Smokin-It User Forum!
Recipes => Brines, Marinades & Injections => Topic started by: niceguy0427 on July 06, 2014, 03:41:39 PM
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I noticed that divotmaker refers to #1 curing salt in some of his brines. What is this and is it necessary to use this in a brine?
Is this the same as something by the name of Insta cure #1 from the SausageMaker in Buffalo NY??
Thanks,
Don
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Hi Don,
Yes, InstaCure #1 is the same thing. Some people refer to this as "pink salt" or "cure," or "Prague powder," but it's the same thing. It is not essential in a brine, unless you are curing meat (like bacon). I add it to my pork loin brine to add the pink "faux" smoke ring to the meat. If you're doing Canadian bacon, though, it is essential. It adds nitrites to the meat to cure it. #1 is used for wet curing brines, and a little goes a long way - so measure carefully! You use #2 for dry cures.
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Yes and no...
#1 can be used for dry curing but not in a dry cured sausage. #1 can also be used in a brine, like Tony's pork loin brine or my corned beef recipe in the Charcuterie section. However it is also used for some types of dry curing. My dry cured bacon recipe, uses #1 you can see it in the Bacon section.
Pink salt (under many names) prmarly preserves color, prevents fat from becoming rancid, enhances and changes flavor but most important keeps you from killing yourself and your family.
If your smoking is allowing meat to be between 40 to 140 for two or more hours you should be using pink salt.
This is copied directly from Michael Ruhlman's Charcuterie (emphasis and comments added):
Some form of curing salt must be used in any dry cured sausages. The warm anaerobic , protein rich interior of a sausage is ideal environment for bacteria that produce the potentially fatal nerve toxin causing botulism poisoning. Sodium nitrite (#1) prevents these bacteria from growing. Sodium nitrate (#2) is a time release form of sodium nitrite must be used in all dry cured sausages cured over longer periods (weeks).
Nitrates are added to cures for either dry-curing or smoking, processes in which the meat is held between 40 and 140 degrees F. ("Cold Meat, Cold Smoker", you need to hit 140 IT before two hours)
I recommend you buy at least one good book, Charcuterie, In the Charcuterie, & Salumi are three that I own. There are other books that have a greater emphasis on smoking like Smoking Food or The Complete Book of Butchering Smoking Curing and Sausage making.
Don't trust your life to a bunch of guys on-line, have a resource library.
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Well said!
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Thanks for the backup, Brian! You're definitely the resident expert on cures! I defer... :-\