What exactly is "Pink Salt"?

Exactly what Jerry said. It is also called Cure #1, DQ #1, sodium nitirite (not nitrate) by some, etc. It is usually 6.25% sodium nitrite (in the US) mixed with salt, a small amount of food coloring (the pink color to differentiate from the salt we all are used to seeing), and some anti-caking additives.

If you aren't going from 40* to 140* in 4 hours or less you should pick some up. You won't find it in most grocery stores but can find it in hunting and outdoor stores like Bass Pro Shop or Gander Mountain. I personally buy it from Butcher Packer. I also would spend a little more time reviewing that book or picking up a more thorough guide to curing meat like the following:




You are missing a lot of the fundamentals to cured meats and I am concerned that the book you have isn't doing a good job of explaining the safety factors of your undertakings.

Not really, it depends on what you are trying to make. if you are just looking to do ribs, or pulled pork, chicken, brisket, you know all the for lack of a better term normal Q stuff, then keep doing what you are doing, just make sure you keep things cold and cook to the proper temp.

The Cure 1 or pink salt is used when you are going to make items such as bacon, canadian bacon, ham, dried beef, beef jerky, some sausages that you plan on cold smoking. Curing is way of preserving, and a way to keep the nasties out while you smoke or dry at low temps over a long time, when you are going to basically stay in that rad range of 40 to 140 degrees for extended periods of time.

Hope this helps and there will be far more knowledgeable people along to correct me and give you more information.

Solar,

That first book you linked to I have and in my opinion it leaves a lot to be desired especially to someone new to the craft (Myself included) I can read some of it and they seem to contradict themselve at times in the way to apply or measure the amounts of rubs/cures that one needs for recipes. Just my thoughts.

shtrdave said:

Solar,

That first book you linked to I have and in my opinion it leaves a lot to be desired especially to someone new to the craft (Myself included) I can read some of it and they seem to contradict themselve at times in the way to apply or measure the amounts of rubs/cures that one needs for recipes. Just my thoughts.

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I disagree. In my opinion that is the perfect beginner book. I can see if you mixed the chapters and principles up how it might appear that way. The Rytek book is really a haven for contradictory statements. The Marianski book is very good and probably the least contradictory of the the three but might be a bit advanced for the first timer.

I agree with Joel - Michael Ruhlman is more in touch with modern processes than the Rytek book in my opionion.   

Shea1973

A lot of great advice has been offered and I agree reading and referring to a couple of good books is essential if you want to embrace this hobby and try different techniques and recipes.  We can help you with most of it, just ask, but before you start doing cures I suggest you have a good basic knowledge of food safety and the uses of the different cures.

Do an Internet search for food handling techniques.  When you start grinding and mixing meats and then cooking them at low temperatures for long periods of time the way you prepare the product becomes very important. 

Basic things like fresh sausages do not require cures and are a good way to start learning but most cuts can be prepared with just adherence to two basic rules.

If the meat is intact, non adulterated, meaning no injections, no fork or needle penetrations and kept cold prior to smoking your biggest concern is getting the surface of the meat over 140 degrees as quickly as possible.  At 3:30 in the morning I don't remember if the key time is 2 hours or 4 hours but most properly loaded and preheated smokers achieve this requirement with little problem .  This first rule is how we are able to slow smoke items like pork butts and briskets for 10 to 14 hours.  This rule also allows us to eat rare steaks.

The second and maybe most relevant rule is that if you are preparing any food that has been injected, penetrated by a fork or thermometer, ground and mixed or in any way had bacteria introduced to the interior you need to get the center of the meat above 140 degrees within 4 hours.  This is the basics of the 4 hour rule,  you must limit the amount of time that adulterated meat is between 40 and 140 degrees to less then 4 hours or you risk a final product that can make you sick.

Good luck

BTW  I like the Marianski book but read everything you can find so we can talk about what you are learning

Al

Here's a good read about curing salts.

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?736-Curing-Salts

  Craig