Shuswap wrote:Baconologist wrote:For what it's worth, here in America, there are at least three different Cure #2 formulas.
6.25% nitrite and 1% nitrate. (SausageMaker)
5.67% nitrite and 3.63% nitrate. (Butcher & Packer)
6.25% nitrate and 4% nitrate. (Allied Kenco)
Bob, those seem to be significant differences. Duk, our chemical engineer, would know better than me. Are they to be applied differently or used the same way?
I'd sure do the calculations before using 'em. ...but then, I always do the calculations anyway.
(Into each life a little math must fall.) As you know, add up the whole recipe's weight (if you are working in volumes, weigh 'em as you add 'em), then calculate how much cure you'll need.
Start off with the formula
- ppm nitrite = 1,000,000. * (0.0625 %nitrite) * (gms cure) / { (grams rest of recipe + grams cure) }
For you folks who don't care for algebra, solving for grams of cure added works out to
- gm cure = (ppm nitrite) (gm rest of recipe) / {(1,000,000.) * (0.0625 % nitrite) - 1.0}
So, for example, if you wanted 150 ppm of nitrite in a recipe that weighs out to 1.238 kg of mince plus spices plus whatever, you would need
- gm cure = (150) * (1,238 gm rest-of-recipe) / { (1,000,000.) * (0.0625 %nitrite) - 1.0 }
= 2.97 grams cure.
For the nitrate, just plug in percent of nitrate and the amount of cure that you just calculated, into that top formula. In this case, for Sausage Maker`s 1% nitrate,
- ppm nitrate = 1,000,000. * (0.01 %nitrate) * (2.97 gm cure)/{ (1,238 grams rest of recipe) + (2.97 grams cure) }
= 23.9 ppm nitrate
Respect those curly brackets in the denominator, now, folks. Ignoring them will throw you off, but maybe not too badly. However, if you get a nonsensical answer, chances are that you didn't strictly follow 'em.
...great question, Phil: why the differences? It would appear that they were all formulated for different sausage recipes, for different curing times. Bob or anyone... care to comment? For you fermented sausage types, this is really good stuff to know.
Duk