General information on brining meat.

[hrun0815]

I started to get into curing/bringing recently and made my first batches of sausage a few weeks back.

I now want to try my hands on wet curing meats-- specifically corned beef and German Eisbein (cured ham hock). My source of nitrite for the curing process is Prague Powder #1 (PP#1) and I did find reasonable recipes that give me a good idea about how much to use.

However, one of the problems I have is that I don't exactly understand how to adjust recipes. While for the sausage recipes, there is only one variable (the amount of meat), in the case of a wet cure there are two (amount of meat and amount of brine).

So, here is the question: The recipes either call for a certain amount of PP#1 per gallon of brine or they call for a certain amount of PP#1 per pound of meat. Yet, I would guess that both the volume of brine and the amount of meat should be considered.

Let's assume for now that at the end of the brining process the curing agent is distributed evenly throughout the meat and the brine, then the final concentration ends up being

[c(brine)*vol(brine)]/[vol(brine)+vol(meat)]

only if the volume of the brine far exceeds the amount of meat should we be able to ignore how much meat is present in the brine.

However, if we just use determine the amount of PP#1 by the amount of meat that's in the brine, obviously, we will run into trouble if the volume of the brine is significantly larger than the volume of the meat.

Is there a site somewhere, that explains exactly how much nitrite should be in a brine (taking into account both the volume of the brine and the meat)?

In addition, I have been skimming through the posts and found some that estimate the amounts of curing salts in the meat at certain intervals of the curing process. Yet, I could not find what assumptions these calculation are based on. Could somebody point me maybe to a site where the assumptions and the calculations are explained.

Thanks a lot.

[wheels]

Welcome hrun0815,

In general terms the levels of cures are calclated by the amount of cure on the meat when dry curing, and by the level of cure in the liquid when curing with brine.

This document explains how the calculations, for different curing methods, are done in the USA:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISDirectives/7620-3.pdf

You should read:
http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?=16418&highlight=arithmetic#16418
and
http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?p=16087
at the same time.

You ask:

In addition, I have been skimming through the posts and found some that estimate the amounts of curing salts in the meat at certain intervals of the curing process. Yet, I could not find what assumptions these calculation are based on. Could somebody point me maybe to a site where the assumptions and the calculations are explained.

As some cures have to form other chemicals in reaction with the meat, and because other things, such as temperature, affect curing times etc, it is not possible to have a general rule. The only real way of finding out is by chemical analysis. There used to be some information on http://www.r-biopharm.com/. I can't find it now but their sitemap is in German, so that's no surprise as I can't read German. There was very little information anyway.

I can send you a copy if you PM me.

Hope this helps

Phil

[beardedwonder5]

I have just made up a 10l brine for two halves of a (very large) pig's head. Obviously I shall remove the two halves from the brine. (You can see this one coming from a mile away.) After removal of the head, I shall stare at the brine and think of my investment of research time, assembly time, and money - in ingredients. If the brine were solely a salt brine - OK - a brineometer. But sugar is in it as well. Down the drain? (My quantitative chenistry is more than fifty years old.)

[saucisson]

In olden days the butcher's brine tub used to last forever, just being topped up with salt occasionally. We tend to recommend a one off use these days as we've got soft That's why we have tended to move to dry cures or pump and rub, or two of meat to one of brine recipes, to minimise wasting cure. You can test salinity by seeing where a potato or egg floats in it but it's not a method I have tried.

Dave

[wheels]

Dave

I read your post and was going to post a "What he said" answer to support you, but then I noticed that beardedwonder5 is using PP #1. This is very quick reacting, and so using it as a "brine tub" would concern me.

Checking the salt level is one thing, but what about the viability of the PP #1? (cure #1)

Phil

[saucisson]

I was suggesting not using a continuous brine bin, I think

Dave

[wheels]

Oops, reading specs now on!

beardedwonder5

A good tip is to use a fairly 'close fitting' container. I find that I can cure a full boned out leg (about 7kg) in 3-4ltr of brine by doing this.

Prague #1 (sodium Nitrite) in brine, as I recall, reduces very quickly, I wouldn't use it more than once.

Phil

[saucisson]

What he said

Dave

[vinner]

You guys....

[Epicurohn]

As saucisson mentioned above, just pump the brine and you wont have any waste. Different recipes call for different pump rates. You can adjust this to your liking. I´ve standarized all of my hams (pork & beef) to 20% pump rate. I have worked my recipes backwards from there (the amount of water used) to calculate the amount of cure, salt, sugar, spices, etc. that would go into the solution. I always have some excess brine to soak the outside of the cut plus all the big spices that can´t be pumped (like in a corned beef). Put them all in a plastic bag, place in fridge (34-40ºF) and cure the required amount of time (overhaul every day). Drip dry to smoke. Boil, bake, roast, etc.

David