Can't find tender quick and I don't have pink salt...


 
You won't really be curing it, so it won't really come out like bacon just smoked belly. If you have a sporting goods store like Bass Pro or Gander Mountain in your area you may be able to find cure. Williams-Sonoma has it too, but it's priced accordingly. Some grocery stores have MTQ.
 
You can also look for it by it's other names:
Prague powder #1, Insta Cure #1, Tinted Cure, Fast Cure, Sel Rose, Speed Cure or Quick Cure.
Hopefully, it should be available somewhere in Ohio:wsm:
Good Luck with your search.
 
There are recipes for bacon without nitrates/nitrites, such as this one (which I've made before and it was good): http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Home-Cured-Bacon

Don't feel badly about having trouble finding MTQ. I think I went to 6 or 7 local grocery stores before finding it. At that final one, I told the grocery manager that he was never allowed to pull it from inventory.
 
Also, try your local butcher shop. They might not have MTQ but they might have their own curing mix which is pretty much the same thing (salt/sugar/nitrate/nitrite).
 
I found some at a Market that makes their own sausage. They didn't have it on the shelves, they had some in the back and just sold me a bag.
 
Yes, you can make your bacon with just salt and some sugar.
Here in Norway, both amateurs and the food industry have made bacon without nitrites for many years. (E250)
From 1973 and for many years it was banned for use in food.
It has in fact been forbidden to use in food for many years. Your bacon won't be red, but more greyish in colour due to oxydation, and the taste is a bit different, but not much. The most obvious difference is te grey colour of the meat.
Pork belly cures just fine without nitrites, as I define the word. I'm not sure what Jon Des means when he says that it does not cure.
Due to EU regulations nitrites can be used again.
 
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I've found Tender Quick at a Super Target, the kind that sells groceries. Large sporting goods stores, like Bass Pro Shop, may sell cure #1.
 
Your bacon won't be red, but more greyish in colour due to oxydation, and the taste is a bit different, but not much. The most obvious difference is the grey colour of the meat.
Pork belly cures just fine without nitrites, as I define the word. I'm not sure what Jon Des means when he says that it does not cure.
Due to EU regulations nitrites can be used again.

That's what I was referring to. When curing with nitrite you will get the grey when the meat isn't fully or uniformly cured, which in my mind is uncured. Then again, I've never had belly cured without nitrite.
 
Best price I ran into for Prague Powder #1/Instacure #1/etc etc is Allied Kenco. They suck at answering emails, however. But whenever I order, they've been good so far. Buy a pound and you'll be set for quite a long time. Also, as Martin has pointed out, canning salt is a better choice than kosher salt, since it's grain size is closer to Prague Powder's. And as long as you are doing it small, use a bit of powdered sugar instead of the usual granulated sugar. Easy to make your own, Martin has a great replacement recipe as do a few others. Won't be as fluffy and powdery as MTQ, but it will cure bacon and other meats just fine. I have 14 pounds of belly bacon, 4 pounds of loin bacon, and maybe 5 pounds of thick cut pork chops curing as I type. I'll start smoking them tomorrow.
 
I was able to get some from the meat supplier I bought the pork belly from ... gotta find the actual meat suppliers that have a retail counter as well.
 

 

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