Curing salt keeps low-temperature smoked sausage safe and gives cured meat its color and flavor. Cure #1, also sold as Prague Powder #1 or Insta Cure #1, is salt with 6.25 percent sodium nitrite, dyed pink so it isn't mistaken for table salt.
Use the rate on your cure's package and a scale that reads to 0.01 gram. Too little is unsafe for smoked sausage; too much nitrite is harmful. Store cure labeled and away from table salt.
How much
The Sausage Maker gives the maximum for Cure #1 in ground meat as 1 ounce per 25 pounds, the 156 parts per million of nitrite USDA allows in ground products. That's about 1.1 grams per pound. Its rule of thumb is 1 level teaspoon per 5 pounds.
| Meat | Cure #1 at 1 oz per 25 lb |
|---|---|
| 1 lb | 1.1 g |
| 2 lb | 2.3 g |
| 5 lb | 5.7 g |
| 10 lb | 11.3 g |
| 25 lb | 28.4 g (1 oz) |
Why a pocket scale
A 2 lb test batch needs about 2.3 grams. A kitchen scale that reads in whole grams can't tell 2 from 3, which is an error of 30 percent or more. A 0.01 g pocket scale costs about $30.
Cure #1 vs Cure #2
Cure #1 contains only nitrite and is for sausage, bacon and ham that will be cooked or smoked and eaten within weeks. Cure #2 also contains nitrate for dry-cured salami aged for months. They aren't interchangeable. Mississippi State Extension recommends letting cured sausage rest about 24 hours before smoking.
