Dave,
I have yet to try Brian's dry-brine bacon recipe, but I know it is definitely solid. He's quite the expert at cured meat! I initially used the Pop's brine recipe, but have since gone to an equilibrium brine. The equilibrium brine method is so predictable,
repeatable, and easily modified. If you haven't read this, it might help:
Brining 101 - the Difference Between Gradient and Equilibrium Brines
This uses weight, not measurements. Many of the gradient brines (like you said about the amount of cure, "all over the page") have a lot of uncontrollable variables. I use gradient brines for butts and loins, but it's because I have dialed-in the time factor. It's easy to over-salt meat with a gradient brine.
I also disagree with the 12-day recommendation. I've found that my pork loin brine, for example, penetrates the meat at about 3/4" per day. So, if your loin is 4" in diameter, it only takes 3 days to fully penetrate the meat (1.5" per day, from all sides). 4 days won't hurt, in this example, but 12 is not needed.
I know this may be a little "left field," but I believe that understanding different brining methods will open your options up. The beauty of equilibrium brining is that you can
never "over-brine." Once the meat and the brine reach equilibrium (through osmosis and diffusion), it will never be any more, or less, brined. This is why a lot of commercial producers use this; it's very repeatable.
