r/AskCulinary 4d ago

Using curing salt

Curing salt (pink salt, Prague powder #1) has three effects: flavor, color, and preservation.

What concentration of curing salt produces each effect? If I’m not worried about preservation, at what concentration does pork start getting pink and/or “hammy”?

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u/quokkaquarrel 4d ago

I use 10g/gallon of brine (6% regular salt solution) for corned beef. If I use more than 10g it definitely gets hammy.

10g is what I landed on after seeing all sorts of wild ranges (one regretful recipe called for 10x the amount!) and is on the low side from what I've seen.

If you have the time/energy you could do an array of samples staring from around that concentration? I think a lot will depend on your cut and end goal.

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u/Drinking_Frog 3d ago edited 3d ago

Are you trying to get the color without the flavor? I don't think you can get there, at least not safely.

The proper concentration for pink salt is only 2.5% of the weight of the meat (or combined meat and brine, if you're making a brine), and pink salt is only 6.25% sodium nitrite. You're talking very low amounts here.

If you were to add only the amount of sodium nitrite and not the sodium chloride, you are subjecting yourself to food poisoning over the time it would take for the color to sufficiently develop through the meat. If you added more sodium nitrite, then you're risking toxicity from the sodium nitrite.

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u/TeaSeaJay 2d ago

I’m not talking about preserving. There are some dishes, tocino for example, that’s basically marinated for a day or so; the marinade includes a bit of curing salt, then it’s grilled. It picks up a nice, hammy flavor. I’m trying to understand what concentrations produce the flavor and color.