Question 1

9 CFR 424.21(c) — the general table of curing agents

Accepted Answer

The US list of what may be added to meat and how much. For sodium nitrite: 1 oz per 100 lb of meat in a dry cure (625 ppm), ¼ oz per 100 lb of chopped meat (156 ppm), and in any case no more than 200 ppm left in the finished product. Nitrate is allowed only in products “other than bacon”. It also requires nitrite mixtures to be stored separately and labelled with their strength.In SaltCure: the limits for pancetta, salami, jerky and the custom preset.

Question 2

9 CFR 424.22(b) — bacon

Accepted Answer

A separate rule for bacon, which is fried at high heat — the condition in which nitrosamines form most readily. Injected bacon: 120 ppm nitrite plus 550 ppm sodium ascorbate or erythorbate. Bacon soaked in brine: no more than 120 ppm. Dry-cured bacon: no more than 200 ppm, from a pre-weighed mix rubbed over the whole surface. No nitrate.In SaltCure: the bacon presets, and Cure #2 is blocked for bacon.

Question 3

9 CFR 319.106 — dry-cured country ham

Accepted Answer

The only US rule with numbers for a long-dried whole piece: at least 4% salt in the finished ham, and a finished weight at least 18% below the fresh weight. Without nitrite or nitrate it requires either at least 10% brine strength or a water activity of 0.92 or lower.In SaltCure: a legal floor for weight loss; the 30–40% home cooks aim for is practice, not this rule.

Question 4

FSIS Compliance Guideline for Jerky (2007)

Accepted Answer

For jerky the danger is bacteria, not nitrite. Heat the meat to 160 °F (71 °C) — poultry to 165 °F (74 °C) on the consumer page — in humid air before drying; dry to a water activity of 0.85 or lower; an extra 10 minutes at 275 °F (135 °C) after drying cuts Salmonella further.In SaltCure: the jerky steps and the batch checklist.

Question 5

USDA brining guidance and the FDA Food Code

Accepted Answer

For salting without nitrite: raw meat in salt or brine kept at 40 °F (4.4 °C) or below the whole time, for two days at most; cold holding at 41 °F (5 °C) or below (FDA Food Code §3-501.16).In SaltCure: the brine and dry-brine calculators and their two-day limit.

Question 6

And in Europe?

Accepted Answer

The EU sets nitrite limits in Regulation (EC) 1333/2008, tightened by Regulation (EU) 2023/2108 from 9 October 2025: at most 80 mg of nitrite per kilo added to meat products in general — about 120 mg/kg counted as sodium nitrite — and 55 mg/kg (about 82 mg/kg as sodium nitrite) for sterilised meat products. On top of that, no more than 45 mg/kg may remain in the product on sale (25 mg/kg in sterilised products). That is stricter than the US 156 ppm. Traditionally cured products are limited only by what remains: for example 105 mg/kg in traditional dry-cured bacon and 65 mg/kg in dry-cured ham. The figures are expressed as nitrite ion; multiply by 1.5 for sodium nitrite. These rules apply to food businesses, not to home cooks, and SaltCure does not calculate by them.

Question 7

What we never say

Accepted Answer

SaltCure calculates by the published limits. It never says a result is “safe”, “approved” or “compliant”: a calculator cannot see your fridge, your scale or your meat. Responsibility for the finished product stays with the person who makes it.

Which documents the calculators are built on