Thermal Stability of Cure#1 – Kitchen Science Lab

[dernektambura]

I thought that most of nitrite way back in the early 1800's came from Chile... In europe there is no significant deposits of saltpetre for example... finally at turn of 19th century and before WWI germans came up with way to make synthetics nitrite which they used in production of explosives ...

 

[PolishDeli]

According to Herrador et al. (2005), Mediterranean sea salt contains 1.2 ppm NaNO2 and 1.1ppm NaNO3:

“Como sea, los resultados obtenidos indicant un contenido de 1.2 y 1.1 mg/kg de nitritos y nitratos, respectivamenta…”

 

[daveomak]

Updated April 24, 2017
By Kelly Wallace
Also known as saltpeter, potassium nitrate is a white crystallized compound composed of potassium, nitrogen and oxygen. Most commonly used in fireworks, matches and fertilizer, its medical applications include diuretics to reduce high blood pressure. Although typically produced synthetically, mining continues of the natural mineral, which has significant commercial value.

History and Use
The use of potassium nitrate goes back to the early Romans and Greeks, who used saltpeter to fertilize their plants. In the third century B.C., the Chinese learned that a mixture of charcoal, sulfur and potassium nitrate could create an explosive powder. Since the Middle Ages, it has played a role in preserving meat and tanning hides, as well as glass production and metalworking. Modern uses include gunpowder, food preservatives, various crafts and to lessen angina pain in heart patients.

Formation
Potassium nitrate forms naturally in warm climates. Bacteria from the decomposition of feces, urine and plants combine with air, moisture, plant ash and alkaline soil to create nitrification—the conversion of the decaying matter into nitrates that penetrate the soil. Dissolved by rainwater, the evaporated deposits form a white powder. Once boiling and evaporating wash impurities away, potassium nitrate is ready for practical uses.

Cave Deposits
In the early part of the 19th century and throughout the Civil War, caves in many Southern states were rich sources of potassium nitrate. Usually found as huge crusts and growths on cave walls and ceilings, they formed when solutions containing alkali potassium and nitrate seeped into cavern cracks and crevices. For example, the DesertUSA website reports that miners extracted 200 tons of potassium nitrate from Mammoth Cave in Kentucky between 1811 and 1814, to use in the making of gunpowder.

Limestone Caves
Crystallized deposits of saltpeter occur in limestone caves that house bats or other creatures. A process of nitrification starts when the animal droppings come into contact with the limestone. The resulting nitrate compound dissolves in rainwater and falls to the ground where it evaporates, leaving a salt. Such caves are in Italy, the United States (Tennessee and Kentucky) and Africa.

Soil
Saltpeter occurs as crystalline veins in soil in the Ganges Valley of India and as fluorescence on the soil in parts of Indonesia. It is gathered by dissolving the salt in water and evaporating the solution to obtain a salt.

More About Nitrates
Rock salts were mined in different areas of the world and exhibited different properties which depended mainly on impurities contained within. Take for example Himalayan salt that is sold on the Internet for cooking - it is pink. In the past when we used salt with a higher potassium Nitrate content, we discovered that the meat had a different taste and color. Potassium Nitrate was the main ingredient for making gun powder and it’s commercial name was saltpeter, still used today. Potassium Nitrate (KNO3-Bengal saltpetre) or sodium Nitrate (NaNO3- Chile saltpetre) were even added to water causing the temperature to drop and that method was used to cool wine in the XVI century. Nitrates and nitrites are powerful poisons and that is why the Food and Drug Administration established limits for their use. So why do we use them? The simple answer is that after testing and experiments, our modern science has not come up with a better solution to cure meats and prevent food poisoning. Only in the XIX century a German fellow Justinus Kemer linked food poisoning to contaminated sausages. It took another 80 years to discover botulinum bacteria by Emile Pierre van Ermengem, Professor of bacteriology at the University of Ghent in 1895. The first scientific papers that explained the behavior of Nitrates were published only in the XX century so why had we been using Nitrates so much? Not to prevent botulism of which we had never even heard of before. We had been and still are using Nitrates because: Nitrates can preserve meat’s natural color. The same piece of ham when roasted will have a light brown color and is known as roasted leg of pork. Add some nitrates to it, cook it and it becomes ham with its characteristic flavor and pink color. Nitrates impart a characteristic cured flavor to meat. Nitrates prevent the transformation of botulinum spores into toxins thus eliminating the possibility of food poisoning. Nitrates prevent rancidity of fats.

Marianski, Stanley. Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages (Kindle Locations 747-765). Bookmagic LLC. Kindle Edition.

 

[dernektambura]

According to Herrador et al. (2005), Mediterranean sea salt contains 1.2 ppm NaNO2 and 1.1ppm NaNO3:

“Como sea, los resultados obtenidos indicant un contenido de 1.2 y 1.1 mg/kg de nitritos y nitratos, respectivamenta…”

That comes out to about 200 times less than max ppm for now a days cure for meat and about 120 times less for bacon...

 

[indaswamp]

Honestly I do trust everything you said cuz my chemistry level is still at very limited... Never fully understood math involving letters and numbers and mixing them together...
but I do know that for some chemical reason cure #2 NaNo3 has to be mixed in cold brine.. Now, how does it 1% nitrate turns in to dissipated nitrite over time is mistery to me...
and I do know for fact that if you use cure #2, then it is no need for yeast and vice versa....

Staphylococcus strains are responsible for the conversion of nitrate to nitrite in dry cured meats...
@6 minute mark...


Can also be found digging through Chr Hansen literature.

 

[indaswamp]

I am currently unaware of any type of Yeast used in Dry Sausage Curing. That's not to say there aren't any...JJ

Debaryomyces Hansenii...

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/debaryomyces-hansenii
One that I know of....I am sure there are more that we don't know of that play a role when curing salami...

 

[bill ace 350]

When mixing up a wet cure, some recipes say to use hot water to help the ingredients fully dissolve. Other say not to use hot water because the sodium nitrite (NaNO2) in cure#1 breaks down when heated.

Over the weekend, I did some kitchen science experiments and concluded that it is safe to boil your brine. The NaNO2 does not disappear, even if you boil the brine for over an hour. [NOTE: Whether you boil your brine or not, make sure to cool it down before immersing/injecting your meat!]

Summary of experiment:
Mixed up some water+Cure#1.
Boiled it.
Tested the concentration at 1, 2, 5, 15, 30, and 60 min.

Conclusion: The concentration of NaNO2 increased with boiling time.
It increased because the NaNO2 was staying put while the water was evaporating.

-------

More details:

Step (1) Get a Nitrite test kit. $7 on amazon.

Step (2) Mix up a 0.5ppm solution.
This is a very small amount of Cure#1 – less than what my scale can accurately measure. So I did this in two steps.
(a) Mixed up a 100ppm solution (1.6g Cure#1 + 1000mL water)
(b) Diluted it (5mL of the 100ppm solution + 995mL water).

Step (3) Measure the NaNO2 concentration.

Step (4) let it boil. Start the stop watch when the thermometer reads 100°C. Boil with lid on to minimize evaporation.

Step (5) Pull out a few mL at 1, 2, 5, 15, 30, and 60 min increments. Let each sample cool to room temperature before measuring.

Step (6) Analyze the results.

Here is a picture of each sample. You can see the color of each test becoming more red with longer boiling times. A picture of the color reference card that comes with the kit is also included:
View attachment 408444

Here is a graph of the results. The NaNO2 was also calculated according to how much water was being lost to evaporation (Water volume before boiling: 1000ml. Water volume after boiling for 60min: 250mL. Evaporation rate: 12.5mL/min). The two sets of results line up pretty close.

View attachment 408445

This test was a bit crude; but conclusive.
It was cheap, fun, quick, and interesting. If you have high school/middle school aged kids, this might make a good science fair project.

Very interesting. Glad i came across this.

Refreshing to see something other than the typical copy and paste of information.