# Praque powder #2 Pepperoni



## Gideon (Sep 15, 2018)

I got a recipe from : https://whats4chow.com/2016/12/01/how-to-make-pepperoni-spicy-and-aromatic-homemade-pepperoni/ 
1kg beef and 2 kg pork = 3 kg meat . BUT 80 GRAMS OF PRAQUE POWDER #2 .This sounds and look toxic , as other recipes for Salami are 2.5 g /kg e.g. 3 kg should be 7.5 g ? What s the feeling here ?


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## SmokinAl (Sep 15, 2018)

I don't know how much Cure #2 weighs, but the ratio is 1 level teaspoon per 5 lbs. of meat. So you have approximately 6.6 lbs. of meat so you would use about 1 1/4 tsp of cure for your pepperoni.
Al


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## Gideon (Sep 15, 2018)

Thank you SmokinAl . It weighs the same as fine salt 3.5 g ( 10 tsp weighs 35 g ).I stuck to the recipe 80 g of Praque Powder for 3 kg and made 5 Pepperoni s from 6.6 kg meat ( 180 g praque powder #2 nitrite & nitrate) as well as a Starter cure Bactoferm TD 66 imported from Europe to South Africa. Do you think i should take out the meet from the casings and remix with clean new meat ? If I let it cure for more than 6 weeks i think it will still be toxic ? Why would the site(whats4chow ) say 80 g for 3 kg meat ?  Do you think they want to kill people ? Or am i over reacting ?


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## Saline_Smoker (Sep 15, 2018)

That is indeed too much cure. 0.25% of the meat weight is what you’ll want go with - so you’re right, in this case, 7.5g of cure #2 to cure 3kg of meat.


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## SmokinAl (Sep 15, 2018)

I would throw it out. I think that much would kill you.
Please PM 

 chef jimmyj
, and ask his advice.
I will PM him too & he can comment on this thread.
He will tell you what to do.
Al


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## chef jimmyj (Sep 15, 2018)

Ten times too much is bad news. If this was cooked, I  would say don't sweat it as the cure would be cooked off. However, all the Nitrate, will be converted to Nitrite at very high levels. 
Options are to toss the meat or or add 27 Kg more meat to the batch. Sorry for the bad news...JJ


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## daveomak (Sep 15, 2018)

_*Why would the site(whats4chow ) say 80 g for 3 kg meat ?*_  ...

(Prague and Cure are the same thing...)
sodium nitrite ld50 ..human is 71 mg/kg, meaning a 65 kg person would likely have to consume at least 4.6 grams to result in death.

Gideon, morning...  I preach continuously....  Do Not Believe what you read on other forums...  Do Not Believe what you read from writers...  Do Not Believe what you read in books.....   Sounds stupid don't it....  
Well, you have 1 more example of a misprint, or misinterpretation, or someone hiring a student to finalize their work before it goes to press....    I say that because ANYONE that knows about curing meats KNOWS...  `~1.1 grams per pound or  2.5 grams per Kg of meat of meat is how much cure#1 or cure#2 is necessary for safe meat...   there are exceptions but most folks don't go there...
Therefore, you knew approx. 7 grams of cure was the correct number...  I'm going to assume the author intended 8.0 grams and someone dropped the decimal...  How easy was that...
Now...  Prague #2 is just as deadly as Prague#1...  some say "nitrate" is not as toxic as "nitrite" and that's true....
HOWEVER...  Cure#1 and Cure#2 have EXACTLY the same amount of nitrite...  that's to get the jump on bacteria fast...  nitrate is only added to cure#2, so it can lay in wait for bacteria to convert it to nitrite while hanging at ~50-60 F...


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## chef jimmyj (Sep 15, 2018)

I looked for a comment section to correct the mistake, or at least warn people, but no option found. I agree there was likely a typo from 8.0 to 80. Scary part is the post is 2 years old. How many folks got sick onot this stuff...JJ


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## daveomak (Sep 15, 2018)

I went to U-Tube and commented on the error...


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## Gideon (Sep 16, 2018)

Thank You All - Al, Saline , Daveomak and Chef JimmyJ . Ill toss  the lot into  a bowl and add 27 kg of meat , spices and Culture for the fresh meat. Very responsive forum.Much appreciated . Also tried to contact the site whats4chow , left a comment on the u-tube  Video , Also the Pizza Salami they use Praque #2 powder.I read that you should not use Praque P 2 in meat that's going to be cooked at high temp. ? Use it to dry cure only ? Pity though the site have a few good basic recipes. 'Greatings from South Africa. P.s. Remember the Farmers , Specially here.


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## MeatSkull (Sep 16, 2018)

3 kilos is 6.6 pounds. I would use 6 times 1/4 tsp and 1 times 1/8 tsp. I like the keep it simple approach.


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## daveomak (Sep 16, 2018)

Think about getting a 0-100 grams electronic scale...  about $15 ....  tsp. measure is not that accurate....  and you can use it to measure spices to duplicate recipes.....

*American Weigh Scales 100G X 0.01G Digital Scale, With Seaside 100 G Stainless Steel Calibration Weight*
by American Weigh Scales


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## MeatSkull (Sep 16, 2018)

leveled tsp. are good enough.


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## daveomak (Sep 16, 2018)

These are 2 different manufacturers...  
You can see the difference....





Left.. 7.1 grams..  .. Right..  5.7 grams..
The one on the left holds  24% more....  In my world of curing meats, that's not close enough...  That's the difference between 195 Ppm nitrite and 156 Ppm nitrite..


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## chef jimmyj (Sep 16, 2018)

MeatSkull said:


> leveled tsp. are good enough.



True...for 5 to 25 pounds. But make 100, 500, pounds and teaspoons become impractical. So you may say, 100 tsp = 2 cups. Just use that. Nope, the weight of product can compress and a full Cup can be way more than 100 teaspoons. Measure by weight and regardless of what you measure or how much, you are proportionally correct...JJ


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## MeatSkull (Sep 16, 2018)

From the MFG.
https://hoosierhillfarm.com/Hoosier-Hill-Farm-Prague-Powder-No.2-2-Pink-Curing-Salt-1-lb..html

Directions Use 1 oz. of cure for 25 lbs. of meat or 1 level teaspoon of cure for 5 lbs. of meat. Mix cure with cold water.


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## MeatSkull (Sep 16, 2018)

chef jimmyj said:


> True...for 5 to 25 pounds. But make 100, 500, pounds and teaspoons become impractical. So you may say, 100 tsp = 2 cups. Just use that. Nope, the weight of product can compress and a full Cup can be way more than 100 teaspoons. Measure by weight and regardless of what you measure or how much, you are proportionally correct...JJ


You have a point but most here wont make that amount and when food and drug is watching you want to be precise, enthusiast don't fall under that.


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## chef jimmyj (Sep 16, 2018)

Directions Use 1 oz. of cure for 25 lbs. of meat or 1 level teaspoon of cure for 5 lbs. of meat.Mix cure with cold water.

Thanks for posting. Makes BOTH our pounts. Small batches, less than 25 pounds, measuring cure by Volume is fine. For large batches, 25lbs +, measure cure by Weight...JJ


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## MeatSkull (Sep 18, 2018)

Holly2015 said:


> Interesting. In another post you argued that the miniscule amount of chlorine in tap water was detrimental to fermented hot sauce, but volumetric measuring cure #1/#2 is close enough.
> 
> I'm with Daveomac. I'm not scared to use nitrate/nitrite but I only use what i have too and not one grain more. The only way to reliable and accurately do this is weigh the cure on a low value calibrated scale.


I don't have a test for chlorine but it does kill lactofermentation, that's a fact. Two different subjects. I didn't argue I post my thoughts and whats miniscule amount?


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## Gideon (Sep 21, 2018)

Done , mixed with fresh meat and in the curing room/box. Question : can one coldsmoke in your curing room ?


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