What is the difference between cure 1 and cure 2

I may need that one down the line. Boy, just when you think that everyone's been able to agree on a standard to make things idiot-proof, someone apparently comes along and does things differently just to keep us on our toes. Jason, are you sure your cure 2 is pink and contains both nitrates and nitrites?

I see the picture you've included, from the Sausagemaker website, but everything else I know every book on sausagemaking, every other website says that ONLY cure 1, which, as you say, contains only nitrites, is tinted pink and called Tinted Cure Mix TCM or "pink salt.

Larbo, you're right. I'm looking at butcher-packer and cure 1 is pink as well, and cure 2 is white. I'm definitely sure that my cure 2 is pink. It's entirely possible that they put cure 1 in the bag and mislabeled it! Now i'm confused as well. I'll remove the reference to pink salt in the post, so as to not confuse people. I guess the lesson is just make sure you use the right stuff! Looking at the Wedliny Domowe site, they say "Both Instacure 1 and Instacure 2 contain a small amount of FDA approved red coloring agent that gives them a slight pink color," so I guess Insta Cure is different from everyone else in tinting both their cures.

Don't know how long they've been doing this, but it does mean that we shouldn't say "pink salt" or "tinted cure mix" anymore for our recipes. We should specify Cure 1 or 2, and everyone needs to remember that nitrites are for fast curing items bacon, cooked sausages , while nitrite and nitrate together are for long-curing items ham, raw salumi.

That's weird Scott. Mine is pink for 2 and white for 1 actually possibly an ultralight pink, it does list a red dye as a colorant. Maybe they changed suppliers. Mine is from Mine is only about 3 months old. I thought there was a discrepancy when I initially read your post. Now, I'm doubting myself, gonna go check to make sure. Package labeled "D. However, looking at pictures from The Sausage Maker www. Could be that different suppliers color their products differently. If so, this is dangerously confusing.

Ahh, just re-read the comments and realized that Larbo had said the same thing earlier. Sorry for the repeat. Anyone know if there is a difference between Cure 2 and Tender Quick?

Thanks Jake. As one who can easily drive to the Sausage Maker, I can tell you that both Instacure 1 and 2 are pink! I would like to read for myself about the amount of nitrates in spinach. If that is true I wont hesitate consuming my salami because of that. Can you tell me where I can find that fact on spinach? Jhenry: i've never made my pancetta without cure 2. Given that it is a dry cured product that dries in the curing chamber i would hesitate to not use it, but that's just me.

If you're talking real bacon, smoked and all ,i've never actually made it Anonymous the information can be found in "The Art of Fermented Sausages" book, which cites a European study by MAFF, number year: Hi Jason, I have a question on something that isn't related to the current post. Here is the question. I just got a bonelss leg of lamb and I'm going to be using your recipe to dry cure it. Why do you use powder garlic and not the "real" thing.

I think it's cause of mold issues? Am I right? Sorry for asking it here. Hi Jason, I live in Brazil and have been curing bacons for a while with something they call "salt cure", which is your cure 2, sodium nitrite and nitrate. I'm about to embark on my first lonzino, and am wondering if I can pull it off without the mold, which seems a bit hard to find around here. What about salames?

Adriana, making lonzino or salame without the mold should be perfectly fine. I just recently started using it, and i've always had good results. Hi Jason Love your blog and am ready to start making my first homemade What would you recommend for this first time? Thank you! Regarding the curing chamber - what do you suggest to use and what would the optimal conditions be? Mango mama, i've answered this question in the pancetta posts, as well as whole posts dedicated to the curing chamber.

Please look at my archived posts. Bill, i really am. I've just been so busy on weekends i haven;t had a chance to do much of anything. Next project is a venison salame. I was just ribbin' ya a bit and maybe just a little proddin' too.

Take care, Bill. Jason, drop me an email when you are starting the venison. I was just given another piece by the butcher. You published many ideas.

Thanks for the ideas I once spoke to a plant inspector at Columbus Salame Co. This makes sense to me. Al Verona. I'm just trying to find out the right, or the least wrong, way of doing home meat salting.

What do you think about the things told in that post and following posts in the same thread? Did you already had this information?

Yellow, that's an interesting thread. One of the users states that the main issue is the formation of nitrosamines in the stomach after consumption of nitrites. I was under the impression that nitrosamines formed at high temperatures, and not in the stomach. The real question is "in what dose do these things become an issue". I'm not sure there is really an answer to that. I live overseas and cannot get my hands on any of the brands of cures listed here. Nor can I find a curing salt on the shelf.

Can you offer advice on how to make my own cure? Could I buy the necessary stuff and mix it? You could get pure sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite, but i doubt that is available, plus it would be impossibly difficult to measure in the microscopic weights that would be used. Where do you live? If I recall correctly somewhere within some of those posts someone said the limit was like mg for each kg or something like that, even though I'm not sure how they got these numers.

Because conservation is not my main concern considering the fact that in my family we're pretty efficient at making this meat disappear quickly ;. Yellow, nitrates are used to protect the meat while it dries over the course of weeks in the curing chamber. Once it reaches a water activity level below a certain point, botulism can no longer grow anyhow, but while it's losing water to reach that safe water activity level, i like to use it to keep the meat safe.

Hi Jason, Re: Yellow's question. You can make your own "cure" by bying Saltpeter at a drug store. Saltpeter potassium nitrate is used in curing meat at a rate of 25g per kg of meat. This proportion is very difficult to measure when dealing with the relatively small amounts of meat used at home,so to make your "cure" you mix together 25g of saltpeter and g of salt. You then use this mixture at the rate of 0.

Also, whenever i use nitrate I ad 0. It degrades the nitrate over time. Al, i wouldn't recommend doing that. When you mix the nitrates with the plain salt, there is no way to know that you've gotten an even distribution, and that when you're scooping the mixture you're getting the correct amount of curing salts and regular salts.

When cures are made commercially, the salts are dissolved in water and re-evaporated so the nitrates are bound to the salt crystals, rather than just being mixed together. Jason, let me disagree with you slightly. While I would never substitute a saltpeter blend for instacure 2 in dry curing, I have used it for years on things that will be fully cooked, Like corned beef and Canadian bacon. Plus, you can make smoke bombs with it!

Hi Jason, I'm sure you're right, I just never heard of the evaporation process used for making the cure. Scotty, what difference does it make if it the item is cooked or dry cured? To each their own of course. Honestly, i dont see a benefit of making a blnd at home, given how cheap the premade stuff is.. The main purpose of curing salt is to prevent food borne pathogens.

Dry cured meats are eaten raw — there is a reason the Roman word sausage was botulus. The things I described are cooked past the point where that is an issue. Distribution of the nitrate is irrelevant to the type of item I mention.

They are either wet brine cured, or spend time in a brine created from the fluids extracted by the salts. Just flip the item over twice a day. All of these of items can be successfully and safely made without nitrates at all. But the result, while tasty, is not pretty. When my Grandma showed me how to corn beef, pink salt was not available, there was no Tender Quick in the market, and color television was the latest thing.

You went to the local pharmacist, who you knew by name, and asked for a jar of saltpeter. After he made you promise not to make smoke bomb, he gave it to you. I still keep a jar around, and every year or so I corn a brisket for Rosh Hashanah the old way. Scotty, nothing wrong with a discussion. They survive well above boiling point of water. Whether or not spores are formed during your cure period is up for discussion, but the cooking temperature is irrelevant if they do form.

If you mix 1 part nitrate to parts salt for example , shake it up, and then scoop 1 tablespoon worth of that mixture, there is no way to know whether your tablespoon is still a mixture of the salt and nitrate. Therefore, you don't truly know how much nitrate you're adding.

I can also play russian rulette, and not die 5 out of 6 times on average, but do i? Will it work, yes. Will it hurt you? Probably not. I say "why take that chance when the proper product is readily available". But, as i said, to each their own. I'm not saying my way is the only way. My way is A way to do this stuff. Hi Jason, Looks like I started a "cure war" here! Cooking Schools. World Cuisine. Grain Dishes. Party Snacks. Breakfast Foods.

Special Diets. Patricks Day. Welcome to Delishably. Related Articles. By Rajan Singh Jolly. By Sourav Rana. By Chitrangada Sharan. By Amanda Lorenzo. By Linda Crampton. By Travel Chef. By Charles Kikas. By Kiwisoutback. It is used at a rate of 1 teaspoon per 5 pounds of ground meat. One level teaspoon a mix of 1 ounce sodium nitrite 6. The cures are not interchangeable so follow the recipe you use closely and use a recipe from a reliable source. Curing meat requires specific expertise and failure to cure meat properly may result in sickness or death.

If you have no experience in this area, we advise you to consult an expert to teach you proper techniques and applications. Since curing meat requires such a specific skill set, otherwise, it can lead to illness or worse, we highly recommend consulting with an expert to teach you proper techniques.

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