Marinade & Curing

Brine
Marinade &Curing Brine

Aditya Kumar Singh

Aditya Vikram
Aditya Yadav
Afzal Amaan
Distribution of curing brine, marinade or
other added ingredients in whole muscle
products

i.e. hams, bacon, roast beef, marinated fresh

pork/beef
Addition of ingredients
1. dry cure
country-cured hams, Proscuitto hams, dry cured bacon
rub outside with dry mixture of ingredients - normally include nitrate for cured products
pack product in stacks to exert pressure
store in curing coolers (38oF)
re-rub at periodical intervals
results in unique flavor/texture
concerns:
slow process, prone to spoilage
uneven distribution
difficult to control final concentration of ingredients
2. immersion cure
immerse whole product in brine to accomplish
diffusion
most often used as a equilibration treatment or
cover pickle for injected products
concerns:
slow process
cannot control ingredient pickup precisely
3.injection curing
inject brine or solution with pump under pressure
a. artery pump
For bone-in hams, femoral artery is exposed and can be used as an injection-distribution
channeling system
results in good distribution when possible
b. needle injections
single or limited needle system (stitch pumping)
labor intensive
slow
uniform distribution is unlikely
multiple needle systems
most common for most injected products
injection pressure and frequency can be adjusted to control amount injected
very uniform and consistent
concerns:
brine or marinate is re-circulated and picks up protein
and fat each time. This can clog needles and give
opportunity for bacterial growth. Contaminating
bacteria can also be circulated and re-injected.
Cleanup and sanitation are very important.

excessive pressure can result in pickle pockets and

multiple holes - especially if not equilibrated

tiger striping-particularly in bacon (recirculated

protein?)
Brine/injection solution considerations

brine composition will depend on:

1. desired final concentration
2. injection level of water
3. yields from cooking/smoking
Example:
End product: ham with 2% salt and added 20% brine
above green weight
100 lbs green weight = 120 finished (ham + brine)
120 lbs (finished) at 2% salt = 2.4 lbs. salt

cooking, smoking gives 95% yield (120/0.95) = 126.3 lbs. target pump before cooking
2.4 lbs. of salt in 26.3 lbs of brine = 9.1% salt in the brine.

therefore to get 2.0 % salt and 20% finished added ingredients (brine), must add 26.3 lbs brine which has 2.4 lbs. of
salt = 9.1 % salt in the brine.

weight is important because a gallon of water 8.33 lbs

Many injected products, especially hams, that are formed or bound together are also macerated and
tumbled/massaged
Maceration - slashing or cutting the surface
of meat pieces to expose more lean surface
and improve protein extraction during
tumbling/massaging.
also serves to cut through connective tissue
sheets if any remain on muscle surfaces
injectors provide some limited maceration
effects
extent depends on muscle properties
useful for pork/beef but probably excessive for
poultry
Tumbling/massaging
most commonly utilized for sectioned and formed
products like hams, but also works well for dry-cure
for bacon or equilibration of cure in pork loins, bone-
in hams, etc.
objective is mechanical agitation to:
1. speed the diffusion of brine
2. disrupt muscle cells and increase protein extraction
3. weakening or breaking connective tissue for tenderization
What is the difference?
massaging -
rotating paddles in a container
vertical horizontal

mechanical action is stirring or mixing the meat pieces

for a given amount of time
much less common than tumbling
Tumbling
rotating drum with baffles which pick up and
drop meat pieces
 speed of rotation and the height of the drum
(amount of drop) are important to effectiveness
more rigorous treatment than massaging but by
far the most common
commonly done under vacuum to prevent
foam/air bubbles in the protein extract which
binds pieces together
mechanical agitation can also be done with an
ordinary mixer but this is usually too severe