As an avid bacon maker, I’m always fine-tuning my curing salt ratios for the best flavor and food safety. The exact amount of curing salt needed can vary quite a bit between dry curing, wet brining, and other techniques. After plenty of trials, I’ve dialed in my go-to ratios for phenomenal homemade bacon every time.
In this complete guide, I’ll cover everything you need to know about calculating curing salt quantities for your bacon recipes You’ll learn about the different types of curing salt, recommended ratios, how to adjust based on personal taste, safety tips, and common mistakes to avoid. Let’s dive in!
Why Bacon Needs Curing Salt
First, a quick primer on why curing salt is so important in bacon. Curing salt contains sodium nitrite, which prevents harmful bacteria growth that can lead to botulism and spoilage. It gives bacon its signature pink color, tangy flavor, and firm, sliceable texture after cooking.
The main curing salt options are
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Cure #1 (Pink curing salt, Prague Powder #1) – For bacon that requires cooking.
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Cure #2 – For dry curing methods only.
While curing salt is optional for homemade bacon, I highly recommend using it for food safety and ideal flavor. Now let’s look at how much you really need.
Recommended Curing Salt Ratios
Here are the basic curing salt ratios I use as starting points for most bacon recipes
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For Cure #1, use 0.25% of the total meat weight.
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For Cure #2 in dry curing, use 0.25% of meat weight along with 2-2.5% additional salt.
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For wet brining, use a 40% water to meat ratio (about 1 liter water per 1 kg meat).
These ratios give just the right curing salt flavor and preservation without getting too salty. For accuracy, always weigh ingredients on a digital scale.
Adjusting Curing Salt to Your Taste
While the above are good general guidelines, you can tweak curing salt amounts based on your personal flavor preferences:
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For milder flavor, go down to 0.2% of meat weight.
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For saltier bacon, increase to 0.3-0.35% curing salt.
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In wet brines, reduce water to 30-35% of meat weight for a stronger cure.
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For very salty dry cured bacon, use a 4% total salt ratio with 0.35% curing salt.
Make small adjustments and take detailed notes to find your ideal curing salt sweet spot.
Measuring Curing Salt Precisely
Precision is critically important when measuring curing salt. Too much can ruin the bacon’s flavor. Too little can create a food safety risk.
For accuracy, always use a digital pocket scale to weigh curing salt in grams. Volume measurements by spoon can vary widely. Digital scales give you perfect increments every time.
Storing Curing Salt Correctly
Curing salt needs proper storage to keep it fresh. Here are a few quick tips:
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Keep it in an airtight container away from moisture and sunlight.
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Clearly label the container to prevent accidental misuse.
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Store it out of reach of children and pets.
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Use only clean, dry utensils to scoop it.
Proper storage keeps your curing salt in perfect condition for making outstanding bacon.
Incorporating Other Flavorings
Once you’ve mastered curing salt ratios, try adding other ingredients like:
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Herbs and spices such as garlic, pepper, paprika, onion, etc.
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Sweeteners like brown sugar or maple syrup.
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Savory components like soy sauce or Worcestershire.
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Spirits such as bourbon, beer, or wine.
Mix up your own custom cure blend with curing salt as the base. Get creative and make signature bacon!
Common Curing Salt Mistakes to Avoid
While using curing salt is fairly straightforward, here are some common mistakes to steer clear of:
- Using too much curing salt to speed up curing times
- Failing to accurately weigh and measure ingredients
- Confusing Cure #1 and Cure #2 types and uses
- Not allowing full curing times for flavor to develop
- Allowing bacon to touch metal, which can interfere with curing
With careful measurement and patience, you’ll be rewarded with phenomenal homemade bacon.
The Takeaway
Dialing in the perfect curing salt ratio is vital for bacon that’s safe and delicious. Follow the basic guidelines, adjust to your tastes, measure precisely, and avoid common mistakes.
With the tips in this guide, you’ll gain curing salt expertise to craft incredible bacon masterpieces. Now get cooking!
There are few single ingredients that are so universally adored as bacon. And the only thing better than bacon is homemade bacon.
Curing your own bacon, at least once, is a great experience for any meat enthusiast. It takes a while (compared to running to the store and buying some), but the end result is well worth it because you feel like you’ve accomplished something and got something tasty in return. Furthermore, it lets you decide what goes into the bacon, how good the pork is, and of course, the flavoring and smoke level. Not only that, but you can make the slices as thick or thin as you want.
There are a few things you’ll need to make your own bacon. Firstly, curing salt (aka Prague powder) which can be bought at better grocery and specialty food stores or ordered online. Second, you’ll need a smoker of some kind (because obviously that’s how you get the smoke flavor!). A pellet grill is perfect for this task because it’s fabulously easy to use, and will only take a couple of hours. I prefer fruit woods like Apple or Cherry to pair with pork, but of course you can go for something stronger like Hickory. Finally, you may want to consider investing in a great quality thermometer. I use and recommend the Thermapen, and also used a Dot to monitor the temp of the smoker.
This recipe serves as the core foundation for a bunch of different types and flavors you can try. All you need to do is adjust some of the ingredients and experiment with additions. You can make your own signature bacon with brown sugar, molasses, garlic, bourbon, different types of wood, and a lot of other things. Let’s be honest: it’s going to be a really tasty process of trial and error.
It goes without saying that once you have all that bacon, you can use it to make magical meals like these:
How To Cure Bacon the Traditional Way: Just Salt; No Artificial Preservatives
FAQ
How much curing salt for bacon per pound?
How do you calculate the cure for bacon?
How much curing salt for 5 lb of pork belly?
How many teaspoons of curing salt per pound of meat?
How much salt do you put in a dry cured bacon?
So this calculator for curing bacon can work out whether you want a dry or wet brining curing result! If you use nitrates, it works out based on the 0.25% pink curing salt guide for curing salt No. 1 Dry Cured Bacon = % of Sea Salt + 0.25% Pink Curing Salt to the Total Weight of the Meat
Can you add salt to Bacon?
While salt alone is enough to cure bacon, you can add sugar or other sweeteners like maple syrup to balance out the harshness of the salt. You may also add black pepper, powdered garlic, onion, cayenne pepper, or red pepper flakes. Some recipes I’ve seen add bay leaf, thyme, crushed juniper berries, black pepper, nutmeg, and other spices.
How do you calculate dry cured bacon?
Dry Cured Bacon = % of Sea Salt + 0.25% Pink Curing Salt to the Total Weight of the Meat Wet Brine Bacon Curing = % of Sea Salt + 0.25% Pink Curing Salt to the Total Weight of the Meat in addition 1L=1Kg weight, so 40% water is calculated for the total meat weight If you want a full post on making bacon – check out this post here.
Can you use pink curing salt for Bacon?
Using pink curing salt no. 1, otherwise known as instant cure no. 1, Prague powder No.1 it has many other names. It helps the curing process in many ways, but I prefer always to use it for bacon. What Pink Curing Salt does for Bacon: But the biggest reason is it helps make the meat safe from bacteria that could be harmful.