between a rock and a hard place

[the chorizo kid]

soooooo, here's my problem and it seems pretty basic.
when i wet cure [the salt floats an egg with a dime size piece showing] i get good pork loin after 2 weeks of sitting in the refrigerated cure. it smokes well and looks and tastes great, but no matter how i dry it, the inside is too soft for me. nothing is spoiled; just too soft.
when i dry cure the loin overnite, with about 2 tabelspoons of morton's quick cure, it smokes and dries very well, but tastes way too salty for me.
help: what can i adjust to get a firmer center with a wet cure or a less salty tast with the dry cure?

[wheels]

What weight of meat are you putting the Morton's quick cure on to?

Phil

[the chorizo kid]

sorry- i was using two one pound loins about 1 1/2 inches each in maximal thickness. basically i followed the saucisson recipe and dry cured both together. i wiped both of them off and used used one loin for the saucisson and another i just smoked and dried. whatever the amount of salt in the saucisson recipe is what i used, but i thought it came to 2 tablespoons per pound of meat. the salt i used for this is the morton quick cure. the salt i use for brine curing is just canning salt with a pinch of saltpetre added [although i have never had spoilage even when i did not use any form of nitrate/nitrite; just pure salt brine].

[the chorizo kid]

additional reply- is see you are from the united kingdom. since you are kind enough to answer, i ought to try to use grams and milliliters etc. if it would help you, i think i can do the conversion as i was a chemistry major in college and am used to converting the two systems.

[wheels]

The weight measurements are fine - I'm old enough to still work in imperial measurements!

Taking the brine first. It's a difficult one as you infer that you dry it after (hot?) smoking? I don't personally hot smoke bacon, we cold smoke it over here, so others may be better placed to advise, but I think I would dry it before rather than after smoking if I was to do it.

I would not smoke the meat without the protection of cure/saltpetre and would make a brine based on the weight of ingredients rather than the egg test. (different sized eggs can lead to varying strengths of brine).

As to the dry cure, I assume that you mean Morton Tender Quickwhen you say "morton's quick cure". It's usage is 1 tablespoon per 1lb of meat - this will give approx 2.5% salt - so you don't need to add more. Adding some more sugar (there's some in the Moton Cure) would reduce the apparent saltiness - maybe 1 teaspoon of sugar per lb as a starting point.

You cannot reduce the Morton Tender Quick without compromising the level of nitrite and nitrate in the meat, so if the addition of a little sugar doesn't work, you will need to use a different curing salt to be able to lower the saltiness.

I would use cure #1 (Prague Powder #1/Instacure #1). There is a basic recipe and method using this cure here.

I hope this helps. I'm sure that some of our US members will be able to advise further (as they have more experience of this type of hot smoked bacon).

Phil

[the chorizo kid]

phil
thanks for the reply. i am making smoked pork loin, not bacon, and i do cold smoking. i'll try the one tablespoon per pound of the morton tender quick on my next go around, and i think that will be a much better result. thanks for the information.
the kid

[vinner]

You could also soak the cured meat in plain water for about an hour prior to smoking.

[Epicurohn]

Hi chorizo kid,

1) You need to add some soy (Soy Protein Concentrate should work fine). It will add some firmness and it will help retain some of the natural juices you're lossing during the smoking.

2) I don't see on any of your statements wether you only submerge or if you inyect. If you go for the soy option you need to inject.

3) Using an egg as a meassuring device instead of a hydrometer or accurate scale could be a risky proposition when formulating brine for curing.


David

[Nutczak]

at 2 Tbs/pound of meat, you are using double the amount required. That could be your salty problem, and you may be curing too long.

When I use tender quick to dry-cure something, I use 1 Tbs/pound of raw meat, and notice 1/4" cure penetration per day. I do not add any extra curing agents, just seasonings.

For instance, if I have 5 pounds of pork, and it is 4" thick I would use 4 Tbs of tender quick and allow it to cure for a minimum of 8 days, I also like to add 2 extra days on top of the minimum. I have never had any saltiness problems, or poor penetration using those measurements.

Always rinse in cool water to remve any leftover cure before smoking or cooking