# How to make this stuff  (Morton's Tender Quick )



## gwakehoff

Am very new to this world of smoked meats. Would like to know how to make this stuff. See lot bad storys about.  Am looking at differnt smokers andnthe reviews on all them.    Thank you for the web site.


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## pc farmer

You want to make tender quick?

What are the bad stories?

I use it all the time.


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## gary s

*Good evening and welcome to the forum, from a cloudy, rainy and warm day in East Texas. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything .*

*Gary*


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## oldschoolbbq

If you want to cure , stick with a proven product , don't try to duplicate it , it's cheap and proven, as I said...

I'm curious about the 'Horror' stories also ...

Have fun and . . .


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## oldschoolbbq

Oh , yes . You are shopping for a Smoker... here's mine , I can use it for anything and it's a wood burner...
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	

















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__ oldschoolbbq
__ Oct 13, 2012






Here she is with her little Sister...


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## venture

Tenderquick is hard to find in some areas like mine, but it is readily available for internet purchase.

I would not recommend trying to make it yourself.

Good luck and good smoking.


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## themule69

Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions
Post it and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is
because their are so many different ways to make great Q...

If you can't find TQ check out Google or EBay.
Happy smoken.
David


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## gwakehoff

Not with quick cure just looking for sub.   Quick cure is hard to find in my area except online. Thank you.


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## stovebolt

I'm going to side with the others and recommend that you don't try to make "Tender Quick". Most of us use cure #1 anyway. Not directly interchangeable with each other. It's available online at reasonable prices. I buy mine on Ebay.

Chuck


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## DanMcG

If you're going to source the nitrates and nitrites to make your own, then you might as well just just buy some TQ online. But you'd be better of using #1 like others have mentioned.

BTW would ya post your location, so we can better help ya, please.


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## bama bbq

I agree you should probably use the real thing. However, though I don't necessarily agree with everything he says here, since you asked...

This is from Habanero Smoker's 2007 post in the Bradley Smoker forum.

"This recipe/formula comes from Charcuterie, by Ruhlman and Polcyn, and I’ve found it to be a good substitute for TQ.  For cuts of meat 4 pounds or less, I measure the cure the same way I measured TQ. My first impression is that it cures within the same time period as TQ, but it does not have as “strong” of a cure taste that TQ has.

Basic Dry Cure (make about 3 1/2 cups)
1 pound pickling salt
8 ounces granulated sugar
2 ounces InstaCure #1; or DQ Powder; or Prague Powder #1; or Cure #1

Mix well. I used a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. I mixed the ingredients at speed #2 for two minutes. Scraped the sides and mixed for two more minutes.

The actual measurement should be 2 ounces per 5 pounds of meat. Which comes to about .4 oz/pound or  2.25 teaspoons/pound (if using pickling salt), but you *don’t have to be exact when using a dry cure*.  [I disagree with this statement]  I just made some Canadian bacon, and used 1 tablespoon/pound and the lion [I believe he meant loin] was fully cured, and it was not overly salty.

When you make your Canadian bacon, slab bacon, pastrami, after measuring the dry cure you can add you other flavoring. Such as additional sugar, garlic powder, herbs etc.

If you used kosher salt instead of pickling salt, your volume measurement will be different, so you should weight the cure. No matter what salt you use in the cure, I would recommend that any meat over 4 pounds, you should weight the cure. [I believe you should always weight the cure]

If you have some patients, you can use Turbinado sugar instead of granulated sugar. Turbinado sugar has more of a molasses taste, but comes in large crystals. In a dry cure you want all ingredients about the same size so that they evenly mix. So you need to grind the Turbinado sugar to granular size, without turning it into powder form. I have a small blade grinder and the best way I’ve found to do this is to pulse 2-3 tablespoons at a time until you get the right uniformity.  There are about 8-10 tablespoons in 8 ounces of Turbinado sugar."

He goes on to say, "In the past, because of it's premixed state Morton's TQ was easier to use until I found the basic cure recipe. I've been curing more lately, and most recipes call for pink salt (aka the brand names mentioned above). TQ in my area is getting harder to come by. Wal-Mart used to sell it, but no longer stocks it. So pink salt is easier for me to purchase, real inexpensive, and more versatile because so many books and recipes calls for it. I still have and use Morton's TQ, but *this cure adds another option for those that see a recipe with TQ in it, and only have pink salt*. [this may be why the OP needs the recipe]

Oh! I forgot to mention that the cure lasts indefinitely. So you can make huge amounts, and place it in a moisture tight container and store it in your cupboard."


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## Bearcarver

I'm going to say this one time & not argue about it, because this subject was part of why I got banned years ago.

I would not recommend making your own TQ, because it would not be the same thing.

Sure you can mix most of the ingredients, but not do the complete process. Morton's uses a substance & a process that avoids stratification.

I can buy a 2 pound bag of TQ, and take an ounce out of it every month for 2 years, and without remixing the remains at any of those times, the last ounce will have the same ingredients as the first ounce.

If you mix your own & you use the right amount of each ingredient, and you mix it as good as it needs to be mixed, you should be OK. If there is any left over you should either throw it away, or make sure the next time you want to use it, you mix it completely & thoroughly before using it, or part of it could have too much cure & part of it could have not enough cure in it.

*The above is my opinion*, and if I'm wrong then Morton's is wasting their time using the substance & process they use to avoid stratification.

Bear


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## gary s

*There are certain things I like to make from scratch, because I can add and take away what I like and don't like  I was one of the worst for not following directions on recipes. However as I have gotten older I realize that People and companies have spent a lot of time and effort in developing these recipes to making them the best and turn out the same every time.*

*I learned a long time ago "If it ain't broke don't fix it"  There are certain things you just don't need to jack with when it comes to food safety. These cures are cheap, proven and used for many years. Ready to go, so why would anyone want to even make their cure from scratch?*

*I like Tony's seasoning and use it on a daily basis on just about everything. I could probably make my own from scratch But why ?  its cheap can get it pretty everywhere around here and it's consistent. When I first started using it, wasn't in the stores, no internet then so I mail ordered it.  No need to try to make something that works.  My 2 cents worth*

*Gary*


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## pilch

Welcome aboard the train of happiness.

Down Under


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## bertman

Bearcarver said:


> I'm going to say this one time & not argue about it, because this subject was part of why I got banned years ago.
> 
> I would not recommend making your own TQ, because it would not be the same thing.
> 
> Sure you can mix most of the ingredients, but not do the complete process. Morton's uses a substance & a process that avoids stratification.
> 
> I can buy a 2 pound bag of TQ, and take an ounce out of it every month for 2 years, and without remixing the remains at any of those times, the last ounce will have the same ingredients as the first ounce.
> 
> If you mix your own & you use the right amount of each ingredient, and you mix it as good as it needs to be mixed, you should be OK. If there is any left over you should either throw it away, or make sure the next time you want to use it, you mix it completely & thoroughly before using it, or part of it could have too much cure & part of it could have not enough cure in it.
> 
> *The above is my opinion*, and if I'm wrong then Morton's is wasting their time using the substance & process they use to avoid stratification.
> 
> Bear


*Wait...what?!?* Bearcarver was banned? I realize I'm fairly new to this forum, but this is like finding out in your forties that your grandmother had served hard time.


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