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Brian you are correct that nitrate does convert into nitrite over time and the reason for that is to safeguard the protein from unwanted bacteria. Nitrate also adds to better texture, colour and adds to the flavour of the finished product. The amount used is 200parts per million along with salt, sugar and spices for the flavour side of dry curing.

The amounts of salt ranges from 2.8% - 3% of the total green weight of the protein

The amount of sugar (generally dextrose) is 2% of the total green weight of the protein. Dextrose is used because of its fine powdery texture and is easily consumed by good bacteria that drops the ph (5 - 5.1) so that the bad bacteria can't grow. This is fermentation and similar to the cheese process. If using regular sugar the process is slowed down considerably taking much longer to hit the ph level

Reg

How risky is it trying to do fermented meats without a starter give one uses nitrite and the pork is fresh?

That would be something I would ask you not to consider at all. Nitrite or cure #1 is used strictly for semi cured products that are finished by cooking. To do dry cured products you need to start with cure # 2 which is a combination of nitrate and nitrite. Try not to let the nitrate 'propaganda' influence your decision it is perfectly safe when used in the right amounts (ppm or parts per million). There is as much nitrate in celery than what is used in sausage making

I know some people that attempt to ferment sausages without starters but their success is 50/50. Some years they get it and others they loose the entire batch. I'm not willing to hope that there is natural bacteria cultures hanging around when doing up batches of sausage. Butcher and Packer can mail it out when needed

Reg

Only culture available is Bactoferm F-RM-52 (25 grams) , costing 30$ for 100kg of meat.
Im not afrid of perservatives since I know there are worst stuff "out there" nor im a "naturalist ,Curing salts are just not available only sodium nitrite.

I use yogurt ferment as is common in France. I have read on some US dry curing forums that this is an acceptable substitute.

Helen, just came to this.  Gorgeous - absolutely beautiful, I'm dying as I write this and I'd love to have some of your wonderful meats. Inspiring me to make up some moulard prosciutto, but that's too darn far away....you've made me hungry!   

Helen your sausages look fantastic and to be honest saucisson sec is one of my favorites to make and to eat, it shows off what pork can be using very few ingredients.

The only commercial bacteria that I have ever used is the RM-52 which is a quick fermenting bacteria. That can be offset by the sweetener used and by the temps used in the fermentation chamber. Years ago you could not get a commercial bacteria culture so what I did was to purchase an authentic Italian salami that was covered with that beautiful 'white mould' and hung it with my sausages. That worked out well.

Tomer1, the the RM-52 will last forever as long as you keep it frozen. I'm still using a 4 year old pouch that is kept in the freezer and it is fine. I vac pac it after use.

There are many outlets to order # 2 cure from, are you in the US or in Canada ?

Reg

I finally convinced my wife to buy a meat grinder and got the supplies. I found a mixture of all ingredients called Readycure. It also has bicarbonate which I don't know it's function. My other question is what is the function of yogurt or yogurt culture. Any idea?
Thanks,
Tan

Hi Tan,

Salamis are fermented dry sausages. For the sausages to ferment in a controlled way, one has to add some cultures to kick things in motion. Some people use a product named Bactoferm, which is dedicated to meat fermenting... I found that yogurt works as well and is much less expensive.

Hope that helps. 

Here two places I know of in Canada your can get cures ...


http://www.butchersandpackers.com/

http://www.stuffers.com/

I got my stuff from http://www.canadacompound.com/
Tan

Thanks to Helen, I finally made dry sausage and half of them are gone already :-)
I had to modify original recipe; I cut the fat to 10%, I used yogurt instead of yogurt ferment, I removed the salt as I used Readycure (2% as per instructions which has 98% salt) and used fortified wine instead of regular. Next time I am going to use bigger diameter casings...
Here are the pictures,
Thanks again Helen.
Tan

Those look great Tan! Congrats!

To add to the conversation for using yogurt or whey it does work but will give you a slightly different flavor and texture. Just make adjustments as need to balance the flavor. I also find the bacterial culture give a more predictable flavor profile and less chances for spoilage.  I have several friends that made sauages cured and semi dried using yougurt and whey but they have about a 50% sucess rate. For me it's cheap to buy the bacterial cultures. I have a 100% success rate with that so far. Except the time my fridge died and I didn't find out for a week. WOW! Meat can smell so bad when it goes bad!

Tan,

Those look great. Congrats! That's a nice hanging place, too.


Debi,

I would love to use the meat ferment as Bactoferm. I even have a pack in my freezer but it came with instructions to use the big pack (designed for 100 lbs of meat) for as little as 5lb batch. At $15 a pack, it's pushing it. Would you mind sharing what you use and where you buy it?


- Helen

Tan nice job on the sausages !!!

Helen you can get pretty much whatever you need from Butcher and Packer (google it)

Good luck

Reg