Prague Powder #1

[wade]

. Afaik it's the nitric oxide which acts as the anti microbial. I just don't know how quickly that breakdown occurs from nitrite to its oxide

I don't think the precise mechanism of how the Nitrite inhibits bacterial growth is fully understood but it is known to inhibit specific areas of bacterial metabolism. It also has different potency on different types of bacteria. Its effectiveness is shown to increase at lower pH (more acid) and so it is probably in the form of nitrous acid that it has more effect, rather than after it has broken down to nitric oxide. You may be right, but I cannot find any published documentation to support this.

[wade]

Hi Wade,

if I wanted to get some Paella Spice analysed to find its constituent parts where would I send it and what would I pay (approximately)? Paella is a bit of a party piece of mine but not being able to get it from Spain anymore I would like to see if I could recreate something similar before I run out.

thanks

I use ALS http://www.als-testing.co.uk/ as they are used by many of the large supermarkets. Test prices vary depending on what you require, but for something like Nitrate/Nitrite it will cost in the region of £25 + VAT per sample. What they can do regarding spice analysis I don't know but I have found their technical department to be very helpful.

[Kiska95]

Thanks Wade

[essexsmoker]

For home use, for wt brining, you are safest using a cure that is the maximum strength of the final residual cure concentration that you are looking to achieve. This is called equilibrium brining, and providing you leave the meat in the brine long enough (10-14 days) then you can reasonably assume that an equilibrium will have been reached throughout the meat - though in the meat itself it will always be slightly lower because of the mass of the meat fibres.

Yes , that's what I meant, equilibrium brining, you physically can't over do it.


ALS labs looks good.

[Kiska95]

Contacted ALS labs and they wont do an analysis on the Paella spice for me as the say its tantamount to trying to get the Coca-Cola formula even though it was from the Yerba Man in Benidorm Market years ago!

[YetiDave]

If you want an equilibrium brine just follow that formula I mentioned earlier -
3% salt
1% sugar
0.25% cure #1

Just count water weight as meat weight. E.g. 600g meat and 1000ml water -
48g salt
16g sugar
4g cure #1

Brine until complete. I've not used that cure as a brine before but I see no reason why it wouldn't work. Salt levels can also be adjusted between 2.5% and 3.5% depending on taste. I wouldn't be overly concerned about any excess nitrite so long as levels aren't getting silly. You'll find more in spinach than you will in cured meats.

[wade]

If you want an equilibrium brine just follow that formula I mentioned earlier -
3% salt
1% sugar
0.25% cure #1

Just count water weight as meat weight. E.g. 600g meat and 1000ml water -
48g salt
16g sugar
4g cure #1

Brine until complete. I've not used that cure as a brine before but I see no reason why it wouldn't work. Salt levels can also be adjusted between 2.5% and 3.5% depending on taste. I wouldn't be overly concerned about any excess nitrite so long as levels aren't getting silly. You'll find more in spinach than you will in cured meats.

That would work nicely. It would give you brine consisting of 3.3% Salt, 1% Sugar and 156 ppm Nitrite. Bearing in mind that the end concentration in the meat will be lower than in the brine you could even go to 4.5g Cure #1 - which would give you 176 ppm Nitrite in the brine.

Yes, when working with cure you do need to use scales that are accurate to at least 1/10 of a gram.

[kiriak]

Hi, thanks for all your replies.

As I had found elsewhere, much debate and differing of opinions.

I have since contacted Smokedust.co.uk where I bought the Prague from and they have advised me on their recommended amount of grams per litre for a brine.

[essexsmoker]

Hi, thanks for all your replies.

As I had found elsewhere, much debate and differing of opinions.

I have since contacted Smokedust.co.uk where I bought the Prague from and they have advised me on their recommended amount of grams per litre for a brine.

That's where I got mine from, what did he recommend?

[kiriak]

This is the email from him......
Hi kirk, there is so much on the internet that can be misleading and confusing. There is no real way of calculating with any accuracy exactly how much nitrite gets absorbed into the meat as every situation is different (time in the cure, temperature, type of meat etc). I recommend using a dry rub cure method where you can use a specific amount of the cure per unit weight of meat. The recommended rate for Prague is 2.5g per 1kg of meat. To this I would also add 30 g of salt to make up a cure mix for bacon or salt beef.

If you would like to make up a brine I recommend using 15g of Prague per litre of brine. You'll need to make your brine first taking into consideration the added salt in the Prague powder. This works out weaker than the US max and should be ok.

Just a word of caution with your measures. Tea spoons come in a wide variety of sizes and there is a significant difference between US and UK measures. Stick to Grams and Litres and WEIGH your ingredients with accurate scales. Not only will this give you consistency but peace of mind too.

All the best and good luck with your curing.
Turan
Ps. We host a meat curing and charcuterie class through http://www.coldsmoking.co.uk/courses.htm