Two bacon questions

[hybridcx]

So I am goin to be doing my first bacon and Canadian bacon here in a day or so, but I had a few cure questions
1) on the Canadian bacon recepie it calls for 1tbs. Of tender quick for every pound, but all I have or am going to use is LEM backwoods cure #1. shuld I stick with there directions as 1 to every 5 pounds?
2) for smaller than 5 pound chunks of bacon and loin( I have 2 pieced that are 2-3 lbs.) how accurate do you have to be on the cure? Is it better to be a little more or a little less?
And then finally looks like belly bacon IT150? And loin bacon 140?

Thanks again for all the help..probably goin to do maple for sure. But also wanna try some other flavors anyone have a favorite besides breakfast maple type?

[viper125]

There is a lot of difference between Lem's or T.Q.
Lems= Cure is a mixture of salt and sodium nitrite (6.25%) Normal use is a scant 1/4 teaspoon per pound of meat, 1 oz. to 25 lbs. of meat or 4 oz. per 100 lbs. of meat.

Tender Quick =Morton® Tender Quick® mix contains salt, the main preserving agent; sugar, both sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite, curing agents that also contribute to development of color and flavor; and propylene glycol to keep the mixture uniform. This is a curing salt made by the Morton Salt Company. It contains both sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate. It has a lower nitrite/nitrate concentration (0.5 percent of each), and much more salt than the other cures.
Tender Quick is very good to use as a rub or in a brine (for making corned beef etc.) but has limited use in sausage making. With Tender Quick the sausage mixture gets very salty before the correct amount of cure is reached.

Insta cure #1 contains 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% salt. Normal use 1 tsp. per lb.

So as I read it. It's 1 tsp per lb of meat for lem's. Now that also depends weather your dry or wet curing the bacon. Some one will be here soon that's better at it then me. I had this FAQ sheet so figured Id share. Also they do increase cure in brines.

[KyNola]

I'll yield to Habs.

[Habanero Smoker]

If you are applying this as a dry cure (dry brine), the best thing to do is to use the cure #1 and make a batch of the Basic Dry Cure. That way you will have the correct amount of salt and cure to measure 1 tablespoon per pound.

For applying the cure as a dry rub, the 1 teaspoon of cure #1 per pound is the maximum amount you can use on solid cuts of meat and stay within safe limits, but you don't have to use that much and I don't. Also you do not want to use the maximum amount for belly bacon. I have to recalculate, but I believe if you apply 1 tablespoon per pound of the Basic Dry Cure, it comes out to about 1/4 tsp of cure per pound.

The recipe makes about 3.5 cups, but it is easy to halved or quartered the recipe.
Basic Dry Cure

Curing Salts

[hybridcx]

Thanks for the info. These will be both wet and dry rubs as the maple cures I am doing call for maple syrup. Then I want to try some kind if jalepino or pepper one as well and that will probably end up as a dry rub... I am supper new to this and just don't want to make anyone sick.. While still learning the how to's of curing...

[SiFumar]

I pretty much use the Basic cure Habs linked above.  I find it quick and easy to get the bacon on to curing.  You can add any other spices to it of your choice. 

[Habanero Smoker]

If you are doing the maple cure and are going to make a paste (this is not considered a wet cure), I would suggest for that one follow 10.5's recipe.
Maple Cured Bacon

I forgot to answer the temperature. At 140°F pork is safe to eat, so I use that for the internal temperature. Going higher significantly dries out the meat. For the belly bacon, the 150 - 152°F, is used in most reputable books. I like to use that internal temperature for high sugar bacons, like the Maple Cured Bacon. If you look at the recipe for that bacon you will also see you can bring it up to 140°F. Both of these bacons are fully cooked. The one that is cooked to 150°F, I feel is better for high sugar bacon's because after it is sliced and fried or oven cooked, it cooks a little better without burning.

On the other hand if you want the bacon raw, just cold smoke it. Some start off cold smoking, then hot smoke to bring the internal temperature around 132 - 137°F. While other's will just cold smoke it, and don't worry about the internal temperature.

[hybridcx]

Sounds good thanks for all the info...