# HELP!!  Pink curing salt vs Morton's Tender Quick



## cmross415

Help!  I could not find Morton's Tender Quick salt anywhere and had purchased 5 lbs of ground beef to make salami from a recipe someone had given me.  I happened into William Sonoma and they told me I could purchase their Pink Curing salt and substitute.

Well, the recipe called for 4 Tablespoons of Morton's Tender Quick and I added that much of the Pink Curing salt.  Now (a little late, would you say??) I'm reading more and I'm almost afraid to try it.  Besides being too salty, most likely, is this going to kill me!!  Argh!!


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## fagesbp

Yeah I would NOT eat that. That's enough cure for 60 pounds of meat


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## BGKYSmoker

Whats the ingredients say on the pink salt?

Should be #1 contains salt and sodium nitrite (6.25%) and added at 1 tsp per every 5 lbs of meat.

MTQ is added at 7.5 tsp per every 5 lbs of meat.

I wouldnt chance eating this with the amount of cure you added.


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## chef willie

I ALWAYS refer to the handy dandy toolbar search at the very least before doing anything to avoid pitfalls

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/54367/prague-1-vs-mortons-tenderquick


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## cmross415

Thank you both so much.  Better safe than sorry!!


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## BGKYSmoker

I will re post this.

CURES - Cures are used in sausage products for color and flavor development as well as retarding the development of bacteria in
the low temperature environment of smoked meats.
Salt and sugar both cure meat by osmosis. In addition to drawing the water from the food, they dehydrate and kill the bacteria that make food spoil. In general, though, use of the word "cure" refers to processing the meat with either sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate.
The primary and most important reason to use cures is to prevent BOTULISM POISONING (Food poisoning). It is very important that any kind of meat or sausage that will be cooked and smoked at low temperature be cured. To trigger botulism poisoning, the requirements are quite simple - lack of oxygen, the presence of moisture, and temperatures in range of 40-140° F. When smoking meats, the heat and smoke eliminates the oxygen. The meats have moisture and are traditionally smoked and cooked in the low ranges of 90 to 185° F. As you can see, these are ideal conditions for food poisoning if you don't use cures. There are two types of commercially used cures.

Prague Powder #1
Also called Insta-Cure and Modern Cure. Cures are used to prevent meats from spoiling when being cooked or smoked at low temperatures (under 200 degrees F). This cure is 1 part sodium nitrite (6.25%) and 16 parts salt (93.75%) and are combined and crystallized to assure even distribution. As the meat temperate rises during processing, the sodium nitrite changes to nitric oxide and starts to ‘gas out’ at about 130 degrees F. After the smoking /cooking process is complete only about 10-20% of the original nitrite remains. As the product is stored and later reheated for consumption, the decline of nitrite continues. 4 ounces of Prague powder #1 is required to cure 100 lbs of meat. A more typical measurement for home use is 1 level tsp per 5 lbs of meat. Mix with cold water, then mix into meat like you would mix seasonings into meat.

Prague Powder #2
Used to dry-cure products. Prague powder #2 is a mixture of 1 part sodium nitrite, .64 parts sodium nitrate and 16 parts salt.

(1 oz. of sodium nitrite with .64 oz. of sodium nitrate to each lb. of salt.)

It is primarily used in dry-curing Use with products that do not require cooking, smoking, or refrigeration. This cure, which is sodium nitrate, acts like a time release, slowly breaking down into sodium nitrite, then into nitric oxide. This allows you to dry cure products that take much longer to cure. A cure with sodium nitrite would dissipate too quickly.
Use 1 oz. of cure for 25 lbs. of meat or 1 level teaspoon of cure for 5 lbs. of meat when mixing with meat.
When using a cure in a brine solution, follow a recipe.

DO NOT MIX EITHER CURE #1 OR CURE #2 WITH MTQ


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## frosty

Nepas is the expert!  I could not possibly stomach that much cure, and it might be dangerous.  Sorry to say, toss it!


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## smoking b

cmross415 said:


> Thank you both so much.  Better safe than sorry!!


Glad you posted your valid concerns here instead of just saying "oh well" & eating it anyway  
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






   There are a lot of great people here willing to help out with any questions or problems. I know it hurts to throw meat away but I bet you will never make that mistake with cure again - & that is a good thing. Best of luck with your future cures!


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## cavy01

cmross414 where are you located.  Im in South Carolina and can find the tenderquick occasionally in our Piggly Wiggly's for about 3 dollars a bag. or you can go to the Morton Salt homepage and select contacts and they could tell you who a retailer is close to you..  I use it to make corn beef and pastrami and it turns out great.  Net gonna try my hand at bacon


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## parkerinspace

anything that contains nitrates, nitrites, "sugar" (which is not cane sugar but beet sugar - genetically modified thank you monsanto - unless stated clearly "cane sugar"), msg, corn syrup (gmo), corn anything (gmo) or any ingredient that is not recognizable to the layperson, don't buy it.  don't.  just don't.  you can cure any meat with organic ingredients, sea salts, cane sugar and spices and be delighted by the result.  i made my choice, just for me, to never put one penny more into the corporations that have modified the farm's precious perfection!  no more gmos.  no more.


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## timberjet

parkerinspace said:


> anything that contains nitrates, nitrites, "sugar" (which is not cane sugar but beet sugar - genetically modified thank you monsanto - unless stated clearly "cane sugar"), msg, corn syrup (gmo), corn anything (gmo) or any ingredient that is not recognizable to the layperson, don't buy it.  don't.  just don't.  you can cure any meat with organic ingredients, sea salts, cane sugar and spices and be delighted by the result.  i made my choice, just for me, to never put one penny more into the corporations that have modified the farm's precious perfection!  no more gmos.  no more.


This website is for amatures as well as experienced smokers. Please do not confuse someone into killing them with botulism etc... You do what you want as it is a free country but I will continue to use the correct cure in the correct quantity in my smoked sausage thank you. On another note I do not believe in genetically modified food either. Just remember, people who read these posts may not know as much as you or I.


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## timberjet

cmross415 said:


> Help!  I could not find Morton's Tender Quick salt anywhere and had purchased 5 lbs of ground beef to make salami from a recipe someone had given me.  I happened into William Sonoma and they told me I could purchase their Pink Curing salt and substitute.
> 
> Well, the recipe called for 4 Tablespoons of Morton's Tender Quick and I added that much of the Pink Curing salt.  Now (a little late, would you say??) I'm reading more and I'm almost afraid to try it.  Besides being too salty, most likely, is this going to kill me!!  Argh!!


short answer. YES! Man that is a lot of cure. I would use that much in a whole year.


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