My thought is that once the solution and the meat reach equilibrium, there is no more exchange of salt or anything else, so time becomes irrelevant, (up to the point of spoilage).
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I have a question regarding the curing brine. I ask it just for the information and my own education. It seems to me that the amount of water could be reduced IF the amount of all other ingredients (except maybe the pink salt) was reduced in the same proportion. For example, cut the recipe in exactly half for all ingredients. The concentration of the dissolved solids would be the same. This assumes of course that the volume of curing brine covers the entire slab of beef well. I can see that maybe the final brine level (salt and pink salt) IN the meat might be inadequate since there wasn’t enough total salt/pink salt in solution to achieve proper meat levels before "exhausting" the solution outside the meat and achieving an equilibrium state that is insufficient.
I hope I asked my question clearly enough.Comment
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You need enough cure to do the job and it needs to be in the right proportion. I think I discuss the concepts in this article. http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_tech...ing_meats.html
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Willy on the corned beef page scroll down to "Scaling this recipe up". The last sentence in that section has a link to Meathead's article on the science of curing, where the curing calculator is (scroll down to "Scaling recipes with Prof. Blonder's Wet Curing Calculator").Comment
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Willy One is walking a delicate balance and dealing with a preservative that if used improperly could be harmful. We have worked REALLY hard to get the formulae right. I have tried to explain why you should follow our guidelines. You CAN adjust the variables, but when you do, other things can easily get out of whack. Why are you so intent on saving water. The end results are superb. Screw around with any recipe you want however you want, but not with nitrite recipes.Comment
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I have done it with a whole packer multiple times in a 2 gallon food grade bucket with 1 gallon of water. I separate the point and flat and cut the flat in half for 3 total pieces. I adjust the Cure #1 using the wet-brine calculator for the trimmed weight of the meat and 1 gallon water. It all just fits leaving about an inch from the top with a bowl sunk on top of the meat to hold it under.Originally posted by Jerod Broussard View Post
Good deal. You scared me when you thought you might could use 1 gallon of water for that whole brisket.
I separate the muscles and trim to get 4-5 pound chunks.
It turns out fantastic every single time and is fully cured all the way through. I typically leave it in my beer fridge for 2 weeks.
Forgot to mention I try to give it a swirl/shake every day or two. Sometimes I forget for a few.Comment
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I have read through this thread and still have one question regarding making pastrami. I am going to make some of this this weekend too. I have the packer in my fridge. For a first timer, do you folks recommend just making the Flat into pastrami? or the Point? Or the whole packer? Thanks guys!Comment
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docblonder I am planning on making my corned beef tonight. I have read the article on corned beef and the curing article. I have about a 15 lb. Packer that has not been trimmed yet. I assume it will settle in at about 12 lbs after trimming. I would like to brine the whole packer in one container. I just bought the 22 qt. vessel ,the same one on the recipe page, for this recipe. I have done the bacon cure many times, with great success, so I am not a total stranger to curing.
When doing the whole packer. What do you use as the meat thickness for the calculator? The thickest part? Here is my main concern, the point is thicker than the flat, so given the calculator goes by the "thickest part of the meat", won't the thinest part, the flat, be over cured at the end of the brine? And I assume the shape should be,"Flat" like a pork belly. I think it fits into that category better than "cone" or "tube" shaped.
Or am I over thinking this. I have read through the articles a few times and I am still having some trouble figuring this whole thing out. (I feel like its November of 2014 all over again!!)Meathead fzxdoc DWCowlesComment
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Once the brine completely penetrates the meat, the salts in the meat and the brining solution reach a state of equilibrium and there is no more additional salts transfer. So the thinner parts will will not "over brine". I read somewhere that salts penetrate about 1/4" per day, so since it's penetrating from both the top and bottom, that's about 1/2" per day. So a brisket that is 4" thick at the thickest point will take about 8 days. Personally, I'd give it at least one extra day just to make sure.Comment
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Spinaker
In terms of time, you measure the thickest part about the same distance in. That is, if your meat is 3" thick at one end, and 1" at the other, measure 3" in from the thick end. For example, it might be 2.5" thick as you measure 3" along the incline from thick to thin. And use that thickness in the calculator.
As to over cure, it depends if you wet or dry cure. If you wet cure, the meat will reach the same nitrite level regardless of thickness. If you dry brine, it takes longer for the extra salt on the thin end to find its way back to the thick. So when you dry brine shake a bit less salt on the thin section to compensate.Last edited by Jerod Broussard; February 18, 2017, 03:38 PM. Reason: added the @ in front of SpinakerComment
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I am having a scaling issue. The corned beef recipe says 2 teaspoons per 4 pounds. I have a 10.5# trimmed brisket. So I need to scale up this recipe up by 2.5 times. So that would be 5 teaspoons of Prague powder. But the calculator says 4 tablespoons of Prague powder.
I have the calculator set as follows,
150 PPM
10.5 pounds of Trimmed Brisket
2.5 Gallons of water
2.5 TABLEspoons Prague Powder #1
2.5 Inches thick (Flat shape selected)
7.8 days to cure.
So do I go by the calculator which says to add, 2.5 Tablespoons? Or do I go by the the recipe amount that is scaled up 2.5 times, which gives me 1 2/3 TABLESPOONS of Prague Powder #1.
Any help would be much appreciated. I am kinda stuck at this step right now.
Thanks!Comment
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Spinaker I would go by the calculator. It says that PP #1 is not a multiple of the amount of meat:
Step 5 - Prague Powder #1 Calculation. The calculator will tell you how much Prague Powder #1 to use. Remember, it is not a multiple of the amount of meat. It is calculated based upon the variables you entered in Steps 1 through 3. Try to get pretty close to this amount.Comment
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You are welcome Spinaker. My pleasure to be able to help.
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