# Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making...



## daveomak (Jan 26, 2017)

Below is one more book I find very interesting....   Has some stuff in it you can't seem to find in todays publications...   Some good explanations also....

The "Freeze 'em Pickle" is a proprietary cure mix they sold...   Based on the addition, they recommend, 1# per 100#'s of meat, and noting the duration meat is stored in barrels or tierces, the cure mix must be around 1.5% nitrite...  They are storing meats for 40 or 60 days or longer, they are equilibrium curing...  I assume, which is stupid to say at the very least, the majority of the cure mix is salt...  other than that, I'm not going to guess...

Many of their method can be used today...   There is a lot to learn from reading this other addition of their books......   Enjoy....

https://archive.org/stream/secretsofmeatcur05hell#page/n5/mode/2up













Meat Curing and Sausage Making.jpg



__ daveomak
__ Jan 26, 2017


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## DanMcG (Jan 27, 2017)

Thanks Dave, I had this someplace but not in book form.


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## tropics (Jan 27, 2017)

Very interesting thanks Dave

Richie


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## daveomak (Jan 27, 2017)

DanMcG said:


> Thanks Dave, I had this someplace but not in book form.


I think this is a different book than I put up before...


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## Fueling Around (Feb 19, 2020)

Found an old (50's?) recipe book that listed "Freeze em Pickle" in the ingredients list.
Search for "Freeze em pickle" resulted in this thread.
Clarification: General web search gave me Frisco Spice as the first result and this SMF thread.
Sorry, still working out this rotation thing
Replaced the photo to make it easier to read


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## fullborebbq (Feb 19, 2020)

Great posting! thank you for the info.


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## daveomak (Feb 20, 2020)

"Freeze em pickle"
From what I can tell, it's a 1910's version of cure#1.....

Use cure#1 in it's place with today's recommendations for use...
It was developed by Heller and Co.









						Secrets of meat curing and sausage making; how to cure hams, shoulders, bacon, corned beef, etc.; how to make all kinds of sausage, etc : Heller, B., & co., Chicago. [from old catalog] : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
					

96 p. 17 cm



					archive.org
				




...


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## Fueling Around (Feb 21, 2020)

Not planning to use the recipe.
Just ran into an unknown term that deserved some research.
The fact a Google search led me to SMF and a post from you said volumes...


daveomak said:


> "Freeze em pickle"
> From what I can tell, it's a 1910's version of cure#1.....
> 
> Use cure#1 in it's place with today's recommendations for use...
> ...


Freeze-Em-Pickle is still sold today by Frisco Spices of Omaha

Good book to read.  Company was around for over 100 years and then disappeared in early turn of the century?

From the description Freeze-Em-Pickle may or may not be a cure #1

The term "sweet" may indicate added sugars.
It probably means the meat doesn't have an off flavor?

Thinking to another common product ... butter.
Today's labels still state "sweet cream" butter.
Way (way way) back butter was often made from old or soured cream.
Taste preference is for butter from fresh or sweet cream.


-John


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## daveomak (Feb 22, 2020)

Fueling Around said:


> Freeze-Em-Pickle is still sold today by Frisco Spices of Omaha
> -John



John, morning.....   I'm the blind squirrel that couldn't find the acorn....   
Please lead me to the item, "Freeze-Em-Pickle" that is still sold by Frisco Spices of Omaha


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## chopsaw (Feb 22, 2020)

FriscoSpices
					

Frisco Spices is the original custom spice maker and wholesale spice superstore.




					friscospices.com
				



Page 8 bottom right under collections . 
Took alot of looking ,, man that place has alot of stuff . Interesting stuff , in no certain order . Bookmarked the page .


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## Fueling Around (Feb 22, 2020)

Sorry Dave
Thanks Chop.
I had already bookmarked the page on Freeze-Em-Pickle, but posted the home page so people could see the big picture.
Hundreds of products from what I can see.  

I've tried emailing them twice for clarification on the pickle, but it gets rejected.
My isp didn't have a good reputation so many firewalls still reject it.


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## daveomak (Feb 23, 2020)

OK !!!!  Finally found Freeze 'em Pickle....

FREEZE-EM PICKLE R02991 • 50# box/R01937 • 25/1# bags Ingredients: 
Salt, Sodium Nitrate (12.0%), Sodium Nitrite (1.50%), Dextrose, with not more than 2% Propylene Glycol and Sodium Bicarbonate added to prevent caking.Use: Up to 1# per 100# meat, and up to 58# per 100 gallons pickle for 10% pump. 

If used as a dry rub....

Nitrate....  454 X 0.12 (12%)  = 54 grams per pound ..  54 grams per 100#'s (45,400 g)= 1,200 Ppm 

Nitrite ...  454 X 0.015 (1.5%) = 6.8 grams per pound.. 6.8 g per 100%'s (45,400g) = 150 Ppm....  

 10% pump.....
100 gal. X 8.35 # per gal.= 835#'s water...   835 X 454 = 379,100 g
nitrate 54 g X 58#'s = 3,132 g nitrate
3,132 / 379,100 = 8,262 Ppm nitrate X 0.1 (10% pump) = 826 Ppm nitrate in pumped meat.. 

nitrite 6.8 g / 54 g = 12.6% nitrite to nitrate...
826 Ppm nitrate in meat X 0.126 (12.6% ratio) = 104 Ppm nitrite in pumped meat..

Salt "appears" to be about 85% +/-  with ~15% remaining ingredients...  and at a 1% addition rate, you would still, probably, want to add about 1-1.5% salt, depending on recipe....

At $4.75 per pound, I'm not going to order it...  I can make my own using cure#2 and salt etc. for about $2.50 per pound...


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## Fueling Around (Feb 23, 2020)

Thanks.
Whew, 12% nitrate. I wouldn't know how to use it or even ... why.


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## daveomak (Feb 24, 2020)

I'm gonna take a guess here....
FREEZE-EM PICKLE was developed around 1900 as a controlled method for curing meat, in place of using pure Salt Petre (er)....  potassium nitrate...  

It occurs in nature as a mineral, niter. It is a source of nitrogen, from which it derives its name. Potassium nitrate is one of several nitrogen-containing compounds collectively referred to as *saltpeter* or *saltpetre*.

Major uses of potassium nitrate are in fertilizers, tree stump removal, rocket propellants and fireworks. It is one of the major constituents of gunpowder (black powder).[6] In processed meats, potassium nitrate reacts with hemoglobin and generates a pink color.[7] 

*Meat processing*
Potassium nitrate has been a common ingredient of salted meat since antiquity[27] or the Middle Ages[28]. The widespread adoption of nitrate use is more recent and is linked to the development of large-scale meat processing.[29] The use of potassium nitrate has been mostly discontinued because of slow and inconsistent results compared to sodium nitrite compounds such as "Prague powder" or pink "curing salt". Even so, potassium nitrate is still used in some food applications, such as salami, dry-cured ham, charcuterie, and (in some countries) in the brine used to make corned beef (sometimes together with sodium nitrite).[30] When used as a food additive in the European Union,[31] the compound is referred to as E252; it is also approved for use as a food additive in the United States[32] and Australia and New Zealand[33] (where it is listed under its INS number 252).[3]


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## blucmal (Jun 2, 2020)

Just the post I was looking for. Would the high 12% nitrate level in freeze-em be because of nitrate to nitrite conversion. I know nitrate is a more slow release substance that relies on meat bacteria? Enzyme? to convert it to nitrite. 
Does 12% nitrate break down to a much lower amount of nitrite? Or is it 1:1 but over longer period?

Also the dextrose it that there to promote lacto fermentation I know it is used in salami for that purpose.? I am in Aus and cant find the freeze-em anywhere


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## daveomak (Jun 2, 2020)

I wouldn't use Freeze-Em-Pickle...  use Cure#2....
AND.....    Freeze-Em is not the same as Freeze-Em-Pickle....   2  different compounds.....


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## blucmal (Jun 2, 2020)

Ok thanks and thanks. So cure number 2 same amounts as freeze-em pickle?


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## daveomak (Jun 3, 2020)

blucmal said:


> Ok thanks and thanks. So cure number 2 same amounts as freeze-em pickle?



No, not exactly.... They are different compounds....
Use cure#2 at the same rate as cure#1...  They both have 6.25% nitrite....   the nitrate level runs from  0.5% to 3.63% and maybe more...   It's the nitrite that one adjusts the amount of cure to as nitrate is allowed at a higher rate than nitrite...
Please use modern day rates of modern day curing ingredients for your health safety and the safety of your friends and family...
The rate to use both is....
0.25% (0.0025X) or 1.14 grams per pound for ~156 Ppm addition nitrite..


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## daveomak (Jun 3, 2020)

Cure#2 is intended to be used in meats that do not require cooking....  
Salami's, Proscuito's, etc....


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## blucmal (Jun 4, 2020)

Ok thanks. Been making fresh sausages and semi dried, salami salumi next step...


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