Sodium Nitrate for Curing Sausage

Is it good or evil? Do You Really "Need" To Cure?

Sodium nitrate has been used for many hundreds (maybe thousands) of years in sausage making and meat curing. It's still an important part of the process, but we have become smarter about how we use it.

I'll clear one thing up right from the top. Yes, If you make smoked, cooked, or dry sausage you DO need to use a cure. Here's why...

...There's a nasty bacteria called Clostridium Botulinum that causes botulism (a potent and deadly form of food poisoning). This bacteria lives best in temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees F. and likes moist, low oxygen conditions.

That is exactly the environment we provide in our sausage smokers and hot water baths and when we make semi-dry and dry sausages (like summer sausage or salami).

Nitrites prevent the growth of the botulism bacteria, and nitrites are made from the natural breakdown of either sodium or potassium nitrate.

Nitrites also give cured meat and sausage it's pink color and distinctive taste.

Our sausage making ancestors used saltpeter, a form of nitrate (sodium or potassium) to cure their meat. We now know that saltpeter is many times stronger than what is needed for a good cure. Don't use saltpeter when curing your sausage. We have much better alternatives.

Nitrites and Health

There's lots of controversy around nitrite use and possible health problems. Some studies show that nitrites increase the risk of cancer and they recommend reducing the amount of cured food that we eat.

Other studies have proven that we get much more nitrite in our diet from the natural nitrates found in fresh vegetables...more than we do from any cured meat we eat.

The FDA has strict guidelines on how much sodium nitrate or nitrite can be used in commercially made sausage and cured meats, but they are absolutely sure of one thing...

At this time, there is NO known substitute for nitrite in curing meat and sausage.

They feel that the benefits of using nitrite cures far outweigh the risks.

I Recommend...

...If you are concerned about sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite in your diet, do an internet search or other research and read more on both sides of the controversy. A good place to start your research is the U.S. Department of Agriculture

If you decide not to use nitrites, you can still make and eat many great varieties of fresh sausage. 

Available Commercial Cures

There are three commercially available cures that I know of. They're all very safe and easy to use but it's important to remember that they are not necessarily interchangeable.

One brand may have a higher concentration of sodium nitrate or nitrite than another so you must use them based on the directions given by the supplier.

Example: Just because one brand calls for a teaspoon in a recipe it doesn't mean another brand will call for the same amount of their product.

Tip

With the exception of Morton Tender Quick, I have never been able to find these products locally. You may have better luck than me, but you'll probably need to mail order them.

Prague Powder

Some people refer to this as "pink curing salt". There are 2 varieties:

Prague Powder #1 is for all cured meats and sausages except for the dried kinds like hard salami.

Prague Powder #1 is 6.25 per cent sodium nitrite and 93.75 per cent sodium chloride (table salt).

Prague Powder #2 is used for dried meat and sausage. It has 1 ounce of sodium nitrite and 0.64 ounces of sodium nitrate in a pound of product. The rest of the pound is sodium chloride.

Both Prague Powder #1 and #2 are used in very small quantities, around 1 teaspoon per 5 pounds of meat (follow supplier directions).

Morton Tender Quick

This is a curing salt made by the Morton Salt Company. It contains both sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate. It has a lower nitrite/nitrate concentration (0.5 percent of each), and much more salt than the other cures.

Tender Quick is very good to use as a rub or in a brine (for making corned beef etc.) but has limited use in sausage making. With Tender Quick the sausage mixture gets very salty before the correct amount of cure is reached.

Insta Cure

I think this is essentially the same product as Prague Powder. It comes as Insta Cure #1 and #2, and the uses are the same as for Prague Powder #1 and #2.

I have used both Prague Powder and Insta Cure, and they work equally well. Insta Cure doesn't seem to be the same "screaming pink" color as most Prague Powder (it is still pink though), but that is the only major difference I can see.

So, to answer our questions: Yes, we need to use cure if we want safe smoked, cooked, or dried sausage. Sodium nitrate (and the sodium nitrite it produces) isn't evil. Without it, we couldn't have safe (and tasty) cured meats and sausages.

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