Homemade Sausage Making

Hello, newbie here
This is a ham I made using an old traditional method, salt, sugar and spices, NO nitrates
I have made this many times and I am very happy with the end product

curryman86 wrote: salt, sugar and spices, NO nitrates

What kind of salt have you used?

Hi EAnna

I use large crystal sea salt same as I use when making bacon

curryman86 wrote:I use large crystal sea salt

Sea salt and rock salt include nitrates, nitrites and metal oxides.
Evaporated salt is clean.

EAnna wrote

Sea salt and rock salt include nitrates, nitrites and metal oxides.

It seems that nitrate (or nitrite) concentrations in seawater are more or less negligible; in the range of 10-80 ppb (parts per billion = .001 ppm). Multiplying by 30 to get the amount in sea salt puts it roughly at 1-2 ppm, whereas commercial curing salt contains 6000 ppm (sodium) nitrite.

So really nothing to worrying about EAnna your tap water could also contain nitrates ...

Ground water supplies naturally contain a variety of chemical compounds, including nitrate. Most commonly nitrates may be found where the region local to the groundwater has had significant plant decay underground. Nitrates are created as a part of the decaying process, and are able to move relatively quickly and easily through soil, owing to how soluble they are.

Kind regards
Stephen x

Oh boy this is getting to be a special subject for me.... LOL

Anyway, what do you all feel about the store bought ham & bacon cures like from sausagemaker?

Or should you just stick to a recipe that works.....(using Nitrates)

What I'm getting at, is are those ham & bacon cures a great way to cut corners and save time, and you then can ajust seasonings and spices to fit your liking?

I think you will learn a lot more by making your own or following someone else's recipe and process and adjusting to your taste. Tiny changes can make a big difference and using packaged stuff would limit you I think.

I understand, that's normally what i do, follow a recipe and do my own thing.