How to Cure Sausage Overnight

Cured sausage forms a pink color from the nitrites.

Curing sausage is a method of preservation that can include smoking or a mixture of seasonings with nitrite to cure the meat. Curing meat with only salt is a less complex process than curing with nitrites. Nitrites speed up the curing process and create biochemical and chemical reactions that add flavor and color to the sausage . The nitrites in curing make the meat turn pink. The more nitrites are absorbed, the pinker the sausage will be. Curing is often followed by a long drying process at refrigerated temperatures to complete the process. But to cure sausage overnight, an accelerating solution must be used.

Things You'll Need

• Electric mixer
• Paddle attachment
• 5 pounds coarse ground meat and trim
• Spices
• Morton tender quick
• Curing accelerator
• Casing
• Sausage maker
• Pasta or sausage hanging rack
• Smoker
• Corded oven thermometer
• Refrigerator

Instructions

1. Connect the paddle attachment to the mixer and put the meat, spices, tender quick cure, and curing accelerator in the mixer bowl.

2. Turn the mixer on low speed for two minutes, or the least amount of blending needed to combine the ingredients.

3. Pack the meat into the sausage maker and put the casing over the depositor. Turn on the sausage maker and make links of sausage by twisting the casing every 5 to 6 inches. Tie the casing at the end when the meat is packed in the casing.

4. Heat a smoker with your favorite wood. Place the corded thermometer in the smoker and put the sausage links in the smoker for two hours when the thermometer reaches 160 degrees F.

5. Place the hanging rack in the refrigerator. Remove the sausage from the smoker and drape the sausage links over the hanging rack to allow it to finish curing overnight, at least eight hours, before eating.

References

• Wedliny Domowe: Curing
• North Dakota State University: The Art and Practice of Sausage Making

Resources

• Amazon.com: Taylor 1470 Digital Cooking Thermometer/Timer