How Much Cure Should I Use

[AKASTUDY]

This is my first attempt at dry curing a leg of pork to make a Parma style ham. As a newby any help would be very much appreciated.
The ham weighs 7.5 kgs. I mixed 264 grams of pure salt with 132 grams of ‘quick cure’. The ham was tunnel boned by the butcher.
I had planned to use half of the cure mix and the other half in a weeks time. The problem is I used most of it first time around to ensure the inside and out were thoroughly salted.
My question is, would it be ok to apply a second batch of the cure mix in a week, as long as I keep to the correct salt/cure mix?
Apologies for the long winded question.

[wheels]

Can you clarify what you mean by Quick Cure please - is there a manufacturer or even better breakdown of ingredients - % sodium nitrite and nitrate? Or, where did you buy it from?

The cure levels vary inn these products and I want to be sure that we're talking about the same thing.

Phil

[DanMcG]

Welcome to the forum. Its always a good idea to post your location to help answer some questions.

[AKASTUDY]

My apologies. I live in the UK. The ‘Quickcure’ was bought from Weschenfelder (in the UK). Weschenfelder also call it ‘Butchers Quick cure’ The salt mix contains E251 & E251 (Sodium Nitrate 4% & sodium Nitrite 6.25%). Quick cure is also called Cure No 2, similar to Prague Powder and Instacure 2.
I used their recipe which says mix 6 1/2 Ibs of Quick cure with 20Ibs of salt (I scaled this down). The recipe says use 4Ibs of the salt/cure mix to 100Ibs of meat (4%). I scaled this down to my 400g (14 1/2 oz) mix.

[wheels]

My apologies. I live in the UK. The ‘Quickcure’ was bought from Weschenfelder (in the UK). Weschenfelder also call it ‘Butchers Quick cure’ The salt mix contains E251 & E251 (Sodium Nitrate 4% & sodium Nitrite 6.25%). Quick cure is also called Cure No 2, similar to Prague Powder and Instacure 2.
I used their recipe which says mix 6 1/2 Ibs of Quick cure with 20Ibs of salt (I scaled this down). The recipe says use 4Ibs of the salt/cure mix to 100Ibs of meat (4%). I scaled this down to my 400g (14 1/2 oz) mix.

Those figure give a usage rate that will produce bacon/ham with around 4 times the UK commercial maximum ingoing amount of sodium nitrite and nitrite. To be honest, this seems typical of cures stocked by Weschenfelders. I have tried to raise it as an issue with them regarding another one of the cures they sell (Laycocks) but it seems to be falling on deaf ears.

So, the simple answer to your original question is no, I would not add more curing mix. You already have 7 times the amount that could be used in a new commercial product.

Phil

[Odin]

Akastudy

Wheels again is giving excellent advise. This is a safety issue. If your the only one eating this product that’s your choice. Have children? Start over!

[AKASTUDY]

Many thanks for all the advice. What would be considered as a sensible ratio of salt to Weschenfelders ‘quickcure’.

[Odin]

Akastudy

There is a very simple formula to use when curing meat and there are several online calculators in determining the amounts needed for given meat weights. The US is a bit different that U.K. but the principal is the same. For cures there are high and low ranges permitted, ppm. Amount of salt is a matter of taste. My self I won’t go above 2.75% this also takes into account the amount of salt in the specific cure you use. Make it easy on yourself don’t use that quick cure.

[wheels]

Assuming that the Quickcure formula is as stated - 6.25% Sodium Nitrite, 4% sodium nitrite, its correct usage is 0.25% of meat weight (2.5gm/kg meat) for a dry cure. This will give a product with 150 mg/kg nitrite ingoing - the maximum amount that the EU scientific advisors recommend.

[AKASTUDY]

Hi folks, apologies for the delay replying. I was away for a few days. Many thanks for all the good advice. Clearly I have a lot to learn. Sadly I’ve dumped my meat and the ‘quickcure’ rather than risk overdosing on the stuff! Expensive lesson!
I’m going to start again. I really would appreciate some guidance regarding a good cure mix. I would still like to do a dry rub on a leg of pork (bone in this time) and hopefully produce a Parma style ham.
Please could anyone recommend a cure and how much to mix with salt. Also the amount of mix to use per kilo of meat.
All suggestions gratefully received.

Many thanks.

Tony.

[crustyo44]

Hi Tony,
I've always used 2% salt and 0.25% cure #2. I just like to cure longer. Lots of people I know use the ratio of Odin, 2.75% salt plus 0.25% cure. Keep it all as simple/problem free as possible. Forget about ready made curing salt. Make sure you have metric scales that weigh 0.1 gram for the cure.
The metric system is the easiest way to calculate salt and cures. Cheers.