Prague Powder #1 or #2?

[cdevito]

I have a 9lb brisket that I am about to start corning with the intent of making a huge amount of pastrami. Once done, I am getting a couple of loaves of rye bread, a jar of good mustard and a 12-pack of Dr. Browns cream soda (and maybe a 12-pack of something stronger) and inviting a few friends over for a pastrami-fest. Maybe we'll make some Reubens too, but I digress. My question is this - I have Prague Powder #2 from making capicola, pancetta and such. can I substitute this for the Prague Powder #1?

From my research the only difference is this:

• Instacure 1 contains 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% salt.
• Instacure 2 contains about 6.25% sodium nitrite, about 1% sodium nitrate, and about 92.75% salt.

#1 is for meats that will be cooked, #2 is for meats that will dry cure an not be cooked. I have not been able to find any advice as to whether or not #2 can be substituted for #1 (I know the reverse is certainly risky)...

[Edward Hafer]

I ran into the same question this weekend (I had misplaced my #1 but had #2) and concluded they cannot be substituted safely. As I understand it, nitrate acts very differently than nitite, and nitrite needs time to break down into nitrite. When it comes to these things, play it safe (says the lawyer...).

[fuzzydaddy]

Do NOT substitute. See Meathead's article on curing meats safely.

[cdevito]

Thanks for the quick responses!

Edward Hafer - I found the part about the slow breakdown of nitrate to nitrite very interesting too. Safe is certainly the way to go.

fuzzydaddy - First, LOVE the name! I have been called that myself, being blessed (or cursed) with the thick hair of southern Italian heritage. Second, I clicked the link and immediately found the bold and highlighted statements. No substituting. Got it. Thanks for the reference.

To Meathead and the crew - thanks for the warnings on that page. I tend to research obsessively about stuff and when I decided to try curing salumi I found many variations on the same procedures. In the end I decided it was far too risky to do anything other than to follow a reliable source to the letter - I chose Michael Ruhlman's book as my bible for this. As you can tell from the fact that I am here typing this note, I was successful, and several times at that.

So, I will be following your recipes exactly for this project just as you advise, and I anticipate being able to live to tell about it. Off to the store for Prague #1!!!

[fuzzydaddy]

Very cool! My granddaughter calls me fuzzydaddy (facial hair = fuzzy, and I look similar to her Dad, my Son), so I use the name proudly!

[Jerod Broussard]

You definitely do not want number 2. Number 2 is for loooong processes.

[cdevito]

So, here's what happened...

I had a 9lb brisket flat and corned it per the instructions, starting about a week after these posts since I had to order the Prague #1 from Amazon, and I also ordered a really nice pickling spice blend to which I added a few missing ingredients. Set it to brine in a nice plastic cambro that I bought from Restaurant Depot some years ago. It actually ended up in the brine for 8 days because of my stupid job. However, corned beef done.

It looked and smelled right, the brine was colored from the meat but clear, without any schmeg floating around. I rinsed it and put it in water to desalinate, which ended up going for three days instead of 8 hours, again because of my stupid job.

I made the pastrami rub per the recipe, coated the meat and set it back int he cambro with the cover askew for a couple of days, which ended up to be over a week because of my stupid job.

Got the WSM going a little while ago and pulled the meat out of hte fridge. It looked fine, smelled right so into the smoker it went. It's been on about an hour now, temp rising slowly (it's at about 80F now). And since the smoker is on, we have a pile of red and green jalapenos on the top rack of the WSM getting a good smoke on their way to being a chipotle powder experiment.

I have been looking forward to this for a ling time. I am hoping the extended times in each step don't mess it up. If so, I will have to quit my job and get a new brisket...

[AZRedneck]

I suspect everything will be ok. However it is painfully obvious you have a job problem that interferes with your MCS.

[HorseDoctor]

You'll be fine. Recipes are guidelines, not absolute laws! Worst case scenario, from what you've posted, is it may be de-salted a bit much. In which case, send it to me & I'll feed it to my wife who is "salt sensitive"... It'll be fine! Enjoy! On the other hand, retirement is great!!! Even Mondays are fun!

[Abom]

my wife is sensitive to salt as well. She complains if there isn't TOO much! LOL

[gcdmd]

A week is made up of six Saturdays and one Sunday when you're retired.

[cdevito]

AZRedneck - Too true. It gets in the way of so much stuff.

HorseDoctor If it is too desalinated I'll just suffer through with a salt shaker.

Thanks guys, I'll let you all know how it comes out. It's in the fridge to be steamed and eaten next week...

[AZRedneck]

Steamed? Where's the smoke gonna come from?

[cdevito]

Smoked already. Took a few hours to get it to 150F.. Next step is steaming to 203F internal temp...