Andouille Help

[johnb5]

I am going no to try my first batch this weekend. Most of the recipes call for cure. Can I just remove the cure and keep it raw? Cooking and storing as I do my brats? Thanks

 

[daveomak]

Cure changes the flavor of the meat.... you won't have true Andouille... But not using cure is OK..... The difference will be the same as.. eating a roast pork leg or eating a ham ...... the only difference is the cure....

 

[darwin101]

Yes you can cook what you have as you do brats, treat them the same as any fresh sausage. As Dave has said the curing process does change the flavor of the meat. The traditional andouille and cajun sausages will have been cured and have been cold smoked for a long time, possibly days.  Cut one open and the color will be a mahogany red, that only comes from long cold smoking.  

 

[foamheart]

Without the cure, you are making course ground sausage. Just as without the cure a ham is just cooked pork or tasso is just seasoned pork. The spices allow the creative latitude to mold a recipe into something more your own but some cured items require cure to become the end product.

Would bacon be bacon without the cure?

Also the cure is very important for the safety of the meat while smoking especially in the south were we are already having 80 degree nights.

 

[chef jimmyj]

" Also the cure is very important for the safety of the meat while smoking especially in the south were we are already having 80 degree nights. "

I just wish to point out, Cure is needed for Smoking meats at temps below 225°F. If you use cure you can smoke at temps anywhere from 40° to 180°F without worrying about the notorious Clostridium Botulinum, the bug that causes Botulism by producing deadly Toxins.

If you leave out the Cure smoke at 225°F or higher to a minimum Internal Temp (IT) of 165°...JJ

 

[johnb5]

I put the cure in guys. Thanks for all the help

 

[bigbob73]

Andouille needs to be smoked. Its part of what gives it that distinctive flavor