Cure

[marauder11]

How long does it take for cure to work. Insta 1. I read in a previous post that when frozen the cure stops working.

[Gizmo]

Depends on what you are curing.  Thin sliced meat or ground is over night to 24 hours.  Thick slab of pork belly from 7 to 14 days.
The ideal temperature for curing is 38 degrees and below that, the cure starts to become less effective.

[marauder11]

Sausage. so if i mix it stufff it then smoke it. Is the cure still curing after it is smoked.

[Gizmo]

For sausage, you cure overnight and that protects the meat when you are going through the low temp smoke cycle.  I can't answer how long cure number one remains "active".  Salami and such that use cure number 2 work over longer periods of time as its design and need for the long processing times require for dry cured.

[Habanero Smoker]

In the other post I should have worded that it becomes inactive, using the phrase "stop" indicates permanently. Cure #1 is effected by temperature. The closer you are to 40° and staying in the safe zone the better the environment. As the environment gets colder, the rate that it converts slows. If you get below 36°F, it almost becomes inactive. 

Cure #1 starts working immediately. In sausage, if you distributed the cure well into the meat, you can start smoking/cooking right away. For best distribution you should mix the cure with the water you will be adding to the sausage.

If my sausage doesn't have powdered milk or soy protein concentrate, I will let is sit over night prior to stuffing to let the flavors fully mingle and to ensure equal distribution of the cure. If I add one of the products I've mentioned above, I will stuff right after mixing, and smoke right away. If not the sausage may bind to tightly, and become difficult to extrude. Once stuffed if you like you can refrigerate overnight and then smoke.

[classicrockgriller]

Thanks for the explanation Habs.

[anderson5420]

OK, into the breach here!

You do not need to let sausage cure overnight. If you do, be sure to stuff the casings FIRST, since after you add the salt, it tends to set up and become quite difficult to stuff!

You can grind, mix, stuff and smoke all on the same day. This is what I have done for about 20 years, and the sausage is none the worse for not resting overnight.  The way you know the cure is "working" is because the smoked and cooked sausage has a characteristic pink sausage color, not the gray "meatloaf" color.

I am not say NOT to let it rest overnight, it is just that it is not really necessary for smoked and cooked sausage.

[Habanero Smoker]

I don't see any breach, what you and I are saying is basically the same. You can stuff and smoke right away.

I believe the only disagreement is if salt is the only binder, if you want then you can refrigerate, unstuff overnight. Though salt have some binding action, I have never had it bind so much that it was difficult to extrude.