HCC 008| Difference Between Sodium Nitrate, Nitrite and Pink Curing Salt

Thanks Brian. Glad you enjoyed the video. I haven't had a chance to check out that book yet but I just put it in my Amazon que. Thanks for the suggestion.

If it's white mold you're fine, just trim it off and wrap loosely in plastic wrap. If the mold is green or fuzzy, you need to throw it out. I assume that the pancetta is already cured? If not, then wrap it in cheese cloth instead of plastic wrap.

Oh bummer. Yep, you're going to have to throw it out unfortunately.

Just to clarify, I use 0.2% sodium nitrite in my formulation, not 2%. So for every 1,000 grams of sodium chloride, I'll add 2 grams of sodium nitrite.

Yes, you can make your own version of "pink" curing salt using the ratios described in this video. That salt is then cut with additional sodium chloride, as specified in many Charcuterie recipes, including the ones contained within Ruhlman and Polcyn's book (which I highly recommend).

As far as how much nitrate you need, that really depends on the recipe, what it is you're curing, and the duration of the cure. However, even when I cure something for as long as 6-9 months, I use only sodium nitrite, with good results. Nitrate is only needed in rare occasions for much longer cures, and even that is debatable.

Hi Sparhawlk, I'm glad you enjoyed the video.

Just to clarify, instacure #2 contains sodium nitrATE, where as for most of my curing applications, I prefer sodium nitrITE, as discussed in the video.

So my 1000g kosher salt mix containing 2g sodium nitrite sets my nitrite percentage at 0.2%. This is just a standard baseline that I fine works universally well for me, whether I'm dry salting or creating a nitrite brine for curing. Some recipes will call for nitrite amounts as high as 1% though based on the salt, so there will be some variations.

Instacure #1 contains 6.25% sodium nitrite, meaning every 100g of instacure #1 contains 6.25g nitrite, so every 33 grams contains 2.06 grams of nitrite. This means in every 33g of instacure #1, you'll have 31g salt (sodium chloride) and 2g sodium nitirte.

So if you mix 33 grams of instacure #1 with 969 grams of kosher salt, you'll have 1000g of curing salt with 0.2% sodium nitrite. The 0.2% ratio is one that I use almost universally for my cured meats because it fits my preferences and needs, but you'll find other recipes will call for different ratios.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Jacob

Hi Elizabete, welcome to Stella Culinary.

For most curing purposes, potassium nitrate is interchangeable with sodium nitrate, assuming you're still mixing it with some salt. But as discussed in the video, nitrate is eventually metabolized into nitrite overtime, which is why it's usually used in longer curing process; you get a slow nitrite release from the nitrate.

But the nitrite is doing the heavy lifting in the curing process.

This is why I prefer to use nitrite in most of my curing applications. I find it gives me more control over the end product, and I'll rarely use nitrate.

However, even curing mixes that contain nitrate, will also contain some nitrite, to get the curing process jump started. So you're unfortunately going to have to track down some form of sodium nitrite.