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Hi
I have been reading the book on sausage making by Paul Peacock and in a number of his recipes for sausage making he refers to curing salt. I am unsure whether Supacure bacon curing salt sold by Weshenfelder is suitable, or is it another curing salt that is being referred to? Hope someone can point me in the right direction. Thanks

Can you post an example of a recipe that uses it please Mike. It will enable me (or others) to advise.

Phil

Hi Phil
The recipe below if for Lincolnshire sausages:
Basic Filling:
1 kg pork shoulder.
150 g breadcrumbs or rusk.
150 ml ice cold water.

Seasoning:
17 g curing salt.
3 g black pepper
15 g chopped sage.

Casings:
3 metres of sheep's casing, soaked and washed inside and out. But you can use hog skins if you wish.

Method:
Cube the meat into about 1.5cm pieces and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Thoroughly mix the dry ingredients so that the curing salt, pepper and sage are completely incorporated.
Mince the meat with a coarse plate.
Chill the meat in the fridge for 30 minutes then mix with the dry ingredients and the water.
Back to the fridge while you test a sample.
You can regrind with a fine plate in the grinder, but you can also leave it as it is for a more rustic sausage.
Stuff into casing and link as required.
Leave for 24 hours to mature.

The are a total of 74 sausage recipes in the book and all but 6 of the recipes calls for curing salt in various quantities, I have actually emailed Paul Peacock through his website "kitchen newbie" some days ago to ask him the same question but have yet to receive a reply from him..........
Look forward to any comments on my original question with interest
Mike

Oh dear. What's our Mr Peacock up too?

I cannot think of a time that you would use curing salt in a fresh sausage - other than when smoking it.

I can confirm that there isn't any curing salt in Lincolnshire Sausage - and nor should there be!

HTH

Phil

Added: Here's the spec from the (failed) PGI application for Lincolnshire sausage. So this is what Lincolnshire butchers think should be the only ingredients:

The production, processing and preparation of Lincolnshire sausages takes place in the defined geographical area using only the following ingredients: pork, sage, bread or breadcrumbs, rusk, salt, pepper, water or ice and if used, sulphite.

Thank you for the reply, probably explains why he has never responded to my email asking him to specify the type of curing salt he uses and where it can be obtained, what really puzzles me though is that the majority of the sausage recipes in his book specify curing salt, so its back to the drawing board, I think that I will try my first batch with some MSG free ready mixed seasoning from Surfys, thanks for the reply.
Mike

Mike,

If it's fresh sausage then it just uses plain salt. I'd recommend a good one, 'cos there's no point making a mediocre product. But, if finances are tight, then use supermarket cooking salt. That includes all the regionals - Lincolnshire, Cambridge, Cumberland etc... ...No cure.

Smoked sausage needs cure. Anaerobic places can allow botulism to develop - and there ain't no air in a tank of smoke (Some would argue that it's not necessary for hot smoking - but why risk it).

Salami etc - you'd be mad to make it in the UK without cure.

Here endeth Phil's guide to cure in sausage!

And a damned fine one it is! Mike, that recipe would make a fine sausage if you cross out curing salt and write in sea salt. It's almost as if the recipes were the victim of an autocorrection program run amuck.

Yes I agree with the auto correction theory, I just cannot believe that someone would publish that number of recipes all using curing salt, and I take on board the advice from Phil and will use good quality sea salt in place of any sausage recipe ingredient that refers to curing salt, thanks again for the reassurance, being on the threshold of a new culinary art I want to try and get my early efforts to produce half decent results and not become demoralised by an absolute failure, thanks again for the responses.
Mike

Mike,

the way you're approaching it, you will have loads of successes. There will be failures, at least in my experience there are loads! But, the man who never made a mistake, never made anything!

Phil

Phil speaks the truth right there...