Prague Powder v. Tenderquick

[CosmicMiami]

I've done some googling and can't find a reliable conversion between PP and TQ. Is there even such a thing? I have TQ but no PP. Would like to start a corned beef cure with the goal of making a pastrami. Should I have some patience and order the PP or can I sub TQ? If so, what are the ratios?

[Spinaker]

Curing can be a dangerous. If I were you, I would get some Prague Powder Ordered. Its easy to find on Amazon and then you wont have to worry about conversion rates and you can just follow the recipe exactly. That would be my recommendation.

[ecowper]

What Spinaker said .... also, Prague Powder is not very expensive. I bought a pound for $10 on Amazon. It was Prime, so free shipping.

[CosmicMiami]

Thanks guys. I just found where it says don't sub. There is a place here in Miami that sells 5# for $105. I called and asked if they were crazy or stupid or otherwise. The woman hung up on me. LOL

To Amazon it is. Don't want to eff it up. I already ruined a small pork belly trying to make bacon. The take home message is when it comes to curing, FOLLOW THE RECIPE. Makes me appreciate even more the work of charcuteries.

[johnec00]

Morton Tender Quick is 1/2% sodium nitrite, 1/2% sodium nitrate and 99% salt. Cure#1 is 6-1/4% sodium nitrite and 93-3/4% salt. Since cure#1 has no sodium nitrate, there is no conversion possible. Morton's "Home Meat Curing Guide" provides a dry cure recipe for corned beef. Before I discovered Amazing Ribs, that's how I made corned beef. I far prefer Meatheads wet cure recipe though. Amazon will ship you cure#1 (AKA Prague powder #1) in one or two days, so it doesn't change the total curing time much at all.

[Powersmoke_80]

This is where I get mine from

http://www.butcher-packer.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=&products_id=1088&zenid=ccca9aeadb5cbc582c902e7885705755

[CosmicMiami]

Just ordered with one day shipping. Cheap with Prime. Thanks guys. Have had Meatheads wet cure recipe recommended by a few people. I'll stick to it. As I said above, curing seems to be one of those things you want to really follow the recipe. Unlike adding more garlic to the recipe!

[Jerod Broussard]

Make sure and get #1.

The niTRATES found in #2 et al., is for loooong cures, whereby the nitrates breakdown into nitrites about the time the initial supply of nitrites run out.

[fuzzydaddy]

CosmicMiami Welcome! Glad you got your #1 ordered. We'd love to get an intro from you over in the Introduce Yourself channel when you get a minute.

[troymeister]

Not being able to get Prague powder on short notice. I used 1 1/2 cups of Tender Quick with 1 gallon of water. I brined for 10 days. I had no problems. Here are the results.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/beef-steak-brisket-roasts-prime-rib-etc/221823-first-time-homemade-corned-beef-and-pastrami

[CosmicMiami]

The brisket has been soaking for 3 days and I'm getting impatient!! Just starting to get that corned color to it. I followed the recipe for the 4# brisket. The problem I had was with the full gallon of distilled water. That was a lot of water for my container that easily covered the brisket. So I used the full recipe but reduced the water. Also added the pickling spices on the recommendation of a friend who followed the same recipe.

Going to do a 8 day soak with another 1/2 day to desalinate I guess. May end up being 9 days in the soak depending on the work schedule.

Appreciate all the help here. Will get some pics when she is all done.