duck sausage no cure

Well the simple question is why didn't you cure them? Tastes a lot better cured. When is the expiration date on the duck, assuming you bought it? Are you hot or cold smoking?

Can you throw some Pictures up please,
This is the first time I have ever heard Duck Sausage.
I am intrigued ( love home made Snags ):wink:

Just cook them hot and fast with lots of smoke.

Why not just hot smoke them when you want to eat them and freeze some for later?

I wouldn't cold smoke them after sitting in the refrigerator for Tue thru Sat, just too much time to add a cold smoke to non-cured meat that has been sitting for a few days.

I would do as the others suggested, hot smoke and eat, and freeze any remaining.

Many commercial sausage spice blends have a curing agent (Sodium Nitrate) in them allowing the meat to cure almost overnight because the meat is ground into smaller pieces and makes the curing time very short. Also it prevents food borne illnesses because you are grinding the outside of the meat (which can contain bacteria) and mixing it together thus creating more surface area on which bacteria could possibly colonize.

If you used a commercially prepared blend check the ingredients for a possible curing agent.

Hot smoke them. You don't really want to cold smoke any uncured sausage because of the grinding process (as described by IamMadMan) above. I don't really think you have to worry about botchalism, that is pretty rare and usually occurs in canned foods (as botchalism is produced under anaerobic conditions), but ducks (and other fowl) can carry it and why fark around.

In the future, if you are going to cold smoke your duck sausages (or if you just like a "cured" flavor, like the hammy or bacon flavor in your sausage for hot smoking) you can find a commercial quick cure at your local grocery usually in the spice isle. Try Morton's Tender Quick. It is cheap and forgiving to the beginner and will cure your sausages overnight. If you like that you can start looking online for other commercial cures/spice mixes online, or make your own with nitrate or nitrite you can order online.

What those guys said. Never cold smoke sausage without the cure, and never cold smoke sausage that has sat in the fridge for even a day. You are inviting potential disaster. The grinding is the problem.

Morton's Tenderquik is cheap and easy, now that you know. Just freeze them tonight, or poach them. If you poach them, that will stop any bacterial growth for many days, then you can smoke the fully cooked product on the weekend.

legendaryhog said:

I don't really think you have to worry about botchalism, that is pretty rare and usually occurs in canned foods (as botchalism is produced under anaerobic conditions).

Click to expand...

The primary and most important reason meat is cured is to prevent food poisoning. Any meat or sausage that will be smoked or cooked at low temperatures must be cured to insure food safety. Food exposed to temperatures ranging between 40° - 140°, lack of oxygen due to smoke, moisture, and or high humidity can all trigger the growth of bacteria causing food poisoning. Meat or sausage which contain moisture when smoked at low temperatures below 140°, the smoke and the heat eliminate oxygen making ideal conditions for food poisoning.

Curing salts in meats and smoked sausages prevent not only food poisoning, but also impede the development of many food spoiling bacteria that can thrive in low temperature environment of a smoker. These curing ingredients extend the self life of the meat, retard rancidity, and provide the characteristic flavor and color associated with specific meats.

Botulism used to be known as 'sausage disease'. Even its name is derived from 'botulus' - the Latin word for sausage. If it ain't cured, do not cold smoke it, and if you make fresh sausage it's best to eat within a few days of making them just to be on the safe side

Yeah you could poach them, why the rush to cook them though? They'll be fine left uncooked in the freezer

Here seems like a good site for anyone doing any duck sausage.

http://honest-food.net/wild-game/duck-goose-recipes/sausages-salami/