Gepockelte

[Nefarious]

I think I am ready to make some of these, I just don't have any tender quick and none of the grocery stores around me have it on the shelf. I do have cure #1, can I use it instead? Are there any changes required?

There is a post from 2011 that claims they switched but no;specific information?

 

[SmokinEdge]

I think I am ready to make some of these, I just don't have any tender quick and none of the grocery stores around me have it on the shelf. I do have cure #1, can I use it instead? Are there any changes required?

There is a post from 2011 that claims they switched but no;specific information?

Cure #1 is perfect.
Changes would be figuring your own salt percentage for meat weight.
Nothing special about Tender Quick. Plus it contains nitrates which we do not need curing fast.

 

[chopsaw]

I like Tender quick for these because of the fast action it has on the " curing " part of it , and the amount used per pound of meat is easier to figure . If you use cure 1 the amount of cure is really small for a couple chops and you will need to add some salt . Just depends on the weight . Plus you will need to hold them longer in the cure to get the same effect .

 

[Nefarious]

Cure #1 is perfect.
Changes would be figuring your own salt percentage for meat weight.
Nothing special about Tender Quick. Plus it contains nitrates which we do not need curing fast.

The standard is 2.5 gr /kg for cure #1. If I have 1kg of chops, 4 thick ones. This isn't much volume, do I mix it with salt and other spices to distribute it more evenly?

Then i need to cure it longer? A day or more?

 

[SmokinEdge]

The standard is 2.5 gr /kg for cure #1. If I have 1kg of chops, 4 thick ones. This isn't much volume, do I mix it with salt and other spices to distribute it more evenly?

Then i need to cure it longer? A day or more?

If you were to use the recommended 1Tbs of Tender Quick per 1 pound meat, you would be applying about 3% salt and 150ppm nitrite. The high salt percentage is what speeds the cure process. Salt is the horsepower of curing. However 3% salt is not very palatable so that’s why they use shorter cure times and then rinse the meat under water to wash excess salt off.

If you use a lower salt percentage like 1.5% then yes it will take a little longer time because of less salt concentration. You will need to mix the cure #1 with fine ground salt (no kosher salt) add spices and apply evenly, or you could make a slurry and dissolve the cure in that and apply to the chops.