Homemade Sausage Making

I am confused on how much water to add when making Mortadella. I looked at the recipe for Polish Mortadella in the book, Polish Sausages, Authentic Recipes and Instructions. It calls for 30-40% water. I take this to mean 300-400ml of water per 1000g of meat. The recipe for Polish Mortadella on this site calls for 150ml of water per 1000g of meat. The recipe for Mortadella di Bologna on this site calls for 60ml of wine per 1000g of meat. The water content in these three recipes vary greatly. Has anyone tried any of the three recipes? I hate to make a batch and not have it turn out good.

Dumoine wrote:I am confused on how much water to add when making Mortadella. I looked at the recipe for Polish Mortadella in the book, Polish Sausages, Authentic Recipes and Instructions. It calls for 30-40% water. I take this to mean 300-400ml of water per 1000g of meat. The recipe for Polish Mortadella on this site calls for 150ml of water per 1000g of meat. The recipe for Mortadella di Bologna on this site calls for 60ml of wine per 1000g of meat. The water content in these three recipes vary greatly. Has anyone tried any of the three recipes? I hate to make a batch and not have it turn out good.

Hi Dumoine

For the recipe I followed when making my mort, I used no more than approximately 1/2 cup (4oz) ice water added during the second grind. I do not emulsify my sausage, but prefer doing a second fine grind. When I did emulsify sausages in the past, more water was needed to keep the consistency of the paste uniform AND to keep the overall temp down (hi-speed processing can raise temps & cause separation.).

My mort :
http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.ph ... 8b40d#6970

- Kevin

Hi NorCal Kid

I made some Mortadella. I used your recipe as a guide and changed a few things. I don't like using garlic powder, so I replaced it with fresh garlic. I added some anise and caraway and increased the black pepper. I cut down on the coriander as I saw other recipes used much less. I added the same amout of water, but also added 30ml of dry red wine. After tasting the finished product, I thought that the texture was still a little hard. I think next time I will add additional water or wine. I gave some to my neighbor who grew up in Italy. She said the flavor and aroma were there, but she agreed with me that texture was a little hard and maybe more water would be an improvement. I grinded the meat twice, once at 5mm and then at 2mm. I emulsified the mixture in a Kitchen-Aide mixer using a dough hook.
I put the seasonings and water/wine in the blender and so that the garlic, anise seed and caraway seed would be well ground.

Here is the list of ingredients I used to make 5lbs. I will at a little more wine next time.

1150g pork shoulder
525g beef
113 pork fat for grinding
112g diced pork fat
60g nonfat dry milk
65g pistachios
3.8g sugar
35g salt
1.9g anise
2g coriander
3.5g white pepper
16 grams fresh garlic paste
2g paprika
1.8g cure #1
1.8g mace
1g caraway
125ml water
7.5g black pepper whole
30ml dry red wine

Hi Guys, May I throw in a couple of cents worth? I don't mean to interrupt, but perhaps I may make you aware of something you're not fully aware of.

If emulsified sausage is overly mechanically-cut or tumbled, especially with the addition of salt or water, it may have the extraction of two of its myofibrillar proteins (myosin and actin) developed to a point where the structure of the final texture becomes more elastic than that in less-agitated processing. This elasticity may also be perceived as toughness or stiffness in texture. Most often an "insufficient amount of water" is bound to receive the blame for this elasticity or toughness when it is not.

As a sausage maker gains experience, he will instinctively add just enough water to the mixture to form a meat "paste" with "peaks" remaining when the meat is pulled apart. Some have the experience to actually "hear" the load-bearing weight reduced from the motor of their processor as the correct amount of water is added at just the right point. Of course, in a commercial process, for exact duplication of the product continually, the precise recipe must be followed. My point is, please be careful not to over-agitate the mixture. When peaks start to form in a "meat paste", get it into the stuffer.

Like my ol` pappy used to say, "OK, back up and hit it again"!

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Hi Dumoine

I'm sorry the texture wasn't what you wanted, but it sure does look good!

Per CW's note: after doing several 'emulsified batches' of meat using a mixer (processor, actually), I had similar results. The meat tended to be 'rubbery (too elastic from too much 'processing'). The last few batches of typically emulsified meats (bologna, mort), I opted to just do very fine grinds (4.5mm > 3.0mm) and skip the additional process of using the procesaor. I was very pleased with the results! Nice, even texture, firm but not rubbery or tough.

Needless to say, this double-grind is the method I'll be doing from now on.

-Kevin