Sugarless Cure

CornfedMA

I’m toying with the idea of doing a pastrami or corned beef without sugar in the brine. I stopped eating sugar right around the first of the year, so I thought this would be a worthwhile endeavor to enjoy some of my favorite home cured meats. I can find no scientific reason why sugar cannot be left out of a brine or cure. Sure it probably helps to have some sweetness to counteract the saltiness, but in a properly equalized brine, saltiness shouldn’t be a huge issue. 

What do the meat curing gurus here say? 

PigBeanUs

Sugar retains moisture. It’s hygroscopic

a country ham would be a prosciutto if it weren’t for the sugar

lkapigian

Takes the edge off the saltiness also...I would think you could omit it and wold change the flavor a bit, it won’t affect the cure as long as you have thei right salt....if it were me, I’d do an EQ cure vs brine and give it a go since you are not dry curing it 

Wolfpack

I’ve used the Stevia/monk fruit type substitutes for the flavor side with good results. 

fishlessman

look up cures for montreal smoked meat, similar to pastrami but little to no sugar. the recipes ive seen are like 1 tbsp for a full packer brisket

nolaegghead

You don't need the sugar.  But don't expect the same results if you are replacing the sugar with salt.  (so if you use x amount of 50/50 salt/sugar, don't replace the sugar with salt, but use the same amount of salt - x/2).