Curing and Meat Color

Color of the cured meat depends on the type of meat, nitrite and cooking temperature. Meat color is determined largely by the amount of myoglobin (protein) a particular animal carries. More myoglobin the darker the meat, that simple. Going from top to bottom, meat that contain most myoglobin are: beef, lamb, veal, pork, dark poultry and light poultry. The amount of myoglobin present in meat also increases with age of the animal. Different parts of the same animal, take the turkey for example, will have different color as well. This color is pretty much fixed and there is not much we can do about unless we mix different meats together.

Cured meats develop a particular pink-reddish color due to the reaction that takes place between meat myoglobin and nitrate/nitrite. If insufficient amount of nitrate/nitrite is added to the meat or the cured time is too short, the final cured color will suffer. This may be less noticeable in sausages where the meat is ground and stuffed but if we slice a larger piece like a ham, the poorely developed color will be easily noticeable. Some sections may be gray, some may be pink and the meat i will not look appetizing.

About 50 ppm (parts per million) of nitrite are needed to cure meat. Some of it will react with myoglobin and will fix the color, some of it will go into other complex bio-chemical reactions with meat that develop a characteristic cured meat flavor. If we stay within Food and Drug Administration guidelines (1 oz. Cure 1 per 25 lbs. of meat – about 1 level teaspoon of Cure 1 for 5 lbs of meat) we are applying 156 ppm of nitrite which is enough and safe at the same time.

Cured meat will develop its true cured color only after submitted to cooking (boiling, steaming, baking) at 140° – 160° F. The best color is achieved at 161° F (72° C).

More information related to nitrates can be found at the: nitrates

Page edited on September 14, 2006

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