Homemade Sausage Making

I want to make a sausage without using cure (Nitrate / Nitrite). After read many topics there are concern about Botulinum toxin if not use cure for Smoke sausage / ham. Some people said it is fine for fresh --> full cooked / parboil sausage sausage as long as it passed "4 hours danger zone".

My question - what does "4 hours" mean? I understand that the danger zone is when meat temperature reaches between 40 - 139 Fahrenheit which bacteria can growth and spread a lot faster. But 4 hours after what? Do I need to have them full cooked / parboil 4 hours after stuffed?

Another questuion - Botulinum is die with heat. If the meat passed those 4 hours then have them full cooked, why they are still not safe and prone for Botulinum toxin?

Thank you.

I think that should read "not passed 4 hours in the temperature danger zone" - ie safe as long as it hasn't been kept at too high a temperature for too long.

I think in theory fully cooking meat will kill botulism - but I don't think its safe to rely on this if its been kept at too high a temperature. ie to be safe fresh pork sausage needs to be prepared and kept at low temperature - and then also fully cooked. Some detail here - https://cooking.stackexchange.com/quest ... hen-cooked

Others may have more expert opinions on this - but personally I wouldn't advise taking any risks with this issue. I measure the temperature of the pork when I collect it, after I've transported it, and throughout the process. If at any point it spends a significant amount of time (much shorter than 4 hours) above 5c then its binned.

I read somewhere that 4 hours above 5c is the threshold where perishable food should definitely be binned and not consumed - at 2 hours above 5c it should be consumed immediately. I would lower those tollerances for fresh pork personally.

To add to what Redall said:

PaulK wrote:Another questuion - Botulinum is die with heat. If the meat passed those 4 hours then have them full cooked, why they are still not safe and prone for Botulinum toxin?

The botulinum toxins are killed/denatured at cooking temps of 160°f ( or lower if if the time is longer) The botulinum spores are not and require much higher that normal cooking temps to kill, so if cooked foods are kept in the danger zone the spores can produce more toxins.

Nitrites/nitrates inhibit their growth

I've made plenty of fresh sausages, i.e., no cure. However, they should be cooked/refrigerated/frozen immediately. The worst thing to do would be to smoke them, as that puts them in an environment where botulinum thrives. However, if you use Cure #1, then smoking is no problem.

Thank you very much for all answers here.

Bob K wrote:so if cooked foods are kept in the danger zone the spores can produce more toxins.

Nitrites/nitrates inhibit their growth

Does it mean if a full cooked sausage left in a danger zone temperature they are still prone to toxins produces by those left spores?

If yes then put cure #1 should be considered as a safest practice in making sausage? It is hard to control how customers treat with our product at their home.

Example. What if they put our sausage from the freezer --> fridge --> full cooked --> eat some of them then leave the rest in living room --> 5-6 hours passed --> come back to eat the rest.

Doesn't it seems dangerous for not putting cure to prevent this at the beginning?

Thank you

PaulK wrote:Does it mean if a full cooked sausage left in a danger zone temperature they are still prone to toxins produces by those left spores?

Yes and they are also prone many other forms of harmful bacteria.
If you click on the link that Redall posted, some of them are listed.

Nitrates also break down rapidly when heated (cooked) so little remains in the cooked product.

Bob K wrote:

PaulK wrote:Does it mean if a full cooked sausage left in a danger zone temperature they are still prone to toxins produces by those left spores?

Yes and they are also prone many other forms of harmful bacteria.
If you click on the link that Redall posted, some of them are listed.

Nitrates also break down rapidly when heated (cooked) so little remains in the cooked product.

Thank you very much.

Same practice as bacon...using cure #1 allows you to cold smoke at temps of 70-90 F for hours without worrying about danger zone temp, etc.

So you can cold smoke for 4 hours or more at room temp, then par freeze, slice, and store in freezer until needed. Then you take the bacon out, fry or bake it until internal temp is above one hundred sixty F, and enjoy!

Same as the fresh sausages, cure allows you to be able to smoke at room temp without worrying about the nasties.