Pstores
is Blowin Smoke!
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2016
- Location
- Hudson, wi
Ok, I’ll play it safe.... smoke a store bought, toss the good stuff.... Thanks everyone. Glad I lost the recipe link and had to comeback here.
Ok, I’ll play it safe.... smoke a store bought, toss the good stuff.... Thanks everyone. Glad I lost the recipe link and had to comeback here.
With a wet (brine) cure, you account for the weight of the water as well, correct? For example, 1000 g of meat + 3000 g of water, you would use 4000g to calculate?
I agree you used a recipe calling for way too much pink salt. I would toss it as curing salts should be weighed as accurately as possible (I go by weight), but the point is with pink salt, you don't have much room for error, and we're talking food safety here.
I am able to accurately weigh cure #1 by trudging to the basement to get my powder scale but I have decided it's not worth the hassle. Tender Quick is cheap, easy, and fast. The TQ recipe is 1/2 oz. per # of meat, easy to measure on an ordinary kitchen scale. No need to accurately measure tiny quantities of cure. I have 8# of TQ buckboard bacon curing in my fridge as we speak. It'll get cold smoked on the Saturday before Easter.... If you are unable to accurately weigh the ingredients, then you should forego the use of cure #1 and use Morton Tender Quick which has the Salt, Sugar, and Cure #1 combined in a completely bonded product to make the final product equal so the contents do not settle. Because it is completely bonded and it contains the all of the salt, sugar, and curing agent required for curing; it can be safely measured for use in the home with much less accuracy required. Always follow the directions on the Morton Tender Quick package for proper usage. ...
So the simple solution would be to weigh out the required cure and check the measure. Measuring out 1 level teaspoon of cure #1 several times, I find that I have approx 6.44 - 6.95 grams of Cure #1. I attribute the differences in weight to leveling the teaspoon which might sometimes compress or pack the product in the measuring device; Thus using 1 teaspoon per 5 pounds of meat would be an acceptable measure.
Yet we have another source on the internet that lists 1 level tsp of cure #1 at only 5 grams. https://www.reddit.com/r/Charcuterie/comments/6id8er/recipe_calls_for_1_tbsp_curing_salt_per_lb_of/
The OP stated he used 1 Tablespoon of cure #1, which would put the cure at an estimated weight of 15-20 grams vs the required amount of 6.25 grams. He also measures 1 Tablespoon of cure #1 at 12 grams. So again we have so many inconsistencies with measures; I used a reloading scale for it's to accuracy, so; is there a difference in the weight of cure #1 products? (possibly anti-clumping agents?) a difference in accuracy of the scales?
or possibly both?
I am able to accurately weigh cure #1 by trudging to the basement to get my powder scale but I have decided it's not worth the hassle. Tender Quick is cheap, easy, and fast. The TQ recipe is 1/2 oz. per # of meat, easy to measure on an ordinary kitchen scale. No need to accurately measure tiny quantities of cure. I have 8# of TQ buckboard bacon curing in my fridge as we speak. It'll get cold smoked on the Saturday before Easter.
Just out of curiosity, when do you not use TQ? I started out my bacon life buying the LEM kits but that phase is over and I am now just using TQ. I recently did a 7# corned beef and just substituted the TQ for the recipe's recommended salt and cure. It turned out great. I am currently doing buckboard bacon using only TQ. What tradeoffs or negatives do you (and IAmMadMan welcome too) see with this approach?That is the backbone of the Morton's philosophy when they designed Tender Quick.... If your tablespoon is a little high, or a little shy... you are within an acceptable margin of error. For what it's worth I have both products (TQ and pink salt) and get great results when using in specific recipes.
Just out of curiosity, when do you not use TQ? I started out my bacon life buying the LEM kits but that phase is over and I am now just using TQ. I recently did a 7# corned beef and just substituted the TQ for the recipe's recommended salt and cure. It turned out great. I am currently doing buckboard bacon using only TQ. What tradeoffs or negatives do you (and IAmMadMan welcome too) see with this approach?
Thanks much. Re the pink salt I actually have some but the TQ laziness is overwhelming me. I get it that they are not interchangeable, which I take to mean you can't use identical quantity of one to substitute when the other is called for, but if I just ditch the pink salt and use TQ according to its directions that should be OK, right?... TQ and pink salt are not interchangeable, so if you have a proven recipe that calls for one or the other, it's nice to have both on hand at home. Plus if you have both products you can duplicate any recipe you like. ...
Thanks much. Re the pink salt I actually have some but the TQ laziness is overwhelming me. I get it that they are not interchangeable, which I take to mean you can't use identical quantity of one to substitute when the other is called for, but if I just ditch the pink salt and use TQ according to its directions that should be OK, right?
Not sure what to think about the sugar in TQ. My understanding is the the sugar molecules are too big to get into solid meat anyway so they just stay on the surface. In which case the sugar is not doing much. I certainly couldn't taste any sugar in my corned beef. With smoking the bacon I am sure any sugar flavor is obliterated there anyway.
I've used TQ a few times and didn't really care for it. Too salty. Have to soak the meat to reduce the salt.
Using cure#1, I can adjust the amount of salt to my taste.
I wouldn't dismiss a recipe because it uses TQ or cure #1
I know TQ and cure #1 can't be interchanged in a recipe, but it easy to convert a recipe to use TQ or cure #1 by weighing the meat. TQ box has the proper amount to use. I use diggindogfarm.com calculator to calculate the proper amount of cure #1, salt and sugar.
Just my final personal opinion here.
What really troubles me the most is; I understand that there are many bad curing recipes on the internet, in fact many of us advocate using only tested recipes from known experts / professionals in the craft of curing.
Yet many companies use these same questionable recipes on their website?
I am truly surprised that someone hasn't had had Nitrite poisoning and brought a lawsuit against those who post the recipe without testing the validity and safety of it.
Just my final personal opinion here.
What really troubles me the most is; I understand that there are many bad curing recipes on the internet, in fact many of us advocate using only tested recipes from known experts / professionals in the craft of curing.
Yet many companies use these same questionable recipes on their website?
I am truly surprised that someone hasn't had had Nitrite poisoning and brought a lawsuit against those who post the recipe without testing the validity and safety of it.
Refer to my above post, the USDA has been ratcheting down the "safe" level over the past 25 years. Recipes have not changed as quickly since, "Well this is how my Dad did it." sort of thinking. None of the recipes posted are wildly out of control, we have seen proposals from 200 parts per MILLION to 1000 parts per MILLION. It is still a miniscule amount
Don't trust the so called "experts" trust the math and the USDA.
Chris
In a wet brine the amount of cure #1 is usually 1 tabs for every gal of water. Dry curing uses less cure.