Bacon Cure #1

chooch · October 31, 2010, 01:06:27 PM

If I get a pound I should be good for a while. I too cut my belly up in thirds with differing recipes in mind. I think I'm gonna try the buckboard kit on one, even tho it seems made for thicker cuts of meat, then one recipe without nitrites and one with the cure#1.

Shooting for that Oscar Meyerish flavor with some maple thrown in ;)

oakville smoker · November 09, 2010, 04:19:52 AM

Jigger

I am west of Toronto and found that buying cure was a serious challenge
Lucky for me, I had a business colleague who lived in Buffalo and I had him bring me in a dozen bags of Mortons Tender Quick
First thing I did was vacum seal a bunch of them
Everytime I cross the border, I head for a grocery store and buy some more
I think I should now have enough cure to last the rest of my days... LOL
I have used the Bradley flavored cures for bacon and they work great and are easy to get
You might want to contemplate that

jiggerjams · November 09, 2010, 01:00:16 PM

Thanks OS. I made a purchase from Malabar Super Spice in Burlington. I used their Sure Cure on bacon this past weekend. The end result was fantastic. It was approx. $7 kg.

Sounds like you are hooked for the next while but in a pinch this company is pretty close to you.

Take Care,
JJ

oakville smoker · November 10, 2010, 04:20:33 AM

Jigger

I actually went to Malabar one day last summer in search of cure
I felt like I was buying illegal drugs. I was standing in their lobby trying to negotiate a purchase and actually gave up
They were probably trying to make sure I was not going to make a mistake but the experience was so overbearing, I just walked

I was pretty new to this curing and smoking thing back then. Maybe I should try another visit now that I am more "mature"
I must have cured a 100 pounds of bacon since then

punchlock · November 10, 2010, 05:30:42 AM

Quote from: oakville smoker on November 10, 2010, 04:20:33 AM
Jigger

I actually went to Malabar one day last summer in search of cure
I felt like I was buying illegal drugs. I was standing in their lobby trying to negotiate a purchase and actually gave up
They were probably trying to make sure I was not going to make a mistake but the experience was so overbearing, I just walked

I was pretty new to this curing and smoking thing back then. Maybe I should try another visit now that I am more "mature"
I must have cured a 100 pounds of bacon since then

That's pretty funny my first contact with Malabar got off on the wrong foot as well. I initially thought that they did not want to deal with a piddly little order like mine. I did however push through what seemed to far too many questions. Eventually I figured out their issue was my safety. They had their chemist give me a call personally to ensure I would not kill myself trying to cure bacon. Overall I am very pleased with their service they offer a good product at a decent price and get it to my door in record time.

They still tend to ask allot of questions but I now know why.....

jiggerjams · November 10, 2010, 05:36:36 AM

I too had an initial hiccup with Malabar. I called to inquire about their version of a cure no#1 and no matter what I said I was told I had to initially inquire via email only. I did follow their instruction but in my opinion it made the process at least twice as long. Maybe they need some kind of documentation on file.

Although like punch says, I got my product the day I requested and the price was easy to digest.

oakville smoker · November 11, 2010, 04:43:52 AM

That seems to be the Malabar experience
Thats why I pick my stuff up in the US when I am there or order from a Halfords in Alberta
No PST portion of the HST and I place anorder when a guy that works for me is heading to Toronto, and he becomes my freight charge
That reminds me, he is coming into town in a couple of weeks and I should probably be stocking up for winter

BuyLowSellHigh · November 11, 2010, 05:44:22 AM

For the Canadians interested in any of the Morton curing products (Tenderquick, etc.) believe you can order them online from the Windsor Salt Company.

jiggerjams · November 11, 2010, 05:59:07 AM

BLSH that is great to know. Thanks!!

kinyo · November 11, 2010, 06:25:05 AM

I have a stupid question, Is Tenderquick the same as cure #1?

FLBentRider · November 11, 2010, 06:40:19 AM

Quote from: kinyo on November 11, 2010, 06:25:05 AM
I have a stupid question, Is Tenderquick the same as cure #1?

No it is not. Tenderquick contains cure #1, along with other ingredients. You can use them to do (some of) the same jobs, but they are measured differently.

kinyo · November 11, 2010, 08:22:51 AM

Quote from: FLBentRider on November 11, 2010, 06:40:19 AM
Quote from: kinyo on November 11, 2010, 06:25:05 AM
I have a stupid question, Is Tenderquick the same as cure #1?

No it is not. Tenderquick contains cure #1, along with other ingredients. You can use them to do (some of) the same jobs, but they are measured differently.

You say "some of" the same jobs. What are the jobs that can't be done with Tenderquick. Living in Canada, I would be really happy to be able to make Bacon with Tenderquick instead of cure #1. Like you know cure #1 is really hard to get here.

FLBentRider · November 11, 2010, 10:11:58 AM

Quote from: kinyo on November 11, 2010, 08:22:51 AM
Quote from: FLBentRider on November 11, 2010, 06:40:19 AM
Quote from: kinyo on November 11, 2010, 06:25:05 AM
I have a stupid question, Is Tenderquick the same as cure #1?

No it is not. Tenderquick contains cure #1, along with other ingredients. You can use them to do (some of) the same jobs, but they are measured differently.

You say "some of" the same jobs. What are the jobs that can't be done with Tenderquick. Living in Canada, I would be really happy to be able to make Bacon with Tenderquick instead of cure #1. Like you know cure #1 is really hard to get here.

You can cure bacon, and such, but with sausage you would have to adjust your other ingredients.

Take a look at this link
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?736-Curing-Salts

BuyLowSellHigh · November 11, 2010, 10:12:52 AM

Just about any curing that is typically done using Cure #1 can be done using Morton's Tender Quick or Sugar Cure. Off the top of m head, I can't think of anyting that can't be done with a TQ or SQ premixed product. That said, there are a few key differences you need to note. One , Morton's TQ and Sugar Cure contain both sodium nitrIte and sodium nitrAte at 0.5% levels, where Cure #1 is 6.25% sodium nitrite alone. Because of the much lower levels in the Morton products you have to use considerably more of them on a per pound basis (0.23 oz per pound for Morton vs. 0.04 oz per pound for Cure #1). That means in any formulation or recipe you will have to accommodate and adjust for the amount of additional salt that comes with TQ and then both salt and sugar in SQ. It's not usually a problem, just have to do the math in converting, starting with the same amount of nitrate/nitrate in the final curing mix and make sure the salt comes out right.

There are some excellent references on the recipe site.

Here is one on Curing Salts from Habanero Smoker

Another great one is this write-up on Curing and Brining by JJC