Brining meat

In short

• Equilibrium brine: for every kg of meat 0.5 L of water, 20 g of nitrite curing salt (0.6 %) and 22 g of plain non-iodised salt; or 2 g of Cure #1 and 40 g of plain salt. That's 13 g of curing salt and 15 g of plain salt per kg of total mass, or 80 mg of nitrite per kg.
• Meat and brine at 2–5 °C (36–41 °F) the whole time. The meat must be below the surface, and the brine is not reused.
• Time: roughly 2 days per centimetre of thickness, at least 7 days. A piece thicker than 8 cm (3 in) or on the bone needs injecting.
• Injected meat is eaten only boiled, roasted or hot-smoked: pork to 72 °C (160 °F), poultry to 74 °C (165 °F) in the centre.
• Old-style strong brine (15 % and more) is made only with plain salt, and the meat is soaked and cooked afterwards.
• Slimy, sourish or foul-smelling brine means spoilage: don't taste it, throw it out.

What's inside

Chapters

1. Brine or dry cure
2. Equilibrium brine: the arithmetic
3. Preparing and submerging
4. Injecting
5. Old-style strong brine
6. Ham for boiling
7. Loin, collar, ribs and bacon for smoking
8. Ox tongue, corned beef and poultry
9. Plan for one pig: containers and space
10. Watching the brine
11. After the brine
12. Common mistakes
13. Printable checklist

Worksheets

• Brining calendar
• Brine calculator
• Date calculator
• Batch log
• Labels for brined meat