Video ~ Smoked Pork Loin ~ Comparing Wet Brine & Dry Brine ~ Both With Sous Vide Finish Step

[thirdeye]

I came across this interesting video yesterday, it's kind of unique because the host compares both curing methods many of us use, then smokes the product side-by-side, then uses a SV bath as a finishing method (which is a new twist for me). Lastly, the host compares texture, flavor and moistness. The full recipe is listed in the comments, and there is a note by the host about a conversion error in the video:
Sorry folks. I got the conversion for the weight of the meat wrong. 1.5 kg is about 3.3 lbs. I'll change it in the recipe in the comments, but I'm going to have to live with the shame of it on screen forever

Enjoy, I'm looking forward to comments, especially from anyone with experience in using a SV finish on cured pork. Personally..., an SV finish on wet cured chicken breast, smoked sausages, chubs of Summer sausage and Cervelat has been a game changer for me.

 

[JLeonard]

for the dry cure....when figuring the cure #1 amt he took the meat weight, plus with wt of salt and sugar? I've always just used the wt of the meat in figuring my cure.

Jim

 

[thirdeye]

for the dry cure....when figuring the cure #1 amt he took the meat weight, plus with wt of salt and sugar? I've always just used the wt of the meat in figuring my cure.

Jim

We've had a number of discussions on that subject hare on the forum. When I was taught how to corn meats in the '70's my Grandfather referred to the total weight as "everything in the bucket", meaning meat + water + seasonings. Corning brines have salt, sugar, aromatics, herbs, and sometimes onion slices, garlic and so forth and so on when calculating the amount of curing agent. But... he used volumetric measuring and for quite a while used Potassium nitrite. For dry curing, the old boy used the salt box method for decades before actually measuring amounts for one or two pork bellies. It's possible that daveomak , and SmokinEdge , and others will chime in with their two-cents. I have some of Dave's quotes saying that "technically" sugar and salt are included in the total weight, but omitting them doesn't move the needle too much. I recall Eric saying something along the lines that Cure does not interact with salt and sugar, and they don't need to be counted.

Since I've heard solid evidence on both sides on whether to include the weight of salt and sugar. On my dry brines I don't include additional weight. On my corning brine I do because I put in so much extra stuff. When using Pop's Brine, I don't use a "heaping tablespoon" but use 22 grams of Cure #1.

 

[JLeonard]

Thanks thirdeye for the answer. I mostly dry cure. I just wasnt sure if I had been doing it wrong!

Jim

 

[SmokinEdge]

for the dry cure....when figuring the cure #1 amt he took the meat weight, plus with wt of salt and sugar? I've always just used the wt of the meat in figuring my cure.

Jim

I agree with you Jim. The weight of salt and sugar does not need to be added to the equation. With brines some like to include those when determining the SAL of the brine or more specifically the weight or density of the brine, which is fine for that purpose but I do not add that weight in when figuring cure #1.

I came across this interesting video yesterday, it's kind of unique because the host compares both curing methods many of us use, then smokes the product side-by-side, then uses a SV bath as a finishing method (which is a new twist for me). Lastly, the host compares texture, flavor and moistness. The full recipe is listed in the comments, and there is a note by the host about a conversion error in the video:
Sorry folks. I got the conversion for the weight of the meat wrong. 1.5 kg is about 3.3 lbs. I'll change it in the recipe in the comments, but I'm going to have to live with the shame of it on screen forever

Enjoy, I'm looking forward to comments, especially from anyone with experience in using a SV finish on cured pork. Personally..., an SV finish on wet cured chicken breast, smoked sausages, chubs of Summer sausage and Cervelat has been a game changer for me.

Nice video Wayne. Overall he did a good fair comparison. But blows the Marianski theory out of the water on the brined meat where they weigh the meat after brining to determine the amount of weight gain or pickup to then determine the amount of salt and cure#1 actually in the meat. In this video he had weight loss in both pieces, no weight gain. Thanks for posting was informative.

 

[thirdeye]

Nice video Wayne. Overall he did a good fair comparison.

I like to run a comparison but more often I'm comparing notes from one cook, to notes of another cook. The side-by-side comparisons are really the way to go.

 

[chopsaw]

anyone with experience in using a SV finish on cured pork.

I did a couple different methods last summer , just messing around .
One was a Tender quick cured loin , with anise and Italian seasoning added to the cure time , then again after the rinse . No smoke , cooked start to finish in the SV .
Out of the cure ( 14 days ) , rinsed and reseasoned .

Bagged up . I think I ran it at 140 for the length of time on the chart ,
but not completely sure about that .

Sliced up . Personally , I didn't care for the texture . Maybe smoking first would help that .
The taste was great . Could be that your mind expects a " Coppa / lonzino " type of thing .
Made good sandwiches .