Bacon cure

[scottGenung]

Have 5 lbs pork belly to make bacon . Going to use blue ribbon maple cure for bacon . Do you really add 6.6 oz of water to 3 tbs and 1 tsp of cure . I’m I reading instructions right ?

[Ridley Acres]

That is correct at least according to the Cure Conversion Chart.

It sounds like a lot, but this mix is more than just sodium nitrite. This is mostly salt and sugar.

I would suggest using a scale to measure the 1.6oz/45g rather than using measuring spoons.

[Ridley Acres]

For my bacons I rub liberally and whatever doesn’t stick goes in the bag with it. They go in a ziplock bag in my spare fridge and I massage and flip twice daily until I reach the duration I am going for. I’d rinse thoroughly then let soak for a few mins then rinse again. If you are going to smoke, you should let sit or hang in open air in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight to get the best smoke adhesion.

EDIT for future readers: I have only done dry EQ cure for my bacons. The Blue Ribbon Maple Bacon Cure is intended to be INJECTED.

[scottGenung]

That’s how I do it but said water which confused me

[Ridley Acres]

The water will help the nitrite dissolve and distribute a little more evenly.

[PapaSop]

I’m confused here. Is that for a brine or a dry rub. I haven’t used that particular cure though.

[Dave in AZ]

scottGenung
Ridley Acres
PapaSop

Info above about dry rubbing is incorrect for this seasoning cure. This is a complete cure intended to be injected at the ratio of 10% cure pickle to meat weight, NOT A DRY RUB.
If you read the questions and Walton’s answers for this cure, you will see that for 100 lbs you use 2lbs cure and 8 lbs water mixed together resultin in 10 lbs cure, which is exactly the correct 10% to be injected.

The conversion chart for 5 lbs gives the correct amount of water that, when combined with the weight of the cure, results in the correct 10% injection weight of 8oz.

From the table:
Have you ever bought some of Walton’s Cure, but don’t know how much cure and water to use to prepare your injection? Well, we have made things simpler now and you can quickly and easily measure out how much cure to use for smaller 1 lb or 5 lb batches.

From the FAQ, question 1 asking if you inject it, Walton’s answer:

Walton’s Inc.
Walton’s Inc
02/08/2022
Shawn, If you are making this for personal consumption then yes, it can be used. If you are selling this then labeling issues might come into play and you would have to contact either your Walton’s commercial salesman or your inspector. If you are doing it at home then yes, inject it and use it at the regular ratio, which is 2 lb of cure to every 100 lb of pork loin. Mix the 2 lb of cure to 8 lb of water and then inject at a 10% ratio, Meaning that if your loin weight 10 lb before injecting it should way 11 when you are done.

You’ve gotta be careful with the Excalibur or Walton’s premade cures that you use them exactly as prescribed. It can be incredibly confusing, as you can tell! In this case, while a first glance would make you think “If that’s the right amount of cure for 5lbs, if injected, why can’t I just rub it on outside and let it equilibrium cure?”

The reason in this case is that it contains sodium-erythorbate, a cure accelerator that is required by USFDA when nitrite is INJECTED, because it is intended that the injected cure is then tumbled or massaged for 12 to 24 hrs to distribute within meat, and then immediately be smoked/heat processed within 24 hrs by commercial operations. The nitrite is limited to 120ppm, and the intent is that the sodium erythorbate will ensure the nitrite is all used up and converted within the meat to NO2, with none left behind in risky high-concentrate pockets. Because of this, it is inappropriate for use as a dry rub (at least with any moisture used), as the nitrite will all be converted and off-gassed from the surface, well before it can ever penetrate the bacon–it is specifically designed that way to meet USFDA FSIS bacon nitrite requirements! You’ve got to remember that virtually all commercial producers, who these cures are designed and marketed for, use the pump inject/ tumble/smoke within 24 hrs method for spped and profit…NOT the at home dry rub, wait 14 days method.

Waltons does sell a cure specifically labeled Dry Rub Bacon Cure. It has the max FSIS limit allowed for dry rub only, no water, of 200ppm. It does also have sodium erythorbate cure accelerator…which I absolutely wouldn’t do for a dry rub. However, with zero water added and 200ppm, it must leave enough unconverted nitrite to cure the meat…maybe.

For dry rub bacon cure, I myself would follow the methodology given by Marianski and Rytek in their books, which do NOT include erythorbate. Intentionally accelerating the gas conversion of nitrite OUTSIDE OF THE MEAT, makes zero sense, nor is it being used for its other primary function of color fixing. I would look for a rub without any accelerator, or just mix up your own cure#1 @ 2.5g per kg meat, 2 to 3% salt, 1 to 2% sugar.

Good luck!

[Ridley Acres]

scottGenung , PapaSop , Dave in AZ I apologize, I should have been more clear in my post. I do a dry rub for my bacon but this is an INJECTED cure.

[PapaSop]

Dave in AZ Ridley Acres scottGenung
Thanks gentlemen. Confusion is gone.

[Dave in AZ]

Ridley Acres hope I didn’t step on your toes, was just trying to answer 3 guys at once on these dang complicated and easily confused cures! I do the same as you, I believe
Best regards, Dave

[Ridley Acres]

Dave in AZ nope, all good here. It seems like an easy to miss detail in the instructions. I suppose they could do a better job delineating which cures are dry and which are injected.

[scottGenung]

Ridley Acres it’s all good !! It’s a learning curve. I’ve made my own cure before but thought I would try something different. That was a mistake but I would think Walton’s would have gave info that it was a injector cure in the description of cure . Thanks for the help

[Ridley Acres]

Jonathon Austin Would it be possible to get more detail on the product description for cures? Would like to see more clarity on if its intended to be injected, brined, or dry rub. Specifically the https://waltons.com/blue-ribbon-maple-bacon-cure/ should be injected per the directions but its not immediately clear from the product description.

[Denny O]

PapaSop said in Bacon cure:

Dave in AZ Ridley Acres scottGenung
Thanks gentlemen. Confusion is gone.

Maybe for you PapaSop, but my head is still (and most always is) CLOUDY!

[ezzera]

So I just bought Blue Ribbon Maple Bacon Cure
i wet brine my bacon and am confused on the ratio of cure to water(first time using a premixed cure) do I have the wrong cure for what I am trying to do? I can’t find much on wet brining here. Please help!

[Ridley Acres]

ezzera this cure is intended to be injected into the meat.

[ezzera]

Ridley Acres so is there a bacon cure for wet brining bacon ?

[Ridley Acres]

ezzera
meat weight x 0.1 = cure weight
Cure weight should be 20% maple bacon cure mix & 80% water

[Ridley Acres]

ezzera said in Bacon cure:

Ridley Acres so is there a bacon cure for wet brining bacon ?

I’m sorry I have only ever done dry rub and used eq method so I can’t offer a recommendation for a wet but perhaps one of the other users can chime in

Austin Jonathon @Regular-Contributors

[RafterW]

ezzera I believe this is what you are looking for:

https://meatgistics.waltons.com/topic/700/cure-conversion-chart

At least it will get you in the right direction. This chart is for taking the dry cures and converting them into the injectable cures.