Pink Salt and T.c.m

[Cpbutcher]

Thanks guys for all yalls help!!!! Now is Pink Slat and Tcm the same thing?  When would I use curing slat instead of Tcm?

[acords]

I've never heard of TCM???  What is it?

[more smoke]

are you talking about Morton TQ?

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Cpbutcher;

Welcome to the forum.

TCM is the same as Pink Salt, InstaCure #1; Prague Powder #1.

[acords]

Must be a brand name.

[Habanero Smoker]

No; It's stand for Tinted Cure Mix. It is so named because the manufacturers started to add a pink dye to the cure mix so that chefs would not mistake the cure for plain salt.

I forgot to add that though Cure #2 is dyed pink, the term TCM only refers to Pink Salt aka InstaCure #1; Prague Powder #1, DQ Powder.

[acords]

Thanks for the info!!!  I've always purchased locally, and have just looked for the "6.25%".  It is always pink and has worked fine for me!  Never heard it called TCM before.  Thanks again for the info.

[Cpbutcher]

So, Hap, if I use Tcm in dry curing I can leave insta cure? DOES it have nitrate and nitrite in it also.  And is it good   for long time curing,if not what  would u use?

[Habanero Smoker]

TCM, is InstaCure #1, or Prague Powder #1 etc., and you use one or the other not both. These cures only contain sodium nitrite (this mixture contains 93.75% salt to 6.25% sodium nitrite or 1 pound of salt to 1 ounce of sodium nitrite).

For dry curing sausages you will need a cure that contains both sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate (sorry I can't recall the percentages, but this mixture contains 1 pound of salt to 1 ounce of sodium nitrite to .64 ounce of sodium nitrate). These cures are usually identified with the #2; so you would be looking for InstaCure #2, Prague Powder #2 or another brand name that would have the #2 after it.

But you do not want to use the two different cures interchangeably. Use the cure #1 for bacon, cold and hot smoked sausage, hams and other cured meat products that will be cooked. Use cure #2 for meats that will be dry cured over a long period of time.