When Should You add Curing Salt to Smoked Sausage?
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- čas přidán 10. 02. 2023
- Today we are running a food experiment. When should you add curing salt to your smoked sausage? this video was made to help you understand the importance between time and temperature. This by no means is a definitive guide as to whether you should add curing salts to your smoked sausages or not. I provide my opinion only and I highly suggest you do your own research on this issue to ensure that you are making a sausage that is safe for all to eat.
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Eric
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Thank you Eric for making this vid! I posted a video last week where I smoked a sausage at 200 without pink salt and got a lot of questions about it, now I can just send them this vid! lol I even put them in front of a fan for 30 min!
LOL. That's awesome!!! Funny enough I am making your smash burger sausage tomorrow!!!! SMASHBUREGER SAUSAGE HERE WE COME!!!
Now that both if you will see my comment: I live in Europe and I want to make a Texas brisket-like sausage. (SP and maybe G sausage)
The only problem is, I can't find a recipe that tells me how much kosher salt and how much curing salt I need to use as you just use kosher salt on brisket. Is there a guideline to how much 0,6% curing salt I should use if I don't want to rush making sausage? I am going to put them on a smoker at or above 225 btw.
Hey soumynonA, here's what you need to know. When it comes to making a sausage (and you can apply this to all sausages) start with a salt content of 1.5%. That's a middle of the road place to start. Once your sausage is made you can determine if on your next batch you want to increase or decrease it. As far as curing salts are concerned you are going to add .25% cure #1. All of these percentages are by the final weight of your meat and fat. So, if you have 1000g of meat and fat you would add 15g kosher salt and 2.5g cure #1. Make sense.
One final thought. Cooking a sausage at 225f is a hot and fast way to cook a sausage! Your sausage will be finished cooking in only a couple hours. If you want more smoke flavor in your sausage, I recommend starting much lower (let's say 150f) and smoking for 3 hours. Then increasing the temp to 175f (for an hour), then finishing them off at 225f (till you get to your desired cooking temp). I would finish my sausage off at 145f. 😉
@@2guysandacooler oow, I see. And 145F, is that assuming you use beef or other kinds of meat aswell?
Also, how much pepper and/or garlic would you add as a starting point?
@@soumynonareverse7807 Pepper and garlic is a personal preference. If you want a very heavy pepper flavor you could add 1%, same with garlic. Personally, I would use a .8% pepper and a .6% garlic. But that's just me.
The best video I have seen explaining the danger zone and how it relates to smoking sausage. Thank you for creating this video. This channel is awesome!
Another eye opening delve into the often forgotten/misunderstood world of cures/times/temps.
Thanx again Eric helping us stay safe while blissfully enjoying this charcuterie/sausage hobby
Wow, thank you, Eric!
I am getting ready to make some Polish sausage for Easter.
I would never have had to think or worry about this as I always use curing salt in my sausage that I plan on smoking
This year my daughter-in-law is pregnant and said her doctor said she cannot have curing salts, processed meat, ham, etc. Had I not watched this video I would have said, let's set the smoker temp to 160, to be safe. Going dial it in at 210 degrees.
Thank you again!
I've recently gotten back into sausage making and wanted to thank you for this and all your other videos. It really does help dispel any doubts I had with preparation and cook times. Thank you!
Eric as alway, a very excellent and informative tutorial. The production of your video’s are the best in the You Tube category!
Wow, thanks!
Wow! My mind is blown. Thank you for helping me understand the problem and fixing it.
Incredibly informative!! Thanks so much for the demonstration; watching the whole process play out was interesting as well.
What a great video Eric! I am so glad I found your channel!
Thank you very much!
The 2 videos you did on curing salts, and bacteria times are excellent advice, great video.
Eric, bringing the recipe and the receipts.
Thank so much for all this detail.
Wow what a great video with helpful information!!! Always a pleasure to watch your content.....keep them coming!👍
What a great video! This answered all my questions - thanks Eric!!!
You have the best channel on sausage making and some of the best recipes which I have tried. Thank you
You are so welcome!
Thank you :) I'm brand new to making sausage and this is persistently the hardest and scariest thing for me to gauge with my inexperience. I was honestly terrified to share my first batch- everything went totally fine in the end but I was panicked for day or so waiting for a call of someone with food poisoning or other lol.
LOL. I know the feeling. I remember when I made my first ever batch of salami many years ago. I was a nervous wreck. 😅
Welcome to the craft!! If you ever have any issues or questions, know that you can always reach out and I will try to help😉
Thank you for using the best casish (for drying time) when doing the independant variable. i appreciate the scientific rigor and awareness of any fallacies the inexperienced may make.
Thank you for posting this video. It’s extremely helpful, educational and worthwhile watching. I love videos that explore the different variables like you’ve done here. Food safety is no joke and you make it fun and entertaining to watch!
You just got yourself a subscriber. Very professional and informative! Well done.
Excellent video. As a kid we only made sausage in the winter months in Minnesota.
Great video Eric. I figured the temp would be higher but I didn't realize it would be this much.
Great advice! This video goes along well with other videos on curing salts that you have presented. Stay Safe! Thanks!
Great info and production.Thank you
Valuable information.
Well done video.
Thank you.
Glad i watched this one. Ive bought jerky seasoning, sausage seasoning, and curing salts. Ive held off because of info being discussed. Im no rookie to cooking, BBQ, ans smoking, but making bulk products has me apprehensive. As others have mentioned, i dont want myself, or anyone else getting sick or worse. Reading some recipes online got my attention regarding the #1 and #2 cures, and when to use which one. Thanks for rhe info.
Well, it was worth a shot! Thanks for correcting me! Really enjoy your channel.
😅😅😉
These are excellent information it needs lots of experience. Again you are the best.
Wow, what a tremendously helpful video! I know the 40-140 rule, but I typically don't consider the internal temp because most of what I smoke are solid cuts. But yeah, with the ground meat in sausage . . . different story.
Thank you, Eric. I have definitely violated the rule in a big way in past batches. I'll do better next time!
Good morning Eric
Great topic, I myself smoke with a big chief old school . living in Alberta these smokers don't have much chance of doing a winter smoking lol, I add cure as needed to all my
sausage that way they get packaged and frozen that way I can smoke them in warmer
weather, I also like the flavor and color enhancement it gives i also adjust for total salt
in recipe . Keep making these very informative videos be safe and have a great day
Honestly this was the video that I was looking for. The other ones were little too complicated for my understanding.
this camera is so crisp i can see the exact amount of hours he didn't sleep. very professional (love the kenny loggins reference)
Excellent advice - thank you
Glad it was helpful!
Very interesting and well explained
Glad you liked it
Thank you! It is so great you are teaching us the whys. I know want to know when its safe to consume curing salts - especially #1 as its used for under 30 day items.
Great info, love this and would like to see more sausage safety stuff!
Thanks you Eric,that was helpful
Thank you for information! I had no idea.
Excellent video and apparently it's pretty badly needed. I have never smoked sausage, but have been smoking other meat for years. I have never smoked anything below 200f unless cold smoking salmon or cheese. I especially can't imagine smoking below that temp on any type of ground meat; it's just asking for trouble.
Great video, thank you for the information!
Thanks Eric. Very helpful.
Thanks Matt!! Appreciate the comment!
Much needed video. Thanks
Glad it was helpful!
Great info, very useful.. sounds logical. Health is always the most important factor.
Thanks for the video
Thanks for the informative video. I am making some smoked sausage this weekend. Jalapeño cheddar and Linguiça calabresa, thanks to your videos/website.
Rock on!
I have been watching your videos I appreciate your wisdom thank you
Very helpful video Eric, I would have loved a cros cut section so we can see de diference between the 150 f and 200 f, texturewise
This is fantastic thank you
Always a great video, thanks. Have you ever thought doing s smoked chipped ham recipe?
Great video, thank you!
Another very educational video. Fortunately my small offset smoker is difficult to maintain below 200°.
Yeah. Most offsets can't get to those low temps, much less hold them consistently.
Another excellent video, sir. Your methodical approach and comprehensive explanation of safe food production benefit the viewers and likely ensure the audience enjoys healthful, delicious food items. Perhaps I missed it, you likely covered this, but it should be mentioned that many people feel that cooking sausages to a high temp would eliminate any hazard. That is not the case in foods that spend excessive time in the danger zone. In these temperature ranges (40-140), pathogens can develop toxins that are harmful if consumed, and they cannot be cooked out. The addition of curing salts in the formulation helps prevent the bacteria from producing these toxins.
Hi Eric, when I’m smoking sausage or other meats, I usually smoke at 225*f, I use my remote temperature probe to know when I’ve reached my target temps, with any smoked sausage I always use #1, it just makes me feel better about what I’m doing, I’m fairly new to this, but I take alot of pride in what I do, I believe part of that is safety and knowing my product is safe for the people I gift it to. Thanks for all you do brother.
🇮🇹😎🇮🇹
I bet that produces a very tasty sausage!!
@@2guysandacooler I screwed up, I meant to say 225*, my apologies 🙈
Always been told that when smoking under 200F that you needed to use curing salts. This has been my guiding rule for smoking meats period, be it bacon, ham, or sausage.
Whoever told you that knows what they are talking about😁.
@@2guysandacooler Great grandfather, was the one that imparted that wisdom. Of course he grew up in mountains of east TN, before there was electric in the area so meat preservation was kind of important.
Nice video for those out there dancing with botulism!
I cold smoke at about 32-35 deg F for many hours at a time, welcome to Canada in the winter. I do this for both sausages that will be cooked to an internal temp of 150 or greater or sausages that are dry cured through both the smoking process and the dry aging process.
That's the safest way to do it naturally😉
Wow! Impressive, thanks Eric
Thanks for watching!
Great video thanks
Brilliant.
Great info
I would really like to see more on sous vide pasteurizing vacuum packed sausage.
Like temp and times
Great Video as always Eric !! Lovin your channel , Im new to the sausage making game and would like to know how you would describe how much pressure to apply to the sausage stuffing horn when casing i guess it just all comes down to time and experience.
That's a very good question. It does come down to experience but here's a tip that can help you get there quicker. While you are stuffing your sausage, lightly squeeze on the casing as it's coming off the horn. The flow should be nice and even. If you squeeze on the sausage with your thumb and pointer finger, you should be able to squeeze the sausage all the way without feeling like it's going to explode in your hands. If you squeeze and it feels very tight, then you've stuffed it a bit tighter than you should have. Just release the pressure on the casing the next time you stuff sausage. Hope that helps
Thanks for that tip Eric will definitely try this nxt time i make sausages 😁
Thanks for making this, it’s very informative. I read elsewhere that under 4 hours in the danger zone is the limit, but 2!? It makes me question if not using a cure is worth it at all. If I am going through the trouble of making this stuff I’m gonna want to make a large batch that will last me. Not 3 links, and for a lot of meat it takes a long time to reach 140, even running at 250.
I saw a skinless smoker sauce at the store. I think that would be a great video.
Thanks for this. I don't want nitrites due to the possible links to cancers. I have a new digital smoker so will try to replicate. Guessing you dried coming out from fridge temps to have it be about 60f before going into the smoker.
ThanEric! This is awesome! Super helpful
By the way, if you remember, my pancetta is about two days away from the desired moisture loss… very excited
Nice!!! Let me know how it goes
@@2guysandacooler Eric! The pancetta is amazing! It was born out of a mistake and great advice from you! I will be (intentionally) doing this again! I wish there was some way to show you the results! Thanks again
Great videos,learning alot about curing , if i use curing salts and want to smoke ,to be able to vac pack and cook later , what internal temp should i take it to 150 deg ? have seen some vids smoking at around 150 deg for about 4 hours then ice bath then vac seal thanks in advance
thank You very much.
You are welcome!
good vid dood!!!!
I would be interested to see the same experiment cooking the sausages in a sous vide. Any idea what the results would be? Thanks for all your amazing work!
I really appreciate your sausage making classes because that's what they are for me . I'm partially disabled and using sausage and my food truck for supplemental income and don't want to get anybody sick by all means . When it comes to curing salt they make the meat safer but how much of the flavor does it change and to what amount . I have a gas upright smoker . And find it outside of my budget to purchase a digital smoker with a gas smoker would it be okay to use it . Keeping my temperature keeping my temperature at 195 to 205 for 2 hrs without the curing salt for a drying time for 60 minutes .
Your current smoker would work fine!! In my opinion the curing salt enhances the flavor, but it's not overwhelming.
@@2guysandacooler thank you and I'm so very glad to hear that once I start building my seasoning Shelf .
I love your channel! I am new to sausage making and just watching you before I even start because I want to be safe with the finished product. So, I have one big question that really leads to more questions. Can you dry your sausage on a drying rack in the refrigerator overnight as opposed to 30 minutes in front of a fan? Next question, since you are drying at a lower than 40 degrees; how do you calculate that time? So then, does the 2 hour time start at 0 minutes when you place the sausage directly from the refrigerator to the cooker or smoker. So now, would this be an interesting test to recreate under those parameters? I apologize in advance for so many questions because I am learning. I just do not want to make someone sick or even worse. I guess I am concerned about using curing salt in all my sausage all the time.
Great information as usual....and I always take the information you give with a grain of (curing) salt. 😉
🤣🤣
I live in the tropics
Even at night bits 29degree days are 40 plus all year round .
Since discovering curing salts . I haven't had a bad batch
Thanks for this very informative video! I was wondering how long you could dry sausage without curing salt in the refrigerator that's under 40 degrees and if the 2 hours would start after you take them out?
The 2 hours starts when the IT of the meat reaches 40. So you’d have some time after being removed from the fridge but probably not a lot.
Just found your channel - fantastic. Wondering what you think about using sous vide to get the uncured sausage through the danger zone quickly, then cold smoking to add flavor. It seems it would be more consistent and possibly faster than hot smoking due to heat conductivity of water. Also once cooked to over 140, is it still risky to cold smoke since any latent bacteria would have been killed? Thanks and love your channel!
Won’t take on the smoke very much if already cooked and your still smoking in danger zone so no.
Hi Eric, the video is very helpful - thank you! I am curious - what is your take on sous vide cooking temperatures and times (mainly stakes / chops). The sous vide has vacuum applied (so - potentially can be dangerous) but on the other hand often the meat is not ground .Thank you in advance!
Water can conduct heat more efficiently than air so when it comes to sous vide it will pasteurize the meat faster than if you were to cook in a smoker or an oven. I like sous vide cooking for lots of things. You can cook at much lower temps and still have a safe product.
Eric, mention NSF on some of your shows. Alot of people dont know about it when choosing equipment. In florida, the health dept will show the door to equipment in a restaurant or meat processing business if it is not NSF approved! 😊
Good stuff. The next question is: How long do you have to cook for once past the danger zone? I assume it takes time to kill an acceptable certain percentage of the bacteria. Otherwise it sounds like just crossing the 140 instantly makes the food safe.
I have been making sausage out of my deer for years but I always stress on finishing temp. Some times when they reach an internal temp of 145 to 150 deg. the sausage temp stay at that temp for a hour or two with my smoker temp at 180 or 190 and I like to get to a 160 internal temp to be safe.
My question is if you have ground pork in your sausage is 1 hour @ 150 the same an 1 minute at 160 deg.
Thanks for your videos they are helpful
Great video Eric, I always use curing salts when I am smoking. My question is regarding fat smear with the higher temperatures. If my smoker is at 180 or even 225, I will be cooking my sausage to an internal temp of 158 F. Do I have to worry about Fat smear at those higher smoker temps or just keep and eye on the internal temp of the sausage?
Yes. on some level. The fat on the surface of the sausage will tend to render faster than normal.. The internal fat should be ok
There's another variable that needs to be considered. How long did the product stay at that internal temperature and what was the final internal temperature. That's one reason sous vide is so good bc you can get pasteurization at lower temps. Bringing the internal tempature to 150 and holding it there for I believe 15 min would also kill most bad stuff. The usda has a whole time and temp chart on how to achieve what they call 7d reduction
Also important is the fact that you need to maintain the sausage at or over 140F for longer than 5-10 minutes to kill unwanted bacteria
Great and helpful information as always Eric 👍🏽. Question can you smoke sausage in a smoker to let them get enough smoke on them. And then put them in the oven until they reach 155°-160°. Then cool them down in a ice bath. And get the same result.
Yes technically you could but the result wouldn't be the same. Cooking low and slow is a gentler way of cooking a sausage. It's better for the texture, the fat, the flavor, the snap, pretty much in all ways. When you cook hot and fast you have to cook your sausage to a final temp that's hotter, it's less juicy, the fat is more likely to render. With that being said, you can do it. Just make sure that the internal is out of the danger zone in less than 2 hours (if you are not adding curing salts)
@@2guysandacooler thanks have a great blessed weekend 🙌🏾
Been making sausage for about 3 years. When it comes to food safety I choose not play around and have used curing salts in all my smoke sausage. I prefer to smoke at lower temps. Much better results
On an offset smoker I just cure your sausage and use a smoke tube or smoke maze with wood pellets, chips, or sawdust. After 4hrs the meats are definitely not above 145. Especially during the winter. It’s a true cold smoke.
If you were to set your sausage over night in a refrigerator to firm up between 12-24 hours would that allow for a lower smoking temp? While internally its starting out colder than 1 hour in front of a fan at room temp. Conversely it takes more time to heat up and become safe to eat.
Thanks for the great informative videos Eric
You could but not by much. The sausage would still build up condensation after you pulled it out of the fridge and would need to be redried
That is a fantastic video. So informative. Keeping people safe in the craft. I tend to dry sausages overnight in the fridge. I'm guessing as long as the fridge is colder than 40 that's good to put in the offset as long as the internal temp gets to the safe level within the 2hours. The question is would the sausage split putting a cold sausage in a 200 to 225 smoker?
No. What will happen though is it will begin to form condensation and might affect the texture of the casing and even the color.
Thank you. One other question, in the process of making the sausage. If it takes an hour and the meat temp is up to 40 degrees would that need to be taken from the 2hour safety time.
@@tclopez68 yes
Great video and very helpful. But I have a question. I’m from south Louisiana and I’m interested in making andouille. Does this rule still apply for andouille being andouille is made with large pieces such as a 3/4 grind plate?
yes. This applies to all sausages, especially smoked sausages like andouille
People need to know they can take a CFPM course, a must have in the USA to display,store, prepare, or serve food to the public! This includes food trucks, buffets, supermarkets,restaurants, schools,hotels,carts, private and public clubs,resorts, delivery people, where ever it maybe!! The couse perfit lasts 5 years, and there are rules about when and where! Food servers have a different permit, but they must have training also! 😊
@2 Guys & A Cooler OK what about mixing the cure with some of the water that's going in the ground meat ?
I have a question for you, have you heard of or tried a 2 stage long smoking process?
Method
* grind
* case
* casing dry [fan dry 30 minutes]
* high temp food safety heating stage 1 [use a Sous Vide bath at 180 or pellet grill at 200+] but only until the internal is 145. wireless Chef IQ probe in a sausage sealed in vac bag.
Once the sausages are out of danger, then transfer them to a pellet grill or smoker set to 150 to 160 for long smoke stage?
All minimum internal temps end with a "5". (135,145,155,165*F)
I’d say it’s possible to smoke sausage at refrigerated temperatures (
Could you also add orange rind to help control microbes?
Love your stuff, follow religiously. Is there a different danger zone for pork and beef? I eat steak rare, but will not eat rare pork? Thx Lee
I'll do a different video on doneness. This is just about food bacteria during cooking. The danger zone is the same for all meats.
Fantastic video. It makes me wonder, though.. what effect does it have if you dry overnight on a rack in the refrigerator? I imagine it would be sufficiently dry at that point. If you start from cold, it would at least buy you an additional 30 minutes, but I am curious if it would cook through the danger zone faster since the cooking process begins at a lower temperature.
when it comes out of the fridge it would start to sweat due to the temp change. you would still have to dry the sausage again
@2 Guys & A Cooler Ah, that makes sense. I hadn't thought of the condensation. Thanks for the reply and the awesome videos!
Very helpful. I’m a curing salt kind of guy. No reason to risk it when I’m smoking sausages.
Exactly… the higher temps have their own issues with hardening the casing, moisture loss, wrinkling, and fat rendering. Nitrites, please :). Lots of good reading material out there on temp and bacteria doubling times.
This has nothing to do with this video but I was contacted on the dragon fruit giveaway with a phone number to text to think it’s another scammer love the content keep it up
Looking for a recipe for curing salt would like to mix up salt and brown sugar and nitrate I would like to make a product that I can have ready that I can mix with water to pump ham and bacon I have been using a product from Excalibur works fairly well I was thinking I can save money my mixing my own
I'm new to sausage making and I am still somewhat confused about one aspect (at least) of using curing salt. In most cases, when using curing salt #1, should cooking and/or smoking be postponed for 12 to 24 hours to ensure the greatest sodium nitrite to nitric oxide conversion? Does cooking/smoking stop the sodium nitrite to nitric oxide conversion so that you have more unconverted sodium nitrite than if you let it work uncooked/unsmoked for 12 - 24 hours? Thanks in advance!
Eric, I want to make a cured and smoked chicken sausage. Do you have a recipe?
Can you smoke them after boiling them first?
In a frigerator: food should be stored according to the foods internal cooking temp! RTE STANDS FOR "READY TO EAT"Foods
top shelf- 135*F+ RTE FOODS!
2nd shelf-145*F,
3 shelf- 155*F, 4th shelf 165*F,
The coldest spot in the frig is on the door!! So, where do u find Butter??
Right, on the top shelf!! Its RTE !!
GOT IT??