Extended time in smoker with cure #1

[novasbc]

I can't decide which forum is more appropriate, here, or the food safety forum, so here goes...

I was talking to my brother in law about the sausage I made last night.  In general I've really liked the consistency of his sausage.

He says he does the mix with cure #1, does the heating like I did, bringing the internal tempersture up.  After he does that, he drops the smoker temperature down to 80-90 degrees for 2-3 days, followed by hanging in the air conditioned house for another 5-7 days.

I can't seem to find many instructions that do it this way.  I just went and reread several chapters of the Kutas book, and it also doesnt mention this method.

Can anybody recommend good references to understand this method?  It seems to go against what I read that you need cure #2 for longer periods, except it never includes heat/smoke with #2 from what I can tell.

Thanks!

 

[SmokinAl]

Did you bring the internal temp of the sausage up to 152 degrees?

Al

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Here is some cure info.

CURES - Cures are used in sausage products for color and flavor development as well as retarding the development of bacteria in the low temperature environment of smoked meats.

Salt and sugar both cure meat by osmosis. In addition to drawing the water from the food, they dehydrate and kill the bacteria that make food spoil. In general, though, use of the word "cure" refers to processing the meat with either sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate.

The primary and most important reason to use cures is to prevent BOTULISM POISONING (Food poisoning). It is very important that any kind of meat or sausage that will be cooked and smoked at low temperature be cured. To trigger botulism poisoning, the requirements are quite simple - lack of oxygen, the presence of moisture, and temperatures in range of 40-140° F. When smoking meats, the heat and smoke eliminates the oxygen. The meats have moisture and are traditionally smoked and cooked in the low ranges of 90 to 185° F. As you can see, these are ideal conditions for food poisoning if you don't use cures. There are two types of commercially used cures.

Prague Powder #1

Also called Insta-Cure and Modern Cure. Cures are used to prevent meats from spoiling when being cooked or smoked at low temperatures (under 200 degrees F). This cure is 1 part sodium nitrite (6.25%) and 16 parts salt (93.75%) and are combined and crystallized to assure even distribution. As the meat temperate rises during processing, the sodium nitrite changes to nitric oxide and starts to ‘gas out’ at about 130 degrees F. After the smoking /cooking process is complete only about 10-20% of the original nitrite remains. As the product is stored and later reheated for consumption, the decline of nitrite continues. 4 ounces of Prague powder #1 is required to cure 100 lbs of meat. A more typical measurement for home use is 1 level tsp per 5 lbs of meat. Mix with cold water, then mix into meat like you would mix seasonings into meat.

Prague Powder #2

Used to dry-cure products. Prague powder #2 is a mixture of 1 part sodium nitrite, .64 parts sodium nitrate and 16 parts salt. (1 oz. of sodium nitrite with .64 oz. of sodium nitrate to each lb. of salt.) It is primarily used in dry-curing Use with products that do not require cooking, smoking, or refrigeration. This cure, which is sodium nitrate, acts like a time release, slowly breaking down into sodium nitrite, then into nitric oxide. This allows you to dry cure products that take much longer to cure. A cure with sodium nitrite would dissipate too quickly. Use 1 oz. of cure for 25 lbs. of meat or 1 level teaspoon of cure for 5 lbs. of meat when mixing with meat. When using a cure in a brine solution, follow a recipe.

 

[novasbc]

To further expand, I've read a

Did you bring the internal temp of the sausage up to 152 degrees?

Al

Yes, I brought the temperature to 152 degrees, measured in multiple areas of the smoker.

Here is some cure info.


CURES - Cures are used in sausage products for color and flavor development as well as retarding the development of bacteria in the low temperature environment of smoked meats.



Salt and sugar both cure meat by osmosis. In addition to drawing the water from the food, they dehydrate and kill the bacteria that make food spoil. In general, though, use of the word "cure" refers to processing the meat with either sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate.



The primary and most important reason to use cures is to prevent BOTULISM POISONING (Food poisoning). It is very important that any kind of meat or sausage that will be cooked and smoked at low temperature be cured. To trigger botulism poisoning, the requirements are quite simple - lack of oxygen, the presence of moisture, and temperatures in range of 40-140° F. When smoking meats, the heat and smoke eliminates the oxygen. The meats have moisture and are traditionally smoked and cooked in the low ranges of 90 to 185° F. As you can see, these are ideal conditions for food poisoning if you don't use cures. There are two types of commercially used cures.



Prague Powder #1



Also called Insta-Cure and Modern Cure. Cures are used to prevent meats from spoiling when being cooked or smoked at low temperatures (under 200 degrees F). This cure is 1 part sodium nitrite (6.25%) and 16 parts salt (93.75%) and are combined and crystallized to assure even distribution. As the meat temperate rises during processing, the sodium nitrite changes to nitric oxide and starts to ‘gas out’ at about 130 degrees F. After the smoking /cooking process is complete only about 10-20% of the original nitrite remains. As the product is stored and later reheated for consumption, the decline of nitrite continues. 4 ounces of Prague powder #1 is required to cure 100 lbs of meat. A more typical measurement for home use is 1 level tsp per 5 lbs of meat. Mix with cold water, then mix into meat like you would mix seasonings into meat.



Prague Powder #2



Used to dry-cure products. Prague powder #2 is a mixture of 1 part sodium nitrite, .64 parts sodium nitrate and 16 parts salt. (1 oz. of sodium nitrite with .64 oz. of sodium nitrate to each lb. of salt.) It is primarily used in dry-curing Use with products that do not require cooking, smoking, or refrigeration. This cure, which is sodium nitrate, acts like a time release, slowly breaking down into sodium nitrite, then into nitric oxide. This allows you to dry cure products that take much longer to cure. A cure with sodium nitrite would dissipate too quickly. Use 1 oz. of cure for 25 lbs. of meat or 1 level teaspoon of cure for 5 lbs. of meat when mixing with meat. When using a cure in a brine solution, follow a recipe.

Thank you. I have read something similar in the Rytek Kutas book. My disconnects:

• I have read several posts on food safety that discuss cured meats actually going rancid quicker than other types because of the salt. In specific, this post mentions that post-curing, it is more susceptible to rancidity when frozen.
• Another post, which made me concerned about the product's stability.

Is it only frozen where the worries come in? These posts, and other similar ones made me very concerned about leaving these meats out of the refrigerator when only using cure #1, which has a shorter timespan. I had previously thought cured meats would last an incredible amount of time, especially if packaged properly. I was having nightmares of leaving the meat in heat for a couple of days longer than the recipe calls for, and poisoning someone.

Basically, I have taken the various readings and discussions of the cures is that they protect the meat *during* the cooking or drying process, and that #1 is much more short term. This caused me to make sure and pull the meat from the smoker exactly when it hit 152, instead of dropping the temperature lower.

 

[novasbc]

I went ahead and opened a post in the Food Safety forum, as I'm now thinking I have just misunderstood several things, and mixed up concerns between the two processes involving the different cures.