I like them both, really. I guess I mostly brine when I am using fresh herbs, dry cure when I am using dry. Either way works, and I have brined with dry and dry-cured with fresh successfully too.

As for the variations, cure amounts usually vary (it seems) because the authors (it seems) don't understand cure ratios.

Okay... Cure ratios in a brine. A subject that I'm sure has been covered along the way... Your thoughts as they apply to a wet/brine?

I'm afraid I can't really synopsize. It depends on the meat in question, its thickness and structure, whether it will be strictly an immersion cure or if injection will be employed.

I guess my real question comes to the statement that "cure amounts usually vary (it seems) because the authors (it seems) don't understand cure ratios." Apparently, either do I when it applies to a brine. Help.

It really depend on what you are converting (from dry to wet), the meat type and thickness, and whether you will inject. My point above is that I have seen numerous dry cure recipes that are essential brine recipes without the water (and thus contain way too much cure), and brine recipes that are dry ones plus water (and thus contain too little).

Kevin,

When you did the brine with dry herbs, how much herb did you put in?

What is the best way to extract all the flavor with the dry herbs, a 5 min simmer when disolving the salt or just let it sit over time in the brine or will the flavor extract out right away?

How much water do you plan on using?

Yes, you'll want to simmer.

I will be using 1 gallon

Dave

Try:

4 Tbls granulated onion

2 Tbls granulated garlic

2 Tbls dried thyme

2 Tbls rubbed sage

1.5 Tbls cracked white pepper

Kevin, Josh et al,
This weekend I did two pork butts of buckboard bacon (using dry cure from high mountains) and an 11 pound canadian bacon from loin brined with a combination of Josh's and Kevin's recipes and all of it came out AWESOME. Thanks for all the information in this forum.

The only downside to my new hobby is that I have smoked so much different meat (thanks guys) this Summer that I often find myself on "Smoker Restriction". Any suggestions on how to keep this from happening?

Years ago, about 1967, I worked for a packing house in Lafayette, LA. I was processing data not meat... but I recall they would use a device similiar to a basketball needle and pump some curing fluid into a particular blood vessel in a raw ham for some short period of time, and VOILA .... cured ham almost instantly! Ive never seen this mentioned anywhere. Is this method viable for todays injector folks??

Sure.

Among other methods, pump injecting has been used in commercial curing for some time. It shortens the cure time. It also adds water, upping the weight and thus profit. I don't like pumped bacon. But I do use an injector for curing fresh hams. It shortens the time and adds a hefty measure of safety, as one can be sure the curing mix gets into the thickest part of the flesh, and right up next to the bone.

quote:

But I do use an injector for curing fresh hams. It shortens the time and adds a hefty measure of safety, as one can be sure the curing mix gets into the thickest part of the flesh, and right up next to the bone.

I'm with you Kevin.
I guess there are still ham making masters around that stick the dry cured ham, and sniff the blade to check for bone taint or other spoilage, but I always injected my hams.

quote:

that stick the dry cured ham

There are. But one needs the right conditions - and time.

For those looking to find Prague Power #1 I just ran across it in a sporting goods store called "Academy" that's all over the State of Texas.

It's in a Fiesta Brand spice bottle labeled "Extra Fancy Curing Salt". But the bright pink color and ingredients list gave it away. Picked up two bottles myself as I'm too lazy to internet order or stop by Allied Kenco when going to my sisters for the holidays.

4 oz bottle was $0.99.

It was on the aisle with all the spices and Raichlen stuff.

Brad.

I made CB again this weekend. A nice finishing touch (found somewhere here) is to paint it with maple syrup and then coat it with cracked black pepper before smoking.

Highly recommended!

Is it possible to make Canadian Bacon without nitrites/nitrates (i.e. without either pink salt or TQ)? What would you get if you did, for instance, Kevin's brine from the first page of this thread but substituted the 2.25 c TQ with kosher salt?

quote:

Is it possible to make Canadian Bacon without nitrites/nitrates (i.e. without either pink salt or TQ)? What would you get if you did, for instance, Kevin's brine from the first page of this thread but substituted the 2.25 c TQ with kosher salt?

the bacon would not be pink.

If you don't mind me asking, why are you trying to avoid nitrates?

No, I don't mind you asking. I was under the impression that they are very unhealthy for you. Or at least, that was my wife's main concern when I said I was going to be making canadian bacon. And a quick google search turns up plenty of links that seem to suggest that they are.

Would the lack of pink color be the only difference? That seems surprising to me.

quote:

No, I don't mind you asking. I was under the impression that they are very unhealthy for you. Or at least, that was my wife's main concern when I said I was going to be making canadian bacon. And a quick google search turns up plenty of links that seem to suggest that they are.

Would the lack of pink color be the only difference? That seems surprising to me.

From the stuff I've read, nitrates are commonly found in lots of vegetables (like celery) and there's some evidence to suggests that its naturally found in your digestive system (manufactured by healthy bacteria). Its very effective in preventing the growth of the bacteria that leads to botulism, therefore it is used extensively when meat is intended to be dry cured. Nitrates also turns the meat a rosy pink (like ham) and are the real key player in smoke ring formation.

As far as I know (sounds like you may have some additional information) the only possible downside to nitrates is that when heated to a high temp for a long period of time, they can form carcinogenic substances. However there hasn't been any reliable information that shows ingesting those compound leads to actual cancer.

I find home cured meats to be of better quality, so I tend to cook them gently and pull them from the pan sooner, which means the carcinogens are less of a problem. And for dry cured meats, one simply cannot take chances with botulism so there's no avoiding it.