# Question on Morton Tender Quick



## inno (May 18, 2013)

Making jerky, I know I don't HAVE to use any cure but I would like to make sure it lasts so I can send some to my son in the mail without any fear of it spoiling.

So I have a 6.5lb eye of round roast and a teriyaki recipe which I found on this site. The recipe is for 5lbs of meat and calls for 1 tsp of pink cure.

In looking at the instructions on the bag of MTQ I read 15g of tender quick for every 500g of meat (I'm in Canada)......so in looking around the forum I came up with instructions someone else posted from a US bag of MTQ. It reads 1/2 ounce (1 tablespoon) per lb of meat......So my meat is 6.5lbs so I'll need 6.5 tbsp of MTQ? Sounds like a lot. Now does it matter that I am making this as a marinade? Does it matter that the recipe I am following uses 1tsp of pink cure but my conversion to MTQ has me adding 6.5 tbps?

Should I just uncomplicate my life and omit the cure??


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## webowabo (May 18, 2013)

I'm curious to see some responses. . Im intimidated by the cures for some reason. I do have a bag of MTQ.. but never used it.


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## inno (May 18, 2013)

MTQ was all I could find locally I'd have bought pink cure if I could find some. I figure I might as well use something I can get locally rather than ordering stuff in, that way whenever the mood strikes I can get things prepped for a smoke without having to worry about being out of something.

The worst thing in the world for me is not knowing.........I hate that!!


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## webowabo (May 18, 2013)

Inno said:


> MTQ was all I could find locally I'd have bought pink cure if I could find some. I figure I might as well use something I can get locally rather than ordering stuff in, that way whenever the mood strikes I can get things prepped for a smoke without having to worry about being out of something.
> The worst thing in the world for me is not knowing.........I hate that!! :confused:


I have found that and LOVED this forum for that exact reason.


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## Bearcarver (May 18, 2013)

MTQ is a mix of cure, salt, and other things. That's why you need more of it.

It takes about 12 1/2 times as much TQ to cure whole meats as it does Cure #1.

I have seen Morton's recommend two different ways to cure Jerky:

One way was to use 1 TBS per pound, and marinate it for only an hour or two.

The other is to use 1/2 TBS per pound, and marinate it over night to 24 hours.

I presume it works fine both ways.

If you use MTQ for Dry Curing whole meats, such as Bacon, Canadian Bacon, Buckboard Bacon, Dried Beef, etc, etc, You should use 1 TBS (1/2 ounce) of MTQ per pound of whole meat.

Bear


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## inno (May 18, 2013)

Excellent, thanks for the quick reply. I'm doing it overnight so 1/2 TBS per lb it is!


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## Bearcarver (May 18, 2013)

Inno said:


> Excellent, thanks for the quick reply. I'm doing it overnight so 1/2 TBS per lb it is!


I should note that this is a Dry Cure, not a marinade. This would be rubbed on all parts of the meat, and put in a container, such as a zip lock bag, and then into the fridge over night (36 to 40 degrees).

If you mixed this with a liquid, you would be diluting it, and you would have to use the amount of TQ called for in a wet cure.

Bear


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## inno (May 18, 2013)

So using less would pretty much defeat the purpose of the cure in the first place right?


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## daveomak (May 18, 2013)

inno, Afternoon......  Read nepas threads about jerky... he ships to Afghanistan to his son and the troops....   He has been curing meats etc for more years than I can comment on.....   He is an expert.....     click on the link below.....    Dave

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/newsearch?search=nepas+afghanistan


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## Bearcarver (May 18, 2013)

Inno said:


> So using less would pretty much defeat the purpose of the cure in the first place right?


I wish I had a step by step on Jerky, for you, but I don't.

All I can say is what I said above for the two methods of Dry curing Jerky with TQ, from Morton's.

If you want to do a wet cure (marinade), I don't have that method, because I never did it.

To Dry cure Jerky, just use one of the two amounts I stated above, and go to my "Bacon" post (in my Signature below) to see the method.

Bear


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## inno (May 18, 2013)

First of all, thanks for the help. I think I used too little of the MTQ for proper curing but I don't expect it to last too long anyway. I can mail some to my son and he'll get it in roughly 2 days so it's not that big of an issue.

Dave, thanks, there is some good reading there. If I ever do a really big batch I will concern myself more with proper curing. My concern with adding more cure at this point is the extra salt which I don't really think I need.

Bearcarver, I'm taking notes and I will someday be making bacon, great posts there.

Tomorrow morning I'll be firing up the MES 30 and hangin' some jerky. My amazin' smoke generator arrived last week so I've been itching to try it out.

Guess I'll have to do up a post on it.......with pics of course.


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## corchaz (Nov 8, 2013)

I have been using MTQ for the last 5 years for Jerky, bacon, MTL smoked meat and I have used the same quantity every time.

2 TBSP + 2 tsp of MTQ for 4-5 lbs of meat.

My jerky is a mix of spices and MTQ and mixed with the 1/4" meat slices or with ground and put in the fridge for 12 hours.

Bacon and MTL smoked meat are dry rubbed and put into zipper bags for up to 7 days. After the 7 days the bags are 1/2 full of liquid.

Regards

Corchaz


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