Homemade Sausage Making

I want to brine cure some ribs and belly. I have a salinity meter as in the past I was guessing and it was too salty.Is there a general guideline for percent salt in equilibrium brining?

I am certainly not an expert in brining. It is really an art and requires brine strength + length of time.Then adjust until it fits your taste. There are some great guidelines here: https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausag ... king-brine

Including a table for brine strength and length of time for various cuts of meat.

BB and Stefan are the guys in the know about brines

fatboyz wrote:I want to brine cure some ribs and belly. I have a salinity meter as in the past I was guessing and it was too salty.Is there a general guideline for percent salt in equilibrium brining?

I've never done equilibrium brine but my take on it is you set your target percentage for the meat and weigh both the meat and the water and make the brine using the amount of salt required to make the meat and the water reach that target and when the brine reads that target then the meat is fully cured.

My suggestion on brining is to experiment with one brine strength and stick to that on everything. In time you will be able to adjust your timing based on the size and thickness of the meat. And always rinse it well and allow to hang and equalize for longer than most recipes tell you if you are going to hot smoke or in some way cook it. If you are aging, it won't matter that much since it will continue to equalize during the drying phase.

Some basic info on brine http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=8122
If I'm using brine so i use that table http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=7339
Also keep in mind that ribs - it is meat + bone (not absorb salt solution), pork belly - lot of fat.
IMO - not good idea about brine curing








Edited to repair links

The local swiss butcher here did lots of brined and smoked racks of ribs, loins and bacon. Ribs were fantastic. Unfortunately they had a fire Last Jan. and are out of business.

fatboyz wrote:The local swiss butcher here did lots of brined and smoked racks of ribs, loins and bacon. Ribs were fantastic. Unfortunately they had a fire Last Jan. and are out of business.

very basic brining - 80g of mix of salt with cure #1 (8g cure + 72 g salt) mixed with 1 liter of water. usage - 0.5l per 1 kg of meat. 5 to 7 days in brine. (rack of ribs - 24-48 hours - to your taste). you can add spices to brine.

Athough I am unevoqivocally in favour of equilibrium dry curing, I am not convinced that it is also the way to go with brining. The concept is of course simple: Weigh the meat and water and add exactly the percentage of salt that you want to have in the meat, usually around 2%. The problem here is that with such a low percentage of salt, you will need a longer period of time for the salt to penetrate the meat and equalize to the point that it will have the same salt content as the brine. Might be fine for smaller pieces such as pork tenderloin, but it would take weeks for larger pieces. Take a look here:
http://www.genuineideas.com/ArticlesInd ... lator.html

I still like to use a gradient wet cure, with a 8-10 pecentage of salt. Today I'm smoking a back bacon that I brined for 5 days in a 10% brine. I tested a slice and it was a bit too salty, so I soaked it in water for several hours.

Got a hold of the Swiss fellow that had the shop that burnt. Their brine was 7-8% salt. Small pieces brined in a big tank for about 5 days. All bigger pieces, bacon , ham , etc went through the big brine injector machine then into that tank. Again 3-5 days.

redzed wrote:The problem here is that with such a low percentage of salt, you will need a longer period of time for the salt to penetrate the meat and equalize to the point that it will have the same salt content as the brine. Might be fine for smaller pieces such as pork tenderloin, but it would take weeks for larger pieces.

This is my concern.

Fatboyz, it sounds like he is using something along the lines of a 40 degree brine which is pretty common and one I've used often. Here is something that is helpful.

https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausag ... king-brine

The best advice I can give is to pick out a brine strength that you like and use this on every brine recipe that you make. If you are making someone else's recipe just forget what they tell you on their brine because all it will do is confuse you in the end. Just use the same brine and keep up with the brine time based on the type meat and in time you will be able to make whatever you want without the confusion. Its not that the other recipes are wrong its just a matter of learning what it takes to cure a certain thickness of meat to yoru taste and the best way to do this is to be consistent. All the flavors and seasonings are secondary. And always rinse well and always be patient and allow the meat to equalize after brining.