Cure in un-smoked product?

[pkzipper]

So I have found that many times when I make a sausage product I like to use the same mix/recipe and smoke some and leave the other fresh. But the smoke product needs cure and the fresh does not.
Should I portion out the mix for fresh and smoke and only add the cure to the smoke portion or should I just mix cure into it all and have cure in the fresh portion unnecessarily?

[Jonathon]

pkzipper This is going to be an interesting thread I think!

I personally don’t see a problem with nitrites or nitrates as long as they are not being used in excess in products that are going to be charred. For example, Bacon has a limited part per million (PPM) amount of ingoing nitrites because it was shown that cured meat that is charred can create nitrosamines that can be carcinogenic (cancer causing). However, at the PPM that the USDA allows charred bacon is perfectly safe.

My personal thought though is to portion it out. Why add anything you don’t need in your food?

[PapaSop]

Would have to agree with Jon on this one. Don’t add it if don’t need it. Fresh should be fresh.