Morton Tender Quick contains salt, sugar and the sodium nitrate (Prague, Instacure etc). You can order it on line through many suppliers that I have posted here in the past. Butcher Packer, and Allied Kenco are two sources. Buying the salt petre from a pharmacy would be fine too, but its quite powerful, and you must use very little. Its also used as a component in gun powder! Usually the meat handling stuff is blended with salt and red coloring to differentiate it from regular salt. You need to pump it into the meat with a big hypo syringe, about 20% of the weight. Then the meat also gets soaked in the brine for at least 24 hours. The amount used for a 10 pound weight or meat is only about a teaspoon or two mixed with a gallon of water and salt. Here is another site that also sells it along with many spice blends. The major difference in corned beef and pastrami is corned beef is not usually coated with ground spices, and is boiled/simmered in a spiced water, or slow cooked in a crock pot. The pastrami is drained of curing brine, then liberally coated with spices of mustard seed, celery seed, ground red sweet pepper, granulated onion, garlic, pepper, and coriander. I also grind up a few bay leaves, as well as a little rosemary to add to the spice coating. The meat is cured in a very slow oven under 170 dgerees for about an hour, then 190, for an hour, then 210 for another hour, then 240-250 for the balance of the time, or until the internal temp reaches 160 degrees. Allow it to cool covered, then chill overnight, and slice thin to serve either cold, or place some slices in a small covered pan with a half cup of water and steam it for about 2 minutes, drain, and serve. Here is a link that might be useful: Sausage Maker

Botulism isn't usually a concern if its cured with nitrates/nitrites. The 'Prague' is adding nitrites (and nitrogen) to the meat and has a preservative effect, which makes it stay pink. They use these in pepperoni, and you have probably seen pepperoni and other meats that are not even refrigerated, like some specialty sausages and even summer sausages. Because you don't have good control over the amount or salt and nitrites/nitrates in the Morton Tender Quick, it tends to be suitable for those who are not too concerned if its overly salty, or just want to give it a simple single try. When I make this brine, its usually the meat that gets weighed and the brine amount its based on the salt and Prague (nitrites/nitrates) and water. Here, I do use measuring devices, as its important to get the right amount of salt, and after curing if its too salty its hard to remove it. Prague is also got pink color and salt added so its not just pure nitrites/nitrates. If it were, it would be about 1/8 the amount that is in a tablespoon of Prague. They do this so that its easier to measure or weigh the nitrites/nitrates, and you are less likly to over do the amount. Soaking the meat for that long (2 weeks!? )is too much time. No matter what the books say. I use a meat pump, an oversized hypodermic needle and syringe and inject the brine into the meat. Because a brisket is quite thin, it needs very little brining, maybe 2-3 days tops. A very low, slow cooking is essential for a tender result. In this forum are many sources for the nitrites and nitrates and other curing supplies as well as links to recipes. Corned beef is also made into pastrami, by coating the outside with the same pckling spices and baking very slowly like 6 hours at 250 degrees. Usually the nitrates are used for longer, slower air curing, and nitrites are used for fast curing like sausages and corned beef. They also identify these as Instacure #1 and Instacure #2. Here, I don't use a pickling spice mix per se, but instead grind up peppercorns, mustard seed, coriander, bay leaf, celery seed, dried garlic, onion, and a few other spices (done in a small blender type coffee grinder) THis spice mix is also added to the brine. Suggest that uou remove it from the brine now, and rinse it off well, then either simmer to cook it very slowly for several hours, or bake at a very low 200-250 degree oven, covered, for about 4-6 hours. The internal temp should eventially reach about 160. I have even made a great pastrami from very lean eye of the round, which in itself tends to be quite tough. Not sure if you actaully tasted the brine before it was soaking the meat, but if it was overly salty, it may result in that same end result. Years ago, before I started making cured meats, my mom had gotten a recipe off a package of Morton Tender Quick to make a hamburger type pepperoni that was wrapped in aluminim foil like a big sausage and baked. It did turn out quite interesting, but was a bit salty. I still have that almost full bag of Morton Tender Quick here, for nearly 30 years now, and have not used any since. Lots of good info on nitrates and nitrites at this link to: http://www.butcher-packer.com/pages-document_general_info/product-743/nitrite-and-nitrate-curing-salt.html Here is a link that might be useful: Butcher Packer

The only way that I cook cabbage is Hamburger & Cabbage. Just made it tonight. Brown the beef along w/ chopped onion & garlic--then I added about 1 1/4 heads (medium size) of chunked cabbage, 1 T. lower sodium beef Better than Bullion, some of the NO Salt seasoning from Big Lots and only about 3/4 cup water. Loosely covered (pizza pan) the Dutch oven. Cooked on medium for about 8 minutes or until the cabbage was looking wilted. Removed from heat & left covered for 2-3 minutes. Delicious. Anyway, I think you're overcooking the cabbage. Also, using a skillet for such a small amount of cabbage, you have a lot of surface area exposed to heat so the water is evaporating fast. Try only a brief saute, add the water and cook until the cabbage looks wilted. Then remove from heat & let the accumulated heat finish cooking the cabbage.

I don't worry a lot about it, but I avoid adding them when possible. I made the canadian bacon and the peameal bacon without it, as they were only brined two and three days, respectively. The salt brine for corned beef is going to keep the meat fine for five days in the fridge without an issue, but if I were leaving it for a couple of weeks, I might have second thoughts. Then again, those fancy steakhouses dry age beef for 40 days or more, so there's that, everyone has to make their own choices about what they are comfortable with. I know that 90% of the nitrates in our bodies come from vegetables, and 10% from processed meats, but there's a difference in nitrates. According to the University of Minnesota: "Normally, sodium nitrate in vegetables does not pose the same health risk as nitrites found in processed meat. The nitrites added to processed meats as preservatives and color enhancers can combine with proteins called amines to form compounds called nitrosamines. Nitrosamines have shown cancer-causing potential in animal studies. Nitrates and nitrites themselves do not have cancer-causing potential. Vegetables contain ascorbic acid, a form of vitamin C and an antioxidant which helps prevent nitrosamine formation, although it might not completely prevent it. Store fresh cooked vegetables high in nitrates for no more than one to two days in the refrigerator or cook only as much as you plan to eat at one time." So, are you more concerned about the food safety issues with leaving beef in brine alone, or with the nitrates added to your diet? It's strictly your call, the flavor will be there no matter what. Laceyvail, I never thought of corning the tongue, that's a good idea! Do you take the skin off it first, or brine with the skin on? Annie