Avoiding too much salt from brining a piece.

[ssorllih]

Draft of project outline for salt/cure uptake in brined pork meats.

Make a brine of the desired strength with a volume equal to one half of the weight of the meat .
Example: 1 cup of brine for one pound of meat
The target salt absorption is 2% of the weight of the meat.
Monitor the brine strength daily .
Important facts:
1. Water weighs 8.33 pounds per gallon
2. 2.986 pounds of salt dissolved in one gallon of water equals a saturated brine solution.
3. 8.33 pounds of water and 2.986 pounds of salt weigh a total of 11.316 pounds
4. One gallon of saturated brine weighs 10.03 pounds and contains 2.64 pounds of salt.
5. The brine strength numbers are percentage of saturation of the brine solution.
6. 100° brine is saturated. To make a 50° brine you can dissolve 6 ounces of salt in one quart of water. Use this for four pounds of meat.
7. 4 pounds of meat will need about 1.2 ounces of salt for a 2% absorption.
8. Removing 1.2 ounces of salt from the brine in #7. will yield a brine strength of about 40°.
9. This is a measurable change.

[Baconologist]

6. 100° brine is saturated. To make a 50° brine you can dissolve 6 ounces of salt in one quart of water. Use this for four pounds of meat.

Just a heads-up.
That's about 1 ounce of salt too many for a 50% brine.

A 50 degree SAL brine is 13.1975% salt by weight (50 x .26395)
100-13.1975=86.8025
8.33/86.8025=0.09596497796
0.09596497796x13.1975=1.26649779672
1.266 pounds of salt per gallon of water for a 50% SAL brine.

1.266 x 16=20.25600 ounces of salt
20.25600/4=5.064 ounces of salt per quart of water for a 50% SAL brine.

You'll notice that it corresponds with the brine chart here: http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... king-brine

Anyway, why not just make an equilibrium brine?
That makes it impossible to over salt and you'll save on salt as well.

[ssorllih]

Bob, You love to always have the last word but in this case you are full of it!

When I add 6 ounces of salt to a quart of water I have a solution that is greater than a quart in volume. One quart of that brine would not contain 6 ounces of salt but it would be a 50° brine.

Your numbers would be more impressive if you stopped at four significant figures.

I carefully explained the difference between the quantity of salt in a gallon of brine versus the quantity of salt required to make a saturated solution in a gallon of water.

For the benefit of the forum why don't you take time to write a detailed explaination of an equilibrium brime.

[Baconologist]

If the calculations are not helping, just refer to the brine chart.

When I add 6 ounces of salt to a quart of water I have a solution that is greater than a quart in volume. One quart of that brine would not contain 6 ounces of salt but it would be a 50° brine.

That's correct except for the 50° part.
When you add 6 ounces of salt to a quart of brine you have about a 58° brine.
One quart of that 58° brine would contain 5.68 ounces of salt.

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... king-brine

[ssorllih]

You are forgetting that it takes 2.986 pounds of salt to make a saturated solution in one gallon of fresh water. 2.986 pounds is 47.7 ounces one forth of the salt-12 ounces will make a saturated solution in one quart of fresh water and a 50° brine is 50% of saturation therefore 6 ounces of salt in one quart of fresh water.

[Baconologist]

You are forgetting that it takes 2.986 pounds of salt to make a saturated solution in one gallon of fresh water. 2.986 pounds is 47.7 ounces one forth of the salt-12 ounces will make a saturated solution in one quart of fresh water and a 50° brine is 50% of saturation therefore 6 ounces of salt in one quart of fresh water.

It doesn't work that way. Sorry!

Since a saturated brine contains 26.395% salt by weight, each salometer degree represents 0.26395% salt.

50 x .26395=13.198% salt for a 50° SAL brine.




Source: http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... king-brine

1.266 pounds of salt x 16=20.256 ounces of salt per gallon of water for a 50° SAL brine.
20.256 ounces ÷4=5.064 ounces of salt per quart of water for a 50° SAL brine.

[ssorllih]

It is not logical but it is true. I dissolved 3 ounces of salt in 16 ounces of water and it came out 60°
If the equation were linear then 5 ounces of salt would saturate the solution. That would mean that 40 ounces of salt would saturate a gallon of water and we know that it takes 47.7 ounces.

[ssorllih]

Unfortunately this post turned into a pissin' match. Bob could have offered constructive advise and has even suggested that there is an equilibrium brine that could solve the problem of too much salt in a piece of meat. So far he has not offered this elusive gem of wisdom.
Allowing that my premise for being able to monitor the salt up-take by salinity strength is perhaps valid a bit of refinement is in order.
Several our our members have produced products that have been excessively salty. We must develop a method by which we can monitor the progress of the curing process.
500 years ago the goal was to prevent the meat from rotting. Today we have freezers so spoilage is not a great concern.
I believe that we have an opportunity to advance the process and provide simple control for the home processor that will allow reliable methods for producing quality meats from one year to the next.
The shape and weight of the piece of meat is critical in determining the rate of salt absorption. A volume of muscle meat 4x4x8 is 128 cubic inches. A 5 inch cube of meat has the same volume and weight but will absorb salt and cure differently. If we can determine the actual absorption we can achive consistancy.

[Baconologist]

Unfortunately this post turned into a pissin' match.

I'm sorry that my demonstration of how the SAL brine chart works has upset you so much.
I wasn't at all uncivil. I have no idea why you view it as a "pissin' match."

Bob could have offered constructive advise and has even suggested that there is an equilibrium brine that could solve the problem of too much salt in a piece of meat. So far he has not offered this elusive gem of wisdom.

I did offer constructive advise.
I assumed that most folks are capable of using Google. Again, sorry!!!

[ssorllih]

This thread was never intended to be a discussion on how to mix brine but rather a discussion on how monitoring brine strength can allow us to determine the salt up-take in a piece of meat.
Distracting the discussion by concentrating on minor errors and not offering improvements to the model is of no value

[Baconologist]

This thread was never intended to be a discussion on how to mix brine...

Really?
Then why did you post the following?

For the benefit of the forum why don't you take time to write a detailed explaination of an equilibrium brime.

I thought that what I posted was helpful to those who want to concoct brines in the correct way. I am truly sorry that you've taken it personally.

[ssorllih]

Then I take it that you have posted all that you know about equilibrum brines.