Nitrite/Nitrate discussion

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Sleebus
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Post by Sleebus » Sun Apr 30, 2017 15:30

Just wondering why you're going with 200 ppm? Normally 156 ppm is used, which is 0.25% of the weight of the meat.
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Bob K
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Post by Bob K » Sun Apr 30, 2017 15:52

While the 156 ppm seems to have become a standard for many recipes, it only applies to commuted meats in U.S. regulations.

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... g/nitrates
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Post by Sleebus » Mon May 01, 2017 16:09

Bob K wrote:While the 156 ppm seems to have become a standard for many recipes, it only applies to commuted meats in U.S. regulations.

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... g/nitrates
Morton's seems to like it too. If you apply TQ at their suggested rate of 1/2 oz/lb meat, (with 0.5% nitrite) you'll end up at 156.3 ppm, and that's their suggested rate of application for bacon, a dry cure.

With a dry cure (which is what the OP is after), you can go all the way up to 625 ppm nitrite if you want...but is there any need to? Just asking for my own educational purposes here.
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Bob K
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Post by Bob K » Mon May 01, 2017 18:30

Don't confuse dry rub (equilibrium cure ) with something that is dry cured (cured and then dried).

Morton's bacon recipe is a dry rub for Canadian bacon or back bacon. Not really "bacon" as in pork belly. It is not dry cured, its usually a smoked and cooked product.

TQ also contains .5% nitrate and the USDA does not permit nitrates in bacon, or even 156 ppm nitrite, 120 ppm is maximum amount in going nitrite.
Sleebus wrote:With a dry cure (which is what the OP is after), you can go all the way up to 625 ppm nitrite if you want...but is there any need to? Just asking for my own educational purposes here.
Not from a safety standpoint, as there are other safety hurdles involved, in the finished product, Taste ,texture and color could be a factor......
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Post by Sleebus » Mon May 01, 2017 20:14

My confusion probably stems from Morton labeling on the back of the bag that states " for dry curing hams and bacon". Their "dry curing" is a dry rub. I was just using their terminology.
TQ also contains .5% nitrate and the USDA does not permit nitrates in bacon, or even 156 ppm nitrite, 120 ppm is maximum amount in going nitrite.
Unless I'm reading the below incorrectly, I thought the 120 ppm was a minimum?
As a matter of policy, the Agency requires a minimum of 120 ppm of ingoing nitrite in all cured "Keep Refrigerated" products, unless the establishment can demonstrate that safety is assured by some other preservation process, such as thermal processing, pH or moisture control.
I always thought that it was odd that TQ had both nitrites and nitrates, considering the ban on nitrates in food that's cooked. It appears that TQ is more of a Cure #2 than a Cure #1, although it should be safe if the food isn't taken above 266°. I did use Morton's sugar cure (which has the same percentages as TQ) for doing belly bacon, and it did get baked, so we probably got a dose of nitrosamines. I'll be sticking to Cure #1 for bacon in the future.
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Post by Bob K » Mon May 01, 2017 20:45

It gets confusing. You just need to separate a dry rub cure from a dry cured product.

As far as bacon scroll down to page 27 in the same regulations. You will find that the maximum in-going nitrite is 120ppm for regular bacon and 200 ppm for dry cured bacon (pancetta).

Bacon has its own "rules"

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/conne ... OD=AJPERES
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Post by Sleebus » Tue May 02, 2017 12:51

Ah man. Always seems to be some exception somewhere. Ok. I'm gonna have to set down one evening and read the dang book. I appreciate your patience with my questions. :grin:
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