Ref; TenderQuick vs Pink Salt

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TomKnollRFV

Master of the Pit
Original poster
May 19, 2018
3,406
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Neenah WI
So gearing up to try and make some turkey and beef summer sausage...and I've searched online every store near me, and seemingly no one carries Pink Salt #1.

I was going to use OFG's Summer Sausage recipe as my base which calls for Pink Salt. Now googling basically tells me if I go with TenderQuick I don't add any other salt, and 1 Tablespoon per pound of meat. Any one care to chime in?
 
Tenderquick and Cure #1 are not directly interchangeable. Use only what the recipe calls for.

Just order the cure #1 online. Amazon, Butcherpacker, Thesausagemaker, or the like...

And if you have a recipie that does call for Tenderquick be very careful not to get confused by the amount used for putting IN ground meat vs what is used in a "dry brine"
 
I mean I can find tenderquick ones readily enough for summer sausage etc. But Since OFG is a member here and all I was going to use his recipe because it's a tried tested thing as it were.

My last option before online ordering is going to be asking a butcher if I can buy some from them. :)
 
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Fear not..no real interest in actual jerky making. But I think I'll bite the bullet and just order some off amazon or another site. What's a good size to get? 8 Ounces?
 
For ground meat 1tsp per 5# I’m sure you know that. it doesn’t go bad that I’m aware of so it would be personal preference vs price that amount might last some members years.
 
Tender Quick I can find; it was pink salt #1 thats hard to find. I bit the bullet and ordered casings and pink salt off Amazon. <For 3 more dollars I got double the amount of LEM Casings then fleetfarm charges..8.99 vs 11.99>..

Though I just opened up my jerky gun kit and one of the curing salt packets is missing. I'm hoping that was missing when I got it..and not some where in the house, hate to think of a dog getting into it!

I ended up ordering this:
Because I have a horrible habit of always buying a huge jar of some thing... Lol
 
Fear not..no real interest in actual jerky making. But I think I'll bite the bullet and just order some off amazon or another site. What's a good size to get? 8 Ounces?
Depends on how often/quantity you use (it).I buy it by the pound as it's cheaper and isn't sitting on the shelf forever.
 
Well..I suspect I won't use it all that much, but we will see. If I can make good sausage and snack sticks using mostly or all turkey it'll get used alot. I just assume the only problem with Pink Salt 1 is it'll cake up if not used and then I just stir around to break it up, right?
 
I keep mine in a lock n lock ( food container ) and it stays good. I buy 5 lb at a time.
 
That will make you some sausage for a while, get you a good gram scale if you don’t have one and remember pics:)
 
I actually have a good scale! One of those highly accurate digital scales. Don't know why we got it, but it's like what a chemist would use. Mighta gotten it at some point for mixing gardening solutions for spraying our fruit trees against some bug or another. It doesn't get much use but I suspect that will change.

Once all my casing gear shows up I'll be sure to post pics of what I make, tommorrow I plan to run out to get some ground turkey and beef to make some maple sausage snack sticks. Going to follow bear's caseless snack stick recipe but change all the seasonings about.
 
sounds like fun is to be had... I'm a lil confused on what your saying tho.. you say your waiting on casings to get there.. but yet your going to do Bear's caseless sticks ???
 
Casings for the summer sausage. I ordered a pack of 25 of the 1 pound LEM ones for doing summer sausage etc.
 
I have been using less and less Tenderquick as I get better. I still use it for curing goose breast and deer roasts, but only because its easier and they get washed before peppering and smoking. I too bought a pound off Amazon as Tom suggested. I've had it for 2 1/2 years and its not half empty.

For bologna's and sausages I have switched to 1 Tsp of pink salt and 3 Tbsp of salt per 5# to still have the cure for 5# of meat but to reduce the saltiness of the product. I was finding some lighter summer sausages tasted more like salt than meat and copied the part of the recipe for the cure from others on here.
 
Tender Quick is Super easy to use:

use 1 TBS (1/2 ounce) of TQ per pound of whole meat when dry curing (Bacon, BBB, CB, Dried Beef, etc)

And use 1/2 TBS (1/4 ounce) per pound of Ground Meat.

Lots of examples at the following Link:
Just click on "Bear's Step by Steps".

Bear
 
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I have been using less and less Tenderquick as I get better. I still use it for curing goose breast and deer roasts, but only because its easier and they get washed before peppering and smoking. I too bought a pound off Amazon as Tom suggested. I've had it for 2 1/2 years and its not half empty.

For bologna's and sausages I have switched to 1 Tsp of pink salt and 3 Tbsp of salt per 5# to still have the cure for 5# of meat but to reduce the saltiness of the product. I was finding some lighter summer sausages tasted more like salt than meat and copied the part of the recipe for the cure from others on here.


That's actually slightly more Salt than used with TQ;
5 pounds would get 2 1/2 TBS of TQ, which is at least 1/2 a TBS less Salt than your 3 TBS of Salt, plus the salt in the tsp of Pink Salt.


Bear
 
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