Backwoods Encapsulated Citric Acid is citric acid with a hydrogenated cotton seed oil coating. The coating prevents the citric acid from releasing in the meat during mixing and stuffing. If released prematurely, the sausage will not hold together. Meat must reach 150 degrees F for the acid to release and take its effect. I would set you dehydrator to 155 degrees F and there will be no need to pre cook the meat in the oven first. We suggest cooking the sausage to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

No - you do NOT want to use Encapsulated Citric Acid when dehydrating as the dehydrator does not get hot enough to activate the Citric Acid. You would only want to use when smoking or cooking snack sticks in the oven.

Yes you can. The curing salt or instant cure is just for keep bacteria at bay while smoking/processing your product. Encapsulated Citric Acid helps make your product shelf stable.

Not qualified to answer the question. Only the producers of the product know how it's made. I don't understand why this question was forwarded to another customer.

Not only does the Encapsulated Citric Acid add a tangy flavor to your sausage it also brings the PH level to 4.9 (needs to be 5.2-4.9) to be shelf stable. Sausage must be cooked to 160 degrees. The shelf stable portion of the sausage making is the most important part of the citric acid. Hope this helps with your decision making.

Keeping it in a cool dry place is all that is needed with this product.

It would not be recommended. Besides Ph level the water activity of a shelf stable product is also taken into account. Adding cheese could be a vector for microbes via the water content of the cheese.

I would put it in, cold smoking is irrelevant. The s.s. Still needs to be cooked to 152 internal to receive lethality treatment,or fully cooked status.

The Encapsulated Citric Acid will make the meat shelf stable for 3-6 months. The meat can be stored either at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Anything longer than that, and we recommend freezing until ready to consume.

If used according to directions and you have used a cure. pH and water activity should be such that like pepperoni or salami you will get the fermented ‘tang’ and be shelf stable for a long period. Do not grind after adding! Keep snack sticks in cool dry Airtight container for best results. Be sure to smoke to proper internal temp.