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Hi all,

I'd just like to say a big thanks to those that helped me out with my earlier query about my bacon cure.

With confidence high, I just starting to cure a couple of loins ready for Christmas Bacon!

This time I'd like to add some Sodium Ascorbate to my dry cure to help prevent the formation of nitrosamines whilst cooking. I'm aware that the amounts added for curing each kilo of meat are very small, but can someone give me a figure to use with the dry cure that I am currently using?

At present I am using the ready mixed curing salt as bought through sausagemaking.org

for 1kg of meat I am using...

15g Ready mixed Curing Salt
13g Dextrose

My question to you all is how much Sodium Ascorbate would I have to add to this cure to help prevent those nitrosamines?

Thanks again for your help and look forward to hearing your replies.

Richard

0.55g per kilo of meat:

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... +ascorbate

Dave

What Dave said, 0.55g. This is 550 PPM and has to be added to bacon in the US by law. It is based on the meat weight 'skin-off'. If curing skin-on it's reduced by 10% to 0.495g.

Phil

Thank you... this is exactly what I was after. I knew it was somewhere near half a gram from reading another post a while back.

Just wanted to double check incase the type of cure used affected the amount of Sodium Ascorbate...

Thanks people!

NutriBiotic Sodium Ascorbate is manufactured by dissolving pharmaceutical grade ascorbic acid with sodium bicarbonate (derived from sea water). It is a fully reacted, truly buffered form of vitamin C. Sodium Ascorbate has long been the vitamin C used to supplement many foods, intravenous infusions and by those desiring an economical, non-bitter, fully reacted non-acidic vitamin C product.

Your best protection from nitrosamines is to cook your bacon at lower temperatures and to not overcook it.

I thought Nitrosamines formed only when cooking Nitrate cured meats at high temperatures. That's why since the early 70's bacon has to be cured with Nitrite.

David

Nitrites cause the formation of Nitrosamines. I think I'm right in saying that nitrates have to convert to nitrite before nitrosamines form.

Theres a section on Nitrosamines in this document:

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distributi ... J0974.html

...and a fairly good explanation on wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrosamine

Hope this helps

Phil