Q & A: Morton’s Tender Quick

You mentioned Morton Tender Quick in your article on Home Curing Meat. Do you know if this is available in Israel? Is MTQ healthier to use than saltpeter? Where can one buy saltpeter in Israel? How would one substitute MTQ in a recipe using saltpeter?

These are all great questions, and I’ve asked them all myself.

eBay is a wonderful online tool. I recommend it. I have had an account there since March of 1999, and I’ve ordered from all over the world and have had it sent to me both here and when I lived in the States. It is where I bought the Morton’s Tender Quick. And an injector. And all sorts of other things that are too complicated to find here. eBay has a very strong merit system. Whole businesses have failed on one bad feedback. Know your prices by doing a little research, pay promptly, have patience with international post, and you’ll be fine.

I have not found MTQ for sale in Israel.

“Healthy” is not a word commonly used to describe cured meats. They’re two different products; you can achieve identical results with both. But there is no straightforward substitution for each other. At least none that I’ve seen. What I have seen is math. Lots of it.

I have found saltpeter in spice stores in Machane Yehuda. You have to ask for it.

Salt cures have nitrates and/or nitrites and/or sugar in addition to salt. The ingredients in their proportions are what makes them different from each other. So if you want to substitute MTQ for saltpeter in a recipe that doesn’t include sugar, you’re going to affect the flavor of the final product, possibly adversely. (Sugared salami? Yech.) If this isn’t an issue, omit the saltpeter entirely and swap the salt for MTQ, but no more than 1 1/2 teaspoons per 500gr of meat. USFDA regulations allow 7 pounds (3.18kg) of saltpeter per 100 gallons (378 liters) of liquid cure.

Comments

comments

4 thoughts on “Q & A: Morton’s Tender Quick”

  1. Are there any places outside Machane Yehuda to get saltpeter? Which spice place in Machane Yehuda can I find it?

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.