CURE Question

[marauder11]

Ok i have not enough cure 1 from sausage maker left.Got a big bag of prague powder thou. The sausage maker says 1 teaspoon for 5lbs. My prague powder says 1 tablespoon to 10 kg.
so here it is
  3 teaspoons in a tablespoon
  2.2 pound to a kg


So if 1 tablesppon (3 teaspoon) to 10 kg (22 Lbs)
that means   22 Lbs divided by 3 = 7.3 lbs per teaspoon

Am i missing something here if they are suppose to be one in the same.
I want to do my Bacon and now know it needs four time the cure on whole muscle meat. What amount would you use. Cure 1 is 6.25% and Prague is 6.4% so hardly any diffrence.

Help

[marauder11]

i think it all comes down to the recipe is us with us ppm for nitrate max levels and the cure is Canadian following the Canadian max ppm levels which are not the same. Ryteks book says 125 ppm for bacon and inspection Canada says 200 ppm max

[Habanero Smoker]

I've never seen Prague Powder #1 listed as having 6.4% sodium nitrite.

When I was researching for another thread, yesterday I came across the U.S. ppm standard for bacon, and it is also 200ppm. I've never seen Ryteks recommendation, the 125ppm is considered within limits of providing protection; with 120ppm the lowest protection level you should go.

Without seeing the recipes or the full directions of use, I can only speculate that the difference in measurement can be do to one is geared towards bacon, the other for other whole muscle meat, that can contain up to 625ppm. The 1 teaspoon per 5 pounds will give you about 156ppm. For home curing that is accurate enough. I wouldn't be too concerned about whether or not the skin is still on.

I got lazy figuring this out ppm, since I started using the Basic Cure mix. I was going to post the formula I was using to determine the ppm on another thread, but I may as well post it here. If you stick with using one cure the following formula will help you determine how much cure you need for a certain ppm. (Though the difference between the two are very small).

The below formula is not to be used for wet brining, this is for dry curing meat only. If curing bacon, again for home use I would not be concerned about whether the skin is on or off.

If you want to determine how much cure you need to obtain a certain ppm,  for a certain amount of meat. The formula is:

N= Y x  green weight of meat  ÷  % nitrite in mix x 1,000,000

N = pounds of cure mix needed.
Y = the desired ppm
green weight of meat = amount of meat being cured
% nitrite in mix = as stated; if Cure #1 that number would be 6.25% (.0625)
1,000,000 = ppm

So for example you want to find the amount needed to cure 10 pounds of bacon. You want 200ppm, you are going to use Prague Powder #1 (which you say has 6.4% (.064) nitrite?) So you have enough information to plug into the formula.


N= 200 x 10 lbs ÷ .064 x 1,000,000  (If this was Cure #1 you would use .0625)

N= 2000 ÷ 64000

N= .03125 lb or .5 ounces (0.03125 lb x 16 ounces); or about 2.5 teaspoons if Prague Powder weight approximately the same as Cure #1; and it should.


It's early in the morning; the formula is correct, but you may want to check my math.  :)

Again the above formula it to determine ppm for dry cures only. If you are making sausage you would use 156 ppm in the formula.

[smokeNcanuck]

Habs, or You are a curing jedi master!! ;)

Thanks for the calculation, got it booked marked.  I sure it will be needed some day.

[marauder11]

Thank you i will scan the label to show you. i have not found any that say 6.4 % also just the stuff i bought at Halfords

[Habanero Smoker]

marauder11;
I didn't mean to imply that I was questioning you. I just never heard of it. You don't have to post a picture of the label. If that is what is says, I believe you. I just wanted to give an example that any nitrite percentage can be plugged into the formula.

For Morton TQ, and the Basic cure you would use 1% (.01)

Habs, or You are a curing jedi master!! ;)

Thanks for the calculation, got it booked marked.  I sure it will be needed some day.

No!! Far from that, I have a lot to learn and continuously learning. You can find most of the formulas on the Wedlinydomowe Site. They even have a cure calculator for sausage. It is packed with information, though there is some information I may not agree with, and lean towards other sources.

Here is another formula I didn't have time to post before. The below formula is to determine that a recipe you are working with has levels of nitrites that are within safe limits. With the below formula you need to know the the amount of cure; the % of nitrite in that cure, and the amount of meat; in order to calculate the level of ppm.

lb Cure Mix  x  % nitrite in mix x 1,000,000  ÷  green weight of meat = ppm

[marauder11]

I know you where not questioning the number. Just wanted to show what the labels says for insructions as well.

[Habanero Smoker]

Oh! I understand now. And I can't even blame that misunderstanding on not being awake yet!!  :)

[cgaengineer]

Here is a nice calculator for figuring cures. It also tells you ppm.

http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-recipes/cure-calculator

[Habanero Smoker]

Yes! that has been posted in the past, but it is for calculating the ppm for sausage only.

[Habanero Smoker]

I just took another look at the calculator, and they have changed it so you can adjust the ppm. Good thing you posted this.

[cgaengineer]

I just took another look at the calculator, and they have changed it so you can adjust the ppm. Good thing you posted this.

Well I'm glad you checked and verified...it's in my bookmarks. A nice way to double check your measurements.

[cgaengineer]

I think someone else has a curing spreadsheet and I'll post it when I get to my PC.

[Habanero Smoker]

I just took another look at the calculator, and they have changed it so you can adjust the ppm. Good thing you posted this.

Well I'm glad you checked and verified...it's in my bookmarks. A nice way to double check your measurements.

I use to use that calculator for sausage. The earlier version the 156ppm was a fixed number that could not be changed. That is why I only briefly mentioned the cure calculator in my 12/10 post above.

I would be interest in looking at a spread sheet, to see how they set it up. In past searches I saw either mention of a spread sheet or another calculator, but they required you to register to download.