Rytek Rutas and Instacure

[theoldman]

I just purchased his book, and am amazed!!  What a wealth of information, but I need the opionion of you "old timers".  He lauds the use of his instacure 1 & 2, which contain nitrates. I read all the USDA info in his book, and it appears to be safe to use his mixes.  I undersand that this imparts a color change in the meat i.e. pink ham.  Is it standard practice to use these cures on things like turkey and chicken?  How about

brisket?  Is there any advantage to using these cures vs. kosher salt to brine?  I'd like to experiment with an in bone turkey breast and see how it turns out.  Anybody tried this?

 

[pineywoods]

There is a difference between brining and curing. As for curing the Turkey here's a good thread to check out for some info

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/98333/lo-salt-cured-and-smoked-turkey  

 

[que-ball]

Those cures are used for sausages that are going to be cold smoked, because that sausage sits within the 40-140* "danger zone" where bacteria can form for too long.  Turkey, brisket, ribs, pork butts, etc are brined in the fridge then hot smoked at 225* or so grate temp, so they come out of the danger zone faster and bacteria shouldn't be a problem.  Cures with nitrate aren't necessary for safety, and it would take too much to add a noticeable flavor component to the final product. 

Enjoy your "Bible"! 

 

[pineywoods]

Those cures are used for sausages that are going to be cold smoked, because that sausage sits within the 40-140* "danger zone" where bacteria can form for too long.  Turkey, brisket, ribs, pork butts, etc are brined in the fridge then hot smoked at 225* or so grate temp, so they come out of the danger zone faster and bacteria shouldn't be a problem.  Cures with nitrate aren't necessary for safety, and it would take too much to add a noticeable flavor component to the final product. 

Enjoy your "Bible"! 

Actually it will affect the flavor and looks of other meats like poultry many claim it gives it a "hammy' taste or flavor. Also corned beef and pastrami are cured and not cold smoked.

 

[que-ball]

You're right, Piney, I stand corrected.  I've never done them myself, but I do remember reading that corned beef and pastrami are cured.

 

[mballi3011]

Now if you like turkey with what I would call a kick. It has a little tang to it. Now curing turkey legs reminds me of the legs you used to get at the county fairs. But I would make sure of which cure you are using and use them correctly too. Now if you want to use kosher salt in a brine there's a good recipe for the Slaughter House Brine for turkey is about the best one I have used. You can find it in the wiki section of this site.

 

[shooterrick]

Please remember Kosher salt is not a cure and cannot be used as such alone.  The cures such as insta cure 1 and tenderquick are for product being slow smoked at lower temps but Cure 2 is for long dry cure processes like salamis and long cure hams using a dry proccess over an extended time frame.  Read carefully and practice safely. 

As far as brining is concerned I choose to inject instead of using a brine process.  My choice is one of convienence as I have limited regrigerated space to hold a brine bucket or such.  Both methods produce a similar result in my opinion. 

Commercial cures that you most often see on this forum cannot be interchanged without making adjustments to the measurements and you cannot interchange type 1 and type 2 cures at all since they are for different processes.  Ok it is early and I seem to be rambleing so stick to Ryteks book and methods and you will be safe.  Great Book!

 

[Bearcarver]

There are thousands of posts on curing & smoking on this vast container of information we call home.

Just type in the kind of meat you're thinking about, along with "curing", and you're liable to find a lot.

Most of the things we smoke are not generally cured, like Brisket, Chuckies, Pork Butts,, Pork Loins, Turkeys, etc, etc.

But some of them can be:

Pork Butt---cured properly & smoked into Buckboard Bacon.

Pork loins---cured properly & smoked into Canadian Bacon.

Etc, Etc, Etc......

Here is a Turkey breast I filleted, cured, and smoked "hard":

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/98228/canadian-turkey-bacon-qview

Bear