URGENT Bacon Question

[OTB]

I have 5lbs of pork belly all trimmed and ready to be cured so I can smoke next weekend.  (actually 5lbs 5oz if that matters)

I am using the Maple Cured Bacon Recipe from the recipe site and it calls for the following for a 5lb belly:
2 oz. Kosher salt (about 1/4 cup)
2 tsp. Cure #1 (aka pink salt, InstaCure #1, Prague Powder #1)
1/4 C. Maple sugar or packed brown sugar
1/4 C. Maple syrup

Check...got everything....but now I can't seem to find my package of pink salt.  The wife re-organized the kitchen a few weeks ago and did she throw it away???  PANIC

I do know that I have a bag of Morton TenderQuick that has never been opened and sitting around for a couple of years.  Worst case scenario...If I can't find the pink salt, how much TenderQuick would I use instead of the kosher salt and cure #1?

Thanks in advance.

[KyNola]

Pretty sure that you would omit the kosher salt entirely and sub 1 tbsp of MTQ per pound of pork belly.

I will yield to more learned folks than me who will surely come along with advice for you.

[Habanero Smoker]

Just to make sure you have either Morton Tender Quick or Morton Sugar Cure. If you have Morton Smoke Flavor Sugar Cure you can not use it for this type of curing. I don't know how long you have had it, or what conditions you have stored it, so you may want to test it. If you have a pork chop, cure it with Tender Quick per directions (1 tablespoon/pound), and cure it for about 4 hours, and fry it - well done. It may not be fully cured by then, but you don't have to fully cure the chop, what you are looking for after you have fried it, is that the meat remained pinkish after it has been cooked. If it didn't cure all the way to the center, what you are looking for is the pinkish color around the edges of the meat. If you see that color the Tender Quick is good.

Use one tablespoon per pound instead of the kosher salt and cure #1.

[Tenpoint5]

Not Bad Kynola you nailed the response with the same answer that Habs gave. See you know more than you give yourself credit for!!

[OTB]

Thanks all for the responses.  I ended up finding the cure #1 in the back of a cupboard.  I guess I should have probably tested it as well.  It had been in a box in the garage for about a year and then in a tightly sealed ziplock in a dark cupboard for about another year.  Maybe I will test it during the time the bacon is curing.  What would be the test amount for it to make sure it is good.

[Habanero Smoker]

OTB;

You can make a batch of the Basic Dry Cure; it does come in handy for many things, and it is a lot cheaper to make this than to buy Tender Quick.

Do you have a good digital kitchen scale?

If you do you can make smaller batches to suit your needs. It's 2 parts pickling salt, 1 part granulated white sugar. Weigh those two ingredients together, multiply by 10%; that will give you how much cure #1 to add. It is best to work in grams.

[OTB]

Thanks.  I do have a digital kitchen scale.  I looked at the recipe on the site and I can use that for reference.  I assume it all scales.

[Habanero Smoker]

You should read the recipe for the Basic Cure; the application rate is 1 tablespoon per pound;

Using your example, it would be 2 grams pickling salt plus 1 gram sugar = 3 grams total of salt and sugar

3 gram x 10% = .3 grams of pink salt.

So your final cure mix would be:

2.0 grams pickling salt
1.0 gram sugar
.3 gram cure #1 (pink salt)

You would want to make you batch a larger. If I recall correctly, one tablespoon of this mixture weight about 13 grams.