Brine strength changes

[ssorllih]

Bob , That would seem a good method but what is the time line for reaching equilibrium? It follows the question of traversing 50 % of the remaining distance in each time period. When do you get there?

[Butterbean]

This is what has kept me away from equilibrium brining. I've gone the other route and use a strong brine with injection using a diluted amount and have been keeping notes on what each cut of meat takes in the brine at this strength.

I see the logic in what you are doing though and might have to consider using this method.

[ssorllih]

Hold off on trying this until I get more data. I think that My dry cure method is close to equilibrium brining. I have one fridge that I keep at 32 degrees F and find that for the butt slab bacon I make 10 to 14 days is good followed by 2 or more days hanging to dry. Poultry seems to take up salt more quickly and I have time to closely monitor this effort.
The chicken halves were cured with a practically dry cure 1.2 % salt and cure#1 and about that much sugar then a tablespoon each of bottled lemon juice and water for each half bird. Three days to absorb the salt and hang to dry. This effort is to see is I get the same result with a wet brine while monitoring to reduction in brine strength.

[Baconologist]

Curing time shouldn't be much of an issue for those with curing experience.
I've never had a problem with under-curing, not even once, especially when using the techniques mentioned above, and since it's impossible to over-salt and over-cure if a sensible amount of salt and the proper amount of cure is used, it's pretty much a no-brainer and extremely difficult to screw-up.
When in doubt, add a day or two to the cure time.
This method also works great for combination cures.

[ssorllih]

That means you don't have an answer?

[Baconologist]

It's an art, there is no definitive answer to every situation, but golly, even my 12 year old has no problem equilibrium brining.

Take it or leave it!!!

[ssorllih]

I shall leave it. My method of using a dry cure mix for butt slab bacon simply applies as much salt and cure as is called for with a given weight of meat and uses the natural moisture in the meat to provide the liquid needed to dissolve the salt and cure and sugar.

[Baconologist]

Actually, I do more dry curing than brining, many of us have used the calculated amount of salt, sugar and cure for many years now....it prevents over-salting and over-curing much the same way as equilibrium brining.
The only potential problem with letting the meat rest in the exudate (which is how some folks do it) is the possibility of nitrite burn, but there are ways to prevent that.

[el Ducko]

That means you don't have an answer?

The best answer is to try a few variations and see which brining times work the best. You can play with all the mathematical models that you want, but you'll find that your fancy diffusion coefficients must be experimentally measured, and that's the way you would approach it anyway.

In this case, you could try shortening the time that you allow the pork to remain in the brine, and measure starting and ending concentrations and amounts of brine. Salt uptake gets slower and slower as time goes on, until it's so slow that you can't see enough of a change to bother with. In other words, the pork plus solution has pretty nearly reached equilibrium. You could back down on the time, using the same weight and cut of pork and same brine composition, until you see a change in salt content. (A better set of experiments would be done by randomizing the length of brining time, but we won't go there for the moment.)

If you have a tried-and-true brining technique, run with it. If it's too salty, reduce the salt amount. Use plenty of brine volume, so uptake doesn't change the brine's salt concentration very much. Leave the pork in the brine long enough (whatever THAT is) to approach equilibrium, and you should be good to go.

Clear as mud, huh? (Sorry about that.)

[redzed]

For your computing enjoyment, here are a few of my favorite factors. There are a bazillion of 'em, by the way, so look 'em up on the internet if you need other units.
---454 grams per pound, or 2.2046 pounds per kilogram
---29.57 milliliters per US fluid ounce, or 33.81 US fluid ounces per liter (USA & Myanmar)
---28.41 milliliters per Imperial fluid ounce, or 35.2 Imperial fluid ounces (Real World)
Just multiply by the appropriate factor to convert to metric. ...then sanity check. And like the carpenters say, "Measure twice, cut once." (That would be "mix once," CW. Got that, Son?) (Attaboy.)

Geez, a revelation! I always thought that an ounce was an ounce! I did not know that there was a difference of 1.41 ml. between the US and Imperial!

And I thought I knew it all!

[redzed]

Hold off on trying this until I get more data. I think that My dry cure method is close to equilibrium brining. I have one fridge that I keep at 32 degrees F and find that for the butt slab bacon I make 10 to 14 days is good followed by 2 or more days hanging to dry. Poultry seems to take up salt more quickly and I have time to closely monitor this effort.
The chicken halves were cured with a practically dry cure 1.2 % salt and cure#1 and about that much sugar then a tablespoon each of bottled lemon juice and water for each half bird. Three days to absorb the salt and hang to dry. This effort is to see is I get the same result with a wet brine while monitoring to reduction in brine strength.

Ross it's interesting that you cure the bacon at freezing temp. Everything that I have read so far does not recommend a temp that low. Your curing time can probably be cut in half if you increase the temp to 37-40°F. Years ago when my father operated his abattoir he brined bacon and hams in the walk-in cooler where the temp was 2°C or 35.6°F.

[ssorllih]

Red, I use the low temperature because food doesn't spoil as quickly at that temperature. Milk will stay fresh for a month past the use by date. Since we don't use nitrates in the cure we don't depend on bacteria to convert the nitrates to nitrites. Water will freeze at 32° but it also melts at 32° so it is very able to carry salt, sodium nitrite, and sugar into the meat tissues at temperature we consider to be freezing. The meat in the fridge during curing is completely soft and flexible.

[ssorllih]

Short update. Brine temperature 33°F, brine strength 28°SAL. Starting strength 34°SAL, time in brine 21 hours.

[IdaKraut]

Bob,

I appreciate your wisdom. I guess what I've been doing, without really knowing, was equilibrium brining. When I made my last batch of Sulze and tongue/blood sausage I used a brine that was based on a salt content of 2% of the meat weight. It turned out great, not too salty, actually just right. I did add cure #1 to the mix based on what is recommended in the Marianski book so the actual salt percentage was probably closer to 2.5%. Nevertheless, the meats had a beautiful pink color throughout and was not too salty. I will stick to what I did and forget about buying a salinometer, which I probably would have a hard time reading anyway. BTW, total cure time in the brine at a steady 36°F temp was 7 days for the beef tongues (injected) and pork hocks (not injected).

[ssorllih]

most of the meats that we cure we can do with a more or less dry cure. full wet brine cure is completely practical for whole poultry where access to all of the surfaces is not posible and for many small pieces as I am doing with thighs or as would be practical with small fish.