processhead That would probably work extremely well.

The situation I found myself in as this was happening was in the packaging of 20-40 5# bags of cure #1 on a Friday night and by Monday they had gained several ounces. The plant could have switched to plastic bags instead of paper, but once it was determined that it was just humidity the QC and R & D folks were happy. A few oz of water in a 2,500# batch apparently didn’t change the final product.

Right. If the cure was in prepackaged, factory-weighed containers, then absorbed moisture would be no problem.

Only when trying to weigh out the cure in small quantities, like for small batches, would you run the risk of not adding enough cure.

The situation I found myself in as this was happening was in the packaging of 20-40 5# bags of cure #1 on a Friday night and by Monday they had gained several ounces. The plant could have switched to plastic bags instead of paper, but once it was determined that it was just humidity the QC and R & D folks were happy. A few oz of water in a 2,500# batch apparently didn’t change the final product.

I just thought of something that we ran into with cure and the weight years ago. If cure is not kept vacuum sealed as to not let moisture in then it will absorb moisture from the air (hygroscopic) and become heavier by water content and not by nitrite/nitrate content due to the salt content. If this happens then it must be added by volume and not weight, such as Morton’s sugar cure takes 1tbsp per pound of meat instead of oz or grams, just something to keep in mind.

If I had some cure #1 that I suspected had absorbed moisture, I would not hesitate to dry it in a warm oven for a couple of hours to drive off the moisture, and then use or seal in an air tight container.