Marion Baker, Chemistry 1010, Professor Okleberry December 5, 2015

Chemistry at Work in Ordinary Kitchens

Seldom would the average person as they strolled through the grocery store isles, choosing from an assortment of available products, give tribute to chemistry for having so much variety. For the most part, the mere mention of the word brings perplexed looks and scowls to the face. Yet chemistry is all around us including in the food we eat. It is through chemistry that many of the most challenging conundrums of society have been resolved.

As far back as there is recordable history salt has taken center stage as a valued commodity used for many different purposes including food preservation. It has become an intricate part of the economy and remains widely used as a fundamental part of the human diet threw out the world. The use of salt as a food preservative has helped to solve the global challenge of how to preserve food, especially meat safely and effectively so that food-borne pathogens like “Salmonella, Listeria and Botulinum” (Bryner), do not contaminate it. No longer do individuals have to eat hardtack—tasteless stone hard biscuits or brittle pungently salted stripes of meat to survive. In large, society can thank chemistry for the abundance of products that stave off the development of bacteria that once caused the distress of countless individuals and the deaths of many. Due to chemistry, we have several products that effectively preserve our food and retain a profusion of flavor, color and improved texture.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate one of the many countless processes of chemistry at work in ordinary kitchens around the globe, by using Insta Cure #1 (pink salt), a water-soluble compound as the primary curing agent for Kabanosy Sausage and to demonstrate the process in a pictorial.

Insta Cure #1 consists of Sodium Chloride ordinary table salt, Sodium Nitrite 6.25% a salt and an anti-oxidant used to cure meats. It blocks the growth of botulism-causing bacteria, prevents spoilage and the growth of Listeria monocytogenes, an environmental bacterium that can cause illness in some at-risk populations (Meat Safety.org), and less than 1% of Sodium Carbonate a stabilizer, per one pound of cure.

It should be noted that, “Sodium Nitrite is broken down to nitric oxide in the presence of oxygen, the substance that actually cures the meat” (Bryner).

Insta Cure #1 chemical compounds listed below in order of the amount of each ingredient along with molar mass.

o Sodium Chloride: Na+ + Cl- = NaCl, Molar Mass: 58.44g/mole o Sodium Nitrite: Na+ + NO2- = NaNO2, Molar Mass: 687.9953o Sodium Carbonate: Na+ + CO3

2- = Na2CO3, Molar Mass: 105.98844o Nitric Oxide: NO, Molar Mass: 30.0061

Cactus Jack’s Kabanosy Sausage 4lbs Pork Butt cut and cubed, most fat

removed 2lbs Beef Center Cut Roast, cut and

cubed most fat removed 3/4 cup small cubed ice 1/4 cup waterThis recipe found at sausagewest.com under detailed index, in table of contents as Kabanosy snack sticks (Bryner).

3-1/2 tablespoons cracked black pepper 4 tablespoons ground garlic 1/2 cup Uncle Abe’s Jerky Mix 1 cup Soy Protein Concentrate 1-1/4 teaspoons Insta Cure #1 1package16mm Collagen Casings

Directions: Cute and cube meat removing excess fat. Grind meat in small batches using a 3/8 inch plate for the meat grinder. Add small amount of ice while grinding to ensure consistence and protect grinder from overheating. Refrigerate each batch while grinding the next. Repeat the grinding process using 3/16 inch plate. Grinding twice insures fine consistency and texture. Add all spices, cure and soy protein along with water, mix only enough to develop a meat paste, do not over mix. Use as little added water as possible. Transfer meat batches to stuffer. Use a ½” OD stuffing tube. Push collagen casing onto the tube creating an accordion type shape. For best results, keep stuffing nozzle as dry as possible. Fill casing with meat mixture in 3-foot lengths. Use scissors to cut to desired lengths, place on dryer racks making sure not to over crowd and place in a 220°F degree oven. Cook until internal temperature of meat reaches 145° F, remove from oven, place drying racks where they will be undisturbed and allow drying until bloomed, color will change to a deep Mahogany. Sticks dry in about 35 hours, this is apparent as the sausage will shrink and wrinkle similar to jerky. Refrigerate in paper sack in refrigerator until eaten. Can be sealed and frozen if desired.

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Marion Baker, Chemistry 1010, Professor Okleberry December 5, 2015

Pictorial of Making Kabanosy Sausage using Insta Cure #1

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Marion Baker, Chemistry 1010, Professor Okleberry December 5, 2015

Bibliography

Bryner, Barry "Chuckwagon". 2013. SausagesWest.com. 30 November 2015 <http://sausageswest.com/2-sausages-at-home-fresh-cooked-cured-2/comment-page-3/#comments>.

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Marion Baker, Chemistry 1010, Professor Okleberry December 5, 2015

"Meat Safety.org." 23 September 2003. What is Sodium Nitrite. 30 November 2015 <http://www.meatsafety.org/ht/d/sp/i/45243/pid/45243>.

"National Center fo Biotechnology Information." CID: 145068. Pub Chem Open Chemistry Database. 30 November 2015 <http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/nitric_oxide#section=Top>.

"Salt Works." n.d. History of Salt. 30 November 2015 <http://www.saltworks.us/salt_info/si_HistoryOfSalt.asp>.

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