I have both morton tenderquick and morton sugar cure..can either be substituted for Prague powder either one or two? If so, would you use the same amount? thanks
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
We have a bunch of fine sausage makers on here,but while you are waiting you might give Joe Ames a shout.
He is a forum member that many of us get ingredients from and runs a sausage forum,as well.
Joe Ames
He is a forum member that many of us get ingredients from and runs a sausage forum,as well.
Joe Ames
Hope this helps.
Morton® Tender Quick® mix is a fast cure product that has been developed as a cure for meat, poultry, game, salmon, shad, and sablefish. It is a combination of high grade salt and other quality curing ingredients that can be used for both dry and sweet pickle curing. Morton® Tender Quick® mix contains salt, the main preserving agent; sugar, both sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite, curing agents that also contribute to development of color and flavor; and propylene glycol to keep the mixture uniform. It is NOT a meat tenderizer.
Morton® Sugar Cure® (Plain) mix is formulated for dry or sweet pickle curing of meat, poultry, game, salmon, shad and sablefish. It is primarily used for dry curing hams and bacon. It contains salt, sugar, propylene glycol, sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite, a blend of natural spices and dextrose (corn sugar). Morton® Sugar Cure® (Plain) mix can be used interchangeably with Morton® Tender Quick® mix.
Morton® Smoke Flavored Sugar Cure® mix is formulated especially for dry curing large cuts of meat like hams or bacon. It contains salt, sugar, sodium nitrate, propylene glycol, caramel color, natural hickory smoke flavor, a blend of natural spices and dextrose (corn sugar). The cure reaction takes longer with Morton® Smoke Flavored Sugar Cure® mix than with plain Morton® Sugar Cure® mix, so the smoke flavored product should be used only for dry curing and not for making a brine (pickle) solution.
For more info, Meat Curing
Morton® Tender Quick® mix is a fast cure product that has been developed as a cure for meat, poultry, game, salmon, shad, and sablefish. It is a combination of high grade salt and other quality curing ingredients that can be used for both dry and sweet pickle curing. Morton® Tender Quick® mix contains salt, the main preserving agent; sugar, both sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite, curing agents that also contribute to development of color and flavor; and propylene glycol to keep the mixture uniform. It is NOT a meat tenderizer.
Morton® Sugar Cure® (Plain) mix is formulated for dry or sweet pickle curing of meat, poultry, game, salmon, shad and sablefish. It is primarily used for dry curing hams and bacon. It contains salt, sugar, propylene glycol, sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite, a blend of natural spices and dextrose (corn sugar). Morton® Sugar Cure® (Plain) mix can be used interchangeably with Morton® Tender Quick® mix.
Morton® Smoke Flavored Sugar Cure® mix is formulated especially for dry curing large cuts of meat like hams or bacon. It contains salt, sugar, sodium nitrate, propylene glycol, caramel color, natural hickory smoke flavor, a blend of natural spices and dextrose (corn sugar). The cure reaction takes longer with Morton® Smoke Flavored Sugar Cure® mix than with plain Morton® Sugar Cure® mix, so the smoke flavored product should be used only for dry curing and not for making a brine (pickle) solution.
For more info, Meat Curing
Hi marge,
When curing sausage meat I use 1.5 tsp/ lb.
When doing whole muscle jerky in a dry cure I use 1 TBS/ lb.
One thing you want to remember when using TQ. You have to adjust the amount of salt the recipe calls for since TQ already contains salt.
Example: a recipe for 5 lbs of sausage that calls for prague powder and 3 TBS of salt would be adjusted to: 2.5 TBS of TQ and .5 TBS of salt.
This has worked well for me.
When curing sausage meat I use 1.5 tsp/ lb.
When doing whole muscle jerky in a dry cure I use 1 TBS/ lb.
One thing you want to remember when using TQ. You have to adjust the amount of salt the recipe calls for since TQ already contains salt.
Example: a recipe for 5 lbs of sausage that calls for prague powder and 3 TBS of salt would be adjusted to: 2.5 TBS of TQ and .5 TBS of salt.
This has worked well for me.
Thank you very much..that was very helpful..now I won't have to order the prague powder..or is there some reason you have found that you like that better...from what I am reading here the only difference is that it doesn't contain the salt?.is that right? Does this stuff ever get old and loose its effectiveness..I've had mine for quite awhile..thank again
I really only use the TQ. I cant speculate on the shelf life of the prague.
The advantage of using just the prague is that you can really regulate the salt content, which is very important to some people's diet. With TQ your stuck with their salt to nitrate/nitrite ratio.
BTW: 1.5 tsp of prague powder doesnt equal 1.5 tsp of TQ
The advantage of using just the prague is that you can really regulate the salt content, which is very important to some people's diet. With TQ your stuck with their salt to nitrate/nitrite ratio.
BTW: 1.5 tsp of prague powder doesnt equal 1.5 tsp of TQ
Before there was Morton's TenderQuick, what did people use? What combination of things equals the TQ? Does TenderQuick contain anything "chemical" that we should consider or is it perfectly fine and natural?
I have the sausage making book by Jerry Predika..he doesn't use any of the boughten cures..that contain the nitrites and nitrates..he uses a cure that "generally consists of one lb. sugar, five lbs.of salt and three tablespoons of garlic powder." I'm curious what the sausage making veterans on this forum think of that. thanks GeiyserQ..for the info..I am probably better off for now just sticking with the recipes as they are.
Do not use iodized salt. Kosher, pickling, sea, etc., but not iodized.
angel blades,
Magic Dragon's post above is a perfect description of what TQ is. Go to the link he posted to read more. Its www.mortonsalt.com.
Sodium nitrates & nitrites have been around for a long time. As a matter of fact The wood you burn contains them. A cold smoke under a long period of time would be applied to salted meats and walla........you had cured hams and sausages. By a long time I mean days and weeks.
Some folks used to use (and some still do) salt peter. But its unregulated, so I'm told, and not consistant.
Morton merely puts out a product with all the right stuff in it to let people cure and smoke meat in a fraction of the time it used to take and still be safe doing it.
marge,
Real country hams are cured just using salt and cold smoke, but they take more than a month to complete and temperature really has to be safe guarded.
If you are not going to use any type of cure containing nitrates/ nitrites then I would be leary of slow smoking meats over an 8 hour period where the temp remains in the danger zone for over 4 hours.
Its your call, but they do use those curing salts commercially for a reason. Err on the side of caution when it comes to feeding something to people that could have grave consequences.
Just my .02
Magic Dragon's post above is a perfect description of what TQ is. Go to the link he posted to read more. Its www.mortonsalt.com.
Sodium nitrates & nitrites have been around for a long time. As a matter of fact The wood you burn contains them. A cold smoke under a long period of time would be applied to salted meats and walla........you had cured hams and sausages. By a long time I mean days and weeks.
Some folks used to use (and some still do) salt peter. But its unregulated, so I'm told, and not consistant.
Morton merely puts out a product with all the right stuff in it to let people cure and smoke meat in a fraction of the time it used to take and still be safe doing it.
marge,
Real country hams are cured just using salt and cold smoke, but they take more than a month to complete and temperature really has to be safe guarded.
If you are not going to use any type of cure containing nitrates/ nitrites then I would be leary of slow smoking meats over an 8 hour period where the temp remains in the danger zone for over 4 hours.
Its your call, but they do use those curing salts commercially for a reason. Err on the side of caution when it comes to feeding something to people that could have grave consequences.
Just my .02
I have a book, "Limpy's Homemade Sausage . . and then some" that uses prague power for all of his smoked sausage. I don't know how widely it is available.
SausageMaker.com sells what they call Insta-Cure No. 1 which they say is Formerly Prague Powder #1 and Insta-Cure No.2. Basic directions are under the product descriptions. Do a search for salt to find it easily.
I have used neither so far, basically because I can buy TenderQuick at the local market. After I buy a bag it takes a while to use it up.
SausageMaker.com sells what they call Insta-Cure No. 1 which they say is Formerly Prague Powder #1 and Insta-Cure No.2. Basic directions are under the product descriptions. Do a search for salt to find it easily.
I have used neither so far, basically because I can buy TenderQuick at the local market. After I buy a bag it takes a while to use it up.