Morton® Tender Quick®

[Keymaster]

Is the Morton® Tender Quick® comparable to Cures #1 or 2 or are they totally different? It just seems that you get a whole lot more tender quick for the price than Cures #1 and 2 at different websites. Thanks for the help. ???

[FLBentRider]

Is the Morton® Tender Quick® comparable to Cures #1 or 2 or are they totally different? It just seems that you get a whole lot more tender quick for the price than Cures #1 and 2 at different websites. Thanks for the help. ???

They are not the same. Morton® Tender Quick® contains cure #1 and cure#2 as well as salt and I think sugar.

Morton® Tender Quick® is a cure mix.

cure #1 is one of the active ingredients in Morton® Tender Quick®.

I don't have the ratios handy, but I think it is 1 Tablespoon of Morton® Tender Quick® per lb of meat for a dry cure, for cure #1 it is like 1 teaspoon for 5lbs (the second one is the one I'm not sure about.)

[NePaSmoKer]

Km

As FLB said MTQ is different than the cure 1 and 2. IMHO the cure 1&2 is better.
MTQ is available in most stores if your in a pinch.

MTQ mix contains salt, sugar, both sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite, curing agents that also contribute to development of color and flavor; and propylene glycol to keep the mixture uniform and from clumping.

[Keymaster]

Thanks guys you told me exactly what I needed to know !  ;D

[Habanero Smoker]

Here is a link to what I wrote up to give a brief description of some common cures that are discussed on this board.

Curing Salts

[Keymaster]

Thats a great piece of reference material Habanero Smoker, THANK YOU!!!

[Habanero Smoker]

You are welcome.

I see you have a Hibachi listed as part of your equipment. I use to carry a small one of those around in my car for years until I started using a portable propane grill. They are a nice grill to have.

[Keymaster]

I like to use mine for small cooks, just gotta remember they get real hot to the touch.

[ksidener]

HABS,

Thank you for your reference list.  Would appreciate any personal experience you have had with MTQ and Cure #1 comparison.

Thanks in advance.

Kelly

[mjdeez]

Well here's the thing about cures... Cure #2 is used for dried sausages like salamis. Forget about that for awhile unless you read more up on it.

some recipes call for cure #1, and some recipes call for MTQ. It is much more convenient to have both. You could either buy both, or buy cure #1 and make in bulk an MTQ substitute, a sub recipe for which is found here: http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?441-Basic-Dry-Cure-Morton-s-Tender-Quick-substitute&p=691#post691

That's what I do.

More on cures: http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?736-Curing-Salts

And recipes including curing in general: http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?180-Our-Time-Tested-and-Proven-Recipes

[Habanero Smoker]

HABS,

Thank you for your reference list.  Would appreciate any personal experience you have had with MTQ and Cure #1 comparison.

Thanks in advance.

Kelly

I feel there is a taste difference, but I can't quite put it into words. When I first started out I only used Morton's TQ, because at the time it was locally available and the majority of recipes were using it. The advantage was that it was a premixed cure that could be used right out of the bag. The down side is, it is expensive, especially when you use TQ for  wet curing.

Then I came across the Basic Dry Cure Mix that mjdeez has linked in his post. Now I mainly use cure #1; though I still have some TQ around. It is more versatile, less costly, you have more control over salt in sausage and now the majority of recipes online and in books use cure #1 as a quick cure. With the Basic Dry Cure Mix, and once you understand the ratio of cure #1, salt, sugar (if needed), and meat you can substitute cure #1 with the added salt and sugar in any sausage recipe that calls for TQ.