Sausage Safety Questions

whistech

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Feb 21, 2009

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Spring Texas

• Jan 15, 2016

• #1

I am going to make some cured sausage tomorrow and now that time is getting close, I have a couple of questions:

1. Is it safe to make the sausage using cure 1 then stuff, vacuum pack and freeze the sausage to smoke at a later date at low temps for several hours (probably 8 to 10 hours)?      I don't know if the cure 1 will still protect against food poising after it is frozen, thawed and then smoked.    Will the quality of the sausage suffer doing this method?

 Thank you for any help you can provide and I will post some pictures of my sausage making either Sunday or Monday.

 

tropics

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• Jan 15, 2016

• #2

whistech said:

 
I am going to make some cured sausage tomorrow and now that time is getting close, I have a couple of questions:

1. Is it safe to make the sausage using cure 1 then stuff, vacuum pack and freeze the sausage to smoke at a later date at low temps for several hours (probably 8 to 10 hours)?      I don't know if the cure 1 will still protect against food poising after it is frozen, thawed and then smoked.    Will the quality of the sausage suffer doing this method?

 Thank you for any help you can provide and I will post some pictures of my sausage making either Sunday or Monday.

Click to expand...

Why not just freeze the meat til you are ready to stuff and smoke

Richie

 

SmokinAl

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• Jan 15, 2016

• #3

That's a great answer Richie.

 

boykjo

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• Jan 15, 2016

• #4

I dont see the problem with it as long as you don't hold the meat in the freezer for a long period of time. I cannot find any specific information about freezing raw cured meat so I would treat it as cured bacon

This is from the national center for home preservation for cured bacon

Freeze quickly to a temperature of 0 degrees F. or lower. Again, the Food Marketing Institute recommends a 1 month  storage limit for unopened bacon. Our maximum recommendation would be 1 to 3 months  for bacon and cured meats. The longer you store it, the more the quality and flavor will deteriorate.

Cured meat will rancid faster in the freezer but that's meat that has been subjected to air and has not been vacuum sealed and requires to be cooked within a few weeks period . Vacuum sealing eliminates the air and allows for longer freezing periods before the meat gets freezer burn and/or spoils. 

I recommend the 1 to 3 months then it need to be used

My 2 cents

Boykjo

 

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Reactions: pc farmer

crankybuzzard

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Montague County, TX

• Jan 15, 2016

• #5

I make Italian sausage on a regular basis and always hold back some loose to use in sauce and in pizza. I freeze it, but it gets used within 30-60 days.

Best bet is to make, stuff, smoke and then freeze IMO

 

whistech

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Feb 21, 2009

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Spring Texas

• Jan 15, 2016

• #6

Tropics, Boykjo, and Cranky Buzzard Thank You for taking the time to reply.     I will probably stuff and freeze some to smoke in a couple of weeks and I will also just freeze some of the ground meat to make sausage in a couple of months.    I really appreciate your help and I will post some pictures Sunday or Monday.    You guys are my heroes!