Do I need a cure? Is his do able?

[johnr]

I have a farm buddy that has a smoke house 10' X 10', fricken huge that has been smoking meats for close to a century. He has a family recipe that is equally as old, and the best I have tasted. His ingredients are a guarded secret, but I know he uses tender quick in it.

I have helped him make it the last several years, however never think to take note as to what the amounts are that we are using, or even exactly what we put in.

We smoke it for about 1.5 hours, after the smoke house has warmed up. We hang the sausage on long iron rods right over a cedar fence post fire pit that is covered with a huge iron plate causing the smoke to roll out the sides and out the little chimney hole in the center of the smoke house.

Our ancestors made things much better than anything we have now, and sadly this beautiful smoke house will likely not carry on, as his kids are not in the area anymore, and the farm will be swallowed up by neighbors when that time comes.

Oh by the way, when we mix the season in our sausage, it is at 100 pound increments, so the recipe is all measured on weight, last year we did 3 pigs and made 256lbs of sausage (adjust amounts to actual weight of product). It all fit in the smoke house with room for another 200 lbs.

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Maybe the Muslims are generally pissed off at life cuz of no pork or pork-enabled products. I know I would be. The little oinkers make so many great foods possible.

It might be that, and the fact that life is more than sand and prayer, and with the world wide web, they see us Americans enjoying lots of fun and pork.

If all I had was a woman covered from head to toe and stinking of anus, and camel meat, and you guys were living it up, I would be a pissed off prick too, I mean even more so...haha

 

[Mort]

Our ancestors made things much better than anything we have now

Thats the sad truth johnr, my dad made sausage down on the farm in his younger days that I was at this year and they have an old separate smoker like you mention......I am now paying attention to how he mixes it and will carry the tradition on....

 

[Davy Crockett]

I thot 7 hit bottom when I saw the name of this one.

 

[Captain Ahab]

I thot 7 hit bottom when I saw the name of this one.

Hahaha. Yeah, that crossed my mind as well.

 

[deleted member]

If you are gonna bring it up above 40-45 degrees for any significant time, you need to bring it all the way to about 165. This is true even if you use cure if you don't let the cure work first. Cure doesn't work like it should above a certain temperature.... I think it's like 42 degrees. So, once you start smoking, you should "cook" to temp.

 

[johnr]

If you are gonna bring it up above 40-45 degrees for any significant time, you need to bring it all the way to about 165. This is true even if you use cure if you don't let the cure work first. Cure doesn't work like it should above a certain temperature.... I think it's like 42 degrees. So, once you start smoking, you should "cook" to temp.

You might be right, however we have never finished it off. After many, many years of smoking sausage. We put smoke to it, sometimes a rack might get a bit "cooked" but we just eat that first.
I have yet to get sick or taste any bad meat doing it the way we do, and have had sausage in the freezer for up to a couple years.

I claim no responsibility with any of my advice as I might just be of the iron gut club and not susceptible to any food born illnesses. Nor am I a butch or expert meat smoker...hahah meat smoker

 

[deleted member]

We never smoked to temp either and never got sick. I think if you let the cure do its thing for a while before smoking or bringing the temp up... like 24 hours maybe???.... then you don't have to bring it all the way to the required temp. That's why a lot of game processing places end up with their smoked products being brought to temp these days. They don't have time to let the meat cure before smoking and packaging. So, they just smoke it and bring it to temp in one step. Whereas places like hickory hut and Langdon must cold smoke or else have time to let it cure first. Which brings up the other caveat... if you cold smoke below 40 or whatever the magic number is so that you don't arrest the curing process, then you also don't need to bring it to temp I don't think anyways

 

[Mongo]

Using cure will help stop botulism/food poisoning from happening. For the little bit of work and the minimal expense it takes to add the cure, I wouldn't consider smoking anything without it.

 

[NodakBuckeye]

I would use a cure. Rule of thumb from my restaurant and food sanitation days was 4 hours in the danger zone, 145-140°. By the time you grind, mix, stuff, smoke then cool down and freeze, it will be at least that long. 1 tsp instacure #1 per 5lbs meat then whatever seasoning, mix and stuff. Hang the sausage and let casing dry then smoke away, cool down and freeze.

Guy- that charcuterie book is awesome!

 

[Kickemup]

I have always used a cure. I put smoke to my sausage for about 2 hrs. Then pull smoke bump up temp to 250 and let it cook till 165. Pull out and shock all sausage.

 

[NodakBuckeye]

Have a little nook off the patio that is covered by the deck and I intend to build a smokehouse there next summer. Want something I can cold smoke with and intend on doing some Virginia style ham and doing some pork bellies.

 

[ItemB]

Yep the reason I was asking is it seems everybody does it a little different and has differenct. I was finally able get the recipe of the sasuage I have eaten for many years and never got sick from. It has freeze em pickle for the cure and says to smoke and 140-160 degrees for 45min to 3 hours depending upon how heavy of smoke flavor you want. This ends up being an uncooked product needs to be fully cooked when comes time to eat.

 

[scrotcaster]

I have always used a cure. I put smoke to my sausage for about 2 hrs. Then pull smoke bump up temp to 250 and let it cook till 165. Pull out and shock all sausage.

What does that mean? ice bath? and why do you do it ? just curious.. doing sausage this weekend

 

[GSP]

Cure is cheap, and 100% worth it. Im a novice, so I wont risk doing any sausage without it. If you're around Minot, Valley Meats has cure packets (measured for 25 pounds of sausage) for 1 dollar. Otherwise, most seasonings have a cure packet included. I also bring them to 160-165 and shock them before packaging. Not that this is a perfect method, it just works for me.

 

[nxtgeneration]

What does that mean? ice bath? and why do you do it ? just curious.. doing sausage this weekend

Yes its an ice bath. I guess i'm not positive but i've been told it helps keeping the sausage from shrinking/wrinkling. Someone else can correct me if i'm wrong. This weekend would be perfect. Just toss the rings in the snow bank for a bit and you'll be ready to go.