I just realized about 4 days into my curing that when I did my TQ measurements I used tsp and not TBS. What do I do here? Let it cure for 10-12 days, add more TQ, or do I have to throw it out?? I had planned to cold smoke this batch.
Need the above info in order to help you.Can I just let it cure longer? Or is there not enough nitrates in it to keep it from spoiling. I could also hot smoke this batch so it gets cooked all the way through.
Need to know how much the slab of bacon weighs?
How much Tender quick did you add?
I'll defer to Chef jj or Dave for the calculations. But I bet they could figure it out for you.
Yes Prague #1 powderThe cure you have...is it cure #1? As in 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% salt?
The target for the cure is 156ppm (between 120 - 200 ppm is acceptable per the USDA)
The tender quick suggested amount should get you there, but you added 1/3 the correct amount. So, 156/3 = 52ppm.
That is roughly how much you added....too low to trust. You need to add 2/3 more, so 52 X 2 = 104 ppm.
The amount of cure per pound to get 156 ppm is 1.134grams. Multiply that by 0.6667 and you get 0.756 grams of cure #1 per pound that is missing (you need to add).
for 3 pounds, add 2.27 grams
for 4 pounds add 3.024 grams
2.27 grams is equal to roughly an almost heaping 1/4 tsp.
I weighed it out and measured it for you.
For the 4 pound slabs, I would add 1/4 tsp. + 1/8 tsp....that will get you real close.
For the salt and sugar,you already added 1/3 the amount you need so add:
salt- 1.66% of the weight of the slab in grams
sugar- 1% of the weight of the slab in grams.
That ought to fix your mistake.
Chef jj or Dave can check my math for you, but it should be close...
Please reread above post, changes made to salt and sugar....
No, you do need to add more kosher salt and sugar:So no need to add any kosher to it since it has the TQ