BUCKHORN CLIFFSA preparedness field manual

Food · Recipe · Book recipe 27.1

Meat Curing with Pink Curing Salt

Saltpeter cures meat only after bacteria turn it into nitrite, and it is the nitrite that does the work: it blocks the deadly botulism bacteria, fixes the pink cured color, and holds off rancidity.

Member articleHazardous

How it works

Weigh by percent
Rub & bag
Cure cold
Hot smoke & cook

Inside this article

What you'll need
Steps
Warnings
Storage and shelf life

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  • The method at a glance: weigh by percent, then rub & bag, then cure cold, then hot smoke & cook
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Prefer paper? This is Recipe 27.1, page 143, in Prepper's Chemical Survival Guide.

Keep going

Read nextPotassium NitrateSaltpeter. It cures meat, rots out tree stumps, feeds plants, and acts as a versatile oxidizer.Compounds and Cleaning · Compound

Related to this

Food · Compound Salt Shelf life: indefinite. Use non-iodized salt for every brine. Weigh curing salt. INDEFINITEMULTI-USE Food · Recipe Traditional Meat Curing Salt Blend Sodium nitrate is the slow half of a cure: bacteria turn it into nitrite over weeks, and it is the nitrite that guards the meat, which is why nitrate suits long dry-aged hams and salami rather than quick cures. Hazardous Food · Recipe Meat Preservation by Salt Curing (Dry Method) Salt preserves meat by pulling water out until there is too little left for bacteria to live on. It is the oldest method there is and it still works, but it works on a schedule: cold enough, salted long enough, and dried far enough, with a scale to prove it. Handle with care Food · Formula Curing a Raw Hide with Salt Salt does not tan a hide. It cures one, which is a different and more urgent job: it stops the rot so the hide keeps until you can tan it properly. Soak a salted hide and it goes off like any other raw meat, because nothing salt does is permanent. Handle with care
Everything in FoodNever-mix checkerShelf life tableFind a recipe by needWalk-around auditStart here

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Food · RecipeSource: Prepper's Chemical Survival Guide, Recipe 27.1, p. 143 · Last reviewed 2026-09-18

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