Saltpeter vs. Insta Cure No 1???

[bob_loblaw]

Prior to my foray in the smoking world I made my own corned beef using a wet brine and curing for 14 days.  That recipe called for saltpeter which I bought.  It was delish and I highly recommend it.

I am now looking at making some bacon and was going to pick up some insta cure no 1.  Package sizes vary so I was wondering what the difference between Insta Cure No 1 and saltpeter was ???  If I wanted to make corned beef (and now pastrami) again can I use the insta cure?  If so, is it a one for one replacement or what ratio do I use to sub in Insta cure?  Any help/advice is appreciated.

[KevinG]

Saltpeter was used as Cure#2 because it has nitrates in it.

[ArnieM]

Go with cure #1 (pink salt) or Morton's Tender Quick.  Both have sodium nitrite though the MTQ has a lower percentage of it.

Five to seven days of curing should do it.

Then get the book Charcuterie by Ruhlman and Polcyn.  A lot of very good info in there.

[Habanero Smoker]

Saltpeter is still commonly used around the world for sausage making, and curing meat; but it is no longer recommended for use in the U.S.A. You will see many older recipes in American curing/smoking books that still refer to using saltpeter. Saltpeter was very popular until nitrites started being manufactured in the early 1900's. Nitrates are too difficult to measure, and because it is a nitrate it is not recommended for meat that will be cooked.

As already mentioned, the chemical Saltpeter (Potassium Nitrate) is a nitrate. Nitrates do not provide any protection, and certain types of bacteria must be present on the meat to help break the nitrates down to nitrites; nitrites do the actual curing and protecting. Because nitrates need to be broken down, they are considered a slow cure and take much longer to cure the meat. Slowly breaking down, and releasing nitrites: like a time release capsule.

Cure #1 is a formula that contains salt (93.75%) and nitrites (6.25%). It is measured differently then saltpeter. Nitrites are considered fast cure, and as it took you 14 days to cure your beef, using a nitrite and depending on the size of the meat, would generally take you 3 - 4 days.

[bob_loblaw]

Thanks for the help guys, I ordered insta cure #1.

One more question.  In the future if I want to corn beef again does anyone have a recipe using insta cure. Or I guess I can just follow the pastrami recipes for corning then boil instead of smoke for the same thing correct? 

[KyNola]

Hey Bob,
Go out to the recipe website at www.susanminor.org  Habanero Smoker has a great step by step recipe for making pastrami using cure #1.  The first portion is curing the corned beef.  That will get you where you want to be.

[bob_loblaw]

Yeah I was talking about the recipe site when I was asking about the pastrami recipes.  Should have probably made that clearer.  Either way, thanks for the response Kynola!