Am I Going to Have a Problem

[JZ]

Just finished stuffing my first batch of Summer Sausage and was reading some more sausage threads when I realized I didn't add water to the meat when I was mixing it.

Am I gonna have a problem??????? It is sitting in the refer waiting for tomorrows smoke.

[Keymaster]

Did you mix the cure #1 with water? The water with the spices help it mix in better and thins out the mix making it easier to stuff. You should be fine as long as you disolved your cure in 1/8 cup of water before adding it to the meat.

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[JZ]

I just mixed the cure and the seasonings together then sprinkled that evenly over the meat, then mixed it into the meat by hand.

Thanks for the response - I am a concerned that I may have screwed up 15lbs of sausage.

If needed I could undo the chubs, add the water, remix and restuff the casings.

[Sailor]

I would go ahead and smoke your chubs.  When they are all finished and when you cut into them they should have a pink color.  This pink color is like a cured ham which means the cure worked and the meat was cured.  If you cut into them and you have brown then that meat did not get any cure and I would throw it away.

Sausage making is a learning experience and we all had to learn.  This forum is fantastic to get information and help.  I would highly recommend that when you start to do your mix that you 1st get your water measured and then add your cure to the water and stir it to dissolve it.  If the recipe calls for salt then I add it to the water and dissolve it.  The rest of the dry mix can then be added to the water which helps to distribute the spice into the meat when mixing.

As for water I would recommend that you use distilled water.  Many are on well water and have iron and other minerals that can effect the taste.  Distilled water should be free of unwanted minerals.

Welcome to the land of sausage making.  And one last thing.  Once you start making sausage you can never stop.  ;D

[JZ]

Thanks Sailor.

I am glad you told me what to watch for - I had no idea.

Really hope the meat is pink, otherwise this will be a $50 lesson.

[Salmonsmoker]

You can also put the water,spices, cure etc. in a blender to mix. Some dry spices  don't take on water readily and will just float around. The blender will take care of that.