# Venison smokies    cure question



## jdr1963 (Nov 14, 2010)

Hello all,

    I tried this on the sausage forum and haven't gotten any replies. I'm new to this and maybe I posted incorrectly?

 I figured I would try again.

 I have been making venison sauasges and quick cured sausages (smokies) for several years

now. I have been using "The Venison Sausage Cook book"  by Harold Webster as my reference source.

 The recipes I'm using in the book use Tender Quick as the cure. They vary from a little less than 1 teaspoon per pound to almost

2 teaspoons per pound in some cases. I have found some internet recipes that call for as little as 1.5 teaspoon(TQ) per 5#s.

(yes I am comparing TQ to TQ not insta cure #1 or #2)

My question: Are there other ingredients used in quick cured sausages that influence the amount of cure to use? Salt, Sugar, powdered milk,maple sryup, Pork vs venison ratio, etc. 

For the last year using this site I have learned it is always cure vs weight. But there are recipes that seem to break that rule.

I'm trying to start experimenting with my own recipes and I would like a guide to start with on the cure.

My process,  Grind the meat (25% pork), mix in the TQ cure and spices, stuff into 19mm casing, rest in refrig overnight, smoke to 155-160 temp the next day.

     Last weeks regular smokies taste great. (see picture in my profile) But the maple smokies are a little sticky and taste a little too candyish for me. But my son loves them.

                 Thank you for any help,

                                    Jdr1963


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## erain (Nov 15, 2010)

For ground meat/sausage and jerky use 1.5 TEASPOONS TQ per/Lb....


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## tjohnson (Nov 15, 2010)

Only thing I do differently is add the spices to water and then to the ground meat.

TQ or Pink Cure Salt are always measured based on the amount of meat before adding anything else.

Make Sense?

TJ


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## Bearcarver (Nov 15, 2010)

erain said:


> For ground meat/sausage and jerky use 1.5 TEASPOONS TQ per/Lb.... for a dry cure on bacon/ham... then use the 1 TABLESPOON/Lb.


Exacatically what erain said.

Or by weight, that would be (per pound):

1/2 ounce for whole meats like Bacons & Dried Beef.

1/4 ounce for ground meat.

This is ONLY for TQ.

Bear


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## mballi3011 (Nov 15, 2010)

You have to check the package on your cure packages. I use tenderquick and pink cure and I just want to stess the importance on using the correct amount of cure too use.


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## jdr1963 (Nov 15, 2010)

Thank you all for the help. Its is what I hoped. I can start with the base cure by weight and then add spices from there and know I have "safe" smokies to eat and share.

"No compounding effect from the spices."

  I'm sure the variances I see in some internet recipes are just mistakes or oversites.

Rest assured I have been watching for a while and I understand the difference between TQ and #1(pink). 

                                       Happy Smoking

                                           Jdr1963


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## Bearcarver (Nov 16, 2010)

jdr1963 said:


> Thank you all for the help. Its is what I hoped. I can start with the base cure by weight and then add spices from there and know I have "safe" smokies to eat and share.
> 
> "No compounding effect from the spices."
> 
> ...


Sounds like you got it jdr,

Please allow me to consolidate everything, including what TJ said above.

Many of us use this method:

Measure out the amount of ground beef you're mixing.

Measure out the right amount of cure for that amount of ground meat.

Put this cure in a bowl, along with any other seasonings you want to add.

Add to this dry mixture the amount of ice water in the recipe.

Mix this all real well, until the ingredients that will dissolve do so.

Spread the meat out across the mixing container, and pour your now liquid mixture evenly all over the meat.

Mix, and mix, and mix, until it is all distributed evenly through the ground meat, and has gotten very sticky.

Now you're ready for your next step.

Hoping this simplifies it,

Bear


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## jdr1963 (Nov 16, 2010)

Bear,

 Thans for the nice neat package.  The recipe I have been using lately calls for an additional 1 teaspoon of salt per pound in addition to the TQ cure. So I'm going to reduce

or eliminate the salt for a little less saltly smokie. If that doesn't give me the taste I'm looking for then I will try pink cure (in the correct ratio) which should, I hope, let me further reduce the saltly taste.  Also most recipes I have used don't call for any water at all.  A Little water sure would make stuffing a little easier. Most of my mixes are pretty stiff and sticky when ready to stuff. 

I've been using vension/pork for all of my tries so far. Next I'll try beef and pork its a lot easier to come by then Vension and I can make them year round. 

                             Thanx again I'll post my next result,

                                                      Jdr1963


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## Bearcarver (Nov 17, 2010)

jdr1963 said:


> Bear,
> 
> Thans for the nice neat package.  The recipe I have been using lately calls for an additional 1 teaspoon of salt per pound in addition to the TQ cure. So I'm going to reduce
> 
> ...


It doesn't take much water (Ice Water)---maybe 1 ounce per pound of meat (check my Unstuffed Beef Sticks in my signature).

When using TQ, I can't think of any time I would ADD salt.

It should be perfect the way it comes out of the bag (salt wise). I have never tasted too much salt in my Beef Sticks.

Bear


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## jdr1963 (Nov 17, 2010)

Bear,

   I looked at the recipe you noted. No extra salt. I bet somewhere down the line the recipe I have was converted from pink cure to TQ cure and the extra salt wasn't removed from the recipe.

Other than that the recipes are pretty simliar. I have ginger and nutmeg in mine and yours has anis, fennel, and Italian seasoning in yours to replace them. Time for some expirementing.

                                                             Thank you

  You seem to have these smoking procedures down to a science!  Maybe you can help me on this one? I have made at least a half dozen batches of Buck Board Bacon. Most taste really good thats not my isue. My issue is deboning and cutting them correctly to start with.

Twice I seemed to get it right. Right being, I think, so when you slice it later you are cutting across the meat grain. The pork butts should all have muscle groups always going the same way.

(except for right and left hand of course)  But once I start deboning they seem to have no really defined direction to portion them up.Muscle groups going every which way.

 I try to end up with 2 large slabs and 2 smaller slabs and about a 1.5 pounds of trimmings to use in sauasage out of a 8.5lbs pork butt. Any tips for someone who can't seem to get the cuts right.

I know it doesn't affect the taste but the finish product seems to cook up nicer and lay flatter, and never have that stringy with the grain feel when you stick it in a BLT,and bite down.

  I went and bought the smoker turkey for this weekend today. I needed a $25.00 purchase to get the .29cent/lbs turkey so I bought a loin for CB and Butt for BBB. Plenty to keep me busy this weekend and next.

                                             Thank you again,

                               Jdr1963


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## Bearcarver (Nov 18, 2010)

jdr1963 said:


> Bear,
> 
> I looked at the recipe you noted. No extra salt. I bet somewhere down the line the recipe I have was converted from pink cure to TQ cure and the extra salt wasn't removed from the recipe.
> 
> ...


Jdr,

Before I did my first Buckboard Bacon, I found a YouTube on deboning a Boston Butt. They're easy to find, but yell if you can't find one. I don't have much time this morning.

As for the direction of cut, I don't remember having a problem, but you should be able to poke around a little with a fork to see which way it goes at different places.

I think I might try cutting mine in half next time (thickness), to cut the curing & smoking time. Then take it to 160˚, like I do my Canadian Bacon. Then I don't have to fry it. I can just warm it a bit before eating it. BBB will always be quite a bit more chewy, no matter which way you slice it, because it is much more lean than Belly Bacon.

BTW: I think you can lose the Anise from my recipe---Don't think it really adds anything good to it.

Bear


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