pastrami and tender quick

I would really like to try pastrami this weekend. The only thing I can't find anywhere is tender quick. Is there something else I can do?

Call every butcher in the area--especially those you know or think might cure their own sausages--and see if any have and will sell you sodium nitrite. If not, try the pharmacies, especially the older Mom-and-Pop ones--but be sure to specify food grade sodium nitrite.

If you can find it (you don't need much) it cannot be subbed 1:1 with TQ--you have to make a mix. But it's very simple to do.

Barring that, you can order on line. Though you can get TQ, I'd recommend getting curing salt and making your own curing mix. It's much cheaper and more recipes are written for a self-made mix than for TQ, e.g., recipes for bacon, cured sausages, etc.

DQ Curing salt is available here. (Remember that straight nitrite, or products that contain nitrite (like DQ or TenderQuick) should not be mistaken for regular table salt (DQ and similar products are dyed pink as a reminder). Though safe in small quantities, they should only be used in the exact amounts specified in recipes and should be kept out of the reach of children.)

If you order on line and decide to get DQ instead, grab some dextrose as well (on this page). It works a bit better than table sugar (sucrose) in cure recipes as it is finer and less sweet.

Thank you K Kruger,
I will definitely check the butcher shops. If I can not find TQ locally, I will order it, and wait until I have everthing ready to go. Sodium nitrate just sounds way too serious for me.

For anyone in the Sacramento/Roseville area of California, the Roseville Meat Co. on Vernon St. carries Tender Quick.

I have found TQ at the local Super Target. They have a store not too far from you in Clearwater (2747 Gulf To Bay Blvd, Clearwater). You might try looking there. I found it in the spice aisle, near the salt. It is in a blue bag, about 3"(wide) x 2.5" x 6"(tall). Locally, it was on the bottom shelf.

Why is tender quick so important. I view that stuff as poison. It is pure Na(sodium) and can be related to increasing hypertension and kidney problems if someone has borderline kidney function. I cook without it and get good results without the color and flavor enhancement of this product.

Well, no, it isn't. It's primarily salt, though, plus substantial sugar, and tiny amounts of sodium nitrite and nitrate, and propylene glycol.

One can cure without nitrite/nitrate (I often cure belly without, and one can forgo it for pastrami) but one cannot cure or brine without salt. One method or the other is required for pastrami. With neither, the result might be fine--but it wouldn't be pastrami. If someone is salt sensitive then consumption of cured or brined foods might not be the best idea in the first place.

One man's poison is another man's pleasure

Thanks all,
I gave up trying to find TQ here. Iv'e been everywhere except super target in Clearwater (thanks Rick). I just ordered it from a supplier. I am in no hurry.

Just got some tender quick in the mail today,
Oh yeh, game on for pastrami this weekend ( unless I have to work).

Originally posted by Mitch:
Why is tender quick so important. I view that stuff as poison. It is pure Na(sodium) and can be related to increasing hypertension and kidney problems if someone has borderline kidney function. I cook without it and get good results without the color and flavor enhancement of this product.

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Well you better stay away from many brands of hard and soft pretzels too. They are dipped in a solution of water and Sodium Hydroxide. That's what gives them that great flavor.