Old Man in Japan

Walking, eating, drinking, and figuring out life in Japan one day at a time.

Bacon Cure Calculator A simple dry cure calculator for homemade bacon, with cure amounts, unit conversion, and rough timing notes.

This dry cure calculator helps you measure salt, sugar, and curing salt based on the weight of your pork belly. I use this method for making homemade bacon here in Japan. It’s simple, repeatable, and a lot harder to mess up than guessing.

Old Man in Japan • Cooking

Bacon Cure Calculator

Built to fit a home cooking page instead of looking like it escaped from a spreadsheet crime scene. Enter your pork belly weight, choose the unit you actually use, and get a dry cure mix plus simple cure-time guidance.

Meat Weight

Presets

Good for a bacon, smoking, and cooking section

Summary

Total cure mix 81.00 g
Estimated nitrite 156 ppm
Estimated cure time 6 to 7 days
Rinse & dry 12 to 24 hours

Baseline: Salt 1.75% to 2.5%, sugar 0.5% to 1.5%, Cure #1 at 0.25%.

Assumption: Cure #1 / Prague Powder #1 is 6.25% sodium nitrite.

Use: Keep the meat refrigerated while curing. After curing, rinse lightly, pat dry, and leave uncovered on a rack in the fridge to form a pellicle before smoking or roasting.

Salt

Percent of meat weight
40.00 g
Main seasoning and moisture control

Sugar

White sugar, brown sugar, maple sugar
20.00 g
Balances salt and helps browning

Cure #1

Pink curing salt, not table salt
5.00 g
Assumes 6.25% sodium nitrite Cure #1

Spices / Extras

Black pepper, garlic, chili, herbs
16.00 g
Optional, based on your flavor preferences

Quick Example

For a 2000 g pork belly, use 40.00 g salt, 20.00 g sugar, 5.00 g Cure #1, and 16.00 g spices.

Cure Time Notes

  • Thin belly: usually about 5 to 6 days.
  • Medium belly: usually about 6 to 7 days.
  • Thick belly: usually about 7 to 9 days.
  • Flip or massage the bag once a day if you like. It is not magic, just helps things stay even.
  • When in doubt, give it an extra day under refrigeration rather than getting creative with pork safety.