Using Cure for Ground Meats

[lturner]

I am new to grinding sausage (and venison). Is it safe to grind a wild hog with some fatty boston butt without using cure? I used Backwoods LEM cure I got from Bass Pro and all of my meat will NOT brown

[Papa Tom]

Anytime you use cure in the meat it will stay the red/pink color like ham, hot dogs, corned beef etc..
You do not need to use cure in making sausage if you are going to consume or freeze it soon. If you are going to smoke the sausage you need to add cure at the rate of one teaspoon of #1 (pink) cure per 5 pounds of meat.

[Grimsawyer]

how many tsp/Tbsp per Lb. of Morton's Tender Quick? What does smoke cured really mean? Keep in the fridge or is it now cured to be safe out in the pantry/etc...?

[DATsBBQ]

Morton Tenderquick and ground meats: 1 TBSP per pound.

Note, cure#1 and MTQ in addition to turning the meat read only prohibit botulism. The meat still needs to be brought out of the danger zone (150 to 155°) or you might be worshiping ORAC, the Porcelain god.

[GrillMaster1]

You really do need to use a cure if you don't plan to take the meat out of the danger zone while smoking, even if you are going to consume or freeze it immediately - to prevent botulism. We use a sodium nitrite salt cure called InstaCure available at the Sausage Maker website. 1 tsp for every 5 pounds of meat.