cure #1?

[brownie31]

found some cure at a local sausage maker's supply today. Here is the label
F.S cure, Contains: Salt, Sodium nitrate(5%),Sodium Bicarbonate,Silicon Dioxide(Mfg. Aid)
Apply at a rate of 40g/25lb meat.
For making pickle: 170 gram F.S cure to 4.54L of water and 560g-680g of salt to make brine of desired strength.Add sugar for P.S Cure(how much ?).
The lady said this was prague #1 just another name, so can this be used in place of pink salt,cure #1 etc..

[brownie31]

sorry not sodium nitrate It's sodium nitrite

[howlin]

could be nitrite

[howlin]

could be nitrate as well .try this site l,lots of info www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?736-Curing-Salts

[Habanero Smoker]

If you look at the link that Howlin provided, it is not the same formula as Prague Powder #1. FS cure has less sodium nitrite per weight & measure. For example Cure #1 you use 28g/25lb meat, FS cure is use at about 1.5 times the rate of cure #1. Looking at your brine recipe you are also using that at a rate of 1.5x the rate of cure #1. So if you use the directions that were given to you, you should be alright.

As for the sugar that is an individual choice. You don't have to add sugar, but that tends to make the salt flavor too harsh. A general rule of thumb that I use is add 50% - 100% that is equal to the amount of salt that is in the brine (which includes the cure). I usually stick with the 50%, adding more will make it sweeter, but again that is an individual choice.

[BuyLowSellHigh]

HabS has you going the right way.

Based on the label information you cited, FS Cure is 5.0 % sodium nitrite, cure #1 is 6.25 % sodium nitrite.  That means that on an equivalent weight basis you would need to use 25% more FS Cure than Cure #1 to have the same amount of sodium nitrite.  If the FS Cure is made with a fine grain salt, like ordinary table or pure salt (not coarse grained like Kosher), then for each level tsp of cure #1, which is ~ 6 g, you will need 1.25 tsp of FS Cure.  It's really just that simple.

At 40 g of FS Cure per 25 lb of meat you would have  176 ppm of sodium nitrite:

(40 *.05 *1,000,000)/(25*454)  =  176

One question and a caution -- is the FS Cure dyed or marked in any way (color or someting else) ?  If not you at least need to be sure it is very well labeled and store it away from your other seasonings.  People have died when they mistakenly used cure mixtures like cure #1 that wasn't marked thinking it was ordinary salt. That's why the dye is added - so it can't be confused (with normal color vision).  You should be able to dye your own by adding a small amount (1%) of solid food coloring, which is nothing more than the normal colors coated on dextrose (corn sugar).  At 1 % or less it won't affect your measurement practically (I doubt you can measure it at 1% accuracy unless you use an analytical balance).

[brownie31]

thanks for the input people I figured I would have to use 1.5x of F.S. cure versus cure #1.Just wanted to make sure, I have used MTQ but I foung alot of the recipies call for pink salt and  I was unsure of how to substitute it.You guys were right on the homemade bacon being better than anything from the store, this is probably one of the most informative forums out there, Keep it up.

[Habanero Smoker]

thanks for the input people I figured I would have to use 1.5x of F.S. cure versus cure #1.Just wanted to make sure, I have used MTQ but I foung alot of the recipies call for pink salt and  I was unsure of how to substitute it.You guys were right on the homemade bacon being better than anything from the store, this is probably one of the most informative forums out there, Keep it up.

The substitute for cure #1 to MTQ in sausage making - use 1/2 tablespoon of MTQ per pound, and eliminate the salt that is called for in the recipe. For making a dry cure, use 1 tablespoon per pound and eliminate the salt that is called for in the recipe.