have more nitrate than what you will have left in the meat....
NOW......   Don't believe what you see on U-Tube....   it's rife with idiots....
Spend $12 and get a good scale....  Here is one of the 4 I have...

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                Pocket Scale Featuring 4 different weight modes: g / oz / ozt / dwt for easy weight translations, tare function for net determination and a 60 second auto shut off to preserve battery life


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## Danrb (Apr 21, 2020)

daveomak said:


> Evening....   Whether it be cure#1 or cure#2.....  1.1 grams per pound for either one.....
> Time to get a grams scale and be more accurate....
> That being said, cure penetrates meat at about 1/4" per day or maybe a little less...
> Considering the amount you started with, rinse it thoroughly and finish the curing process....
> ...




Thanks so much! I’m so glad I didn’t ruin it. I’ll rinse it off now. I actually do have a small scale that is accurate to .1g and will use it for all those measurements moving forward

It’s my first time doing this and I got excited and just followed the recipe I found online. Then after doing more reading realized the recipe had an inaccurate measurement. 

Thanks again! Much appreciated!!


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## Danrb (Apr 21, 2020)

Danrb said:


> Thanks so much! I’m so glad I didn’t ruin it. I’ll rinse it off now. I actually do have a small scale that is accurate to .1g and will use it for all those measurements moving forward
> 
> It’s my first time doing this and I got excited and just followed the recipe I found online. Then after doing more reading realized the recipe had an inaccurate measurement.
> 
> Thanks again! Much appreciated!!


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## Danrb (Apr 21, 2020)

Danrb said:


> View attachment 441622


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## Danrb (Apr 21, 2020)

Danrb said:


> View attachment 441622


Tried emailing them about this too and haven’t received a reply. Just hope someone else doesn’t follow it and end up not realizing its wrong.


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## daveomak.fs (Apr 22, 2020)

Danrb, morning.....  
ALSO.... generally, 3% salt is about the lowest % you can safely get away with on semi-dried meats...  
So, adding 2.75% kosher salt and 0.25% cure (which is ~1.1 grams per pound), will do you just fine... unless you like salty meats...  I so old ,salty stuff doesn't like me...   I start swelling up like a poisoned pup.....

Personally, I have settled on  1%-2% white sugar, depending on the cut of meat I'm curing...  Definitely 1% when making bacon because I find 2% burns when cooking...
Definitely do not use sugars like brown sugar...  It has impurities...  especially when making brines that require a long soak...  It makes for what is called, "ropey" brine...  It's gets ropeyi from all the impurities and stuff growing in the brine....


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## DanMcG (Apr 22, 2020)

Although washing it might make it safer, but how do you know what the in going amount of nitrate will be? You can't assume it would be safe to eat.


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## Danrb (Apr 22, 2020)

daveomak.fs said:


> Danrb, morning.....
> ALSO.... generally, 3% salt is about the lowest % you can safely get away with on semi-dried meats...
> So, adding 2.75% kosher salt and 0.25% cure (which is ~1.1 grams per pound), will do you just fine... unless you like salty meats...  I so old ,salty stuff doesn't like me...   I start swelling up like a poisoned pup.....
> 
> ...





daveomak.fs said:


> Danrb, morning.....
> ALSO.... generally, 3% salt is about the lowest % you can safely get away with on semi-dried meats...
> So, adding 2.75% kosher salt and 0.25% cure (which is ~1.1 grams per pound), will do you just fine... unless you like salty meats...  I so old ,salty stuff doesn't like me...   I start swelling up like a poisoned pup.....
> 
> ...



Thanks for the info!!
I’ve seen semi dry stayed in a bunch of the stuff I’ve read. What exactly is considered semi dry? I’m under the impression this Capicola will be “dry”, as it will be hanging until it loses around 30% of its weight.


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## tropics (Apr 22, 2020)

Being vac packed for 2 days,how far did the cure penetrate into the meat? I have never vac sealed anything curing so it is only a question.
Richie


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## daveomak (Apr 22, 2020)

You are correct Dan....







1 TBS is 2 tsp. too much...  ESPECIALLY  if you consider the amount of bone in the pork neck....
(3 tsp = 1 TBS)


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## daveomak (Apr 22, 2020)

tropics said:


> Being vac packed for 2 days,how far did the cure penetrate into the meat? I have never vac sealed anything curing so it is only a question.
> Richie



I think it does NOT penetrate too much...  Not as much as meat resting in a container BECAUSE, the meat muscles are compressed very tight making it more difficult for any molecules to penetrate...
I do NOT vac pack meats to cure them for that reason...  nor do I truss meat when curing...  same reason..   I have noticed the difference in meat tenderness...  tougher when trussed...


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## Danrb (Apr 22, 2020)

daveomak said:


> You are correct Dan....
> 
> View attachment 441655
> 
> ...



It’s actually just the coppa muscle used for Capicola, so no bone.


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## daveomak (Apr 22, 2020)

I was looking at the recipe he posted...  Hell, I can't tell what's going on....


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## sawhorseray (Apr 22, 2020)

I can't either from reading all this. The OP said he followed the recipe that stated 2 TBSP Cure#2, then he posted the recipe and it called for 1 TBSP. If he used 2TBSP's of Cure#2 that'd be six times more than the required amount of cure. Then that recipe stated 5.5 pounds of neck meat. Neck meat? I've always made coppa from the money muscle of a porkbutt. That aside, if he used six times the amount of Cure #2 required on a hunk of meat that cost about $8.00, I'd just toss it, be safe. RAY


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## Danrb (Apr 22, 2020)

sawhorseray said:


> I can't either from reading all this. The OP said he followed the recipe that stated 2 TBSP Cure#2, then he posted the recipe and it called for 1 TBSP. If he used 2TBSP's of Cure#2 that'd be six times more than the required amount of cure. Then that recipe stated 5.5 pounds of neck meat. Neck meat? I've always made coppa from the money muscle of a porkbutt. That aside, if he used six times the amount of Cure #2 required on a hunk of meat that cost about $8.00, I'd just toss it, be safe. RAY



Sorry I made a typo. Recipe said 1TBSP, I used 1TBSP.  I rinsed it last night like daveomac said to do. So I had 3X the cure that should have been used. I used the coppa muscle from a pork butt.

sorry for the confusion.


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## Bearcarver (Apr 22, 2020)

sawhorseray said:


> I can't either from reading all this. The OP said he followed the recipe that stated 2 TBSP Cure#2, then he posted the recipe and it called for 1 TBSP. If he used 2TBSP's of Cure#2 that'd be six times more than the required amount of cure. Then that recipe stated 5.5 pounds of neck meat. Neck meat? I've always made coppa from the money muscle of a porkbutt. That aside, if he used six times the amount of Cure #2 required on a hunk of meat that cost about $8.00, I'd just toss it, be safe. RAY




I agree with Ray---- It's only $8, and there's a lot of rather learned guys here who aren't sure.
I'd Toss it, where a pet can't find it.

Bear


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