Meat Curing Salt Calculator

About this calculator

Cure #1 (also called Prague Powder #1 or pink curing salt) is a mix of table salt and 6.25% sodium nitrite, used to safely cure meat by inhibiting Clostridium botulinum growth while preserving color and flavor. The safe amount is calculated from a target nitrite concentration in the finished product — typically 120–200 parts per million, with USDA limits capping comminuted products around 200 ppm — using the formula: Cure #1 weight = (target ppm × meat weight) ÷ (nitrite percentage in Cure #1 × 10,000), with additional plain salt added separately for flavor and texture.

Home charcuterie makers and sausage hobbyists rely on this calculation rather than rough measures like "a teaspoon per five pounds" because nitrite is toxic in overly high doses and useless against botulism in overly low ones — precision matters far more here than in most kitchen measurements, since the margin between an effective cure and an unsafe one is narrow.

This calculator takes your meat weight and target nitrite ppm, and returns the exact Cure #1 and additional salt quantities needed to cure it safely.