Such a newbie subject for a newbie poster! Yes, my first post around here.
So I have owned my bradley for 'bout a month, did some fine ribs and some fine cheese already, decided it was time for BACON!
I thought I would attempt Rytek Kutas's Honey Dry Cure bacon, which calls for 4 Tbsps of Insta cure 1, 1 cup of salt and 2 cups of honey - for one slab (which I now realize is much bigger than what I had).
1. I had 4.2 pounds of belly.
2. I was working with "ReadyCure" essentially a 1% nitrite cure, the rest being salt.
So there I am, yesterday evening, getting ready. The readycure people folks say 2kgs per 100kgs of meat for dry cure (which I now realize that recipe is not), I make the conversion and basically am mortified to see that following Kutas's recipe would mean 10 times the nitrites recommended by ReadyCure. As I said, I'd not realized that Kutas's recipe was for a whole slab nor that it was somewhat more of a "brine". So I searched for another recipe and found a proven one which called for 1/4 cup Readycure (equivalent to 2 tsp Instacure 1) for 5 pounds of meat - that was drastically lower than Kutas's recipe.
Uncertain of what to do, I did the stupid thing and went "somewhere" in the middle. I estimate that I used about the equivalent of 2.5 to 3 tsps of instacure for my 4.2 pounds, along with a lot of salt. The salt I can "soak out" of the bellies... but I am worried about the cure... will I kill my whole family? :P Will I turn my whole family into cured meat?
No seriously, should I shorten the cure and give them a good soak? I figure it is not that terrible an amount... I was planning on doing a "colder" smoke as Kutas suggests, but I also see a lot of folks who do hot smokes at 200.
Thoughts or comments are welcome.
Well I'd throw it away. Instacure is one level teaspoon per 5 lbs. of meat. So you have enough for about 12-15 lbs. Well cure is an exact science not a guess. Also very dangerous in large doses. That said I am also a newbie to bacon but I'm sure someone will be in here soon.
I don't know for sure but I usually revert to the old saying "when in doubt throw it out"
Was this a dry cure or a brine?
How long did you cure it?
Hi zlorfik;
Fist welcome to the forum.
Secondley; Don't throw it out!!!! :) But as asked previously how long did you cure it. You did state is was a wet cure; correct?
You may have to cook it at a higher temperature; such as the 200°F that is mentioned in the recipe, but you don't have to worry about using too much sodium nitrite; you didn't use enough. You may not get that traditional bacon flavor either.
Don't mix and confuse measurements for a dry cure, to one that uses a wet cure. They are totally different and you have to keep those recipes separate. The wet cure you mixed that calls for around 4 ounces of cure #1, is perfectly safe. I generally use 3.2 ounces per gallon, but 4 ounces is safe for meat that will be fully cooked. With a wet cure (brine) it doesn't matter if you use it to cure 4 pounds or 24 pound, that solution will cure the meat the same. It's just that using that much for a small piece of bacon is a waste of materials.
You used a product called Ready Cure. I can't find that much information on Ready Cure, but from the information your provided; it looks like Ready Cure is very close to Morton's Tender Quick formula; except TQ has .5% sodium nitrite and .5% sodium nitrate. That is if Ready Cure has sugar in addition to salt (or the filler may be all salt), but the ratio is 1% sodium nitrite. If the above is true, then you have a used lot less sodium nitrite then needed.
The example on the amount of usage for Ready Cure 2 kgs (4 pounds) per 100 kgs (221 pounds) is a little high for TQ which would use a little over 3 pound, but the other example you gave for a dry cure of using 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) per five pounds of meat is very close to TQ which would use 5 tablespoons. So IF Ready Cure is similar to TQ then you would need to use 1 cup per quart of liquid, to make a wet cure (wet brine). Then you would have to eliminate all the salt that is called for in the original recipe.
Thank you so much everyone for your input. I will keep it and smoke it.
It has been curing for 36 hours by now, I have been overhauling it every 12 hours or so. I wasn't pleased with how much air was in the bag yesterday, so I cut it open and re-sealed it with my vaccum sealer, so the meat is truly floating in it now.
The Readycure really is 99% salt, 1% sodium nitrite and less than 1% sodium bicarbonate. (a tiny amount really). http://www.foodwithlegs.com/?p=789 (http://www.foodwithlegs.com/?p=789)
Instructions state:
Pumping: 12kgs to 100ltrs.
Cover pickle: 4kg to 100 plus 6kgs of salt
Dry Cure: 2kgs per 100kgs.
So while it's not really a brine (there was no water), I see that with all the honey in there and now the juices, that is much more like a wet brine. I have about 70g of cure for 4.2 pounds or 1.907kg, for a ratio of .036 cure/meat per weight, when cover pickle should be .04, so slightly under.
Therefore I will smoke at 200 up to IT 150 and that should be safe...right? In any case am I wrong or when smoking at 200, you need not use nitrites except for taste, color and preservation.
In any case thanks a lot everyone for the input.
I took a look at the recipe in the book. You may have enough cure, because the amount you used would be the same amount of TQ you would use for a 4 pound piece of meat. The only difference is that Ready Cure has no sugar, or nitrates.
With honey you will still have some of the characteristics you have with a brine. Some the cure will be suspended in the honey, and will not come into contact with the meat.
Thanks for that link, I now recall someone else posted that picture. Being almost 99% salt really limits your options for the amount of salt you can use; especially when making sausage.
Yes I know that stuff is cr*p. The same company does make Prague Powder but they sell only mail order and I was too lazy to do it. I could order from places like The Sausage Maker, but trans-border shipment on orders less than 100$ is ludicrous really.
Sausage really is why I bought the smoker, so I will have to order something better soon...well that and british bacon. My wife is a brit, and over there their bacon is "different". Really, I think it is "back bacon" but with rib tips attached or something...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bacon.JPG
That cut is not normally available here but I am getting it specialty-butchered just for her... now THAT's love. :P
As for my current "streaky" bacon, I overhauled the cure yesterday and the bellies sure have hardened a bit, but nothing dramatic. I'm planning on smoking it Saturday morning, it would have been 5.5 days in the cure. Or I could wait till Sunday morning.
It wouldn't hurt to go another day.
As for looking for Prague Powder #1 in Canada, which is a brand name for Cure #1, you can purchase Sure Cure which is another brand name for Cure #1 from Malibar Spices (http://www.malabarsuperspice.com/s_cures.htm); scroll to the bottom of the page. I believe you have to order by phone or email.
Make sure you order Sure Cure and not Total Sure Cure
Thanks for the Tip, Habs! That's great, plus it's really not far from here, so not too long to wait...
In Vancouver there is http://stuffers.com/ (http://stuffers.com/). The have both Prague powder 1&2.
Enjoy the bacon when it's done!