Ideal for the Health Conscious
There is always a lot of discussion about the dangerous levels of nitrites / nitrates in ham. The Australian Food Standard for maximum nitrite levels in ham is 125mg/kg, we conduct regular testing on the nitrate and nitrite levels in our ham at an accredited lab. The latest test conducted in May 2018 shows that our total level of nitrates and nitrites in our ham is 12mg/kg. We DO NOT USE SULPHITES IN OUR PRODUCTS.
Studies have shown that many vegetables including spinach and kale have nitrate levels ranging between 54 to 2440mg/kg. If chicken manure is used to grow your vegetables, the nitrate level will be very high. This is just to make you aware that our ham is lower in nitrates than many vegetables and one of the reasons we have used this recipe which has been passed down through generations is to achieve low levels of nitrite in the ham.
In our opinion nitrite was never intended to be used as a preservative, it was intended to keep a desirable level of pink in the product. Many producers today use it at much higher levels not for the colour but to preserve the product and give it a longer shelf life. We achieve the same or better through our genuine knowledge and craftsmanship and never taking any shortcuts. Be aware that lots of products that claim to be NITRATE FREE do in actual fact contain nitrate.
If you see a bacon or ham advertised to be nitrate free and it is any shade of pink in colour, it cannot be nitrate free because the nitrate is what makes it pink, you can be 99.999% sure of this. They may have added nitrate in its natural form from vegetables (celery) and not chemically but essentially it is the same, it is still nitrate either way. For our own purpose we had some bacon that claimed to be 100% Nitrate free tested in a NATA approved and accredited laboratory and the results showed that the product contained nitrate.