What is equilibrium curing?

Equilibrium curing, or EQ curing, sets each ingredient as a percentage of the meat weight rather than by time in a heavy brine. Because you weigh in exactly the salt and cure you want, the bacon cannot become too salty or over-cured even if you leave it a few extra days, which makes it forgiving and repeatable.

How much cure #1 should I use?

A common rate is 2.5 grams of cure #1 per kilogram of meat, which gives about 156 parts per million of ingoing sodium nitrite, a widely used target for dry-cured bacon. Cure #1 is 6.25 percent sodium nitrite and 93.75 percent salt, so always weigh it on accurate scales.

Is cure #1 the same as ordinary salt?

No. Cure #1, also called pink curing salt or Prague powder #1, is dyed pink so it is never mistaken for table salt. It contains sodium nitrite, which protects against harmful bacteria during curing, and it is not a table seasoning. Follow the maker's guidance and keep it away from everyday cooking.

Bacon Curing Calculator

This bacon curing calculator works out how much salt, sugar and cure #1 you need for an equilibrium dry cure, based on the weight of your pork belly or loin. The equilibrium method sets each ingredient as a percentage of the meat weight, so instead of guessing at a heavy brine you weigh in exactly the salt and cure you want, and the bacon cannot turn out too salty or over-cured even if you leave it a few extra days. You enter the meat weight in grams, your target salt percentage, your sugar percentage, and the cure #1 rate in grams per kilogram, and the tool returns the grams of each to mix into your rub, along with the resulting ingoing sodium nitrite level in parts per million. Cure #1, also sold as pink curing salt or Prague powder #1, is 6.25 percent sodium nitrite and 93.75 percent salt, dyed pink so it is never confused with table salt, and a common rate of 2.5 grams per kilogram gives about 156 ppm of nitrite, a widely used target for dry-cured bacon. Home curers use these figures to scale a recipe up or down and to keep every batch consistent. Always weigh cure #1 on accurate scales, follow the maker's directions, and cure under refrigeration. This tool is a guide for home cooking, not food-safety advice.

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Meat weight (g)

Salt (% of meat)

Sugar (% of meat)

Cure #1 (g per kg)

2.5 g

cure #1 (pink curing salt) to weigh in

Salt25 g

Sugar10 g

Ingoing nitrite156 ppm

Cure #1 is 6.25% sodium nitrite. The nitrite figure is ingoing ppm at mixing. Weigh cure #1 on accurate scales, follow the maker's guidance and cure under refrigeration. Home cooking guide only, not food-safety advice.

How it works

The salt and sugar are each set as a percentage of the meat weight, so grams of salt are the meat weight times the salt percentage divided by 100, and the sugar works the same way. The cure #1 is set per kilogram, so grams of cure equal the meat weight in kilograms times the rate. The ingoing nitrite in parts per million is the grams of cure times 0.0625, since cure #1 is 6.25 percent sodium nitrite, divided by the meat weight and expressed per million.

Worked example

For a 1,000 gram pork belly at 2.5 percent salt, 1 percent sugar and a cure #1 rate of 2.5 grams per kilogram, you weigh in 25 grams of salt, 10 grams of sugar and 2.5 grams of cure #1. The 2.5 grams of cure carries 0.15625 grams of sodium nitrite, which over 1,000 grams of meat is about 156 parts per million. Rub the mix over the meat, bag it, and cure in the fridge, turning daily, for about seven days per 25 millimetres of thickness.

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