How to Cure a Brisket for Corned Beef & Sous-Vide
MORE INFORMATION HERE I was recently asked the following question? (1) since we all know only salts are absorbed into meat, what's the benefit of curing with a rub that you wash off? (2). Do you really need a 3 week cure on a piece of meet that's about an inch thick - especially if you're then cooking it SV at length? So why the long curing process? The current understanding and general rule for curing is 1/4 inch per day for absorption; however, the available information does not consider diffusion and nitrite breakdown. But the USDA has mandated that Nitrates and nitrites can be dangerous when consumed in considerable amounts. Therefore, the USDA requires that nitrites be present at < 200 ppm in finished meat products. But here is the elephant in the room. How do we test for this? A mandate with no way of knowing how to comply. "The current acceptable daily intake (ADI) for nitrates is 3.7 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day (mg/kg BW/day). The