Instacure equivs

cbrace · Post by **cbrace** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 08:50

Hi y'all,

I have a copy of Ruhlman's Charcuterie which uses Instacure #1 or #2 in various recipes, and I trying to sort out how to deal with this stuff, as where I live (the Netherlands), curing salts appear to be sold differently. Here we have Coloroso, which is white and contains 0.6% sodium nitrite. The idea is that you simply substitute plain salt with Coloroso in cures. For example, for fresh sausage and pâté, you would add 16 grams of coloroso per kilo of meat. The virtue of this arrangement would seem to be that it is impossible to inadvertently add dangerously high levels of nitrites to your preparations, as they would be so salty as to be inedible.

(This obviously makes following recipes like those of Ruhlman which call for both regular salt and Instacures a little tricky, but I expect that is manageable.)

Here's the thing: I don't see an equivalent for #2 anywhere, namely a curing salt with "time-delay" sodium nitrate for things that need to aged. The webstore which sells sausage-making supplies here only sells Coloroso. Thing is, I am pretty sure sodium nitrate is used as an additive in Europe, as it has an E number, E251, and I've seen it on packaging.

People keep saying that #1 and #2 and are not interchangeable, but it looks like we don't have an equivalent of #2 here. I would like to cure a whole muscle shortly. Can I simply use Coloroso and assume that will be sufficient?

Thanks to anyone familiar with the EU situation who can clarify things for me.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 09:35

Hi Cbrace.
Cure #1 contains Sodium Nitrite. This cure is used for cooked, cured, cased, and whole muscle meats. It cannot be substituted for Cure #2.
Cure #2 is for use in making fermented sausages, sometimes called "dry-cured" sausages such as pepperoni and salami. Cure #2 contains Sodium Nitrate which eventually reacts with the staphylococcus and micrococcus bacteria present in meat. The reaction creates NaNO2 (sodium nitrite) - the reduction needed (nitric oxide) to start the curing process. Cure #2 must never be substituted for Cure #1.
Click on this link for more information: http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=4794

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

crustyo44 · Post by **crustyo44** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 21:10

Hi Colin,
The most reliable information on Coloroso salt is available in Holland from Mr Pierre Heijnen.He runs a business that supplies recipes to butchers and charcuterie manufacturers in the EU and to some extend the world.
His Website: www.vakrecepturen has all receipes available for sale, after all that's his business, but it also has a question and answer section.
I have bought some recipes from him and of course asked lots of questions as I live in the Sub Tropics and manufacturing procedures are different here than in the Netherlands due to high temperatures and humidity.
He only speaks Dutch but no doubt somebody close to him will be able to translate when you guys get int contact. I checked his website and the address is current and working.
Failing that, my cousin in Rotterdam who is a keen sausage and coppa maker will help you I if you strike problems, he is fluent in English.
Just email me. My address: janooms@bigpond.com
Good Luck,
Jan.
Brisbane.

cbrace · Post by **cbrace** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:03

@ChuckWagon: thanks for the explanation and and the info in the link, which I studying carefully. Part of what is confusing me is that I see some folks using #2 for dry-curing without fermentation. See for example this recipe: Guanciale. In his recipe, Ruhlman however suggests a teaspoon of pint salt (I assume he means #1 here), but considers this optional. In any case, I am not planning to prepare any fermented sausages any time soon, so I have plenty of time to investigate what the #2 equivalent here is.

@Jan: Thanks for the leads. Vakrecepturen.nl looks really useful. Although I was born in the US, I speak Dutch too!

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 11:44

Cbrace, if you haven't already, be sure to check out this link: http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-making/curing
Our fellow member and moderator Stan Marianski has written an amazing amount of information regarding cures and how they differ in many countries.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

cbrace · Post by **cbrace** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 17:55

I'm having a hard time getting a proper answer to this. I've just gotten my hands on a recent book in Dutch on sausage making, Over worst (2011). In the section on curing salts, it states that there is no longer any reason to use sodium or potassium nitrate; sodium nitrite in the form of Coloroso salt is sufficient. Yet the book has a section on fermented sausages, including a recipe for Hungarian salami which it recommends aging for six months.

Yet I read this by Stan:

Sodium nitrate is used in production of meats that will be cured for at least 4 weeks - large hams or dry sausages.

Source: http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-making/curing

And in a long discussion on curing salts, Jason Molinari says this:

Using #1 wouldn't keep the nitrite levels at a safe level for the whole curing phase. I wouldn't eat anything cured with #1 in a dry curing chamber.

Source: http://curedmeats.blogspot.com/2009/04/ ... 1796910700

I'm perplexed that here in NL people seem to take a divergent line on something this critical. I've written to the author of Over worst and I am curious to what is answer will be.

Just curious: would any of you age for six months a salami cured with just nitrite (#1) and not nitrate (#2) as well?

cbrace · Post by **cbrace** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 20:57

So I found the email address on the blog of the author of this Dutch book, and I sent him an email yesterday, explaining my understanding that sodium nitrate is required along side sodium nitrite for extended cures, and that I was trying to find an equivalent for Instacure #2 in the Netherlands.

I just got an answer. Interesting question, he says. I'll have to look into it.

WTF???

The author of a book on sausage making? A book that includes a section on fermented sausage? I'm flabbergasted.

crustyo44 · Post by **crustyo44** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 09:48

Hi Colin,
I still have no answer either yet why Colorozo salt only contains Sodium Nitrite at 6% and is recommended in the EU for making salamis and drying meats by an Author as you noticed.
There is a "Balls Up" somewhere along the line, as cure # 2 is required in the US.
I have made lots of salamis many years ago with Italian friends who didn't use any cure at all but after reading in the papers of a few people dying here from eating commercial made salamis where somebody had forgotten to add the cure to the meat mix, I am now a convert as most of my charcuterie products go to friends, our kids and grandkids.
So much so for the EU brains and common sense???
Cheers Mate,
Jan.

cbrace · Post by **cbrace** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 10:02

Jan, I know for a fact that nitrates are used in the EU as I see E251 and E252 on labels. Just the other day I picked up some delicious Black Forest ham in a supermarket which listed both E250 and E252, along with E301 (ascorbic acid). Let's not forget: they invented charcuterie here !!

I dunno, maybe the salami hobbyists here in NL haven't gotten the memo on nitrates yet (?). I'm sure I'll get to the bottom of this eventually. One of these days, I'll ask a real butcher here.

cbrace · Post by **cbrace** » Sat Mar 16, 2013 19:02

From what I've learned, it appears nitrate salts are regulated in Holland and only available for "industrial use". Hence a #2 equivalent is not readily available.

From what it appears, some people here just use Coloroso salt (nitrite only) for everything, cures long and short.

This was explained to me on a Dutch-language forum, where someone offered me some #2. If we peons want to do long cures with #2, we have to order it from the US or the UK, so that is what I will do in the future.

I don't entirely understand the situation... but whatever. At least I can now properly follow the recipes given here and elsewhere.

Onward and upward...