Curing, pounds and ounces.

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Tybo

Newbie
Original poster
Oct 17, 2022
14
3
Newbie here and I wasn't sure where to post this. I'll eventually learn so bear with me please.
Is there a calculator somewhere to determine how much Mortons Tender Quick is required? I realize the package says 1/2oz per pound but..............what if my scale says 3lbs 5oz. How do I figure the 5 oz part? My wife and I cant seem to figure this out. Yeah, school was a long time ago and searching the internet for answers has only led to the same ole answer----1/2 oz per pound. This shouldn't be so difficult.
Will someone kindly point me to the proper math or a calculator?
My neighbor just says "figure it at 3 1/2lbs" but I tried to tell him 5 oz isn't 1/2 lb, its 5/16 lb.
Thanks in advance. Im sure it's been asked before but I couldn't find it.
 
Mortons tenderquick is 1 tablespoon per lb for whole muscle meat and 1.5 teaspoon for ground meat. No need to weigh.
 
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Mortons tenderquick is 1 tablespoon per lb for whole muscle meat and 1.5 teaspoon for ground meat. No need to weigh.
Yes this is the same info on the package. My question though is what if I have 1lb 3.5oz meat? How do I account for the 3.5oz?
 
You can round off your 3.5 oz to 4 and make it a 1/4 lb so it will be 1/4 tablespoon or if you want to be precise you can convert everything to grams and do the math. It wont be that big of a deal if your under or over by a little.
 
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If you are worried about being more precise, then convert to grams, but the usage rate of TQ is a bit heavy handed on the label. If you apply the 1/2 Oz. Per pound or roughly 14 grams per pound you are a smidge over 3% total salt, that’s heavy handed on the salt for my palate. So TQ is very close to European curing salt called Peklosol which contains 0.6% nitrite. The Tender Quick contains 0.5% nitrite AND 0.5% nitrate, the nitrate not withstanding, I would use the TQ as this chart shows for the Peklosol in this way you can control the saltiness of the final product and still cure perfectly. I find it much easier to use cure #1 and add my own salt.

5E603500-DBC6-4932-BA98-D9045D349A46.jpeg
 
I know this doesn't exactly address your question, but if you really want to get into curing meat, the easiest route to consistent results that aren't overly salty is to roll your own using cure#1 (or #2 where applicable). This way, you are in full control of the salt and sugar content of your cure (there are limits to how low you can go on salt). Switch to grams for measurements since it makes calculating your amount of cure, salt, and sugar per meat weight a snap.
 
Tenderquick seems to get a bad rap all the time for making things too salty. I blame this on mortons because the ammount directions on the package are incorrect or not enough information has been given. It says to use 1 tablespoon per lb but they forgot to mention it was for whole muscle meat so people add the 1 tablespoon to 1 lb of ground meat and yes the sausage is too salty then they move to cure # 1 so they can adjust salt content. Luckily when I first started experimenting with curing I followed some of mortons recipes in their recipe book and noticed they were using 1.5 tsp/lb so I did not have a salty result during my first baby steps and the product was as expected. Now I've been using tenderquick in most of my recipes for almost 40 years and I find tenderquick to be superior in flavor to using cure #1. It's so easy to use. Theres no weighing. 1 tablespoon/2 lbs ground meat its so easy to add. I even add additional salt and MSG to recipes.
I'll probably get some rebuttle with cure #1 users but if all anyone uses is cure # 1 they should give TQ a try.

My 2 cents

This is how to subsitute cure #1 with tenderquick if anyone wants to give it a whirl
If a recipe calls for cure # 1 omit the cure #1 and the salt content in the recipe. Add tenderquick @ 1.5 tsp / lb of ground meat and add 1/2 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp MSG/ lb. The FBI had raided my house looking for this so I decided to declasify it.

Capturecan.PNG
 
Tenderquick seems to get a bad rap all the time for making things too salty. I blame this on mortons because the ammount directions on the package are incorrect or not enough information has been given. It says to use 1 tablespoon per lb but they forgot to mention it was for whole muscle meat so people add the 1 tablespoon to 1 lb of ground meat and yes the sausage is too salty then they move to cure # 1 so they can adjust salt content. Luckily when I first started experimenting with curing I followed some of mortons recipes in their recipe book and noticed they were using 1.5 tsp/lb so I did not have a salty result during my first baby steps and the product was as expected. Now I've been using tenderquick in most of my recipes for almost 40 years and I find tenderquick to be superior in flavor to using cure #1. It's so easy to use. Theres no weighing. 1 tablespoon/2 lbs ground meat its so easy to add. I even add additional salt and MSG to recipes.
I'll probably get some rebuttle with cure #1 users but if all anyone uses is cure # 1 they should give TQ a try.

My 2 cents

This is how to subsitute cure #1 with tenderquick if anyone wants to give it a whirl
If a recipe calls for cure # 1 omit the cure #1 and the salt content in the recipe. Add tenderquick @ 1.5 tsp / lb of ground meat and add 1/2 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp MSG/ lb. The FBI had raided my house looking for
I use TQ more than #1 and 2.

A friend from North Dakota intriduced me to it on my first Summer Sausage attempt. Been using it ever since.

I wouldn't wouldn't pay attention to any rebuttles...
 
Thanks everyone. A lot of good info for me to store. I have both Tender Quick and Cure #1 around here. I'll have to learn to use each.
Thanks again for all the answers. We used the Tender Quick and a little applewood spice to start some more Buckboard Bacon. I'll have to look around to find out how to use the Cure #1 to try on the next BBB.
 
That sounds easy enough.
Lots of good info in this thread. Thanks a lot everyone!
Easy enough. Weigh the meat in grams and use:

0.25% Cure#1
1.5% salt
0.75% sugar
After thinking about this I wonder if the .75% sugar can be substituted with maple sugar or brown sugar, etc? Maybe to add a little flavor?

Edited: And I guess I better clarify the math so would I figure the weight of the meat in grams plus .25% cure 1, weight of meat in grams plus 1.5% salt and weight of meat in grams plus .75% sugar?
For example: 2lbs meat=908 grams.
.25% of 908 grams=4.54
1.5% of 908 grams= 13.62
.75% of 908 grams= 6.81
 
Last edited:
T Tybo If you're looking to achieve a strong maple flavored bacon, most of what I've read were lackluster results. The bacon was delicious as expected, but the maple just wasn't there. I've read mixed results even with coating the bacon with syrup right before smoking.
 
After thinking about this I wonder if the .75% sugar can be substituted with maple sugar or brown sugar, etc? Maybe to add a little flavor?

Edited: And I guess I better clarify the math so would I figure the weight of the meat in grams plus .25% cure 1, weight of meat in grams plus 1.5% salt and weight of meat in grams plus .75% sugar?
For example: 2lbs meat=908 grams.
.25% of 908 grams=4.54
1.5% of 908 grams= 13.62
.75% of 908 grams= 6.81
No, like this,

meat 908g

cure #1 at .25%) 908 x .0025= 2.27g

salt @ 1.5%) 908 x .015= 13.62g

sugar @ .75%) 908 x .0075= 6.81g.

decimal point is extremely important here.
 
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