Nitrate Cures

For any aspiring sausage maker it is a necessity to understand and know how to apply  Cure 1 and Cure 2 as those two cures are used world wide though under different names and with different proportions of nitrates and salt.

What is Instacure 1

 Instacure 1 is a mixture of 1oz of  Sodium Nitrite (6.25 %) to 1 lb of salt

It MUST be used to cure all meats that will require smoking at low temperatures. It may be used to cure meats for fresh sausages (optional).

What is Instacure 2

Instacure 2 is a mixture of 1 oz of  Sodium Nitrite (6.25 %) along with .64 oz od Sodium Nitrate (4 %) to 1 lb of salt. It can be compared to the time-releasing capsules used for treating colds. It must be used with any products that do not require cooking, smoking or refrigeration and is mainly used for products that will be air cured for long time like: Country Ham, salami, peperoni, and other dry sausages.

Both Instacure 1 and Instacure 2 contain a small amount of FDA approved red coloring agent that gives them a slight pink color thus eliminating any possible confusion with common salt and that is why they are called sometimes “pink “ curing salt.

They also go sometimes by the name Prague Powder 1 (Instacure 1) and Prague Powder 2 (Instacure 2).

Note : Instacure1 is not interchangeable with Instacure 2 and vice versa.

Morton Salt Cures

Morton™ Salt Company in addition to making common Table Salt also produces a number of cures like Sugar Cure mix, Smoke Flavored Sugar Cure mix, Tender Quick mix, Sausage and Meat Loaf seasoning mix. To use them properly one has to follow instructions that accompany every mix.

European cures and nitrite limits

There are different instacures in European countries and for example : in Poland a commonly used cure goes by the name “Peklosól” and contains 0.6 % of Sodium Nitrite to salt. No coloring agent is added and it is white in color. Allowable limits (150 ppm) of sodium nitrite in meats measured in ppm are somewhat lower than  the ones permitted in the USA .

In European cures such a low nitrite percentage in salt is self-regulating and it is almost impossible to apply too much nitrite to meat, as the latter will taste too salty. Following a recipe you could replace salt will peklosól altogether as long as the recipe calls for 2-3% of salt in meat and the established nitrite limits will be preserved.

There is a different case with American Instacure #1, that contains much more nitrite in it (6.5%) and we have to color it pink to avoid the danger of mistakes and poisoning.

It really does not matter so much what percentage of sodium nitrite is mixed with salt as long as we properly calculate the total weight of cure mix that’s added to meat. You can have a high content of nitrate in the salt but if you cure 100 lbs of meat and add 1/4 of an ounce of cure (salt and nitrite) instead of ½ pound as the recipe requires, you have almost no nitrite.

Amounts of nitrite needed to cure meat

A proportion of sodium nitrite added to salt in developing instacure was developed in such a way that if we add 4 ounces of Instacure # 1 to 100 pounds of meat, the quantity of nitrite added to meat will comfort to the legal limits permitted by the Meat Division of the United States Department of Agriculture. The legal limits specify the maximum amount of nitrate that can be added to meat, there is no lower minimum limit.

Keep in mind that sodium nitrite (Cure #1) dissipates rapidly in time and although you may have150 PPM (parts per million) when curing started in a few days the leftover amount in cooked product will be much lower. This is the main reason for adding nitrate (Cure #2) to air-dryed products as the sodium nitrite will be gone in a few days and the curing process will be halted.

More information on curing can be found at: Curing

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