confused about curing

[rigstar]

i have read the first 6 pages on curing and in the jerky forums,
also read the guys post about "rookie curing" and the link inside
from the recipe page about curing, and am still confused about it.
i realize what curing does, in layman terms, it makes the meat able
to be ate without cooking, basically i think.
i guess i just want to know when a guy needs to use cures as i am looking
to do some beef jerky, muscle not gb.
i have read lots on the jerky thread about how to do it as far as smoking,heat,
the thing that has me confused is the marinade do i need to put a cure in it?
i really dont want to have to use a cure if i dont have to.
this has probably been covered somewhere but i cant seem to find it
a very newbie question i am sure, just dont want to feed my family anything harmful.
is there a thread somewhere, where it is broke down as far as food, what has to be cured
what doesn't?
thanks for your guys time helping the new guy out

[GusRobin]

welcome - I could give you an answer but I would probably mess it up. Habs and other experts should be along shortly and give you the straight scoop.

[Habanero Smoker]

You've asked a lot of questions, but I will narrow it down to what you want to use it in, and that is making jerky.

I personally do not use a cure for whole muscle jerky; others have a different opinion. If I do add cure #1 it is to alter the flavor of the jerky. For whole muscle jerky if you have the proper amount of salt in the recipe that is sufficient to protect the jerky until it is dry. From what recipes I have seen on this forum, the amount of cure added is not going to do any harm. I believe people are adding it as added protection until the jerky dries. It is not the cure that protect the jerky for extended periods of time, but the lack of moisture. The lack of moisture in the jerky helps prevent the growth of bacteria. If you are making ground meat jerky, that is a different story and you will need to use a cure as proctection from bacterial growth while the jerky is drying.

[rigstar]

thanks for the reply habs,
sorry kinda got long winded when i started typing, so much stuff came to my mind.
will try not ask so many things when i ask a question next time
i dont like real salty jerky, so i think i will use some cure 1
does the cure come in different flavors? haven't really checked it out yet at
a store
thanks again, makes better sense to me now

[Habanero Smoker]

It wasn't that you had two many questions in your post. Generally the more questions, the better. In this case curing covers a vast area and trying to cover all your questions in one reply would make some of the information sound contradictory without lenghty explainations.

I have discussed this topic on the forum several years ago and my position on this topic was not well received.  :) So the bottom line, the amount of cure #1 people are adding to their recipes is not harmful. Since it is not harmful, then I take the position that people should prepare food in a manner that stays within their comfort zone.

Most of the recipes for whole muscle jerky include enough salt, that cure #1 is not needed including the ones that are posted on this site. Just do a google search for jerky recipes. That should give you a ton of whole muscle jerky recipes from other reputable sites, and you will see the vast majority do not use cure #1.

As for the flavor I mentioned, sodium nitrite (which is the active ingredient in cure #1) provides a distinct flavor you often associate with hams, bacon and other cured meats. To get that distinct flavor you need to add the right amount.

[rigstar]

excellent thanks again for your helpful insite