Doing this one thing while making sausages can KILL you, please STOP! "2 guys and a cooler"

[daveomak]

Cajuneric

 

[DougE]

I watched that right this afternoon right after doing a test fry on some summer sausage batter lol. It's all good though, it had sodium erythorbate in it.

 

[sawhorseray]

Excellent post Dave! I don't smoke much of the sausage I make anymore, grown to just prefer fresh and then grilled. Another thing to take note of when using nitrite or nitrate, wear some nitrile gloves! RAY

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Good info.

 

[indaswamp]

Chef jimmyj had some great advice when this topic came up couple years ago....just drink some orange juice after tasting the sausage. This will have enough citric acid in it to neutralize any nitrates and nitrites.

 

[DRKsmoking]

Great Dave , thanks for posting this. I watched as I am about to make some sausages in a day or so.

So I have a question to anyone please . He said that I can counteract the Cure#1 in my mix with ascorbic acid. That is great but how do I figure out the amount. Is there a rule of thumb say

example
1 gram of cure#1 = ? of ascorbic acid , and would this not change the flavor much to the sausage

Thanks in advance

David

 

[indaswamp]

Here ya go:

A common ingredient used in sausage making and meat curing for accelerating the breakdown of sodium nitrite allowing you to smoke cured meats immediately after stuffing. It also acts as an anti-oxidant which prevents discoloration/pigmentation of meats treated with Cure. The latter is important for those using high-temp cheese in cured sausage, Erythorbate will act as a color stabilizer and prevent the meat directly in contact with the cheese from turning odd colors via oxidation (when this occurs it is not spoilage) and give it an even consistent appearance. When used in sausage, add 1 ounce per 100 pounds of meat or 0.1 oz (1 Teaspoon) per 10 lbs.Packaged Item Demensions: 2.5″ L, 2.5″ W, 7″ HUnit Weight: 1 lb.

https://www.sausagemaker.com/product/sodium-erythorbate-1-2-lb/

 

[boykjo]

IMO just another fishing video.... unless your taste test is 5 lbs.
My 2 cents

 

[indaswamp]

IMO just another fishing video.... unless your taste test is 5 lbs.
My 2 cents

I agree the risks are overblown....nobody freaks out about eating spinach or celery....yet a serving of either raw has more nitrate that a serving of sausage! And everyone has nitrite in their saliva!

 

[Cajuneric]

I agree the risks are overblown....nobody freaks out about eating spinach or celery....yet a serving of either raw has more nitrate that a serving of sausage! And everyone has nitrite in their saliva!

Hey Keith. It's an interesting rabbit hole (in case you are curious) the difference between vegetable nitrites and nitrites that are molecularly bound to sodium. The moment you bond nitrite to sodium chloride it reacts differently in the body. Food for thought

 

[Cajuneric]

IMO just another fishing video.... unless your taste test is 5 lbs.
My 2 cents

So, out of curiosity are you promoting the eating of unconverted nitrites?

 

[indaswamp]

Hey Keith. It's an interesting rabbit hole (in case you are curious) the difference between vegetable nitrites and nitrites that are molecularly bound to sodium. The moment you bond nitrite to sodium chloride it reacts differently in the body. Food for thought

I'll admit that I did not know this...I would be interested in the research done on this. Always more to learn in this hobby!! Thanks for posting!

 

[indaswamp]

So, exploring this further...

Here is a very detailed article on the subject from Dr. Greg Blonder Ph.D. in Physics.

http://gastrochemist.com/nitrates/

excerpt:

“The amount of nitrate in some vegetables can be very high. Spinach, for example, may contain 500 to 1900 parts per million of sodium nitrate. Less than five percent of daily sodium nitrite intake comes from cured meats. Nearly 93 percent of sodium nitrite comes from leafy vegetables & tubers and our own saliva. Vegetables contain sodium nitrate, which is converted to sodium nitrite when it comes into contact with saliva in the mouth.”

*note- Dr. Blonder has a very useful cure calculator:
https://genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/nitritecuringcalculator.html

 

[Cajuneric]

So, exploring this further...

Here is a very detailed article on the subject from Dr. Greg Blonder Ph.D. in Physics.

http://gastrochemist.com/nitrates/

excerpt:


*note- Dr. Blonder has a very useful cure calculator:
https://genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/nitritecuringcalculator.html

That's the calculator that I use and suggest. The one thing I don't understand is why he recommends adding 20% to the cure time so that the meat can cure all the way to the center. As if I prefer the calculator to tell me when my meat is 80% done? . I've tried to reach out and ask him but got no reply..

 

[jcam222]

Hey Keith. It's an interesting rabbit hole (in case you are curious) the difference between vegetable nitrites and nitrites that are molecularly bound to sodium. The moment you bond nitrite to sodium chloride it reacts differently in the body. Food for thought

Good info. I have often wondered why celery based cure is preferred by some. I believe for some they can tolerate it while not the Cure 1 when it’s used. smokin peachey I believe uses the celery type cure for this reason for his wife.

 

[LanceR]

Hmm.... Unless your taste testing multiple batches of cured sausage daily this would seem to be a great example of pole vaulting over a mouse turd.

Lance

 

[Cajuneric]

Hmm.... Unless your taste testing multiple batches of cured sausage daily this would seem to be a great example of pole vaulting over a mouse turd.

Lance

Consider this. A sausage maker eating unconverted nitrites the entirety of their life in only small doses. Using your analogy, I would personally find it more comforting knowing that I was pole vaulting over a mouse turd, than end up with colon cancer. I think it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[indaswamp]

That's the calculator that I use and suggest. The one thing I don't understand is why he recommends adding 20% to the cure time so that the meat can cure all the way to the center. As if I prefer the calculator to tell me when my meat is 80% done? . I've tried to reach out and ask him but got no reply..

From my understanding, the cure will reach the center in the alloted time, but the concentration gradient is not even...there is less in the center than where initially applied on the outside. The extra time allows for better equalization.

Edit to add: cylindrical cuts may cure more evenly than thick flat pieces

 

[boykjo]

We understand the warnings and don't promote eating unconverted nitrites. Everything should be taken into consideration and common sense should be applied. Smoked and processed meats have been found to cause cancer so should we all relinquish our smokers and stop processing meats. Lets not be eristic and let common sense endure.

 

[DougE]

Hmm.... Unless your taste testing multiple batches of cured sausage daily this would seem to be a great example of pole vaulting over a mouse turd.

Lance

Perhaps, but is it that big a deal to play it safe and add the cure after getting all the spices adjusted if not using a cure accelerator? This was one of those things I never really gave much thought to until I watched the video.