bacon problem

jd748 · March 22, 2009, 09:28:25 AM

i just finished making two different kinds of bacon, one from a recipe on here (which turned out sooo good) and another recipe that i got from a friend.
The recipe i got from the friend used Morton's TQ and way too much of it. i knew it was too much putting it on but i did nothing about it thinking that he had done it this way so it should be right....
The final version of this bacon is way way too salty and could hardly be eaten.. not wanting to throw out 6 lbs of bacon i soaked it in cold water for ten hours or so.
I then tried it and the salty taste is gone and it tastes fairly decent.

My question is .... will there still be too many harmful nitrates in the bacon? if that salty taste is gone will the nitrite / nitrate levels be okay or should this batch be thrown out...

I probably used close to twice the amount of MTQ that should have been used...

Tenpoint5 · March 22, 2009, 01:58:17 PM

I will admit that I don't have an answer for you JD, but I'm sure Habs will be along he's better versed in this sort of thing.

Habanero Smoker · March 22, 2009, 02:25:52 PM

It would be better to know how much TQ was used, the weight of the bacon and how long you cured it for? Did you use a dry cure, or a brine? If you used a wet cure did you inject"

For a cure mixture like TQ, although you should be careful measuring cures that contain sodium nitrites and/or nitrates, it would be difficult to get a harmful dose while applying it to the surface of solid muscle meat. TQ is mostly salt, then sugar with a nitrite and nitrate combination of 1%.

Nitrites and Nitrates are sodium based, but nitrites convert into nitric oxide and bind with the myoglobin in the meat. Nitrates slowly break down into nitrites, so I would guess some of the sodium nitrate will be drawn out with some of the nitrites that have not converted. If you are concerned about the cancer risk, that may be caused by nitrosamines, that risk in recent studies appears to be low. But if that is a concern, cook the bacon over a lower heat.

But if you can answer the questions, I or other knowledgeable members can get you a more accurate answer.

jd748 · March 22, 2009, 05:15:55 PM

Thanks for the replies....
Habs... the original recipe called for 3 ounces of #1 cure, 1 lb of salt and a pint of honey.
I have a really hard time (without ordering on the net) getting cure so i usually use TQ.

the guy told me to use 1 lb of TQ in replacement and that he had done it lots as well. I did only really use about 10 ounces ixed with the honey and coated the belly..
It was a 4lb belly that i used as well.

The recipe said to have it in for 7-10 days, and i took mine out on day seven.
I should have just followed mortons guidelines and it would have been okay..

Habanero Smoker · March 23, 2009, 02:58:22 AM

The three ounces of cure #1 is also a lot, as well as the 1 pound of salt for four pounds of bacon. Your friend gave you a pretty close conversion for what was called for in the recipe. What you used; ten ounces of TQ is equal to about a cup (16 tablespoons); that is the amount of TQ that you would use for a quart brine (2 pints) which as you stated is about 2 times as much. But with the honey, the TQ will not fully dissolve.

I'm sure that this recipe was made to cure 10 - 15 pounds of meat, if that is the case then you should have only used a portion of it to cure four pounds. Did the recipe state how many pounds the recipe would cure?

You probably had a lot of cure to rinse off the meat, a lot of the cure was probably still in the honey and in addition you soaked it. From what I am seeing is that the amount of sodium nitrite and nitrate will not be harmful. But again I have to say that is a large amount of salt and sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate to use as a dry cure on a regular basis (basically I would consider this recipe, even though it has the honey and you had to make a paste).

jd748 · April 05, 2009, 12:23:51 PM

Thanks for the reply HabS.. sorry I have not been able to be on here in a while... The recipe actually says it will cure about one slab of bacon...which is alot more than what i had..
I have actually adjusted this recipe now and have done it again and liked it.. i hae also talked to the original guy and bought the book that he got it out of
which was really good at explaining alot about curing and such with sausage and bacon recipes..

but thanks again for the help
i had soaked for a few hours and it seemed to help alot with the taste and i ate the whole thing (over a bit of time) and enjoyed it none the less........

Habanero Smoker · April 05, 2009, 01:52:47 PM

Glad you got everything worked out. A slab of pork belly can weigh from 10 - 15 pounds.

I would like to know the name of the book, because that still sounds like a lot of cure and salt.

Tenpoint5 · April 05, 2009, 03:03:29 PM

Quote from: Habanero Smoker on April 05, 2009, 01:52:47 PM
I would like to know the name of the book, because that still sounds like a lot of cure and salt.

I was thinking the same thing. What is the name of your book JD?

jd748 · April 17, 2009, 02:48:07 PM

I hate to say the name of the book for my failure was more to do with my inexperience and not with this books recipe. I did (as mentioned) order this book and see that in this edition they have reduced the salt by half as compared to the first recipe I had been given the photo copy of..
The book is "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing" by Rytek Kutas
and i have the 4th edition.
It is a great book.

Habanero Smoker · April 18, 2009, 02:35:54 AM

Thanks for getting back to us. I'm glad that the book has adjusted it's ingredients in later editions. I have the third edition. If it is the Honey Cure Bacon recipe, it that addition he only uses 4 Tbsp of cure #1 (2 ounces), 1 cup of salt (10 oz.), and 1 pint of honey.

jd748 · April 25, 2009, 10:24:29 AM

ya that is the recipe. and that is what it calls for in the fourth addition as well.