Morton's tender quick curing salt uses for other than bacon/sausage

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shellbellc

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Jun 7, 2006
1,757
19
Valley Forge, PA
I use this for some of my bacon's, but on the package it states that you can use it for poultry, pork, salmon, etc. 

I'm just wondering if anyone has used it for other than curing their bacons...I saw a recipe for pork chops where they sprinkled the tenderquick on them for two hours, rinsed and then smoked.  I'm just wondering what it would do to the meat in two hours...would this be like a dry brine??? 
 
Sweet Red Chicken Sausage (meat mix cure); Beef Salami (meat mix cure); Corned Beef Pastrami (spiced brine/cure); Hot Legs (spiced brine/cure for chicken); Wild Wings (spiced brine/cure); ground beef and whole muscle beef jerky (meat mix cure for GB, wet cure for sliced whole muscle), just to mention a few I've done recently.

My sig line has links to many of them. TQ is great if you're looking for something different to create a special meal, or something for snack foods.

Eric
 
I have never used TQ I have always used Cure#1, am I missing something? Is TQ easier to use? Is it better? I don't see it in the stores around here, is it readily available? I know a lot of you guys use TQ only, why?
 
I've used TQ and pink salt for bacon's.  I actually think TQ is easier because there is more volume to make sure it gets to all parts of the meat.  Basically 1TBLspn per pound of meat, plus whatever flavors you want to add (sugar, maple, etc...)  I wound up having to order it online at mortons, never found it in any store around here...

I'm more interested in how people are using it on other than bacon/sausage applications, like chicken.  What benefits are there, I'm thinking it would be like a dry "brine"...Just curious as to how I'm going be inspired to use it next!
 
I have never used TQ I have always used Cure#1, am I missing something? Is TQ easier to use? Is it better? I don't see it in the stores around here, is it readily available? I know a lot of you guys use TQ only, why?
I can't say that it's easier or better, as I've never used anything but TQ for curing. My wife has found it for me at a nearby grocery store, and RonP (late SMF member) turned me onto a couple years ago and I've had great success developing new recipes with it. I don't get out and around much to visit butcher shops to look for other cures, either, as I'm wither working, curing/smoking or replenishing the freezer with more meat so I can spend the next couple of months doing it all over again. Anyway, TQ does what I need for the methods I employ in my curing recipe arsenal. It may or may not be the correct cure to use for certain sausages, but I mainly cure whole muscle meats myself, with a few unstuffed cured semi-dry sausages passing through my smokers now and then.

Eric
 
I have used Tender Quick for my "Beef Sticks", my "Bear Logs", Bacon, BBB, CB, Turkey Bacon, Summer sausage, Pepperoni, Dried Beef (Beef & Venison), and have never had any problems. Most of these are "step by steps" in my signature below.

I have nothing against any other cures.

Like shellbellc, if I dry cure, I like to have a bigger volume to spread over a large area of meat. You can do that with the cure #1 cures too, if you mix other things with it before you rub it on your meat, but you have to make sure you keep it mixed well at all times. Many use cure #1, and have absolutely no problem.

The biggest thing is, if you use TQ, only use recipes designed for TQ, and if you use Cure #1 or Cure #2, only use recipes that were designed for those cures.

Bear
 
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I've used TQ and pink salt for bacon's.  I actually think TQ is easier because there is more volume to make sure it gets to all parts of the meat.  Basically 1TBLspn per pound of meat, plus whatever flavors you want to add (sugar, maple, etc...)  I wound up having to order it online at mortons, never found it in any store around here...

I'm more interested in how people are using it on other than bacon/sausage applications, like chicken.  What benefits are there, I'm thinking it would be like a dry "brine"...Just curious as to how I'm going be inspired to use it next!
Along with those found in my sig line, this was a particularly interesting cured chichen smoke from awhile back, and tasty eating, I might add. This is a fully cured meat, similar to turkey pastrami. I think I posted a dry rub which follows the general flavors of the brine cure as well. Ah, I just double-checked the thread...no rub recipe, just the description. If you're intterested in the rub, I'll see if I can figure out where it is and drop it in...my comp crashed since then and most files were destroyed
icon_redface.gif


Chicken Pastrami

If hot & spicy isn't your thing, the recipe can be easily modified to reduce/omit the heat provoking ingredients, which are easily identifiable. The ancho chili doesn't produce much heat, but adds a ton of unique flavors to the overall profile.

Eric
 
Along with those found in my sig line, this was a particularly interesting cured chichen smoke from awhile back, and tasty eating, I might add. This is a fully cured meat, similar to turkey pastrami. I think I posted a dry rub which follows the general flavors of the brine cure as well. Ah, I just double-checked the thread...no rub recipe, just the description. If you're intterested in the rub, I'll see if I can figure out where it is and drop it in...my comp crashed since then and most files were destroyed
icon_redface.gif


Chicken Pastrami

If hot & spicy isn't your thing, the recipe can be easily modified to reduce/omit the heat provoking ingredients, which are easily identifiable. The ancho chili doesn't produce much heat, but adds a ton of unique flavors to the overall profile.

Eric
Eric,

Your cure recipe is there---down a little farther, on the first post in that thread.

Bear
 
I dissolve about a tablespoon in about twice as much melted butter and slather it thinly on chicken to be grilled. Too much and it's too salty.  Use about two or three times as much on whole turkey grilled on a  Weber.  People will think you are the god of barbecue!
 
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