Sausage cures for cooked and dry sausages











 








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Nitrate Cures
 
For any aspiring sausage maker it is a necessity to
understand and know how to apply  Cure 1 and Cure 2 as those two cures
are used world wide though under different names and with different proportions of
nitrates and salt.
What is Instacure 1

 Instacure 1 is a mixture of 1oz of  Sodium Nitrite (6.25 %) to 1 lb of salt
It MUST
be used to cure all meats that will require smoking at low temperatures. It may be used to cure
meats for fresh sausages (optional).
What
is Instacure 2

Instacure 2 is a mixture of 1 oz of  Sodium Nitrite (6.25 %) along with .64 oz
od Sodium Nitrate (4 %)
to 1 lb of salt. It can be compared to the time-releasing capsules used for
treating colds. It must
be used with any products that do not require cooking, smoking or refrigeration
and is mainly used for products that will be air cured for long time like:
Country Ham, salami, peperoni, and other dry sausages.
Both
Instacure 1 and Instacure 2 contain a small amount of FDA approved red coloring
agent that gives them a slight pink color thus eliminating any possible
confusion with common salt and that is why they are called sometimes “pink “
curing salt.
They
also go sometimes by the name Prague Powder 1 (Instacure 1) and Prague Powder 2
(Instacure 2).
Note
: Instacure1 is not interchangeable with Instacure 2 and vice versa.

Morton
Salt Cures
Morton™
Salt Company in addition to making common Table Salt also produces a number of
cures like Sugar Cure mix, Smoke Flavored Sugar Cure mix, Tender Quick mix,
Sausage and Meat Loaf seasoning mix. To use them properly one has to follow
instructions that accompany every mix.

European
cures and nitrite limits
There
are different instacures in European countries and for example : in Poland
a commonly used cure goes by the name “Peklosól" and contains 0.6 % of
Sodium Nitrite to salt. No
coloring agent is added and it is white in color.
Allowable limits (150 ppm) of sodium nitrite in meats measured in ppm are
somewhat lower than  the ones permitted in the USA .
 



Country
Cure Name
% of
nitrite in salt


USA
Cure # 1
6.25 %


Poland
Peklosól
0.6 %


Germany
Pökelsalz
0.6 %


France
Sel nitrité
0.6 %


England
Nitrited salt
various



 
In European
cures
such a low nitrite percentage in salt is self-regulating and it is almost
impossible to apply too much nitrite to meat, as the latter will taste too salty.
Following a recipe you could replace salt will peklosól altogether as long as
the recipe calls for 2-3% of salt in meat and the established nitrite limits
will be preserved.
There
is a different case with American Instacure #1, that contains much more nitrite in it
(6.5%) and we have to color it pink to avoid the danger of mistakes and
poisoning.
It
really does not matter so much what percentage of sodium nitrite is mixed with
salt as long as we properly calculate the total weight of cure mix thatÅ‚s added
to meat. You can have a high content of nitrate in the salt but if you cure 100
lbs of meat and add 1/4
of an ounce of cure (salt and nitrite) instead of ½ pound as the recipe
requires, you have almost no nitrite.
Amounts
of nitrite needed to cure meat
A
proportion of sodium nitrite added to salt in developing instacure was developed
in such a way that if we add 4 ounces of Instacure # 1 to 100
pounds of meat, the
quantity of nitrite added to meat will comfort to the legal limits permitted by
the Meat Division of the United States Department of Agriculture. The legal
limits specify the maximum amount of nitrate that can be added to meat, there is
no lower minimum limit.
Keep in mind that sodium nitrite (Cure #1) dissipates
rapidly in time and although you may have150 PPM (parts per million) when curing
started in a few days the leftover amount in cooked product will be much lower.
This is the main reason for adding nitrate (Cure #2) to air-dryed products as
the sodium nitrite will be gone in a few days and the curing process will be
halted.

 
More information on curing can be found at:

Curing

 
 

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