A Comparison of Curing Practices and Sodium Nitrite Levels on the Chemical and Sensory Properties of Smoked Turkey

Three different curing procedures using two levels of NaNO2 were evaluated for color, residual NO2, percent NaCl, percent moisture, and organoleptic quality of smoked turkey. Curing procedures included 1) soaking in a 15% NaCl brine for 48 hr prior to cooking, 2) injecting an amount of 15% salt brine equal to 10% of the carcass weight followed by soaking in 15% brine for 24 hr, and 3) injecting brines to obtain a finished product with 2% salt and cooking immediately. Turkeys were smoked while cooking to an internal temperature of 71 C. Smoked breast meat from turkeys cured with reduced amounts of NO2 had significantly lower residual NO2. Injection of brine plus 24 hr of soaking yielded breast meat with the highest concentration of residual NO2 and salt. Hunter color “a” values demonstrated no cured color difference in breast tissues due to concentration of NO2 in curing brine, whereas significant color differences resulted from cure methods. Injection with immediate cooking resulted in less uniform color development. Product with higher levels of residual NO2 and salt received higher, but not significantly different, taste panel scores for cured meat flavor intensity, salt intensity, and juiciness. These results show that cured meat flavor and color can be produced in turkey breast tissue with 25% of the maximum permitted levels of NaNO2. The results also suggest that curing time can be reduced if more uniform color can be obtained with direct injection of brine followed by immediate cooking and smoking.