A Few Words About Cures - Simply Put By A Sausage Master - Rytek Kutas
The primary and most important reason that meat is cured is to prevent BOTULISM POISONING. In simpler terms, food poisoning. It is of extreme importance that any kinds of meat or sausage that will be cooked and smoked at low temperature MUST be cured. To trigger botulism poisoning, the requirements are quite simple - lack of oxygen, the presence of moisture and temperatures in range of 40-140 F. When smoking meats, the heat and smoke eliminates the oxygen. The meats have moisture and are traditionally smoked and cooked in the low ranges of 90 to 160 F. As you can see, these are ideal conditions for food poisoning if you don't use cures.