Process
Equilibrium curing
The cure is weighed as a percentage of the meat, and all of it is used, so the finished concentration is the dose.
Published parameters
| Parameter | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Ingoing ppm | cure mass x nitrite fraction / meat mass x 1,000,000 | Derived; basis stated in 9 CFR 424.22(b)(2) |
| Nitrite content of the cure mixture | must be known and clearly marked on the supply | 9 CFR 424.21(c) |
What the step is for
It removes the timing problem. A salt box cure has to be stopped at the right moment; an equilibrium cure cannot overshoot because there is nothing left to absorb.
Equilibrium curing is arithmetic rather than judgement. The whole of the cure goes into the bag with the meat, and when the system has equalised, the concentration in the meat is the concentration that was weighed out.
That makes the ingoing figure directly comparable with the regulatory limits, which are also expressed as a weight of curing salt against a weight of meat. It is the one method where a home curer can compute a number that means the same thing as the number in the regulation.
The regulation requires the nitrite content of a curing salt supply to be known and clearly marked. That sentence is what makes this calculation possible, and it is why this site asks for the percentage rather than assuming one.
Hazards this step bears on
Arithmetic for this step
Regulatory citations are to the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 9, as in force on 1 January 2026. FSIS guideline citations give the guideline identifier; the documents are listed with their URLs on methodology.