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Field guide8 Curing Problems: How to Diagnose, Fix, and Prevent Them

Dry-cured sausage recipeOrigin Recipe

Patatera

Extremadura's spreadable, potato-stretched chorizo.

Draft

This recipe is a draft, pending verification by The Curesmith. Treat the salt, cure and timing figures as provisional and confirm them against your own judgement before curing.

Introduction

Patatera is a soft orange-red sausage with a smooth potato-and-fat texture, paprika and garlic. it should remain spreadable and must not show fermentation defects or rancid fat.

The Curesmith home method

The encyclopedia article is ready, but the Curesmith home recipe is withheld pending product-specific technical validation of its safety endpoints. No formula or process should be inferred from the traditional description.

Where it comes from

Extremadura, Spain

Before you begin

Purpose and scope

The recipes published on The Curesmith are intended for educational and informational purposes only. Meat curing, fermentation and smoking involve processes that, if carried out incorrectly, can result in products that are unsafe to eat. By using any recipe on this website you acknowledge that you do so entirely at your own risk, and you agree that The Curesmith and its authors cannot be held liable for any outcome arising from its use.

Limitation of liability

The Curesmith and its authors accept no responsibility or liability for any illness, injury, loss or damage arising from the use of these recipes, including but not limited to illness caused by improperly cured, handled or cooked meat products, errors in measurement or technique, equipment failure, or deviation from the stated method or quantities.

Nitrite and cure safety

Meat curing involves the use of nitrite salts, which must be measured accurately and used strictly according to the quantities specified. Nitrite in excessive quantities is toxic. Please ensure you understand the following before proceeding:

  • Always use a calibrated digital scale accurate to at least one gram. For smaller batches, a scale accurate to 0.1g is strongly recommended.
  • Never exceed the stated cure amounts. Never substitute cure types without recalculating.
  • Store all curing salts clearly labelled, separately from regular salt, and out of reach of children.
  • Different cure products have different nitrite concentrations. Always check your manufacturer's label and adjust quantities accordingly.

Food hygiene and cross-contamination

Raw and cured meat products must be stored, handled and prepared in a clean environment using food-safe equipment. Hands, surfaces, tools and containers must be thoroughly cleaned and where appropriate sanitised before use. Cross-contamination between raw meat and ready-to-eat products must be avoided at all times.

Temperature control

Temperature control is critical throughout all curing and smoking processes. Inadequate temperature management can allow the growth of dangerous pathogens including Clostridium botulinum, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and E. coli. A reliable refrigerator thermometer and a calibrated probe thermometer are essential pieces of equipment for anyone producing cured or smoked meat at home.

Uncooked cured products

Whole muscle products that are eaten without cooking, such as air-dried bresaola, coppa or prosciutto, must reach their target weight loss before consumption. Products that have not been cured and dried to the correct specification may not be safe to eat uncooked. Pancetta and guanciale cured to less than 38% weight loss must not be consumed uncooked.

Bacon and other uncooked cured products

Bacon and other uncooked cured products must be cooked thoroughly before eating. Cold smoking adds flavour and colour but does not cook the product. A cold-smoked bacon or sausage remains a raw product and must reach a safe internal temperature before it is safe to consume. For pork and beef this is 72°C / 162°F. For poultry this is 74°C / 165°F.

When in doubt, seek professional guidance

If you are unsure about any aspect of the curing, smoking or fermentation process, we strongly encourage you to seek formal training or guidance from a qualified food safety professional before proceeding. The information on this website is not a substitute for proper food safety education and training.

Commercial production

These recipes are produced for home and small-scale producers. They are not intended for commercial food production. Commercial meat processing is subject to regulatory requirements that vary by country and jurisdiction. If you intend to produce cured or smoked products for sale, you must ensure full compliance with all applicable food safety regulations in your region.

The recipe

StyleFermented spreadable
CureCure #2
CultureStarter culture
FinishSoft, spreadable

New to curing, or want step-by-step guidance?

The Recipe Wizard walks you through this recipe one step at a time, with explanations at every stage.

Ingredients

gAdjust to
scale the recipe
Vegetables, meat & fat
Boiled drained potatoReference1000 g
Pork shoulder20% of boiled drained potato200 g
Pork back fat80% of boiled drained potato800 g
Cure, salt & sugar
Salt (additional)2.25%45 g
Cure #2 is about 94% salt. This additional salt brings the total to the 2.5% target.
Cure #2for 156 ppm5.0 g
Dextrose0.6%6.0 g
Feeds the starter culture. If substituting sugar, use 60%: 3.6 g
Starter culture
Starter culture0.4166666666666667 g per kg meat0.4 g
I prefer Flora Italia LC, but you can use your preferred starter culture. No precision scale? Use 1.0 g - you cannot meaningfully overdose a starter culture. Dissolve before mixing in.
Water (to dissolve culture)20 ml per kg meat20 g
Aromatics & seasoning
Smoked pimentón2%20 g
Garlic2%20 g

Nitrite safety check

Nitrite (NO₂)
156.0ppm
Nitrate (NO₃)
99.8ppm
Nitrite level156.0 / 200 ppm max
0156 ppm200 ppm
Safe
Within safe limits. Effective for pathogen control and colour development.

Curing timeline

Ferment24-48 hours at 20 to 24 C (68 to 75 F), 90 to 85% RH
Target pH4.8 to 5.3
Lightly dry (optional)16 to 12 C (61 to 54 F), 85 to 75% RH
Weight lossabout 10% to 15%, kept soft
Target weight loss15%

Method

1
Grind meat and fat. Pass the lean pork through a 6 mm plate, then pass the hard back fat through the same 6 mm plate. This is a deliberately fat rich paste, carrying far more fat than lean.
2
Boil and cool the potato. Peel the potatoes and boil them until soft. Drain and mash them, then spread the mash out so it gives up its steam and surface moisture before it meets the meat.
3
Season the mix. Combine the pork, fat and cooled potato with the salt, cure salt, dextrose, sweet smoked paprika and minced garlic.
4
Rouse the culture. About half an hour beforehand, wake the fermentation culture in a tablespoon of unchlorinated water. Add it to the paste and work everything through evenly.
5
Stuff and loop. Stuff firmly into 36 mm hog casings, easing out any air pockets, and form the strand into loops of roughly 30 cm.
6
Ferment. Hold at 20 C (68 F) with humidity around 85 to 90 per cent for 72 hours, letting the culture acidify the sausage.
7
Dry. Move it to a curing room at 12 to 16 C (54 to 61 F) and 80 to 85 per cent humidity and dry for around 30 days, by which point the source expects about 30 per cent of the starting weight to be lost.
Key tipsThis recipe is the house equilibrium version, standardised for safety, with the traditional flavourings from the Atlas entry. Keep everything cold, ferment to pH by measurement not by clock, and finish it soft, spread fresh or only lightly dried. This is a soft spreadable: it is not dried to the 38% floor, so it relies on a firm ferment to a safe pH and on the cure. Keep it refrigerated and treat it as a fresh product.
ImportantThis is eaten uncooked and is safe only once it has reached at least 38% weight loss (38% recommended), measured against the recorded green weight. Never taste or eat it before that.

Recipe by The Curesmith — thecuresmith.com