# I'm struggling to figure out cure amounts. Can I just use 1/4 tsp per pound of jerky?



## mdbannister (Dec 24, 2017)

Just like the title says. I've read probably 10 threads on using cure, and the data quickly gets really technical. I'm just trying to find an easy rule of thumb to add cure to jerky. Is 1/4 tsp per lb safe/adequate? It's slightly more than the 1 tsp per 5 lb. rule.


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## daveomak (Dec 24, 2017)

Yes...   for now....  then you need to purchase a digital scale...  0-100 grams...  about $15....  then you can weigh your spices also....


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## Rings Я Us (Dec 24, 2017)

I'm making jerky right now.
I have 2 bags with just over 2.5 lbs each.
I used a heaping 1/2 teaspoon for each batch.  About 1/4 tsp per pound.. Yep. 1.25 tsp for 5 lbs.


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## PerazziMx14 (Dec 24, 2017)

Please remove


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## dward51 (Dec 24, 2017)

Depends on the cure, the method the cure is being used, and yes - you need a good set of digital scales with 1/100th of a gram resolution for cure and accurate spice measurement.

1) Ratios are different for different cures (ie, cure #1 vs TenderQuick or Cure #2)
2) How is the cure being used makes a difference in the ratio also (ie, is it a dry rub cure, wet brine, or are you mixing it with ground meat for jerky - it also matters with the volume of liquid used in a wet brine)
3) Cure needs to be accurately weighed.  For example, 1 pound of ground meat will will require 1.13grams of cure #1 for snack sticks.   If you have a gram scale that weighs with 1/100th of a gram accuracy, that is no problem.  But if you are using another scale such as the 35lb and 55lb postal scales, they only have an accuracy of .5 ounce at some ranges.  That is a 14 gram range.  So if you only need 1.13 grams of cure and your scales might be 14 grams off, how does that work (it doesn't).

These are the two scales I have.  The smaller one weighs up to 500 grams with 1/100th of a gram resolution.  Also make sure to get a calibration weight that matches your gram scale.  I check mine both before and after weighing my spices.  If the 100 gram calibration weight was reading right at the start and end of the session, I'm confident the spices & cure measured is also spot on.  The other scale is for meat and bulk weights.  Both scales will tare or zero out the weight of a container on them.  Available on amazon and reasonably priced.

And yes, that is over 27 pound of meat on the UltraShip 55 scale.


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## daveomak (Dec 24, 2017)

Without cure#1, you are flirting with botulism when the meat is in a smoker...   Nitrite is insurance that the botulism is killed...  1 tsp per 5#'s of stuff...  or 1.13 grams per pound....


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## dward51 (Dec 24, 2017)

I'm also going to throw this out as well as it eventually comes up in cure discussions......

You will get more nitrates from eating leafy vegetables than you ever will from sausage, and other "cured" meats such as bacon, jerky, ham etc....   Nitrates & nitrites are a natural compound and actually part of every diet that pretty much everyone on the planet consumes.  

On average, about 93% of nitrites we get from food come from vegetables. *It may shock you to learn that one serving of arugula, two servings of butter lettuce, and four servings of celery or beets all have more nitrite than 467 hot dogs.* And your own saliva has more nitrites than all of them! So before you eliminate cured meats from your diet or listen to someone freaking out about nitrites, you might want to address your celery intake. And try not to swallow so frequently.

All humor aside, there’s no reason to fear nitrites in your food, or saliva. Recent studies suggests that nitrites are beneficial for immune and cardiovascular function; they are being studied as a potential treatment for hypertension, heart attacks, sickle cell and circulatory disorders. Even if nitrites were harmful, cured meats are not a significant source, as the USDA only allows 120 parts per million in hot dogs and bacon. Also, during the curing process, most of the nitrite forms nitric oxide, which binds to iron and gives hot dogs and bacon their characteristic pink color. Afterwards, the amount of nitrite left is only about 10 parts per million.

And if you think you can avoid nitrates and nitrites by eating so-called “nitrite- and nitrate-free” hot dogs and bacon, don’t be fooled. These products use “natural” sources of the same chemical like celery and beet juice and sea salt, and are no more free from nitrates and nitrites than standard cured meats. In fact, they may even contain more nitrates and nitrites when cured using “natural” preservatives.  Nitrites and nitrates are just that, be the in the blended with salt form we see with common cures or from "natural" plant based extracts.

It’s important to understand that neither nitrate nor nitrite accumulate in body. Ingested nitrate from food is converted into nitrite when it contacts our saliva, and of the nitrate we eat, 25% is converted into salivary nitrite, 20% converted into nitrite, and the rest is excreted in the urine within 5 hours of ingestion. Any nitrate that is absorbed has a very short half-life, disappearing from our blood in under five minutes. Some nitrite in our stomach reacts with gastric contents, forming nitric oxide which may have many beneficial effects.

In general, the bulk of the science suggests that nitrates and nitrites are not problematic and may even be beneficial to health. Critical reviews of the original evidence suggesting that nitrates/nitrites are carcinogenic reveals that in the absence of co-administration of a carcinogenic nitrosamine precursor, there is no evidence for carcinogenesis. Newly published prospective studies show no association between estimated intake of nitrite and nitrite in the diet and stomach cancer.  Nitric oxide, formed by nitrite, has been shown to have vasodilator properties and may modulate platelet function in the human body, improving blood pressure and reducing heart attack risk. Nitrates may also help boost the immune system and protect against pathogenic bacteria

So what do we take from this? There’s no reason to fear nitrates and nitrites in food. No reason to buy nitrate-free, uncured bacon. No reason to strictly avoid cured meats, particularly those from high quality sources (which is one reason most of us make our own - we know the source and content of the final product). In fact, because of concerns about trichinosis from pork, it makes a lot more sense in my opinion to buy cured bacon and other pork products. 

Climbing down off the soapbox now.....


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## mdbannister (Dec 25, 2017)

Thanks everyone. I'm using cure #1 prague powder. I actually have a food scale that is accurate to hundredths (perhaps more but I don't remember). However, if measuring 1/4 tsp per pound will do it, I'm confused about why the need to be more precise. I've read several of these threads, and it seems that some get super technical at some points...so much that it gets confusing (at least to me). I'm glad to listen, and I want to learn, so if there's a reason I should be more precise than 1/4 tsp per pound, please share.

Oh, and my plan is to marinate the jerky for 3 days.


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## SmokinAl (Dec 25, 2017)

Here is a cure calculator for cure #1 that a lot of us use.
http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html
Al


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## mdbannister (Dec 25, 2017)

smokinal said:


> Here is a cure calculator for cure #1 that a lot of us use.
> http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html
> Al


Thanks. What percentage of cure should I be aiming for?


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## WaterinHoleBrew (Dec 25, 2017)

mdbannister said:


> Thanks. What percentage of cure should I be aiming for?



The calculator Al is referring to is already set for cure #1 at 6.25%, just input the grams of meat your using & the cure, salt & sugar will be calculated!


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## DanMcG (Dec 26, 2017)

mdbannister said:


> Thanks. What percentage of cure should I be aiming for?


Use your cure #1 at a rate of 0.25% of the meat weight. I think thats what you'r asking


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## daveomak (Dec 26, 2017)

AND to calculate that, it's 0.0025 X meat weight..


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## DanMcG (Dec 26, 2017)

And that's as long as your cure #1 contains 6.25% nitrite. ;)


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## daveomak (Dec 26, 2017)

^^^^^^  yeah that.....


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## mdbannister (Dec 26, 2017)

danmcg said:


> And that's as long as your cure #1 contains 6.25% nitrite. ;)


Thanks! I think this is the percentage I was unsure about. It's in the calculator link above, but wasn't sure what that was about.


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## SonnyE (Dec 27, 2017)

mdbannister said:


> Just like the title says. I've read probably 10 threads on using cure, and the data quickly gets really technical. I'm just trying to find an easy rule of thumb to add cure to jerky. Is 1/4 tsp per lb safe/adequate? It's slightly more than the 1 tsp per 5 lb. rule.



This makes me curious....
The pre-packaged stuff has 'Cure' and Seasonings.
There is a lot more cure than ~1/4 of a teaspoon.
Is the pre-packaged cure already ratioed down? And if it is, what is the fluff in the package?


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## DanMcG (Dec 27, 2017)

SonnyE said:


> Is the pre-packaged cure already ratioed down? And if it is, what is the fluff in the package?




I guess that would depend on what pre-packaged product you're looking at, But the fluff would probably be the seasonings.


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## SonnyE (Dec 27, 2017)

danmcg said:


> I guess that would depend on what pre-packaged product you're looking at, But the fluff would probably be the seasonings.



Well right now, just the Presto jerky seasoning that came with my dehydrator.
But other seasonings I've seen have two packets, cure and seasoning.
The Presto specifically sez to not mix the cure and seasonings before adding them to the meat.
But it is definitely more than a quarter teaspoon. Looked like really coarse salt that was a bit yellow.
And no, I wasn't about to taste the stuff. :p I don't want to be cured.
This packaged stuff is all new to me. I'm more of a salt and pepper guy... or was anyway.


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## dward51 (Dec 27, 2017)

Most of the pre-packaged seasonings that report to have cure will have the cure in a separate pack when you receive it.  Reason is settling of the mix in the bag can cause the overall mix to be uneven.  With cure that could be a big problem and separate packaging avoids it totally..  Every seasoning I've bought that had cure came with it in a smaller pack (except for salt/sugar based cures which is another animal).  Most is pink colored except for some I received from AC Legg that was a light yellow (it was cure#1 that came with their #116 stick mix).

Also if you have the 1/100th gram scale, us the weight rather than the teaspoon measure as it is much more accurate.  Accuracy ensures both safety with cure, and repeat-ability with other spices in a mix.  If it comes out great and you used weights, it's easy to do again.


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## nanuk (Jul 11, 2018)

deleted


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## daveomak (Jul 11, 2018)

I want to read the entire thread...  where dward's quote was taken from...   I don't do snippets...  they can seem something they are not...  "creative editing" ...


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## nanuk (Jul 11, 2018)

deleted


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## daveomak (Jul 11, 2018)

dward's post about nitrites and nitrates is EXCELLENT !!
He was NOT posting about nitrites and nitrates being harmful......

Kutas says, "Trichinae treatment is left up to the housewife"....
He then goes on to describe the 3 treatments established by the USDA... 
I'm reading from Rytek's 1st. edition that I own...

If you have a question about dward's OPINION....  I'm not going there .....


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## nanuk (Jul 11, 2018)

deleted


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## daveomak (Jul 12, 2018)

Is this what you posted ???

_dward51 was posting about nitrites and nitrates being harmful, but added the comment on the end of his post.

as it seems to contradict what I had previously read, I just wanted to get a clarification on worm mitigation
_

I took the word "worm" to mean trichinea and thus the response and quote from Rytek's book...
And dward's comment .. ....._In fact, because of concerns about trichinosis from pork, it makes a lot more sense in my opinion to buy cured bacon and other pork product_s.....  
The USDA treatment for "trich" is a fairly long involved process, which Rytek explains..  Fortunately, trich in USDA pork is "non-existant" so to speak...

So ....  What did I completely misunderstand...  and, let's not leave it be...  I need to understand where I went wrong...

Waiting for your reply.....

...


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## nanuk (Jul 13, 2018)

deleted


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## daveomak (Jul 13, 2018)

Well, I guess my misunderstanding was "your lack of clarity", in your statements...  (_I'll pay more attention to how I word it._)

Why are you so bent on throwing dward under the bus for his opinion...  The way he words stuff ???  

In the US, we don't have a trich problem... That is not to say, "It has been eradicated"...  It may return from lack of persistence by some farmers, but, as of recent times, trich has been "eradicated" (~2 cases/year) from the "commercially processed" food chain...  probably not so from farm raised animals...








I feel I have done about all I can, on this subject, to address your concerns...  I have run out of answers...  I do my best to avoid "waffling non-answers"..... Dave

Perhaps, ( *perhaps*, is to indicate that something is possible, although you are not certain about it)  the most useful tool on this forum is the "Ignore" selection...  Some use it to avoid conflict on the forum...


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## MeatSkull (Jul 13, 2018)

I use 1/4 tsp. cure #1 or cure #2 per pound depending on what I'm making, been doing that for many years.


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## nanuk (Jul 14, 2018)

I wasn't throwing dward under any bus

I was only seeking some clarity on why cured bacon would protect against trich.

opinions are fine, but it helps when we have guys like you who can refer us to the case studies etc.
like you often say on here, SMF supports SAFE and Proper meat processing.


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## SonnyE (Jul 18, 2018)

For me, and for mine, it's a simple 1/4 tsp (teaspoon) level per pound of my chosen meat.
It's simple, and it slides right along with using standard kitchen measuring tools for the other spices and items being blended into the mix. (A tsp of this, a TBLS of that, a cup of this, or a 1/2 cup of that.....)
I was highly technical in my work, but for my Bar-B-Que, simple and easy does it.
So far, so good. Nobodies died yet. At least, not from anything traceable to me.... :rolleyes::eek::confused::D:p


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## dward51 (Jul 24, 2018)

Must have been a small bus as I never even noticed it..... :cool:

Never thought that closing comment in a series of long posts about cure would cause this confusion, but I guess it did for some. As to cured pork products and trichinosis......  Google it.  Tons of scientific studies on the effects of cure in reducing/eliminating trichinosis (and freezing alone will not do it).  Trich is so uncommon now days you don't hear much talk about it.


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