Saltpetre / KNo3 / Potassium Nitrate

[maranman]

Good Morning to the whole Sausagemaking community

Although I am a Newbie to this site, I am not a complete Sausagemaking novice but still have lots to learn. I have gleaned loads of useful information so far. THANKS

My current problem is the use (or not) of Saltpetre also known in chemical formula terms as KNO3 or Potassium Nitrate.

What I (and, I suspect, many others) need is a definitive guide to its use.
I am rather hoping that a certain guy who lives overseas can oblige as he has posted on this subject before.
(Although I don�t feel that it�s fair to name him and put him under pressure!)

We know (or should) that it�s quite dodgy stuff and must be using sparingly and measured or weighed VERY carefully.

To get to the point at last.

How much should I use per Kilo of made up sausage mix � a mix that has everything else added and is basically ready to be stuffed?

=========================================

In the interests of safety!

Can anyone explain the concept of ppm (parts per million) ????
I think I understand -
For example: 1 ppm = 1 ml of Honey in 1,000,000 ml of water

BUT I struggle when the substance is not a liquid.
And I have even less chance of understanding how to measure such a miniscule amount.


I have just read this back to myself and it SEEMS to make sense!

Best Wishes to you all.
Graeme

[saucisson]

You have the concept right

1ppm would be 1g in a metric tonne, (1000 kilos or 1000000g)

IF making fresh sausages for cooking immediately, you don't need to add saltpetre at all, it is only necessary if you want cured meat: ham, bacon, salami, chorizo etc.

The definitive guide I use is Oddley's:

Meat 1 kg
Saltpetre 0.5 Grams (500 ppm)
Salt Weight 20 grams (2%)
Sugar Weight 10 grams (1%)
Sodium Ascorbate 0.55 grams (550 ppm)

Or if you want to make up a mix then:

Saltpetre 5 Grams
Salt Weight 200 grams
Sugar Weight 100 grams
Sodium Ascorbate 5.5 grams

Usage 31 grams per 1 kg meat

You are right the stuff is dangerous and you really need a set of digital scales that can measure down to at least 0.1g, I got mine from http://www.ukscaleschina.com The ascorbate helps to accelerate the conversion of nitrate to nitrite to NO2, ensuring there is less residual nitrate when and if you cook the meat. I'll leave the reasons for this to another post.

The alternative is to use Prague cure #1 which is sodium nitrite diluted in salt, if you are making bacon or ham, or Prague cure #2 which is sodium nitrate/nitrite for parma ham, chorizo ie air dried raw meat; which you generally use at 2g per kilo of meat. But you still need the sensitive scales for that amount.

Hope this helps enough,

Dave

[Oddley]

Welcome to the forum maranman.

In the interests of safety!

Can anyone explain the concept of ppm (parts per million) ????
I think I understand -
For example: 1 ppm = 1 ml of Honey in 1,000,000 ml of water

BUT I struggle when the substance is not a liquid.
And I have even less chance of understanding how to measure such a miniscule amount.

You seem to have grasped the concept of PPM quite well. It may help, not to think of it as PPM, but milligrams of nitrate per Kilogramme of sausage mix ie: mg/Kg.

For instance: for 1 kg of sausage mix use 300 mg/Kg or 0.3 grams of Potassium nitrate.

There is a guide Here on how much to use from the FSA.

Accurate scales of 0.1 g or 0.01 g can be bought from ebay.

[TonyE]

Hi Maranman


I have a spare set of Digital Scales that measure down to 10th gram
with a 100 gram calibration weight - Could let you have them for �10.00 if you are interested, I live in Calne 12miles from you, down the A4


Regards - Tony

Suggest you trawl the Internet, not sure what they cost these days