cure packet

[bowmanmt]

Well I just finished up smoking in mt 48imch Weston propane smoker 25 lbs of summer sausage. I used the LEM backwoods product. I found the end result a tad bit on the salty side. The kit came with the seasoning and a small pack of pink powder which is the cure packet. I called LEM and asked if it was absolutely necessary to use the nitrate cure pack.. They said yes. They said its not so much for preserving the summer sausage for later use. that it was more for during the 9 to 10 hour smoking process. What do you all think. I would really like to cut down on the salt part of it.

 

[chef jimmyj]

The bulk of the salt is in the bigger seasoning packet. The salt in the pink cure amounts to very little, 1 teaspoon in 5 pounds of sausage meat...JJ

 

[daveomak]

The pink packet prevents botulism when smoking meats.. It's sodium nitrite....
Cut back on the seasoning packet and add seasonings that don't have salt...
Does their seasoning packet say it has salt in it ??? Probably...

 

[bowmanmt]

Thanks for the info I'll check it out

 

[chef jimmyj]

The cure amounts to less than 2 Tablespoons in 25 pounds. Verses, if salted a 2%, would equal 8 ounces of salt or about a 1 heaping Cup full of Morton Kosher in the seasoning packet. It's not the cure that's too much. Dave's advice is solid...JJ