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Morton Tender Quick Home Meat Cure, 2 Pack
$31.99
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Product Details
Morton Tender Quick is a fast-cure mix for curing meat, poultry or game in a home kitchen. Morton sells it in a 2 lb bag; this listing is a two-pack.
Morton says it gives meats a cured flavor and the characteristic pink color, and that it works particularly well with small cuts such as pork chops, spareribs and poultry, as well as salmon, shad and sablefish. It is a curing mix rather than a meat tenderizer, and Morton does not recommend it for pork belly or bacon.
Ingredients
Directions & Storage
Morton Tender Quick Home Meat Cure, 2 Pack
$31.99
The Complete Guide
How A Home Cure Works
Curing is salt doing three jobs at once. The salt draws water out of the meat and seasons it, the sugar softens the salt and feeds color development, and the small amount of nitrite and nitrate is what turns the meat pink, gives it the ham-like cured flavor and protects it while it sits. Tender Quick bundles all of that in one measured mix, which is why it is used by the tablespoon rather than by the pinch.
Because the cure has to travel into the meat from the outside, time depends on how thick the cut is, not how heavy it is. Two thin chops cure in an afternoon; a thick brisket takes the better part of a week.
Step By Step Dry Cure
- Weigh the meat. A kitchen scale is not optional. The rate in Morton's directions is per pound, and guessing is how cures go wrong.
- Measure the mix. Level measuring spoons, no heaping.
- Rub it in. Work the mix over every surface, including the ends and any pockets near the bone.
- Seal and refrigerate. Put the meat in a zip bag or a covered glass or plastic container. Never metal. Set it on a tray to catch any leaks.
- Turn it daily. For cures longer than a day, flip the bag once a day so the brine that forms coats the meat evenly.
- Rinse. When the time is up, rinse the surface under cold water and pat it dry. For a milder result, soak it in fresh cold water for 30 minutes to an hour first.
- Cook it through. Cured meat still needs to be cooked, smoked or simmered to a safe internal temperature before eating.
Equipment And Storage
- A digital kitchen scale, measuring spoons, heavy zip bags and a rimmed tray
- A refrigerator thermometer, so you know the meat is holding in the cold range Morton specifies
- Keep the bag of mix sealed and dry. It clumps if it draws moisture, and it will keep for years unopened.
- Store it away from the table salt and label the container. It looks like plain salt and must never be used as one.
Who It's For
- Home cooks making their own corned beef, cured pork chops or jerky for the first time
- Hunters and anglers curing game birds, venison or salmon in small batches
- Anyone who wants a single pre-measured cure rather than weighing out separate salt, sugar and nitrite
- The two-pack suits households that cure a few times a year and want a spare bag on the shelf
Recipes to Make
Home-Cured Pork Chops
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in pork chops, 3/4 inch thick, about 2 lb total
- 2 tbsp Morton Tender Quick, 1 tbsp per pound
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Steps
- Weigh the chops and measure the Tender Quick at 1 tablespoon per pound. Mix it with the brown sugar and pepper.
- Rub the mix over both sides of each chop. Seal them in a zip bag and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours, no longer.
- Rinse the chops under cold water, soak 30 minutes in fresh cold water for a milder cure, then pat dry.
- Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chops 5 to 6 minutes per side, until browned and cooked through to 145 F.
- Rest 3 minutes before serving.
Tip: The chops will be pink inside even when fully cooked. That is the cure, not undercooking, so go by the thermometer.
Questions About This Product
The things people actually want to know before they cook with it.
How much Tender Quick do I use per pound of meat?
One tablespoon per pound for dry curing whole cuts, and one teaspoon per pound for ground meat and sausage. For a wet cure, Morton dissolves one cup in a gallon of water. Do not raise the rate to try to speed the cure up. More curing mix does not cure faster, it only makes the finished meat too salty.
Is Tender Quick the same as pink curing salt or Prague Powder number 1?
No, and they cannot be swapped measure for measure in either direction. Tender Quick is mostly salt and sugar carrying 0.5 percent sodium nitrite and 0.5 percent sodium nitrate, used at about a tablespoon per pound. Prague Powder number 1 is 6.25 percent sodium nitrite in salt, over twelve times as concentrated, and is used at about one level teaspoon per five pounds. Using one at the other rate either badly under cures the meat or delivers a large overdose of nitrite.
Can I use Tender Quick to make bacon?
Morton does not recommend it for pork belly or bacon. Their stated reason is that belly varies too much in fat content for a single fixed rate to cure it consistently. Tender Quick is aimed at smaller cuts such as pork chops, spareribs and poultry, and at salmon, shad and sablefish. For belly bacon, use a product formulated for it and a recipe written for that product.
How long does the meat need to cure?
Cure time follows thickness rather than weight. Morton allows five days per inch of thickness for a brisket cured for corned beef, while pork chops half to three quarters of an inch thick need only one to two hours. Bone and fat both slow the cure, so a thick, bony cut wants the longer end of any range.
How much Tender Quick do I use for jerky?
One teaspoon per pound, the same rate Morton uses for ground meat and sausage, whether the jerky is sliced or ground. Mix it through with the seasoning so it is evenly distributed rather than sitting on the surface, and give the meat several hours or overnight in the refrigerator before it goes in the dehydrator or smoker.
Is Tender Quick a meat tenderizer?
No. Morton states plainly that it is not a tenderizer, despite the name. It is a curing mix that preserves the meat, sets the pink colour and produces cured flavour. Rubbing it on a steak to soften it will simply make the steak very salty.
Can I use ordinary salt, sea salt or kosher salt instead?
Not for curing. Plain salt has no nitrite, so it will draw out water and season the meat but it will not cure it, will not give the pink colour, and does none of the work nitrite does against Clostridium botulinum in low oxygen conditions such as casings, vacuum bags and long cold smokes. If you have no cure to hand, cook the meat fresh instead of improvising a substitute.
Can I make corned beef with it?
Yes, this is one of Morton's own uses for it. Their method rubs five tablespoons of Tender Quick and two tablespoons of brown sugar over a four to six pound brisket, seals it in a bag in the refrigerator, and cures it five days per inch of thickness before simmering it until tender.
What happens if I use too much?
The meat comes out too salty and the results turn inconsistent, which is why Morton's own caution is to stay at the rate the recipe specifies. There is no way to reverse it once the cure has gone in. Soaking the finished meat in several changes of cold water pulls some salt back out, but the flavour will not come all the way back. Weigh the meat and measure the cure rather than judging by eye.
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