Nitrate cure replacement

[Winterrider]

Just found out recently that my niece is suppose to stay away from nitrates health reasonings. They want to process some deer meat but not sure what to use /quantity for cure instead of cure #1. I saw a couple quick threads but nothing I could easily pass on. Ideas or links I could forward them, thanks. . .

 

[DougE]

As far as I'm aware, any curing agent contains some form of nitrate/nitrite.

 

[TNJAKE]

What are they processing the dear meat in to?

 

[Dave in AZ]

Just have it all left as ground, no sausage or snacksticks or anything. If you want, you can make summer suasage without nitrate... just add smoke powder, and sous vide the chubbs, so no cure1 needed. Won't be as red or taste exact same, but a way to avoid nitrite.

Can also use ground to make restructured jerky without cure1, cook at 225 or so.

 

[Fueling Around]

Wife has the same histamine alegery to nitrates/nitirites.
She can tolerate cured meat that has the nitrites depleted (few do)
Uncured is the method to insure compliance with the alegery limits..

 

[DougE]

She can tolerate cured meat that has the nitrites depleted (few do)

I considered suggesting a cure accelerator to deplete the nitrites but thought better of it for the reason you stated ........ it's still possible someone could have issues.

 

[pineywoods]

Send smokin peachey a PM I think he deals with that with his family so he knows the answer. He's a good guy and I'm sure would be more than willing to share the info and process he uses

 

[DougE]

If it's whole muscle, salt curing like they do on country ham may be an option, but that process is something I have no experience with, other than from reading and watching it done at the University of Kentucky youtube channel.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Not really possible to cure meats without nitrite/nitrates, not in a true sense. You will find cures made from celery powder, cherry powder, beat juice powder and all products cured with these can claim “ no artificial nitrates” but truth is it’s all the same nitrates. Green leafy vegetables all contain high levels of nitrates as well as many root crops. Beware of this if she needs to limit in going nitrates.

 

[okie sawbones]

Not really possible to cure meats without nitrite/nitrates, not in a true sense. You will find cures made from celery powder, cherry powder, beat juice powder and all products cured with these can claim “ no artificial nitrates” but truth is it’s all the same nitrates. Green leafy vegetables all contain high levels of nitrates as well as many root crops. Beware of this if she needs to limit in going nitrates.

This is the correct answer. Risk botulism otherwise.

 

[Winterrider]

What are they processing the dear meat in to?

Plans were for some ring sausage and summer sausage. They will be putting some up for burger, which will be ok without.
I would think possibly a cold smoke and then SV to temp would be a route to go. Not sure how long it would take s.sausage to get to safe temp though?
Or am i incorrect ? Right or wrong ?

 

[indaswamp]

Plans were for some ring sausage and summer sausage. They will be putting some up for burger, which will be ok without.
I would think possibly a cold smoke and then SV to temp would be a route to go. Not sure how long it would take s.sausage to get to safe temp though?
Or am i incorrect ? Right or wrong ?

Without nitrite/nitrate, The sausages must be treated like fresh sausage so cold smoking must be done @ refrigeration temps. 32-41*F for safety. The sous vide finish is faster than cooking in a smoker because water is 25X more efficient at heat transfer. To ensure success, I would not stuff the Summer sausage into casing larger than 2.5" so the INT rises above 140*F within 4 hours....

But, the finished product will not have the same taste as true Summer sausage that uses cure. It will be grey and be more like a fresh sausage.

 

[kentucky fisherman]

Only substitute I've run into is celery juice or powder, which is a natural source of nitrates/nitrites. But using that doesn't really avoid the problem, it just provides the chemicals in a "more organic" form.

Best option I can think of is to follow the whole process called for by the flavoring agents you buy, smoke the product until fully cooked, then freeze until ready to eat. When thawed, I'd treat them as any other cooked meat, ie. don't leave it lying around at room temp and don't leave it in the fridge forever and expect it to stay good. You'll get a little antibacterial action from the smoke, but nothing like what the nitrates/nitrites provide.

 

[chopsaw]

Winterrider
Len Poli has a Gelbwurst ( yellow sausage ) formula . It's a nitrite free German Bologna .
I've made it , and it's really good . I used water proof casings and cooked in the SV . No smoke on this is traditional .

The addition of heavy cream and sodium erythorbate sets the color .
You could probably sub citric acid for the erythorbate .

With the mind set of eggs and cream in the formula you can do a weisswurst or really any flavor profile you like and get a nice color .
Just use the casings you normally would and get it cooked .

 

[Winterrider]

Thank you guys all for the information. indaswamp , I mentioned that to them about casing size. I was a bit concerned about it getting to proper temp in time.
Thanks chopsaw , I will pass that along to them.

 

[DougE]

This is the correct answer. Risk botulism otherwise.

Risking botulism without the use of nitrates/nitrates isn't entirely true. Country hams are routinely cured with only salt and not under refrigeration. For comminuted meats like sausages, I'd agree that curing salts are needed, but not necessarily with whole muscle.

 

[Fueling Around]

All of my sausage is fresh and hog casing which is close to ring size.
I get about 3 hours of smoke to get it to 140° which is my target temp to pasteurize pork.
Venison hmm. Never processed without nitrites

 

[K9BIGDOG]

You can also make Italian sausage without any nitrates or nitrites.

 

[Cajuneric]

Just found out recently that my niece is suppose to stay away from nitrates health reasonings. They want to process some deer meat but not sure what to use /quantity for cure instead of cure #1. I saw a couple quick threads but nothing I could easily pass on. Ideas or links I could forward them, thanks. . .

There is a product called EcoCure1 and EcoCure 2 that will safely cure meats without nitrites and nitrates. EcoCure 1 would in essence replace InstaCure #1. From the examples you gave you would use EcoCure 1.

You would use EcoCure #2 if you were making salami or dry curing whole muscles.

Here's a link for it (in case you want to check it out): https://www.sausagemaker.com/product/ecocure-1/

 

[Winterrider]

Cajuneric , thanks passed info.