Cure amount in wet 'brine'

[rons]

Hey folks, been years since I've been here. But now I have a question... it's something that seems wrong.
I read things about curing salts vs lbs of meat, for dry that makes sense, but not for wet. Here is why
It seems like the concentration is the key, not the lbs of meat. Like lets say for example, you add 1 tsp for X amount of meat in a gallon of water. If you had 10 gallons for water, that 1 tsp would be way to diluted, even if it was that same amount of meat. It seems like it should be "cure per X amount of liquid". Like a person could make up 5 gallons of liquid, with cure etc. then just 'use' as much as needed to fully cover/marinate what ever amount of meat. Whether it be 2 ounces of meat of 5 lbs of meat.
does that make sense?

 

[JckDanls 07]

That's exactly the way Pop's curing brine works... 1 heaping tablespoon of cure #1 to 1 gallon of water (plus other ingredients) ... make as much as you want and use enough to cover a couple of inches ...

 

[rons]

ok cool, now that makes sense. thanks man!
So I'm using that morton tender quick curing salt, would that be the same ratio?

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

ok cool, now that makes sense. thanks man!
So I'm using that morton tender quick curing salt, would that be the same ratio?

They are not exactly the same.
Morton Tender Quick contains a low percentage of Sodium Nitrate (0.5%) and Sodium Nitrite (0.5%)

Where as Pink Salt. Also known as Prague Powder #1,Instacure #1,Cure#1 all contain 6.25 % Sodium Nitrite.

So, the ratios would not be the same.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Yea... I'm not so sure you cane use TQ in a brine.. others would have to chime in on that as I only use cure #1

 

[rons]

oh man ok, I've been using it, but just doing it by taste, so have no idea if I really cured the meat or not.
So what is the pink salt stuff then? It's something "#1"? I'll get some then

 

[jcam222]

oh man ok, I've been using it, but just doing it by taste, so have no idea if I really cured the meat or not.
So what is the pink salt stuff then? It's something "#1"? I'll get some then

Not sure I understood you clearly but using pink salt or tenderquick to taste is not a good idea. To much can be dangerous.

 

[rons]

ok did not know that!

OK so how is everyone curing their jerky then? sprinkling the cure on seems so inaccurate, like how do you partion out that little bit across all the meat slices?

 

[Brokenhandle]

Here's a pic of what I use...

Ryan

 

[jcam222]

ok did not know that!

Check this link from the board owner TulsaJeff , great place for you to start for safely curing bacon. https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/wet-curing-bacon-for-beginners.311248/

 

[rons]

cool thanks ok so it's called 'instacure' ok cool.
I guess I don't have to use wet, just thought it woudl be easier to evenly cure the meat strips for jerky.... now I'm not so sure...

 

[rons]

Check this link from the board owner TulsaJeff , great place for you to start for safely curing bacon. https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/wet-curing-bacon-for-beginners.311248/

ok thanks, will check that.
I"m doing beef and chicken jerky, not sure it that makes a difference

 

[Brokenhandle]

If you use pop's recipe for his brine/cure it's very easy!

Ryan

 

[rons]

If you use pop's recipe for his brine/cure it's very easy!

Ryan

OK cool, I read that, i know I don't want the brown sugar, just the cure and some seasonings, is the brown sugar required since sugar helps cure?

 

[Brokenhandle]

OK cool, I read that, i know I don't want the brown sugar, just the cure and some seasonings, is the brown sugar required since sugar helps cure?

You could leave out the brown sugar but add more regular sugar so as to not throw off his ratio.

Ryan

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

cool thanks ok so it's called 'instacure' ok cool.
I guess I don't have to use wet, just thought it woudl be easier to evenly cure the meat strips for jerky.... now I'm not so sure...

I use cure #1 in my marinades for jerky. Since it is technically a wet brine, you need to account for the volume of liquid and final nitrite ppm.
I found the following calculator developed by Dr. Greg Blonder to be indispensable.

nitrite curing calculator

 

[SmokinEdge]

The guys have you covered. It’s best to use cure #1 like pop’s brine recipe.

However, if you did want to use Tender Quick, the bag says to mix 1 cup TQ to 4 cups cool water. In my estimation that is pretty salty but will work just fine. Pop’s brine finishes much better IMHO.

 

[rons]

I use cure #1 in my marinades for jerky. Since it is technically a wet brine, you need to account for the volume of liquid and final nitrite ppm.
I found the following calculator developed by Dr. Greg Blonder to be indispensable.

nitrite curing calculator

oh wow cool calculator, thanks, I'll use that :)
but how do you know where to set the slider for PPM ?

 

[rons]

The guys have you covered. It’s best to use cure #1 like pop’s brine recipe.

However, if you did want to use Tender Quick, the bag says to mix 1 cup TQ to 4 cups cool water. In my estimation that is pretty salty but will work just fine. Pop’s brine finishes much better IMHO.

ok cool info, thanks!

And thanks to all who helped out, really interesting and helpful info. !

 

[rons]

The guys have you covered. It’s best to use cure #1 like pop’s brine recipe.

However, if you did want to use Tender Quick, the bag says to mix 1 cup TQ to 4 cups cool water. In my estimation that is pretty salty but will work just fine. Pop’s brine finishes much better IMHO.

Yeah that's what I found, it was so salty, so I started using less and tasting the liquid first , but it probably wasn't curing it 'enough'.

So something like this is what your recommending?