Back from vacation and have.....

[RedJada]

 Hi everyone, back from sunny Florida and today picked up a 8.38lb (I call it 8 1/2 pounds) pork belly. As I mentioned before I left. I will be using Tenpoint5's recipe to cure. http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?542-Maple-Cured-Bacon
But wondering about converting this to my belly weight. I was thinking just divide the recipe by 5 and that would give me the per pound measurements. Then divide that by 2 for the half pound. Total it up for the cure? Am I looking at this right? I am mostly concerned with the pink salt. Looking for help.

Oh, anyone interested in a vacation photo? G rated of course.

Thanks,
Patrick

[devo]

We all are not sure what your belly weigh's is but after being on vacation it must weigh a bit more than when you left
Sorry couldn't help myself  :D

[beefmann]

never knew anyone to take a vacation to get a pork belly... ;D ;D

[KyNola]

The biggest thing you want to get right is the amount of Cure #1.  If you divide the 2 tsps of Cure by 5 and then multiply by 8.5 that will equate to 3.4 tsps, rounded to 3.5 tsps of Cure #1.

But don't use that equation which is what I would use as folks much smarter than me will come along and give you the correct answer.

[Habanero Smoker]

RedJada;

If you look at the bottom of the ingredient list it states the recipe is good "for up to 5 pounds", not "for 5 pounds". When it comes to dry curing you need to be careful, but don't have to be as precise as when you are making sausage. Though I generally like precise; but often I will make batches of bacon similar to the recipe you will use. You can do as you originally have planned. By dividing the whole recipe by 5 you will retain the correct amount of salt when you adjust the amounts. Or you can just double the recipe, you will still be within safe ppm of nitrites; just stay within the curing times, if you are concerned about too much nitrites.

[RedJada]

 So as long as I go the divide by 5 route or just double or within that range. I should be OK on the cure #1?

[devo]

This might help you or it just might confuse you even more but its good reading.

How to Apply Cures
Well, there are two approaches: Like an amateur - collecting hundreds of recipes and relying blindly on each of them. You lose a recipe and you don't know what to do. And how do you know the recipes contain the right amount of cure? Like a professional - taking matters in your own hands and applying cures according to the USA Government requirements. In case you want to be the professional, we are enclosing some useful data which is based on the U.S. standards. Comminuted products - small meat pieces, meat for sausages, ground meat, poultry etc. Cure #1 was developed in such a way that if we add 4 ounces of Cure #1 to 100 pounds of meat, the quantity of nitrite added to meat will comfort to the legal limits (156 ppm) permitted by the Meat Division of the United States Department of Agriculture. That corresponds to 1 oz. (28.35 g) of Cure #1 for each 25 lb (11.33 kg) of meat or 0.2 oz. (5.66 g) per 5 lb (2.26 kg) of meat.

Cured dry products - country ham, country style pork shoulder, prosciutto, etc. These products are prepared from a single piece of meat and the curing ingredients are rubbed into the surface of the meat several times during the curing period. Nitrite is applied to the surface of the meat or poultry as part of a cure mixture. If you look at the FSIS nitrite limits you will see that the maximum nitrite limit for Dry Cured Products (625 ppm) is four times higher than for Comminuted Products (156 ppm). The reason that there are much higher allowable nitrite limits for dry cured products is that nitrite dissipates rapidly in time. The dry cured products are air dried for a long time. When the product is ready for consumption it hardly contains any nitrite left. Those higher limits guarantee a steady supply of nitrite in time. That positively contributes to the safety of the product and its color. To cure meat for sausages and to stay within 156 ppm nitrite limit we must apply no more than 1 oz of Cure #1 for each 25 lb of meat. To dry cure 25 lb of pork butts and to stay within 625 nitrite limits we can apply 4 times more of Cure #1, in our case 4 ounces. Keep in mind that when you add Cure #1 (there is 93.75% salt in it) you are adding extra salt to your meat and you may re-adjust your recipe.

Immersed, Pumped and Massaged Products such as hams, poultry breasts, corned beef. Here, it is much harder to come up with a universal formula as there are so many variables that have to be determined first. The main factor is to determine % pump when injecting the meat with a syringe or % pick-up when immersing meat in a curing solution. We will calculate the formula for 1 gallon of water, Cure #1 and 10% pick-up gain. Then the formula can be multiplied or divided to accommodate different amounts of meat. 10% pump or 10% pick-up mean that the cured meat should absorb 10% of the brine in relation to its original weight. For immersion, pumped or massaged products, the maximum in-going nitrite limit is 200 ppm and that corresponds to adding 4.2 oz of Cure #1 to 1 gallon of water.

This is a very small amount of brine and if you want to cure a large turkey you will need to increase the volume. Just multiply it by a factor of 4 and you will have 4 gallons of water and 1.08 lb of Cure #1. The following is the safe formula for immersed products and very easy to measure: 5 gallons of water, 1 lb. of Cure #1. In the above formula at 10% pick-up the nitrite limit is 150 ppm which is plenty. Keep in mind that adding 1 lb. of Cure #1 to 5 gallons of water will give you 4.2% salt by weight and that corresponds to only 16 degrees brine (slightly higher than sea water). If we add an additional 2 lb of salt we will get: 5 gallons of water, 1 lb. of Cure #1, 2 lb of salt and that will give us a 25 degree solution which is great for poultry. What Will Happen if Too Little or Too Much Cure is Added? With not enough cure, the color might suffer with some loss of cured flavor too. FSIS regulations dictate the maximum allowed nitrite limits and there are no limits for the lower levels. It has been accepted that a minimum of 40-50 ppm of nitrite is needed for any meaningful curing. Too much cure will not be absorbed by the meat and will be eaten by a consumer. Adding an excessive amount may make you sick, or even put you in danger. What Will Happen if Curing Time is Shorter or Longer? If the curing time is too short, some areas of meat (inside or under heavy layers of fat) will exhibit an uneven color which might be noticeable when slicing a large piece of meat. It will not show in sausages which are filled with ground meat, although the color may be weaker. If curing time is longer by a few days, nothing will happen providing the cured meat is held under refrigeration. You don't want to cure bone-in meats longer than 30-45 days as they may develop bone sour even when kept at low temperatures. Taste your meats at the end of curing. You can always cure them longer in a heavier brine (to increase salt content) or soak them in cold water (to lower salt content).

[KyNola]

So as long as I go the divide by 5 route or just double or within that range. I should be OK on the cure #1?

In a word "yes".  The 3.5 tsps I mentioned earlier will work just fine with the Cure #1.

[Habanero Smoker]

So as long as I go the divide by 5 route or just double or within that range. I should be OK on the cure #1?

Yes! I would scale the whole recipe, but it would be much easier to just double the ingredients.

Devo;

The Marianski books are good resources. Yes you can apply up to 4 times the amount of cure #1 when you are applying a dry cure to whole muscle meat, then when you make sausage; but you don't have to. Especially you don't want to use that much cure when making belly (side) bacon that will be fried. I believe for bacon the nitrites should be 156 ppm or less. That is around the amount that 10.5's recipe will impart into the bacon. Same goes for the amount they use for their wet brines; you don't have to use 4.2 oz/gal. As long as you use 1.5 oz/gal; that will provide protection, and good color and fair level of taste.

[RedJada]

So as long as I go the divide by 5 route or just double or within that range. I should be OK on the cure #1?

Yes! I would scale the whole recipe, but it would be much easier to just double the ingredients.

Devo;

The Marianski books are good resources. Yes you can apply up to 4 times the amount of cure #1 when you are applying a dry cure to whole muscle meat, then when you make sausage; but you don't have to. Especially you don't want to use that much cure when making belly (side) bacon that will be fried. I believe for bacon the nitrites should be 156 ppm or less. That is around the amount that 10.5's recipe will impart into the bacon. Same goes for the amount they use for their wet brines; you don't have to use 4.2 oz/gal. As long as you use 1.5 oz/gal; that will provide protection, and good color and fair level of taste.

I ended up scaling the recipe, I know I could have doubled it but just wanted to lean to the cautious side for the first time.

[Habanero Smoker]

As long as all the procedures are safe, I always say, cure or cook at your own comfort level.