The Texas BBQ Forum

Can't hardly wait to see the finished smoked product. Sure is pretty. CF

Looking good, can't wait for the rest of the pictures.

A few pics. It turned out great. I wish the color was a bit better, but the taste and the smoke was fantastic. i t really is the best batch of polish I've made so far. The recipe is:

to one pound of pork butt (85/15)

5.5 grams of ground mustard seed

8.5 grams of salt

6 grams of marjoram

6 grams of black pepper

I roast garlic because I like the sweetness it brings out. If you do too, then add about 10 cloves of roasted garlic. If you use fresh garlic then add about 15 and then also about 6 grams of sugar. Do the right thing and go the roasted garlic route.

1 teaspoon of pink salt

Water to mix it thoroughly.

I smoked it in pecan. This batch was excellent.

This recipe looks out of balance for 1 lb of meat.
Check and verify.

Looks good, I'll bring some white bread and Shiners.
Good job

Papa, unless I'm completely missing something, I don't know what you mean. Out of balance how?

sancho wrote:Papa, unless I'm completely missing something, I don't know what you mean. Out of balance how?

Well the first thing that stands out is that one level teaspoon of pink salt (cure #1) is the FDA approved amount for 5 lb of meat.

Well....no matter how you did it....sure did taste good. I took my link and put it on the grill for a few minutes. VERY good.
Ready for the other half of it.
Good Work Sancho.....

Good catch, Papa. You're right and I did mean one teaspoon to each 5 pounds of meat. I hope no one made anything. I use 1 teaspoon, actually just shy of it, per 5 pounds.

Has anyone used ascorbic acid to promote color?

From my reading up on bacon cures I thought pink salt can kill you? Thats why you are supposed to wash it all off before it gets smoked?? Am I missing something here

sancho wrote:Good catch, Papa. You're right and I did mean one teaspoon to each 5 pounds of meat. I hope no one made anything. I use 1 teaspoon, actually just shy of it, per 5 pounds.

Has anyone used ascorbic acid to promote color?

Pleased to help I didn't want anybody to get sick.
I have used ascorbic acid or sodium erythorbate (they work similarly and it takes very little) and they really accelerate curing so you have to be careful how you use them. I have put the accelerator in the liquid and thoroughly mix it in the meat then add the spice/cure mix. Then stuff without delay as the meat tends to setup while curing. Always dissolve or otherwise dilute the ascorbic acid or it will discolor the meat where a strong concentration touches meat (white).
Some traditional Polish sausages have the pork cured before it is ground and mixed into the sausage mix, this style may need to be reground and the resulting sausage will not bind as well (the meat particles will be looser).

sparetimetoys wrote:From my reading up on bacon cures I thought pink salt can kill you? Thats why you are supposed to wash it all off before it gets smoked?? Am I missing something here

This is a little different scenario:
The cure they are referring to is sodium nitrate (cure #2) that is used in dry curing where it is added to the outside of a whole chunk of meat (pork belly for bacon) and the cure period is many days. Long story short it is used in excessive quantities and the sodium nitrate is not all used up. Now sodium nitrate (not sodium nitrite) when exposed to high heat can form carcinogens and since bacon is often fried at high heat that possibility exists.
Now the rest of the story. For many years now American commercial bacon has been wet cured with a sodium nitrite solution and sodium nitrate is not used (check the ingredients). The prophets of doom and conspiracy theorists will still attempt to instill fear in the worry warts.
Side note of interest: If you look in the meat case you will find all natural non-cured bacon or sausage for those worry warts but if check the ingredients you will find celery or beets or something similar. Guess what, celery and some other veggies contain enough sodium nitrite to cure meat.....

Butchers and Packers now sells a vegetable Type 1 cure. I bought a pound , but have yet to play with it. As for everything Papa Tom has discussed, Pay attention, he knows what he is saying.

sparetimetoys wrote:From my reading up on bacon cures I thought pink salt can kill you? Thats why you are supposed to wash it all off before it gets smoked?? Am I missing something here

You're washing of the salt and pink salt. Sometimes even soak the meat in fresh water after the curing to draw out some excess salt. Otherwise the finished product can be too salty.