Hi all, just came across this forum and joined up right. Last night I made my first batch of sausage (about 25lbs) for drying but I think I may have messed up. I roughly followed an old recipe my grandfather used for over 50 years....basically ground pork/bit of deer with lots of garlic, paprika, chilli pepper, table salt and pepper...(I used maybe 200 ml of table salt). I plan to cold smoke it today for some flavor and then hang it to dry for 2-3 weeks outside in a drafty shed ( I live way up north so temps are perfect)
Will this meat be safe to eat? I did some reading and people are talking about botulism if you don't use curing agents, nitrates, certain amount of salt, etc, etc., so it's got me very worried that I didn't use enough salt/curing agents. Unfortunately grandfather passed several years ago so I can't get the exact recipe from him. Should I continue with my plan and dry this sausage or just give up? Will this sausage be safe to eat? I grew up eating this type of sausage with no ill effects at but after reading online stuff online it seems to be a bio-hazard without proper curing agents/salt.