Roundman's Smokehouse

Most of our business is done face-to-face.  We often hear the same concerns from our customers.  As we cannot answer your questions when you are viewing this site, we'll post questions that commonly come up in the shop.

If you have a question that is not addresses here, please feel free to call or email us!  We'll post your question here if it will help other viewers.

The Great Nitrite Debate

 One of the most commonly asked questions we get at Roundman's is "Do you use Nitrates or Nitrites in your products"?

The quick answers is: Yes, we use the bare minimum of Sodium Nitrite required by the USDA to kill botuilism. 

 Nitrites have become one of the "food bogeymen" to watch out for.  In reality, they develop cured meat flavor and color, retard development of rancidity and off-odors/off-flavors during storage, and preserve flavors of spices, smoke, etc.  

       "People normally consume more nitrates from their vegetable intake than from the cured meat products they eat.  Spinach, beets, radishes, celery, and cabbages are among the vegetables that generally contain very high concentrations of nitrates'                           Journal of Food Science 52:1632

At Roundman's we use only 1 ounce of 6.25% strength nitrite per 25 pounds of cured meat.