Subbing Tender Quick for Cure#1

[Hex23]

As I mentioned over here:http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=5402.msg50097#msg50097
I started my first batch of beef jerky using the equilibrium brine outlined by Tony. 

Since I couldn't get my hands on Cure #1 very readily, I bought some Tender Quick at the store.  I read a few things online about substitutions, but they were all over the board.  Most notably, there are at least a couple different ideas for what fraction of the non-curing salt portion is table salt and what portion is sugar (perhaps it's changed over the years).  But I think there is enough info on the label to determine that.  We know that 0.5% is NaNO2 and 0.5% is NaNO3 and the rest is table salt and sugar.  On my package, a "serving" is 3.5 g and contains 1340 mg sodium.  By my calculations, it looks like the other portions are 96.5% salt and 2.5% sugar.

For my substitution, I just assumed that the total "curing power" is 1% vs the 6.25% NaNO2 in Cure #1.  That might not be a good assumption.  I figure since the Nitrate has longer term effects, it will all be fine.  After all, many of other techniques for applying curing salts don't seem very precise/repeatable.

After running the numbers to try to match the jerky-curing brine recipes I'm trying to mimick, it seems that Tender Quick brings a pretty "typical" ratio of curing salts to table salt, so it worked out pretty well.  Going forward I'll buy Cure #1 since it will give me more flexibility.

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[DivotMaker]

Yes, please...get some #1 Instacure.  No way to accurately convert TQ in an equilibrium brine, and accurately control the cure/salt/sugar ratio.  Also, not sure what you mean about "nitrates has longer term effects."  Can you explain this?  Think you may be missing something...

[Hex23]

BTW, thanks for great writeups on the Jerky.  It really saved me a bunch of research.

On the Nitrate topic, I'm really just parroting what I read on Wikipedia:

The sodium nitrate found in Prague powder #2 gradually breaks down over time into sodium nitrite, and by that time a dry cured sausage is ready to be eaten, no sodium nitrate should be left.[2] For this reason it is recommended for meats that require long (weeks to months) cures, like hard salami and country ham.

[DivotMaker]

Thanks for liking the jerky write-ups!  I find this method to give me the most consistent results of any I've tried!

The whole "nitrite vs. nitrate" thing can get confusing, for sure!  The main thing to remember is that the nitrites (#1 cure) in a brine don't have to "convert" inside the meat...they go right to work curing!  Nitrates need several days, or weeks, to convert to nitrites.  So, adding nitrates to a brine will not have enough time to convert to nitrites, so the cure is incomplete.  That is why there is no substitute for #1 cure in a brine.