No I didn't use any. I just used a mixture of table salt and rock salt. The recipe I had didn't call for any. In the same book it is used for other recipes but mostly for sausages and salamis. I think it is to do with a sausage being a more suitable location for bacteria to grow. I had looked at getting some but its a controlled substance here and I need to prove why I need it and have to go to the police station to get a letter before I can even buy any. I have seen it for sale in small amounts on amazon but wonder would it get intercepted if I ordered some.
Frosty & others interested ,
Weschenfelder .co.uk
They sell various premade cures etc & all manner of helpful pre packed salted skins & devices .. perhaps having the nitrate mixed in with the salt is enough to avoid the restrictions.
After all we can make nitrate by boiling human and animal pee but the smell is awful and might just give the explosives game away for miles and miles around unless it's boiled off under vacuum .