curing salt

Deviledegger

Can anyone tell me if Mortons canning and pickling salt is going to be ok for curing things such as salmon, bacon, and jerky.

henapple

I believe you need pink curing salt...Academy Sport sells it.

theyolksonyou

Devil, does it have nitrates in it? Morton's makes a curing salt called tender quick, I believe.

CarolinaCrazy

You need Sodium Nitrate, AKA Instacure # 1 or Pink salt.

Lots of sources online, including Amazon.

Deviledegger

I will check if it has nitrates. It's not in front of me and my hands are full feeding a 6 week old.

theyolksonyou

I know some folks who make bacon with kosher salt, but I think the nitrates accelerate the process

Shiff

Morton's pickling salt is just table salt with a little different texture. I use Morton's Tender Quick for my meat curing.  You can also use Pink Salt as others have said. Around here, all the markets carry Tender Quick.

Deviledegger

Thanks for the feedback. I bought the pickling salt and was hoping to use it but it sounds like I best get some pink salt.

DMW

Don't confuse nitrites with nitrates. For short cures like bacon you want nitrites (#1 Pink Salt), for long cures that will never be cooked you want nitrates (#2). Don't confuse either one of those with Morton's Tender Quick. The percentages of cure to salt are different. The differences can be calculated in to the recipe you are referencing, but if you are just reading a recipe, use what is specified. As mentioned earlier, the canning/pickling salt is not what you are looking for.

Here is a good article on #1 vs #2.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/prague-powder-1-vs-prague-powder-2

theyolksonyou

sorry for the confusion, @dmw is correct. Nitrites, not nitrates...

Zmokin

I think when I run out of pure Sodium Nitrite, I might switch over to using a curing salt.  But at the rate I use it, it could be many years before I get to that point.

Cookinbob

Curing meat is done with a cure mix containing salt, sugar, and curing salt.  You need pink curing salt (Instacure 1) in the cure. For the salt, normally Kosher salt is used, but pickling/canning salt is fine instead, just measure it by weight.  

Search the web for Ruhlmans basic cure, it will give you a cure recipe you can use for almost anything. (17 g per lb of meat).  Here is a link to a cure calculator that will let you create a cure recipe based on the weight of your meat.  http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html.

For salmon and fish in general, you do not need curing salt, just a brine with salt, sugar, and spices.  PM me if you need a recipe for this, I will gladly share mine.

Shiff

DMW said:

Don't confuse nitrites with nitrates. For short cures like bacon you want nitrites (#1 Pink Salt), for long cures that will never be cooked you want nitrates (#2). Don't confuse either one of those with Morton's Tender Quick. The percentages of cure to salt are different. The differences can be calculated in to the recipe you are referencing, but if you are just reading a recipe, use what is specified. As mentioned earlier, the canning/pickling salt is not what you are looking for.

Here is a good article on #1 vs #2.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/prague-powder-1-vs-prague-powder-2

@DMW, I'm a little confused by what you wrote.  I use Tender Quick to cure briskets for making Pastrami. It has both nitrates and nitrites.  Why shouldn't I use it?  Perhaps you meant to say not to confuse it with Morton Pickling Salt?

DMW

@Shiff

Perhaps I could have been a bit more clear, but there may have been impediments to clear communication at that point in time.

What I meant was there are differences between curing salts on the market.

#1 - Salt + Nitrites

#2 - Salt + Nitrates + Nitrates

MTQ - I'm not sure on the breakdown

Pure Nitrites

I was just wanting to raise awareness that they are not all the same and should not be used interchangeably without accounting for the differences in concentrations. If you have a recipe that calls for MTQ, use MTQ and not #1 Pink Salt unless you know how to re-calculate the recipe.

For long cures, Nitrates need to be included. Over time, the nitrates break down into nitrites, almost like a time release.

Shiff

OK, now I understanbd what you were getting at.  When I first started to dry cure meats, I adjusted some recipes to account for using Tender Quick rather than Pink Salt since Tender Quick was very easy to get around here - many Amish and others use it to make sausage.

A link to Tender Quick is:

http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-home/culinary-salts/meat-curing-and-pickling-salts/178/morton-tender-quick/

Cookinbob

Tenderquick is a pre-mixed cure with nitrates, nitrites, and regular salt.  They also offer sugar cure which has..........sugar.  You will see they do not offer many recipes for it, noticeably absent is bacon - for some reason TQ is not recommended for bacon.

Buy a pound of Instacure 1 - it will go a long long way.  Buy a copy of Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman, or search the web for bacon, ham, pancetta, Canadian bacon, or whatever recipe interests you.  You should find detailed instructions, photos, and even videos.  Search this forum or ask for a recipe!!  There are also lots of us on this forum who have cured meats too, who are more than willing to help you out.

Roadpuke0

Been using mortens tender quick for twenty years, works great!

Cookinbob

Recent cures

Deviledegger

Thanks again for the info. HopeFully I will be curing in the near future.

hondabbq

I used MTQ for my first attempt at bacon and I used the Ruhlman season blend for bacon. It turned out more than fine.