Nitrite and Bacon

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sawhorseray
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Post by sawhorseray » Wed Jan 06, 2016 16:54

Thanks for that Bob, will do. I just measured a level teaspoon of cure #1 and it came out to 6.5 grams, quite a difference from dumping two tablespoons of cure #1 into a rub for a 12.5lb. slab of belly. Never too old to learn. RAY
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redzed
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Post by redzed » Wed Jan 06, 2016 17:49

If you haven't seen this calculator before, try it. Works great in using and designing your own bacon recipe.

http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/calcul ... ure_bacon/
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Post by sawhorseray » Thu Jan 07, 2016 05:15

Thanks a lot Red! I thought the calculator you posted in the Makin' Bacon thread was good, this one is even better. Thanks again. RAY
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Bob K
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Post by Bob K » Sun Feb 11, 2018 15:16

For all those worried about nitrosamines in cured meats like Bacon....just don't burn it!!

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fs ... y/ct_index



A bacon cooking study, "Effect of Frying and Other Cooking Conditions on Nitrosopyrrolidine Formation in Bacon" (Journal of Science, Vol. 39, pages 314-316), showed no evidence of nitrosamines in bacon fried at 210 °F for 10 minutes (raw), 210 °F for 15 minutes (medium well), 275 °F for 10 minutes (very light), or 275 °F for 30 minutes (medium well). But when bacon was fried at 350 °F for 6 minutes (medium well), 400 °F for 4 minutes (medium well), or 400 °F for 10 minutes (burned), some nitrosamines were found. Thus, well-done or burned bacon is potentially more hazardous than less well-done bacon. Also, bacon cooked by a microwave has less nitrosamine than fried
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Post by sambal badjak » Thu Feb 15, 2018 12:55

So....
In practice, I should use 120 ppm to make bacon (dry rub, 2-2.5% salt)?
Does that apply to skin on belly pork as well, or should it be reduced in that case?

I am intending on cold smoking (cool smoking at around 20-25 oC) after curing.

I am not sure if this is the same article that has been referred to above. I found it quite usefull so am sharing the link: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/meat-a ... 0525354148
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Bob K
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Post by Bob K » Thu Feb 15, 2018 13:12

sambal badjak wrote:In practice, I should use 120 ppm to make bacon (dry rub, 2-2.5% salt)?
Does that apply to skin on belly pork as well, or should it be reduced in that case?
Yes, 120 ppm is the recommended maximum in going amount for bacon using a dry rub (equilibrium cure)
As the skin does not absorb nitrates the amount should be reduced 10%.

The US nitrate regs can be found here: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/conne ... OD=AJPERES

Thank you for the link!
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Post by Kijek » Thu Feb 15, 2018 13:58

I should use 120 ppm to make bacon (dry rub, 2-2.5% salt)?
I just finished a 10lb bacon and used 2.5% salt and found it to be very low, as far as taste goes.
In tasting the bacon I found the salt taste to be almost non-exsistant .
I'm going with 3.5% next time.
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Post by Bob K » Thu Feb 15, 2018 14:12

Kijek-
You used 2.5% salt using an EQ cure and then soaked it to remove salt. THAT is the reason it doesn't taste salty enough. There is no reason to soak the salt out if you added just the right amount to begin with. :shock: :shock:
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Post by sambal badjak » Thu Feb 15, 2018 14:18

Thanks Bob.
I will go with the 110 ppm

Kjjek:
I have made bacon with 3.5% salt, then reduced to 3% salt and it was way too salty for me (even after rinsing/soaking).
Hence the further reduction.
I am a low salt eater. I prefer pepper and other spices and herbs instead.
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Post by Kijek » Thu Feb 15, 2018 14:19

That is the only other thing I could think of for the lack of salty taste, I wish the soaking did the same for the sugar. :???:

I'm keeping notes on everything.
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Post by Chickenthief » Thu Jan 24, 2019 10:17

Am i the only one seeing the elephant in the room?
redzed wrote:In my post above I provided a link to Stan's recipe for dry cured bacon:

Ingredients per 1000g (1 kg) of meat
salt 150 g (3%) 4.8 oz.
sugar 68 g (1.5%) 2.4 oz.
Cure #1 7.8 g 0.02 oz.

Percent is 1/100

For 1000gram/1kg 3% salt is 30 grams
The conversion between grams and ounces are off to. 150gram = 5.29oz
For sugar the numbers are wrong also.
1.5% would be 15gram~.53oz

The numbers are roughly correct for a 5000gram/5kg piece of meat and that is probably why the nitrite numbers are way off?

Heres a little helper i use often:
https://joshmadison.com/convert-for-windows/
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Post by Bob K » Thu Jan 24, 2019 17:34

Chickentheif-

Welcome to our Forum!

The errors in the recipe were noted in the same post, as you noticed it is a typo
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Re: Nitrite and Bacon

Post by Ferdels » Sat May 13, 2023 17:45

I'm curing 7kg porkbelly to make bacon. Bought prague powder (asked the guy at the store and he said it's #1). But after some research..I found that it's actually #2... do I have to throw the meat away now?

Dry rub
Salt (weight of belly x 0.02)
pepper (weight x 0.02)
Brown sugar (weight x 0.01)
Curing salt (weight x 0.002)

Rub everything on bellies and put in ziplock bag in refrigerator for 7days. Flip them once a day. Wash everything off on day 7 and hot smoke on day 8 until int temp is 140f.

What will happen if eat it?

Any advice would be helpful
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Re: Nitrite and Bacon

Post by michi » Sun May 14, 2023 03:00

Ferdels wrote:
Sat May 13, 2023 17:45
What will happen if eat it?
The Nitrate in the cure #2 will break down into nitrite over time. Cure #1 contains about 6.25% nitrite, and cure #2 contains 6.25% nitrite and 4% nitrate. So, your bacon is somewhat overdosed and contains a little over 1.6 times as much nitrate/nitrite.

It won't kill you or make you sick if you eat it; it's just that there is a little more than normal. Eat two-thirds the amount, and you consume as much as you would with normal bacon.

Nitrate is less toxic than nitrite. If you eat your bacon straight away (in moderate amounts), you'll be fine. If you can't eat it all at once, freeze the remainder and consume that straight after defrosting. That way, the nitrate will still be nitrate instead of having broken down into nitrite.

But you really don't have to throw your meat away. Just make sure to use the correct cure next time.

Michi.
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