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Charcuterie & curing

Curing weight-loss tracker

Tracks weight loss as a percentage of starting weight — the readiness measure for air-dried products — against a target you supply.

The question this answers: “How far through drying is this piece, against the target my recipe gave me?”

From your book, course or cure supplier. HobbyHQ publishes no target — see the charcuterie page for why.

Result

Weight lost
20%
240g of 1200g.
Weight at your target
780 g
35% loss, as you specified.
Still to lose
180 g
Days at the current rate
16
A projection, not a schedule. Drying slows as it goes.

Worth knowing about this answer

  • The target percentage is yours, not ours. HobbyHQ publishes no cure formulations, no nitrite ratios and no drying thresholds — take the figure from the book, course or cure supplier whose method you are following.
  • This says where a piece is against that target. It does not say whether the piece is safe, and no arithmetic on two weights could.
  • The projection assumes drying continues at the average rate so far, which it usually does not — drying slows as a piece loses water.
Show the working
  1. Weight lost1200 − 960240 g
  2. As a percentage240 ÷ 1200 × 10020%
  3. Target weight1200 × (1 − 35/100)780 g

Weight lost: 20%. Weight at your target: 780 g. Still to lose: 180 g. Days at the current rate: 16

How it works

Weight lost divided by starting weight, as a percentage. Target weight is starting weight reduced by the target percentage. The projection divides the remaining percentage by the average daily rate so far.

What it assumes

  • Weight loss is used as a proxy for how much water remains available to microorganisms, which is the standard readiness measure for air-dried charcuterie.
  • The projection assumes drying continues at the average rate so far, which it does not — drying slows as a piece loses water.

Where it stops being reliable

  • The target percentage is an input and never a suggestion. HobbyHQ publishes no cure formulations, no nitrite ratios and no drying thresholds; this tool exists precisely because weight arithmetic is the one part of curing we can stand behind.
  • It says where a piece is against a target you supplied. It does not say whether the piece is safe, and no arithmetic on two weights could.
  • Uneven or badly shaped pieces dry unevenly, and a single weight cannot see that.

Sources

Sources for this section

Runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere. Last reviewed 2026-08-15. More on Charcuterie & curing.