Hoosier Hill Farm Prague Powder No.1 Curing Salt, 1LB (Pack of 1)

I recently started to cure my own bacon from pork belly, using this curing salt in the curing recipe. The homemade bacon has been a hit with everyone that has tried it. When doing research, everyone mentioned to make sure to use the pink prague powder curing salt. The pictures on the listing showed it was pink when purchasing. When I received, it was white which caused concern that maybe I ordered the wrong thing or maybe it had gone bad? I don't know how, but I reached out to the sellers and they told me that they have started removing the food coloring that makes it pink. That it was just colored pink to differentiate between it and the No. 2 salts. They said to make sure I don't get the two salts mixed up. No. 2 is used in long cures and using a no. 2 on a short cure can leave excess nitrates behind in the meat. So throw in excellent customer service on top of a decent product.

Cures food well, and does not clump. It's pink salt, so there is not a lot to say here that has not been said. It's an FDA regulated product and the formulation is regulated by law. It's not like one "pink salt" recipe will beat another - there is no "recipe". One reason to choose this brand: the lid and the plastic tub make it easy to measure, and to later store the product. It keeps it clean and dry. The granules are very fine and that helps adhesion to food and ultimately curing by way of dissolving into solution. The coloring holds when mixed in large ratios, and that is nice for safety reasons. We tell our kids, "If it's pink, it stinks!" Basic concentration reminders are on the side of the jar (4 ounces per 100 pounds) so this jar is good for about 400 pounds of dry-cured meats. EDIT: Someone asked a question in the comment section and I decided to copy my answer into this post hoping others will find it useful: Prague #1 (Instacure #1 is the same) is used for the preservation of meats that will be cooked. It is a formulation of salt and Sodium Nitrite. Prague #2 (Instacure #2) is used for preservation of meats that will dry cure (not be cooked). Think Salami - it just hangs and dries but is not cooked. It is a formulation of salt and both Sodium Nitrite as well as Sodium Nitrate. One acts immediately and the other is a kind of "slow release" version (the nitrate will convert to nitrite over time). There are exceptions to what I note above ( - so all you cure masters out there please hold your clucking - ), but these are good general rules to live by. Another one is this - if you are new to this then you almost surely want the #1 cure. It is what you will use for hams, cooked sausages (hot dogs, bratwurst, etc.), pastrami and bacon. Dry aging is not rocket science, but it builds off of the skills you learn with making to-be-cooked products. So start here. Incidentally, most people will preserve food using #1 cure, never make anything dry aged, and be quite happy. I use #1 about 95% of the time. Please do not consider these interchangeable. #2 is not "better" than #1 for bacon, for instance. There is some pretty solid chemistry and biology involved and you don't want to mess with either. My advice is to buy this #1 cure and have some fun with it. Then decide if you want to dry age with #2. Either way, I suggest you consider Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing (Revised and Updated). It is the modern bible for the preservation of food and includes discussion of everything you will need to know. The recipes are a bit salty for my tastes, but easily adjustable. Good luck. If you like this answer, please let the Amazon Universe know by clicking the 'helpful' links to this and the original post. Amazon will weigh helpful answers higher when people search in the future. Democracy in action, sorta. Thanks.

Does the job as advertised.

I ordered this item for making jerky. When it arrived it was white, no hint of pink. It is not returnable, but I found the way to get a refund. Refund was prompt, I ordered another jar, which arrived today. Again, it's white with no hint of pink whatsoever. The percent of sodium nitrite is correct, and the expiration date is 2027. I have reached out to Hoosier Hill Farm to ask them if white is actually safe to use - it seems quite odd that I would get two jars that are white rather than pink. ETA - i got a message back from Hoosier Hill: "Thank you for reaching out about this recent purchase! Due to the Federal Mandate in 2025, the FDA announced that certain food colorants are to be phased in the US. The push aims to remove all synthetic food dyes from US food products. In order to stay ahead of the curve on this, we did remove the Red #3 from our Prague Powders. We do apologize for the confusion as this rolled out without prior notice! We can assure you the product you received in our Prague #1 Powder. Furthermore, we are working to update our ingredient list to reflect the change ASAP. " That explains it, and I feel much better about this product.

Good Quality

this is the best for adding to my recipes for smoking meat. Not real salty just right

I don't think there can be much of anything special about any brand of Prague Powder Curing Salt. I chose this Hoosier Hill product because it is lower in cost than many, and because I'm also very pleased with Hoosier Hill Smoke Powder. It seems that all #1 Prague Powders are 6.25% sodium nitrate, and the rest ordinary salt. I use this curing salt when making jerky in our dehydrator. The food science recommendations for non-smoked meat, not cured with nitrates, advise that the meat should be heated through to an internal temperature of 160 degrees or more. But I don't like the result when jerky is dried at such high temperature - it acquires a bit of a burnt taste and too crunchy texture. So, to dry at lower temperature (130 degrees) while adding some insurance against spoilage, I incorporate this curing salt into my brine/marinade recipe. There is some fear out of making jerky from pork, but I make jerky for my back packing trips out of pork loin, which is very inexpensive, very lean, and very tasty. For food safety, pork for jerky should first be frozen for at least 3 weeks at below zero degrees F. After thawing, I slice the loin into 1/4 inch thick slices and trim away all of the small amount of fat on the outer layer, and then pound the slices to about 1/16 inch thick with a meat tenderizing hammer (the slices will shrink back up to end up about 1/8 inch thick after marinating). The spikes on the hammer open up more surface area to accept brine, and make the jerky easy to chew. It's also a lot faster easier to cut and trim the loin into approximate 1/4 inch slices than to cut it into exact 1/8 inch thick slices. Any thick spots just pound to uniform thickness. My recipe for the jerky marinade for 5 pounds of trimmed pork loin: 3 TBSP salt, 4 tsp pink curing salt, 2 cups honey, 2 cups Teriyaki sauce, 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1 TBSP garlic powder, 1/2 TBSP ground white pepper, 3 TBSP Hoosier Hill Smoke Powder, 1 tsp ground cloves, 1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground red pepper. Marinade 8 to 10 hours in refrigerator. (More than 10 hours or so can get too salty if sliced thin). Dry in food dehydrator for 5 to 6 hours at 130 degrees depending on preferred level of dryness.

I'm impressed that there is a No. 1 curing salt option without the banned red food coloring. I bought this a year before the ban goes into effect. Great work!