BatchSmith › Food Safety Notice

Food Safety.

BatchSmith is an informational calculator and notebook, not professional food-safety advice. Curing meat, especially uncooked dry-cured products, carries real risk. You are responsible for verifying your process is safe before you eat the product.

Applies to BatchSmith for iOS, published by Fixin Studio LLC.

Cure #1 and bacon

Cure #1 (Prague Powder #1) is required for bacon and for any cold smoking. It must be weighed on a gram scale, never measured by volume. Too little leaves the meat under-protected; too much is genuinely hazardous. Your cure manufacturer’s instructions and USDA/FSIS guidance are the authoritative source for correct amounts.

Cold-smoked bacon is raw meat throughout the smoke. Keep the chamber temperature below 85°F and cook all bacon thoroughly before eating. Hot-smoked bacon reaches a safe internal temperature during smoking but is still typically finished in the pan. When in doubt, use a thermometer.

Dry-cured charcuterie is riskier

Products like pancetta, lonza, coppa, and bresaola are raw meat aged for weeks to months without cooking. Done wrong, this process can produce botulism toxin, a poison you cannot see, smell, or taste. Botulism can be fatal, and people have died from home-cured meat.

Cure #2 is mandatory for any dry-cured product that will not be cooked before eating. Cure #1, plain salt, and celery-based cures are not adequate substitutes for long dry-cured products. Weigh your curing salt on a gram scale and verify the composition percentages on your bag’s label against your recipe, since brands differ significantly.

Reaching the target weight loss is a safety step, not just a sign of doneness. A product that falls short of its weight-loss target may not be safe to eat even if it looks and feels done. The scale decides, not the date.

Dry-cured charcuterie poses elevated risk to pregnant women, young children, the elderly, and anyone who is immunocompromised. Consult a physician before serving this product to anyone in these groups.

Your responsibility

BatchSmith calculates amounts, estimates times, and helps you track your batches. All calculations are estimates based on general formulas. Actual results depend on your specific equipment, ingredients, and technique.

You are responsible for verifying that your cure is correct, your process is sound, and your product is safe before consuming it. Always verify against USDA/FSIS guidance and established curing references. BatchSmith is not a substitute for this verification.