Sodium Erythorbate/Cure Excellerator

[wesir]

Anyone familiar with Sodium Erythorbate/Cure Excellerator usage? I've only ever used encapsulated citric acid and was looking for some clarification on usage, tried contacting Walton's customer service and the person pretty much just copy/pasted the instructions from the store page.

Cure Excellerator

This Cure Excellerator is a combination of Sodium Erythorbate and Sodium Citrate. It is faster acting than pure sodium erythorbate.

waltons.com

• Can this be mixed in at any time during the mixing process?
• Is there any reason why I can't hold it in the fridge overnight?
  • My understanding was with encapsulated citric acid you couldn't do it as the capsules could burst and lead to a crumbly end product.
  • Use case would be that I make one large batch that I want to smoke over two days or something comes up and I don't have time to do two smokes on the same day.
• Can this be used with bacon? (know this is the sausage section but if you know it saves me making another thread)

Thanks!

 

[1finder]

Not familiar with it & have never used it, interested in those answers as well. Tried buttermilk powder once, few years ago for some “tang”. Was okay…

Thanks

 

[indaswamp]

Can this be mixed in at any time during the mixing process?

Should be added last and mixed for only a couple minutes to evenly distribute.

Is there any reason why I can't hold it in the fridge overnight?

You can hold overnight. Since S. Eryth. accelerates the cure, most commercial producers use it so they can smoke immediately for faster production time. And S. Eryth. will prevent any Nitrates from forming. IT also prevents fat rancidity so it acts as a preservative.

Can this be used with bacon? (know this is the sausage section but if you know it saves me making another thread)

All commercially sold Bacon must contain S. Eryth. by law. Since bacon is normally fried (high temp.) the chance of nitrousamines forming is high. The S. Eryth. deactivates the nitrosamines if they are formed.

You can also drink a glass of orange juice with breakfast (contains citric acid) and it will do the same thing.

 

[indaswamp]

 

[chopsaw]

I always mix it in with the seasonings . Most of the pre mixes I use already have it in the mix . So there's no getting around that , but even doing it from scratch it goes in then it all gets mixed .

For me it's a must have in SS .

 

[wesir]

Should be added last and mixed for only a couple minutes to evenly distribute.

You know why that is? My understanding was that with the encapsulated citric acid you waited until the end so you didn't burst the capsules, also it always seemed like the distribution of it was hit or miss compared to the seasonings that were dissolved in water and mixed with the meat.

Also any idea how much faster it cures bacon when used? I normally do an EQ cure and give it 1-2 weeks to be on the safe side.

 

[Tinner340]

I mix it in with my spice mix, then add cure, with water, at the end of the mix. I don't care much for the sour taste of incapsulated citric acid so don't use it much.

 

[DougE]

I may be in error, but I don't see why it would matter at what point you add sodium erythorbate (I've typed it so many times that the spelling stuck). With ECA, it is recommended to add it as the last ingredient and mix just to incorporate to keep from early release, but I have never come across the same procedure with S erythrobate. With ECA, the recommendation is to go straight to finishing, but with S erythorbate, I haven't seen anything that says it can't be held in the fridge over night.

 

[wesir]

I mix it in with my spice mix, then add cure, with water, at the end of the mix. I don't care much for the sour taste of incapsulated citric acid so don't use it much.

I don't mind the taste of ECA but it seems like a lot of the time it ends up overpowering the spice mix so I wanted to try something else, though the cure excellerator has sodium citrate in it so maybe that'll do the same thing.

 

[SmokinEdge]

I use erythorbate in most all my cured sausages (not dried or semi-dried) and use it in my ham injection. I do not use it in dry rubs like bacon or loins as it takes so little I don’t feel it can be evenly distributed with a dry rub. I like to dissolve it in a couple Tbs of slightly warmed water. Of all the vitamin C derivatives erythorbate is the slowest at accelerating cure. It’s not instant by any means. I mostly use it for its preservative properties like fasting the cure color and inhibiting fat rancidity, but helping to convert all nitrites into nitric oxide, to me, is a good thing in the products I use it in. .05% by weight is all it takes. If you use to much it can cause nitrite burn. Erythorbate adds no tang to the mix, it’s tasteless other than adding a little bit of sodium.

 

[indaswamp]

Good reply SE. I was going to say that it is best to mix in last because you really should not mix the cure accelerator and the cure #1 in at the same time.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Good reply SE. I was going to say that it is best to mix in last because you really should not mix the cure accelerator and the cure #1 in at the same time.

Yes you are correct. I mix it in last even in my ham injection that’s good practice, but from what I’ve seen and read the erythorbate really isn’t a problem that way, it’s mixed in with many pre mixes too, now ascorbic acid is a different animal entirely.

 

[chopsaw]

I mostly use it for its preservative properties like fasting the cure color and inhibiting fat rancidity,

Same here , and you can't ignore the fact that a good commercial store bought mix already has it in the mix . So doesn't matter when you add it in my opinion . It's a must when adding cheese to summer sausage . Stops oxidation where the meat contacts the cheese .

 

[SmokinEdge]

I agree. Erythorbate is a pretty stable accelerator and it is premixed in many commercial mixes. I just add it at the end as a practice and because it takes so little I like to dissolve it in liquid for better distribution.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

I bought some and put it in my last batch of sausage which happened to be andouille. There's no way to know what it did or didn't do, but I just added it in with all the other seasonings. It did wind up being one of the best sausages I've made, for sure my best andouille.

I saw this 2 guys and a cooler video that got me more interested in it where he warns not to taste the sausage until the cure has had a chance to take effect. He suggests this as a way around the problem:


My normal smoked sausage process is to cube the meat and fat, and weigh out the seasonings, season the meat and let it sit overnight. The next day I'll grind and stuff, and if I am smoking the sausage I'll do that the next day. I often add cure to sausages I'm going to smoke at barbecue temps (225 to 275 rather than the 150 to 180 warm smoke) just for the flavor and color enhancement.

If you needed to rush the process, the sodium erythorbate allows you to not do the overnight cure. My understanding is that curing is going to happen pretty quickly in ground meat anyway.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Erythorbate doesn’t work that fast. It’s really not a mix stuff and smoke product. A lot of commercial bacon and ham producers use erythorbate in their injections by federal law but they then go into a vacuum tumbler for many hours. The erythorbate does speed the transformation of nitrite into nitric oxide and is so mild that it is also used in brines. It is not an instant cure accelerator. What it does well is fix cured color and preserve against fat rancidity. Mix, stuff and smoke same day it won’t do much for nitrite reduction, it needs some time.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

Erythorbate doesn’t work that fast. It’s really not a mix stuff and smoke product. A lot of commercial bacon and ham producers use erythorbate in their injections by federal law but they then go into a vacuum tumbler for many hours. The erythorbate does speed the transformation of nitrite into nitric oxide and is so mild that it is also used in brines. It is not an instant cure accelerator. What it does well is fix cured color and preserve against fat rancidity. Mix, stuff and smoke same day it won’t do much for nitrite reduction, it needs some time.

When I used it , I still did the overnight cure like I normally do. I guess it can't hurt. Do you think it would do any good on a dry cured bacon or does it only make sense on a wet cure.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Only makes sense on wet curing. .05% is not much to mix with dry and get it even. Dissolved in liquid makes most sense.

 

[Tinner340]

that is exactly what it is used for, to be able to smoke meats right after stuffing. It works that fast.

(Here is Sausage Makers directions of the bottle I use.)
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.

 

[SmokinEdge]

that is exactly what it is used for, to be able to smoke meats right after stuffing. It works that fast.

(Here is Sausage Makers directions of the bottle I use.)
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.

Ok, homework for you…..

Grind up some sausage with cure. Cut that in half. Mix erythorbate in one half and not the other. Stuff them and go straight to the smoker. Then tell me what the difference is. In the final product as color and texture you will see no difference. You need to read between the lines and learn what things do.