Tender Quick Question...somebody help jenbayjazz

[MallardWacker]

Written by jenbayjazz.....(I re-posted this do to the fact it will get more traffic here)

I found this on the Morton website for Canadian bacon

DIRECTIONS FOR DRY CURE For the dry cure, use Tender-Quick at the rate of 6 lbs. Tender-Quick per 100 lbs. of loins. First rub the meat with 1/3 of the Tender-Quick, then in 2 or 3 hours rub on the second 1/3 and in 24 hours apply the balance. Pack the loins closely while in cure and overhaul once when the curing time is about halt up, changing the position of the pieces.
Leave the pieces in cure for 10 days to two weeks. When taken from the cure, wash the loins, let them dry thoroughly, and rub with cornmeal and pepper. Wrap in muslin the same as for the sweet pickle cure.
Complete the cut by trimming close to the bones. The loin and backbone are shown separated below.

This last statement confused me because loins are boneless . that's the way I buy them anyway. If indeed they mean bone in then maybe that's why the ratio below seems pretty high.
I broke it down this way to figure out how much tender quick I should use on my little over 7.45 lb loin. I use a digital postage scale that weights in lbs and ounces and 10ths of oz.

TQ     Loin
96oz- 100lb
48oz – 50 lb
24oz – 25 lb
12 ½ oz  - 12 ½ lb
6 ¼ oz    -  6 ¼ lb

So I figured it's about 1 oz of tender quick per lb of meat . I used 7 oz of tender quick and it seemed like a lot. After rubbing the last of the tender quick in I rubbed some brown sugar too. Anyone have any feed back on this?
I'm going to cure my loin that I cut up into 3 pieces for 14 days but check on them after 7 days by cutting into the thickest one to see how far the cure has traveled into the meat.

I bought my loin in a grocery store in a vacuum sealed package and checked the package to make sure there were no added ingredients of any kind.

If anyone can give me feedback on this formula or cure times I'd sure love to know what some of you more experienced folks know !

I'll let you know how they come out

Mark - aka jenbayjazz and for all you smoking jazz lovers www.jenbayjazz.com


MARK maybe we can get you more help...

I wrote...

Mark,

I personally don't use TQ, but a few folks do around here.  I have always said read and follow the instructions.  I know the cure I use always seems if you measure it out "It looks" like it isn't enough but it always is...mine comes out fine.  Of all the recipes the 14day mark seems to be pretty common...so I think that number is OK now about the amount of TQ...gosh that does sound like a lot...maybe  someone will chime in...also I would re-post this thing and start a new thread...more people will read it.

[acords]

I use a ratio of 1 Tbs TQ and 1 Tsp sugar per pound of meat for a dry cure.  I usaully let cure for about 10 days.  This method has always worked well for me.

[MallardWacker]

Thanks acords...I knew someone would know.

[Habanero Smoker]

I basically use the same as accord but I add additional spices. For Canadian bacon the information I got from the Morton site stated 3-5 days depending on the size of the cut. I cure mine for 6 days.

jenbayjazz
have you seen this thread:
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=3306.0

[jenbayjazz]

Written by jenbayjazz.....(I re-posted this do to the fact it will get more traffic here)

I found this on the Morton website for Canadian bacon

DIRECTIONS FOR DRY CURE For the dry cure, use Tender-Quick at the rate of 6 lbs. Tender-Quick per 100 lbs. of loins. First rub the meat with 1/3 of the Tender-Quick, then in 2 or 3 hours rub on the second 1/3 and in 24 hours apply the balance. Pack the loins closely while in cure and overhaul once when the curing time is about halt up, changing the position of the pieces.
Leave the pieces in cure for 10 days to two weeks. When taken from the cure, wash the loins, let them dry thoroughly, and rub with cornmeal and pepper. Wrap in muslin the same as for the sweet pickle cure.
Complete the cut by trimming close to the bones. The loin and backbone are shown separated below.

This last statement confused me because loins are boneless . that's the way I buy them anyway. If indeed they mean bone in then maybe that's why the ratio below seems pretty high.
I broke it down this way to figure out how much tender quick I should use on my little over 7.45 lb loin. I use a digital postage scale that weights in lbs and ounces and 10ths of oz.

TQ     Loin
96oz- 100lb
48oz – 50 lb
24oz – 25 lb
12 ½ oz  - 12 ½ lb
6 ¼ oz    -  6 ¼ lb

So I figured it's about 1 oz of tender quick per lb of meat . I used 7 oz of tender quick and it seemed like a lot. After rubbing the last of the tender quick in I rubbed some brown sugar too. Anyone have any feed back on this?
I'm going to cure my loin that I cut up into 3 pieces for 14 days but check on them after 7 days by cutting into the thickest one to see how far the cure has traveled into the meat.

I bought my loin in a grocery store in a vacuum sealed package and checked the package to make sure there were no added ingredients of any kind.

If anyone can give me feedback on this formula or cure times I'd sure love to know what some of you more experienced folks know !

I'll let you know how they come out

Mark - aka jenbayjazz and for all you smoking jazz lovers www.jenbayjazz.com


MARK maybe we can get you more help...

I wrote...

Mark,

I personally don't use TQ, but a few folks do around here.  I have always said read and follow the instructions.  I know the cure I use always seems if you measure it out "It looks" like it isn't enough but it always is...mine comes out fine.  Of all the recipes the 14day mark seems to be pretty common...so I think that number is OK now about the amount of TQ...gosh that does sound like a lot...maybe  someone will chime in...also I would re-post this thing and start a new thread...more people will read it.

Thanks for getting back to me on this . Since I used 1 oz tender quick per pound I'm concerned that it may have been too much. I see 1 table spoon per lb stated by most here that use tender quick. But the strange thing is that Morton themselves give that 1oz per lb ratio. I posted that link with my first post to Mallard Wacker and they've taken it down ?!

Well once it's fully cured I guess I'll be soaking the loins for a while . I hope it's safe to eat !

thanks all for the relpies

[jaeger]

Mark,
If you are only using TQ as a rub, don't sweat it. If you were pumping the loins with a brine solution and had a strong salt content, you probably would have a piece of salt pork.

I would recommend a good soak and fresh water rinse is in order, just like you planned.

[jenbayjazz]

Thanks Jaeger:

I'm gonna soak the heck out of it and slice and fry a piece to see what I've got. I think if its' on the salty side I can fix it and next time cut way back on the amount of TQ that I use.

I just ordered two boxes of buckboard bacon cure and I'm going to give that a try as everyone here seems to love it. You tried this one?

Mark

[Habanero Smoker]

Jenbayjazz;

I just curious. Can you post the link to where you found your information. Most recipes on the website, and instructions on the package give 1 Tbl/pound.

[jenbayjazz]

Jenbayjazz;

I just curious. Can you post the link to where you found your information. Most recipes on the website, and instructions on the package give 1 Tbl/pound.

Sorry it took me so long. I didn't see this question. I posted the text to that 6lbs tender quick to 100lbs meat. I got it from Mother Earth News not the morton website as I stated. However they say it was quoted from the Morton Salt Book
here's the link sometimes it takes forever for the link to work.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natural_Health/1973_January_February/More_From_The_Morton_Salt_Book

[Habanero Smoker]

Thanks for the link. I haven't had a chance to read all of it yet, but it looks interesting.

[whitetailfan]

Geez, I missed this earlier.
I will check the package tonight.  The actual package quotes weight to weight ratios, not volumes, that's why I had to convert it.  I lost my Bradley book, where I wrote down the conversion factor that I use for brining.  Hope to re-post soon.

[PetersCreek]

I started almost 7 pounds of pork loin to curing in the fridge just last weekend and used Morton's recommended amounts just like last time.  The TQ package directions specify 1 Tbsp (or ½-ounce) per pound of meat.  I weighed mine out to be exact but I also noted that the weight correctly corresponded to the dry measures.

[Habanero Smoker]

I started almost 7 pounds of pork loin to curing in the fridge just last weekend and used Morton's recommended amounts just like last time.  The TQ package directions specify 1 Tbsp (or ½-ounce) per pound of meat.  I weighed mine out to be exact but I also noted that the weight correctly corresponded to the dry measures.

As Jaeger pointed out, if you are dry curing the measurement can be a little off. It's different if you are making a pickling brine. Then weight is important.

[PetersCreek]

A "little off" is one thing but is twice as much (1 oz/lb vs ½ oz/lb) okay even for a dry cure?  I'd read the comments in other threads about using only the amount called for so I've made an effort to be pretty precise about it.  Besides it was easier just to weigh it out into a sili cup than to muck about with fractional dry measures.

As for brines, I haven't tried 'em with TQ...just salt and flavors.  IIRC, the package calls for a pretty large meausure of TQ to make brine.  Seems to me that'd be more forgiving of small errors.  True?  No?

[whitetailfan]

TQ package reads 15gr of TQ for 500gr of meat