Too little cure?

[okiecat]

What happens to my summer sausage if I put to little cure? Made some over weekend. Had some distractions and mixed the cure with water and soy protien. First time to ever use the soy protien and didnt know how to put it in meat. Well it turned into a putty you could use for dry walling. Then I didnt know how to cut it in half for the first 12.5#.

 

[stanjk]

If I understand right you were were making 25 pounds of SS? If so, then I would have divided all the ingredients in half and gone from there. Here's a thread for SS: http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/beef-summer sausage smoked-.pdf; a lot of good info on this site. Hope this helps.

 

[okiecat]

Thanks Stanjk, Yes i did divide my cure and seasoning but made a critical mistake trying to put the cure and the soy-protien together in mixing bowl with water. It became almoxt unusable And i didnt divide the cure. So my first 12 #. I dont know how much cure it got. What happens to the meat? Will they spoill quickly? Are they edible in a short period of time in refrig? Dont want to make somebody sick! They look good. Havent cut one yet. Smoked em for 14 hrs. Got to 148. And runn out of ptopane. Help appreciated

 

[mdboatbum]

Can't really make out what exactly you did or didn't do with the cure from the info provided. In the case of cured sausage if there is any question about the cure, unless it's been at or below 40˚f THE WHOLE TIME, I'd chuck it and start over. There are too many ifs and if conditions are right (or wrong, more specifically) you can potentially make someone very sick.

Only other piece of advice I'll offer, and this is from personal experience, is to slow down, get rid of anything that might be a distraction and work from a well laid out recipe and list of steps. I can't tell you how many recipes, projects etc.. that I've screwed up because I blundered in unprepared and unfocused. Finally it dawned on me that if I cared enough to take on the project, I might as well take the steps to clear the time and lay out the procedure. It really only usually adds 10-15 minutes to the front end, and the result is usually that things go more quickly, smoothly and successfully. Yes, mistakes still happen and recipes and projects still don't always work out, but I can usually pin point the problem and fix it more easily.

 

[reinhard]

Some good advice so far.  My only input would be to not mix the soy protein with the water.  Spread or sprinkle the soy protein over the meat after it is ground.  I always mix the cure with the water used for the batch of sausage however.  This assures that the cure gets mixed in the meat mix better. Reinhard

 

[stanjk]

Good advice above. The cure thing is touchy, 14 hours would require a good cure mix; I don't think the risk/reward would be worth it. 

 

[okiecat]

Thanks to all, I realize the details are sketchy at best. This is my second year of making sausage but first time to try my own mixing. As always helpers didnt show! Im was sitting there with 50# of elk meat and fat thawing fast. I did figure out after the mistake to add soy to meat dry. One lesson learned. Second lesson allow more time for smoking SS. Has been taking about 12 hrs ,but here I was at 14 hrs and 1:00 am. And only 148*. I was very tired and had to go to work early so I dumped in the ice bath and then freezer. Its been there ever since. Bottom line is Ive got 12# that im sure has below cure and cooked to 148*. Do I toss this batch?

 

[daveomak]

Eating the sausage is a decision you have to make.... ground meats should get up to temp in 4 hours.... however, at the 4 hour mark, if the meat is at a temp listed below, for the time recommended, then it is supposed to be safe......

As an example.... if the meat got to 130 in 3-4 hours, then it was held there for 2 hours or so..... It is supposed to be safe EXCEPT for botulism..... the cure is supposed to take care of that......

Time V Temp non intact meats (2).jpg

• daveomak
• May 1, 2014

 

[foamheart]

Are you going to smoke it? If not, are you going to eat it raw? If not will it stay frozen and /or refrigerated until cooking? If not although its not a recommended procedure its your call. The USDA is not coming to your door, bottom line, do you feel comfortable eating it? 

 

[reinhard]

The way I understand this [could be wrong] is that you have a 12 pound batch of summer sausage that is finished at 148 deg and not sure if you had the right amount of cure distributed within the batch.  Now at 14 hours of smoking and still at 148 internal it seems to me that that is a long time in the smoker and not sure if you had it cured right.  To me I would throw the batch.  That's a long time at low temps in the smoker, unsure of the correct amount of cure [and not sure the cure even got mixed well enough to be distributed through the whole batch]. We all make mistakes even after many years at this.  Hopefully I got it right as far as my idea of what happened. Seasonings you can add or subtract and tweek all we want, but cure has to be added correctly with the right amount and mixed well into the batch.  Reinhard

 

[okiecat]

The way I understand this [could be wrong] is that you have a 12 pound batch of summer sausage that is finished at 148 deg and not sure if you had the right amount of cure distributed within the batch.  Now at 14 hours of smoking and still at 148 internal it seems to me that that is a long time in the smoker and not sure if you had it cured right.  To me I would throw the batch.  That's a long time at low temps in the smoker, unsure of the correct amount of cure [and not sure the cure even got mixed well enough to be distributed through the whole batch]. We all make mistakes even after many years at this.  Hopefully I got it right as far as my idea of what happened. Seasonings you can add or subtract and tweek all we want, but cure has to be added correctly with the right amount and mixed well into the batch.  Reinhard

Thanks again for a bunch of help. I think this quote sums it all up. Im goimg to thaw one and cut it. Take a hard look and probably toss it to the dogs. I have plenty of meat to still smoke. Probably go back to PS Seasoning packs and be sure! Will give this another try next winter. I really respect you guys expertise and info.

 

[daveomak]

Okiecat, afternoon...... check out nepas threads on curing..... he weighs everything out into small dishes.... that way he knows what he is adding and maybe even when to add during different steps.... Pretty cool method to keep the old brain from messing stuff up..... Just a thought..... Dave

 

[weisswurst]

Very good advice Boatbum. And Reinhards also... along with others.Early on I learned about too much water mixed with some dry ingredients and cure.It is easy to get distracted.This is a sausage making no no.I always measure all ingredients into separate little bowls.I put some ice cubes in a small bowl of water from which I use just enough water to help  disperse  Some dry ingredients like Soy protein do not mix well with water so I do as suggested above.... sprinkle over meat. Any ingredient that floats on top of water is probably not a good candidate for water dispersion. And those that sink quickly ( most ) need to be stirred often until actually in meat.I know that sounds basic , and it is , however as others have said this  leads to better product. Finally , I know the amount of water can change the effects of cure. My guess is that if meat is a little too moist the cure lies in water and only partially permeates meat. My humble 2 cents . Happy SM Weisswurst