Curing Meat for Sausages

The best European sausages were made in 1950-1990. Raw meat materials were cured first with salt and potassium nitrate or sodium nitrite and then ground, stuffed into casings, and smoked and cooked. Whole meats such as loins, butts, hams, and bellies were cured whole and then smoked. The meat processing plant had a curing department where meat trimmings of different grades were mixed with salt and nitrite, labeled and cured. In countries such as Germany, Poland. and Russi a, the majority of processed meats have been of smoked variety.

Today, curing is done with curing accelerators, pump injectors, and meat tumblers to save time, space, and, ultimately, money. Unfortunately, we have to introduce curing accelerators, flavor and color enhancers, and many other chemicals to shorten curing time. The products look pretty and are packed nicely. However, their flavor doesn’t come close to products that were made in the past.

Let's make something clear: you don’t need to cure meat to make a sausage, however, it will be a much better product if the meat has been cured. Curing is an extra process that requires more time, designated containers, and a refrigerator. We advocate the curing procedure becausethe highest quality smoked sausages are made from meat that has been cured.

Curing flavor

Curing develops a peculiar curing flavor which is in demand by the knowledgeable consumer. Before you bite a slice of traditionally cured smoked ham or sausage you will smell a peculiar aroma. It is called the curing flavor, and it can only be developed when salt and sodium nitrite (Cure #1) are given sufficient time to react with meat. With curing accelerators, the red color can be developed by the time the sausage is smoked and cooked, but more time is needed to develop the curing flavor. You will never sense it in a commercially produced product that is fast-cured. If we cure hams, bacon, chops, butts, and fish because they taste better, so why not cure meat for sausages? The fact that we grind meat makes it only easier on our teeth to chew it - it does not improve the sausages's color, texture, or flavor. Someone might say: but I have mixed nitrite and spices with ground meat before stuffing, so that’s OK. Well, it’s not ok, the problem is that not enough time was allocated and the sausage is only partially cured. It is red and plump, and it has a smoky flavor, but the curing flavor is not there yet.

The dry method of curing is used to cure meat for sausages.Chemical reactions taking place inside meat and the cloth allows the gases to evaporate through. It also prevents the surface of the meat from reacting with oxygen which creates gray color areas on the surface. This is normal, the meat is fine and there is nothing to worry about. The container does not need to be covered as there are no unpleasant odors present.

Chicken breast cuts being cured, the first day.

Chicken breast cuts being cured, the first day.

The curing times at 40° F (4° C) (refrigerator temperature) are as follows:

  • Meat pieces size 2” - 72 hours.
  • Ground meat - 24 - 36 hours, depending on the plate size.

With the use of ascorbates and erythorbates it is possible to cure meats at even lower temperatures, which is commonly practiced by commercial establishments.

Chicken breast, fresh

Chicken breast, fresh

Chicken breast, 1st day

Chicken breast, 1st day

Chicken breast, 3rd-day

Chicken breast, 3rd-day

Chicken breast, cured

Chicken breast, cured

Pork loin, fresh

Pork loin, fresh

Pork loin, 2nd day

Pork loin, 2nd day

Pork loin, 3rd day

Pork loin, 3rd day

Pork loin, cured

Pork loin, cured

Pork butt, fresh

Pork butt, fresh

Pork butt, cured

Pork butt, cured

Beef, fresh

Beef, fresh

Beef, cured

Beef, cured

After meat cuts are cured they are ground, mixed with spices and stuffed into casings. Salt is not added as it has been added during curing.

What will happen to smoked sausages if the meat is not cured? Basically, nothing as long as you add salt and Cure #1 (sodium nitrite) to ground meat during mixing. You are still curing meat, however, the curing time is much shorter. The final color might not be as good as the properly cured sausage, but it will still be good. If you don’t want to cure meat using the traditional method, use the alternative curing method described below.

The curing time depends on:

  • Diameter of the meat - making cuts smaller or grinding them in a grinder increases the meat’s surface area and speeds up curing.
  • Temperature - usually set by the refrigerator setting. In the past when Nitrates were used, curing temperatures were higher (42-46° F, 6-8° C) which allowed curing bacteria to react with Nitrate. As a result nitrite was released which would then cure meat.
  • Additives - adding ascorbates speeds up curing. More important for commercial producers.

Alternative Curing Methods

Method 1. Grind each meat through a proper plate (as dictated by the recipe). The reason that we grind now and do not cut meat into pieces for curing is that salt and sodium nitrite will penetrate a tiny piece of ground meat much faster than a 5 cm (2”) cube. Mix meat with salt and Cure #1. Pack tightly (to remove air) and separately, place each type of ground meat in a container and cover with a cloth to allow breathing. Let it rest for 3-4 hours at room temperature 20-22°C (68-71°F). Chemical reactions proceed much faster at higher temperatures and so does curing. Add spices, mix all together, and stuff casings.

Method 2. Grind each meat through a proper plate (as dictated by the recipe). Mix meat with salt, Cure #1 and other ingredients. Stuff sausages and place in a cooler for 12-24 hours before smoking. When removed from a cooler they have to be conditioned at room temperature for a few hours to remove moisture from the surface.

Method 3. Grind each meat through a proper plate (as dictated by the recipe). Mix meat with salt, Cure #1 and other ingredients. Stuff sausages and hang them at room temperature for 2 hours. Transfer to a smokehouse.

When ground meat is mixed with sodium nitrite (cure 1) the reaction is almost instantaneous, and the pink color results fast. The time is shortest when meat is minced with the smallest grinder plate. In the images that follow pork meat (80% lean, 20% fat) was ground with 1/8" (3 mm) grinder plate. After curing the samples were cooked.

Ground pork, salted only

Ground pork, salted only

Ground pork, cured 1 hour

Ground pork, cured 1 hour

Ground pork, cured 2 hours

Ground pork, cured 2 hours

Ground pork, cured 24 hours

Ground pork, cured 24 hours

Simple Test

Although there is not much difference in color, nevertheless, cure ground meat for 24 hours if you can. Curing not only develops pink color but also a characteristic curing flavor. Make two meatballs, one cured with salt only and another with salt and sodium nitrite (cure 1). Hold them for a few hours in a refrigerator and then boil in water for 20 minutes. Let them cool, then smell and taste both meatballs. The one cured with nitrite will have an aroma, better taste, texture, and color.

As you can see in all instances we are buying extra time to allow curing inside the meat. A commercial producer will not perform curing at higher than cooler temperatures as this will affect the shelf-life of the product. Commercial processors cure meat faster and at lower temperatures by using ascorbic acid, erythorbic acid, or their derivatives, sodium ascorbate and/or sodium erythorbate. These additives speed up the chemical conversion of nitrite to nitric oxide which in turn will react with meat myoglobin to create a pink color. They also deplete levels of meat oxygen which prevents the fading of the cured meat color in the presence of light and oxygen.

Bear in mind that fast curing methods cannot be used when curing whole pieces like hams, butts or loins unless commercial curing methods are introduced (injection, curing accelerators and tumbling). Due to the insufficient curing time the whole meats will exhibit an uneven pink and reddish area or even some gray parts. That would be easily noticeable when slicing those meats. As sausage is made from comminuted meat any variations in color cannot be spotted, unless larger chunks of meat are mixed with finely ground meat.

When making less than 5 pounds of sausage it is perfectly acceptable to make curing a part of the mixing and conditioning process. This way the sausage is stuffed and ready to go into the smoker and all equipment can be washed and put away. When making large amounts of sausage, you may use a few pork butts or picnics, so trimming this meat will take a while. Then you have to grind, mix, stuff and smoke sausages. This operation will take many hours. It is feasible to make sausages on two separate occasions:

  1. The first day - meat selection and trimming. The skin and bones are removed, all sinews, gristle sand glands are discarded. Meat is cut into small pieces, mixed with salt and nitrite and placed in a refrigerator for 24 hours. Except for the knife, no equipment was needed.
  2. The second day - cured meat goes into the grinder and the sausage making process continues.

Curing Fat

Ground pork, cured 24 hours

Pure fat like back fat or fat trimmings are salted only. Fat does not contain myoglobin so sodium nitrite (cure 1) has nothing to react with and the color will remain white. However, salting fat changes its structure and softens it. The best example is salted back fat which is easy to eat on its own. It is usually eaten with bread, mustard or a pickle. Salting back fat.

Ground pork, cured 24 hours

Meat cuts such as pork belly or jowls have distinctive layers of meat and fat. It is impractical to separate fat from meat, so those cuts are cured with salt and sodium nitrite like any small trimmings that contain both fat and meat.

Salting Fat Trimmings

Small fat trimmings are salted with 2% salt (20 g per 1 kg of fat). Mix fat trimmings thoroughly with salt and place in a container for 24-48 hours.

Available from Amazon

The Practical Guide to Making Salami

The Practical Guide to Making Salami is a companion book to The Art of Making Fermented Sausages, published in 2008. Since then, more information has become available; safety standards have been updated and tightened, new cultures have appeared, and getting supplies and newer equipment online has become more accessible. The most relevant theory has been transferred from The Art of Making Fermented Sausages. Still, The Practical Guide to Making Salami includes plenty of new materials such as fermented spreadable sausages, acidified sausages, or combining acidulants with natural fermentation. The recipes section has been expanded and includes 264 selected recipes from different countries so the reader can immediately produce sausages.

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