What type of curing salt?

[mishikall]

Hello.

Long time lurker, now posting for desperate help.

I am on my second year of making smoked turkey legs with a brine for a yearly celebration. This year I had issues finding a cure. I went everywhere. Last year I made a nice mix of spices and brown sugar and the salt and roasted them, but this year I wanted to cure and smoke.

I went to a local butcher who did have "curing salt" for his own use, but didn't normally sell it. He is super nice and let me buy a small baggie from him.

Now, I am at home, with a small bag of what is labelled "curing salt" and I realized I don't know what type, therefore how much to mix in. My problem, is that the butcher is only in a few hours 2 mornings of the week, other that that it is only his staff, who (as I found out the beat-my-head-against-a-wall hard way) know nothing about any "cure". I can't wait until next week for him to be back in.

The bag I have is a fine grained white powder, that seems a tiny bit damp, but not wet. Pure white. Is there a way to tell which kind I have?

Also, if I don't have a brand name label, how much do I add to my brine?

Thanks.

[Keymaster]

Wait to talk to the butcher, don't guess :) It  would be hard for us to determine what it is even if it was pink.

[terry08]

I would brine as you normally do. You have no idea what you have, nitrite or nitrate. And there is really no reason to add cure to turkey legs, other than color & texture. Mine come out moist, yet tender and succulent, by just brining.
By the way I am no expert, but some will be along soon. Be patient you are in uncharted waters.

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[mishikall]

I was going to do the cure because I am trying to replicate the hammy sort of giant turkey legs you get from Ren Faires and DisneyLand. I am cooking for a crowd for a medieval (Game of Thrones) themed party, and (unauthentic- i know) nothing beats them for the feel. And my husband has been dying for them.

Is there much of a difference in the amounts used in a brine depending on type? Is there sort of a medium amount that might not be prefect but would be a good place to try?

These legs are going to miss this weekends party altogether if I wait for the butcher to be back in next week. :/

/rant what kind of a butcher hop only has a butcher for 6 hours a week /endrant.

thanks for those who replied, I have already gained a ton of info from this site alone.

/edit to add: I missed Terry08 that I don't need it... Is it possible to get the flavour without the cure? :o

[terry08]

I understand what you are trying to achieve. But if you don't know what you have, there is no way to measure. Just wait for the experts to chime in. You don't want to make a lot of people sick.

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[beefmann]

while i have never  cured Turkey legs or  even want to... I think insta cure # 1 would be the  way to go if you  are  gonna brine / cure the turkey legs,,,, im no expert by any  means though  from  what i have  read insta cure # 1 can be  used in a brine as for insta cure # 2  am not  sure.

Hope this helps in some way

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi mishikall;

Welcome to the forum.

As others have stated wait until you can talk to the butcher. There is a chance it can be cure #1, when sold commercially it is usually white, but that is a slim chance. It is more likely a cure blend, with additional salts, sugars etc. In that case, it will measure much differently then cure #1.

Here is an example of the differences in how you would measure two different types of cure. The measurement is per quart of liquid:

• Cure #1 ≈ .4 oz to 1 oz (2 teaspoons to about 2 tablespoons)
• Morton Tender Quick ≈ 8.5 oz (16 tablespoons)

[terry08]

Check with the shop and see if they will give you his phone number. I am sure he would be more than happy to help you, rather than seeing folks getting ill.

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[mishikall]

OK, someone there called the butcher for me.

As the instructions I was given were teaspoons to quarts, I'm going to say that it's cure 1.

Thanks everyone who tried to assist! Off to make giant, renfaire turkey legs :)