Why Isn't It Pink?

[tlcasper]

The other day my wife asked me this question.... apply jokes here.

I had just grilled some homemade venison sausages/smokies, and she wanted to know why they were brown and not the reddish colour that the ones from the grocery store are.
I didn't have an answer, never really thought about it. So I made an educated guess while trying to sound all knowing. "The ones from the store have cure in them"

Is this the difference?
If so, could I add cure to my grilling sausages when making them? Even though they go straight to the freezer.
I use cure in my summer sausage and some jerky recipes.

 

[chopsaw]

If so, could I add cure to my grilling sausages when making them? Even though they go straight to the freezer.

Yes . I put cure 1 in fresh bratwurst and polish sausage and all the chicken sausage I make . You can grill or smoke later .
Here's a pic of some pepper jack bratwurst I just did . You can see the color thru the casing .

 

[tlcasper]

Thank you, chopsaw.
That's kind of what I thought, but it never hurts to ask.

 

[pc farmer]

You are right, cure makes it pink.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Some helpful info.

Why does my sausage turn brown?
Both myoglobin and oxymyoglobin have the ability to lose their oxidation which results in a brown color called metmyoglobin. This essentially means that meat can turn from a bright red color (which many associate with fresh) to a brown color from a lack of oxygen. Meat can also turn brown if any sort of contamination that would cause a chemical reaction comes in contact with it. For example, cure (sodium nitrite) turns raw meat a brownish-grey color (think of a cured, uncooked salami) if it comes in direct contact with a meat surface, but if that same meat is then heated, the sodium nitrite turns the meat a pinkish color (much like ham). In order for meat to maintain that bright red color we are familiar with, oxygen must be available at a sufficient concentration. That is why grocery stores utilize a small film over their products versus a vacuum package. Browning of meat can also occur with meat that has been chilled for a long period of time (about 5 days), ie: taken home from the grocery store and placed in your fridge for some time. This happens because as meat is chilled/frozen for long periods of time, enzyme activity decreases so the myoglobin and oxygen quit mixing together to keep meat that bright red colo

 

[PolishDeli]

Correct; it is pink because it has cure in it…

…the cure, sodium nitrite, breaks down into nitric oxide which bonds to the iron in the heme group of myoglobin, converting it to nitrosohemochrome upon cooking.
When cooking uncured meat, the iron oxidizes into the ferric state, denaturing the myoglobin.