This recipe/formula comes from Charcuterie, by Ruhlman and Polcyn, and I’ve found it to be a good substitute for TQ. For cuts of meat 4 pounds or less, I measure the cure the same way I measured TQ. My first impression is that it cures within the same time period as TQ, but it does not have as “strong” of a cure taste that TQ has.
Basic Dry Cure (make about 3 1/2 cups)
1 pound pickling salt
8 ounces granulated sugar
2 ounces InstaCure #1; or DQ Powder; or Prague Powder #1; or Cure #1
Mix well. I used a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. I mixed the ingredients at speed #2 for two minutes. Scraped the sides and mixed for two more minutes.
The actual measurement should be 2 ounces per 5 pounds of meat. Which comes to about .4 oz/pound or 2.25 teaspoons/pound (if using pickling salt), but you don’t have to be exact when using a dry cure. [I disagree with this statement] I just made some Canadian bacon, and used 1 tablespoon/pound and the lion [I believe he meant loin] was fully cured, and it was not overly salty.
When you make your Canadian bacon, slab bacon, pastrami, after measuring the dry cure you can add you other flavoring. Such as additional sugar, garlic powder, herbs etc.
If you used kosher salt instead of pickling salt, your volume measurement will be different, so you should weight the cure. No matter what salt you use in the cure, I would recommend that any meat over 4 pounds, you should weight the cure. [I believe you should always weight the cure]
If you have some patients, you can use Turbinado sugar instead of granulated sugar. Turbinado sugar has more of a molasses taste, but comes in large crystals. In a dry cure you want all ingredients about the same size so that they evenly mix. So you need to grind the Turbinado sugar to granular size, without turning it into powder form. I have a small blade grinder and the best way I’ve found to do this is to pulse 2-3 tablespoons at a time until you get the right uniformity. There are about 8-10 tablespoons in 8 ounces of Turbinado sugar."
He goes on to say, "In the past, because of it's premixed state Morton's TQ was easier to use until I found the basic cure recipe. I've been curing more lately, and most recipes call for pink salt (aka the brand names mentioned above). TQ in my area is getting harder to come by. Wal-Mart used to sell it, but no longer stocks it. So pink salt is easier for me to purchase, real inexpensive, and more versatile because so many books and recipes calls for it. I still have and use Morton's TQ, but this cure adds another option for those that see a recipe with TQ in it, and only have pink salt
