10 pounds of chubs using Celery Juice Powder

[Sailor]

Doing 10lbs of Summer Sausage with 1 pound of mild cheddar cheese.  Instead of using 2 tsp of cure #1 I am using 3 1/2 tsp of celery juice powder.  Celery juice power is pretty expensive $9.99 for enough to do 25 pounds of meat.  Buddy of mine thinks additives and preservatives will kill him  :o  Told him he gets more nitrates in veggies every day than he gets in cured sausage but he insists on no sodium nitrates.  So we is going all natural in this batch.

10 pounds of Wally World GB 80/20


Spices and celery juice power all mixed up


Casings soaking for 40 minutes


Got 1 pound of mild cheddar all diced up.  This is store bought and not high temp cheese.


Meat got mixed up and then the cheese was added and mixed.  All hand mixed.


Casings all stuffed.  Tied the chubs in 8 inch lengths


Loaded in the Bradley.  3 chubs in the back row and 4 in the front.


1 hour at 130 degrees to dry.  Will bump to 140 for 2 hrs and add 3 hours of Hickory.  Bump to 150 for 2 hours and finish off the other hour of hickory smoke.  Bump to 160 for 2 hrs then to 170 and hold till IT of 152.

Be back later.

[devo]

Cured meats by their definition must include sodium nitrite. Sodium nitrite is the ingredient that gives a product like ham its color and taste. Without sodium nitrite, these products' shelf life would be shortened substantially.

Some uncured products available today use vegetable-based ingredients like celery juice, which may contain nitrate naturally, to deliver a color and flavor similar to traditionally cured meats. When the sodium nitrate in celery, or other sodium nitrate-containing vegetables, is exposed to certain types of bacteria in the product, the nitrate is converted to sodium nitrite, which results in product characteristics similar to traditionally cured meat products. The amount of sodium nitrite consumed from these types of products versus traditionally cured meat products is virtually the same.

So I hope he knows there is no difference  ;D

[Sailor]

Devo,  I tried to explain this to him countless times.  I won't tell you who he voted for!  ;D

[Salmonsmoker]

Devo,  I tried to explain this to him countless times.  I won't tell you who he voted for!  ;D

:) :) :)

[Saber 4]

Devo,  I tried to explain this to him countless times.  I won't tell you who he voted for!  ;D

Nuff said, it does look good though.

[Sailor]

Smoke is finished and now just got to let the IT come up.  IT is at 130 so got a ways to go.  Pretty happy with the color so far using the celery juice powder instead of the Cure #1

[pikeman_95]

I definitely  need to see the cut shot on this one. It will be very interesting to know how well the compare. How did you know how much celery juice powder to use? Like I think Habs said one time sodium nitrite is sodium nitrite no matter where it comes from. I think I would be more worried about what is in those Chubs of Wally world burger.
KC

[NePaSmoKer]

looks good Jim

Per TSM web site

1.25 oz. of Celery Juice Powder = approximately 8 tsp.

For 10 lb. recipes use 3 1/2 tsp Celery Juice Powder.

*The USDA currently does not recognize naturally occurring nitrates as effective curing agents in meats, so if using Celery Juice Powder for products being sold to the public, the end-products must be labeled "Uncured".

[Sailor]

They just came off the smoker and into a cold water bath to cool down and on the counter to bloom for a few hours.  Then they will go into the fridge for 24 to 48 hours and then get vac sealed.

[Sailor]

looks good Jim

Per TSM web site

1.25 oz. of Celery Juice Powder = approximately 8 tsp.

For 10 lb. recipes use 3 1/2 tsp Celery Juice Powder.

*The USDA currently does not recognize naturally occurring nitrates as effective curing agents in meats, so if using Celery Juice Powder for products being sold to the public, the end-products must be labeled "Uncured".

Yep.....that is true.  Not only do you have to label it as uncured you have to label it pre-cooked.  I went into Whole Foods a while back and looked over their smoked sausage.  They are made by Wellshire Farms.  If you go to their website http://wellshirefarms.com/ and read the FAQ you will see "As per the USDA, any food items that typically contain sodium nitrate are considered cured items. When nitrites and nitrates are not present they must be labeled as uncured. This is why our ingredients statements say "seasoned with" instead of "cured with". Bottom line is they are using celery juice powder to act as a cure but can't label it as cured. 

Michael Ruhlman has a nice write up about the cure hoax http://ruhlman.com/2011/05/the-no-nitrites-added-hoax/

Just another thing to hoodwink the public and charge more money.   ;D

[Saber 4]

Thanks for the link Sailor, I posted it on my facebook page to irk a couple of health food nuts at the gym.

[devo]

Another fine smoke there Sailor.

[Sailor]

Kirby here is the $ shot.

Cut a piece off and left the casing on the chub.  Peeled the casing off the piece.  Peeled great.


It is just sitting there staring me down.  Oh what to do....what to do!


BOOM I WIN!


Got a little air pocket in the end of it, guess I did not get it twisted off good.   Can't taste any of the celery in it.  Taste just like they would if I used cure #1.  Just added about 4 bucks extra to the cost of doing 10 pounds and if you ask me a big waste of money. 

[Saber 4]

It looks good and you kept your friend happy, let him pay the difference

[pikeman_95]

Jim
I think you are right. The color tells me that the nitrite has kicked in. I would agree that the use of the powder probably just a waste. At least you can see that it was cured. It is kind of a mild pink color so I would guess it is on the bottom edge of the nitrite level needed. I was surprised that the celery taste did not prevail.
Kirby