My wife and I recently ate at a restaurant that served a brined, thick cut, bone-in pork chop and when I asked the chef what was in the brine, he told me that he had used some pink salt. The color, flavor and moisture of the pork chop were all really excellent (he also did an excellent job cooking it...). I have some pink salt and I just bought an entire wholesale cut, frenched, bone-in pork loin... (Can't you just sense the excitement?) I am planning to cut it into thick cut chops, then brine, then rest, then cook (then rest again...). I am 100%+ convinced on the benefits of brining--so no need to deal with the brine vs. no-brine question here... Second, my questions all relate to the use of pink salt, defined as 93.75% sodium chloride and 6. 25% sodium nitrite (or, if you prefer: Prague Powder #1, DQ Curing Salt, Instacure, ...) and not any other curing salts. Third, Jacob has made it crystal clear that you can't mix pink salt or other curing salts with Coke, but I never use Coke or other sweetened beverages when brining. I keep it simple-5% salt, 2-3% brown sugar and sometimes some herbs or other flavorings. So, to get to the point, I have a couple of key questions:
1. What is the safe limit for pink salt (by weight) in a brine or curing solution? Butcher & Packer website recommends no more than 4oz per 100lbs, but I think that's for a dry brine. Doing the math, that would be a max of a quarter of a percent by weight (0.0025 or 0.25%). Is this a safe calculator to use when scaling brines, at least as a max?
2. How will adding pink salt to the brine affect recommended brine and rest times?
3. How will adding pink salt affect the flavor?
4. Are there other considerations to be aware of when using curing salts/pink salt to a brine?
Thanks!!
TJ