Interactive lesson

Brining meat, step by step

Interactive lesson: an equilibrium brine by the scale — arithmetic, preparation, submerging, injecting, boiled ham, watching the brine and what comes after.

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The whole lesson as text

1. The arithmetic by the scale

An equilibrium brine isn't made by eye, but by the scale.

Weigh the meat — Weigh the meat first. Every kilo of total mass, meat and water, gets 13 g of nitrite curing salt, 15 g of non-iodised salt and 3–5 g of sugar.
Half a litre per kilo — The simplest way: for every kg of meat, 0.5 L of water (about 1 US pint per 2 lb), 20 g of nitrite curing salt (0.6 %), 22 g of non-iodised salt and 5 g of sugar.
Example: 4 kg — 4 kg of loin and ribs: water 2 L, curing salt 80 g, salt 88 g, sugar 20 g.
Read the packet — At 0.6 % that's 80 mg of nitrite per kg. For 0.5 % use 24 g of curing salt and 18 g of plain salt, for 0.4 % 30 g and 12 g. With Cure #1: 2 g and 40 g of plain salt. Check the rules where you live.

Why: Salt and nitrite are worked out on the total mass, meat and water together. Once the salt evens out, the meat has exactly as much salt as you weighed, so it's never too salty.

Old-style strong brine of 15 % is made only with plain salt, never with curing salt or saltpetre, and the meat is soaked and cooked afterwards.
If 0.5 L of water doesn't cover the meat, use a narrower, taller container. If you really need more water, work it out per kilo of total mass.

2. Preparing the brine

The brine must be cold before the meat goes in.

Simmer the spices — Simmer a third of the water with pepper, bay, juniper and garlic for 5 minutes. Top up with the rest of the water, cold.
Dissolve salt and sugar — Add the weighed curing salt, plain salt and sugar. Stir until it has all dissolved.
Cool to 2–5 °C — The brine must be at 2–5 °C (36–41 °F) before the meat goes in. Don't put the meat in straight after simmering the spices.
A food-grade container — A food-grade bucket with a lid, a glass jar, stainless steel or glazed stoneware. The container is twice the size of the meat.

Why: A lukewarm brine is the most common mistake. Above 5 °C (41 °F) bacteria in the brine grow faster than salt goes into the meat.

For spices, 2 g of pepper, 1 bay leaf and 1–2 cloves of garlic per kilo of meat are enough.
For 5–8 kg of meat a 10–12 L bucket is enough, and it fits in the fridge.