Putting cure in fry sausage? We made some venison sausage today. On the packaging for a smoked German sausage, it said do not put cure in if you will be pan frying. I've looked around but I can't find a reason why. We ended up having a little bit that wouldn't fit in the casings and ended up frying that to get an idea what it'll taste like after its smoked. Does anyone know why you shouldn't put cure in pan fry sausage?
Curing salts contain sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate. When these curative agents are combined with the amines in meat and exposed to high heat they form carcinogenic compounds called nitrosamines.  As the linked article states, commercial producers often add Vit. C to counteract some of the nitrosamine formation, but the curing mix you have might not include it for economic reasons.