Thursday, December 22, 2011

How do I use curing salt and where can I buy it?

Paul from Waxahachie, TX asked:

I need your advice - I want to try to put together some spices of my own to make sausage, but what do I do for a curing kit (sodium nitrate)? Where do I purchase this, and are there instructions on how to use it? Thanks for your help!

Paul,

Sodium nitrate is often referred to as pink curing salt. The salt that you will receive only contains .0625% of actual sodium nitrate, the rest of the mix is actually just salt with pink color added so you don't confuse it with regular salt. Actual sodium nitrate is a controlled substance and can only be purchased by large commercial packing companies. 

Any country meat shop around you should be able to sell you "pink cure salt." You will add it at the rate of .25 or one quarter of a pound for every 100lbs of meat. Mix it with water before you add it to the meat, this will help dissolve the salt and make it easier to spread evenly across your meat.


Thanks Paul and good luck,

Brad Lockwood
Meat Man!

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