Should I throw away my first attempt at bacon...hmm. Help please?

[zlorfik]

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.

[viper125]

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.

[GusRobin]

I don't know for sure but I usually revert to the old saying "when in doubt throw it out"

[FLBentRider]

Was this a dry cure or a brine?

How long did you cure it?

[Habanero Smoker]

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.

[zlorfik]

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
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.

[Habanero Smoker]

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.

[zlorfik]

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.

[Habanero Smoker]

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; 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

[zlorfik]

Thanks for the Tip, Habs! That's great, plus it's really not far from here, so not too long to wait...

[VI_Smoker]

In Vancouver there is http://stuffers.com/.  The have both Prague powder 1&2.

Enjoy the bacon when it's done!