Smoking meat without nitrates nitrites?

[miss_thenorth]

While reading the lunch meat thread, I thought I would throw this out there--it sorta has to do with that, but more inline with my search to smoke meat without the use of nitrates nitrites. It seems everything I have read says they need to be used. Since I would like to make my own jerky, sausage, pepperoni etc with our own deer meat, does anyone have any recipes to make it without the use of nitrates/nitrites? Pepperoni is a luxury in this house, but we love pizza. If I could only make it, and make it healthy--that would make all of us happy.

We have held off on the purchase of a smoker simply b.c I can't find healthy recipes.

any experienced smokers out there?

 

[big brown horse]

Sorry I don't, I just wanted to add that I bought "nitrate free"* bacon the other day and it was sooo expensive!

(*except the nitrate that occurs naturally)

 

[steve_of_sandspoultry]

We have never used them. My Grandfather had a walk in smoke house and I don't remember him using anything but spices and salt as a brine before smoking anything. Sausages he would just smoke as is. He would get mad as we would go in there and cut pieces off the meat hanging. I wish they were still around, I would have a million and 2 questions about how they did things. I got some from my mom, how she remembered them doing it, my dad was a city guy and he had little interest.

I think alot of the "you have to do this way" directions that are in place now are way way overkill. I was making some deer jerky a couple weeks ago and was checking the spices before I put it on the dehydrator. How do you check the spices? Only one way I know.....taste. My wife just looked at me and said "don't tell me you are eating raw meat" ewwwwwww.

Steve in NC

 

[lorihadams]

I know what you mean! I just finished 2 days of doing jerky in the oven.

We did jerky as a kid with stuff like teriyaki and liquid smoke and whatever flavorings we had around but the last stuff I used did have nitrates in it. I would be interested in knowing what everyone else uses too. I know Modern_Pioneer has a smoker, you may want to ask him for some advice.

 

[dacjohns]

I do jerky all the time without nitrates.

You can smoke meat for immediate consumption without nitrates also.

 

[freemotion]

Or you can freeze the meat after you smoke it. The nitrates will keep it "good" (I use that word very loosely here!) longer, and keep the color looking more appetizing, too. Like many home-made preservative-free foods, you have to be more vigilant about keeping them frozen, cold, or using them up. Like not leaving whole wheat bread on the counter for days....mold city! Storebought white bread, however.... still looks great! With all the nutrition of styrofoam!

I did some research on this late last winter and that is what I came up with. The parts exposed to air can get a bit greyish, which is normal. But we Americans cannot tolerate that, so we happily gobble down nitrates and such. I use the word "we" very loosely here!

 

[patandchickens]

Yes, but (just to be clear) nitrates are not just about color or flavor, the primary role is as a preservative, esp. vs Clostridium (botulism).

Thus the more conservative storage recommendations for nitrate-free processed meat. If it is something you are going to cook the bejeebers out of before you eat that is arguably not as big a deal as if it is something (like, unfortunately, pepperoni) that does not normally recieve a heck of a lot of prolonged heat before being consumed.

Honestly, I think you'd have to eat a whale of a lot of pepperoni for the amount of nitrate in it to make much of a difference to your health -- and remember nitrates/nitrites are naturally occurring in many plants you already eat *anyway*, in fact my impression is that a lot of the storeboughten stuff billing itself "nitrate-free" is that while they have not added any powders from a jar labelled 'potassium nitrate' what they do is dump in a load of things like celery salt that "naturally just happen to" contain lots of nitrates but can be listed on the label simply as spices.

JMHO, good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Good article! A little techie, but not too hard to read.

What do our resident food guru's have to say about this?

http://www.preparedfoods.com/Articl...eats/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000507110

 

[dacjohns]

Good article! A little techie, but not too hard to read.

What do our resident food guru's have to say about this?

http://www.preparedfoods.com/Articl...eats/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000507110

That was like being back in college.

 

[freemotion]

Aaaarrrgh, why do I try to read this stuff so close to midnight??? There are some interesting things in the article, but it leaves me wondering how I can apply it at home....it is obviously for the industrial model. But very interesting. I wonder if I could make a corned beef with beet kvass and sauerkraut as the innoculant???