NYKIDIES, cure under a vacuum question

I like using a vacuum to cure my meats because

1. I believe it might be a little faster
2. I like the idea of the meat being in contact with its juices that accumulate in bag which creates a pseudo brine.
3. Brining in a bag is ideal if you plan on rotating/flipping the meat often which I do every 12-24 hours.

I have not looked at their recipe but if they are using an equilibrium cure ( % of salt based on meats weight) vs excess salt (covered in salt) it’s not possible to over cure the meat and it will not become to salty.

I would not shorten the cure time. Better longer than shorter. It’s important to make sure cure reaches center of meat.

hope this helps Lloyd

Yes I do ……. salt min 2.75. I normally use 3 %. For cure #1 or # 2 (Prague powder ) use exactly .25%. YES THATS A DECIMAL BEFORE THE 2. It’s Point 25%. I have seen people mix this one and add to much.

Use the metric system too, it’s easier to calculate.

Note 1: The weight of meat plus fat is 100%. All ingredients to be added are expressed as a percentage of the weight of meat plus fat. Percentages can be used to standardize recipes regardless of batch size. All weights are metric.

Note 2: No weights are given because the weights of meats vary. Everything is a percentage of the meats weight after trimming. Example- Meat weight 2393 grams and we want to find out the amount of salt we need in grams- 2393 X 3.5%=83.755 or 2392/100 X 3.5 =83.755 grams.

2393g x .25%. = 5.9825 g … Round up to 6.
AFTER YOU GET SALT AND CURE CORRECT AT WHAT YOU WANT FOR SEASONS. I prefer to add salt and cure on to meat first than add seasons.

Get a good scale that measures in micrograms out .01 or .001 grams
I have two. SMART WEIGHT GEM20 digital scale and the ACPPRO-200.

Any questions please ask. We all learn together. All this on an iPhone. At work. Sorry in advance for typos.

That is a great question. When I first started I hit every blog you can imagine and followed in the footsteps of the Charcuterie experts. Now I go by by feel and looks. I remember doing a whole beef plate that was just freaking huge and I had no idea how long to cure it so I just followed my instincts and went for 25 days based on feel and looks.

I.E using the equilibrium method I would go at least a week with Duck breast, at least 7-12 days with pork belly for bacon, longer with beef plates and short ribs. Whole muscle Salame such as eye of round needs 14-21 day depending on its thickness. I made whole eye of round into salame (Bresaola) that was quite thin that only needed a 14 day cure but than I made one that weighed 11 lbs and was quite thick and needed 22 days. I would rather err on the side of caution and give it an extra couple of days to make sure cure hits center of meat. I have ran across some reipes for Duck and Bresaola that require you to excess salt the meat and basically encase it entirely in salt. Much shorter curing process but way to salty. You have no control.

Now on to ground up Salami…………..fermented or cooked? Smoked or not? It really depends. 2.75-3.55 works great and .25% works 100% of the time. In fermented Salami I believe they suggest 2% sugar or dextrose.

my all time favorite blog……….. http://curedmeats.blogspot.com/

http://curedmeats.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-facebook-group-of-curers.html

buy every book by
Stanley Marianski

I would suggest hitting up my blog and looking at some of the books I have suggested and reading some of the links to other blogs.

keep asking questions………….

Len Poli has top notch recipes and info. Converting recipes is a great way to preserve your heritage. You should purchase those books I suggested. It covers everything. Which starter are you using?

Very basic ratio is 3% salt .25% Prague powder and 2% dextrose for fermented sausages. I would have to consult the book to verify.

Take care Lloyd.

You know I asked this very same question over at another forum a while back. I was told that fermenting in the initial stages helps generate the good mold on the outside at a faster rate. A kinda head start. Did Len spray on a mold culture ?

With the bags you don’t care.