Just a couple of questions about the ingredients.
Availability here is a problem in general and ordering online not really an option as the mail is not very reliable.
Can I use normal sugar instead of dextrose? I know I will probably have to adjust the amounts, but I figure it shouldn't be a problem?
I can't get non-iodized salt, so I will have to use iodized. All salt here is iodized and imports of non-iodized is not allowed. I make pickles, bacon, sausages with iodized salt and it does work, so no problem here.
I haven't been able to locate non fat milk powder, only creamy/fat milk powder. Is this usable?
Herbs and spices are not a problem.
Soy bean concentrate might be, starter cultures definitely are, but we will cross that hurdle when we get to it. That's one thing about living in this end of the world, you get very good a chopping, changing and making a plan
YEEEEEHAWWWW
Project KB (For Beginners)
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sambal badjak
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Chuckwagon
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- Location: Rocky Mountains
SalP wrote:
Sambal Badjak wrote:
Sorry you have such a time getting materials. Powdered dextrose is a specialty item and later on, for fermented sausages, it is ideal as a bacterial nutrient because of its makeup. It is only 70% sweet as sugar. For right now in dealing with fresh and smoked-cooked sausages, regular sugar will have to do in your part of the world. I`m really more concerned with iodized salt as it is bitter in the end result. If you can find "canning salt" or "kosher salt" anywhere, it would be much better to use it. If you are able to obtain soy protein concentrate, the powdered milk won`t be necessary.
First-class info SalP. Thanks. We will talk about the benefits of cold-smoking eventually Sal. Certainly the A-Maze-N Smoker is making its mark on this industry. It`s a first class product and worth an in-depth review here. However, first up is the understanding of the classic, heated, and economical smoker and its convenience with simultaneous (and safe) cooking.Are we going to try and cold smoke? If so I just ordered an A-MAZE-N Pellet Smoker. From what I read this works very well and is inexpensive. They currently have some as scratch and dents for 1/2 off at 22.50 if anyone is interested. https://www.amazenproduct...ode=AMNPS5x8-SD
Sambal Badjak wrote:
Hey Sambal, that`s a pretty good "yeehaww"!Can I use normal sugar instead of dextrose? I know I will probably have to adjust the amounts, but I figure it shouldn't be a problem?
I can't get non-iodized salt, so I will have to use iodized. All salt here is iodized and imports of non-iodized is not allowed. I make pickles, bacon, sausages with iodized salt and it does work, so no problem here.
I haven't been able to locate non fat milk powder, only creamy/fat milk powder. Is this usable?
YEEEEEHAWWWW
Sorry you have such a time getting materials. Powdered dextrose is a specialty item and later on, for fermented sausages, it is ideal as a bacterial nutrient because of its makeup. It is only 70% sweet as sugar. For right now in dealing with fresh and smoked-cooked sausages, regular sugar will have to do in your part of the world. I`m really more concerned with iodized salt as it is bitter in the end result. If you can find "canning salt" or "kosher salt" anywhere, it would be much better to use it. If you are able to obtain soy protein concentrate, the powdered milk won`t be necessary.If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! 
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Chuckwagon
- Veteran
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- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 04:51
- Location: Rocky Mountains
Hey all you "ol' timers" on Wedliny Domowe. If you'd like to "chirp in" on this project later and help your fellow members, please register now. On Monday, we'll really start moving on this Project KB and develop some good discussions.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill!
Ol' Timers??? Chirp???
Maybe you could tweet (if you're into that sort of thing), but surely not "chirp."
And now, put yer hands on the keyboard, brethren and sisteren, and gimme a big "Yee Haww." Attaway, folks! Hallelujah! Speaking of ol' time fervor, that's it. You got it!
Next, Brother CW will pass the plate. This time, instead of giving money, take some sausage instead. ...and Canadian bacon, in honor of our friendly memberen, uh, members, north of the border, who will be (hopefully) honored by our first project.
Gimme 'nother "Yee Haw!" That's thuh spirit, folks. Glow-Ree! It's gonna be a great project.
P.S. Void where prohibited wherever whatever religion you are takes offense from this sort of thing. You probably don't remember those high-power AM broadcasters who beamed this stuff into the US from Del Rio and Monterrey, back in the '50's.
QUACK!!!Chuckwagon wrote:...If you'd like to "chirp in" on this project later...
Maybe you could tweet (if you're into that sort of thing), but surely not "chirp."
And now, put yer hands on the keyboard, brethren and sisteren, and gimme a big "Yee Haww." Attaway, folks! Hallelujah! Speaking of ol' time fervor, that's it. You got it!
Next, Brother CW will pass the plate. This time, instead of giving money, take some sausage instead. ...and Canadian bacon, in honor of our friendly memberen, uh, members, north of the border, who will be (hopefully) honored by our first project.
Gimme 'nother "Yee Haw!" That's thuh spirit, folks. Glow-Ree! It's gonna be a great project.
P.S. Void where prohibited wherever whatever religion you are takes offense from this sort of thing. You probably don't remember those high-power AM broadcasters who beamed this stuff into the US from Del Rio and Monterrey, back in the '50's.
Experience - the ability to instantly recognize a mistake when you make it again.
-
Chuckwagon
- Veteran
- Posts: 4494
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 04:51
- Location: Rocky Mountains
Dang Rabid Duck! 
Evidently you are still waddling around just quackin` away, smashing into walls and mirrors, and passing hot air! It guess really wasn`t your fault you ate leaded paint chips. Yes, yes... my advice to you - you... you... feathered, flipped-out, fulmarus glacialis - is to take in a deep breath and let some of that hot air swirl right past those overloaded, baronial, flappin` beaks! It calms the mind (what little is left). And don't take yourself so seriously... no one else does! Now, fly away and rest on those high-voltage power lines!
Evidently you are still waddling around just quackin` away, smashing into walls and mirrors, and passing hot air! It guess really wasn`t your fault you ate leaded paint chips. Yes, yes... my advice to you - you... you... feathered, flipped-out, fulmarus glacialis - is to take in a deep breath and let some of that hot air swirl right past those overloaded, baronial, flappin` beaks! It calms the mind (what little is left). And don't take yourself so seriously... no one else does!
Now, fly away and rest on those high-voltage power lines!If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill!
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Chuckwagon
- Veteran
- Posts: 4494
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 04:51
- Location: Rocky Mountains
Mooovin` On...
Before we can make great sausage, we have to talk about what we`re doing and where we`re going. It would be nice to just jump in and start grinding sausauge... but it doesn`t work that way. Let`s talk about a good plan. Nothing succeeds like a good plan.
Just think! For the rest of your life, you can make better sausage than you can purchase in any store! Nothing is stopping you. But first you must THINK! If you arm yourself with a bit of knowledge, you`ll never buy anything out of your butcher`s cold case again. Alas, you must read a bit too. Sure, we must read to retain knowledge. There`s no getting around it. No one can hand you knowledge on a plate at any price. It`s going to take some effort, so don`t be afraid to go over the written material slowly if necessary - until it sinks in and stays put. Okay, here we go... Remember, it doesn`t have to be a chore; it may be great fun. The knowledge behind this craft will determine your success or failure. A little knowledge NOW... will determine whether your sausages turn out to be superior or just mediocre. Knowledge is power.
Basically, there are only four types of sausages:
Type (1.) Fresh Sausage -"Fresh" sausage (meaning not cured), must be refrigerated and eaten within three days, or frozen for use later. Ol` timers know there is no such thing as a "secret recipe". There is however, "simply great sausage" - made using only salt, pepper, and only one or two other "signature ingredients". Add all the seasonings you wish; stuff it inside casings or mold it into patties; but use it within three days or freeze it, as it is not cured and not smoked. Refrigerate it at 38°F (3°C). This is the famous "breakfast" type sausage containing pork and sage. Other favorites include fresh Italian and fresh kielbasa, the well-known Polish sausage.
Important:
Fresh sausage is never smoked as the process cuts off oxygen, raising the risk of obligate anaerobic and microaerophile bacterial development, including clostridium botulinum!
Type (2.) Cured, Cooked, And Smoked Sausage - This sausage is cured using sodium nitrite to destroy the toxin secretions produced by obligate anaerobic clostridium botulinum bacteria, as the oxygen is cut off when the meat is placed inside casings, and again as smoke replaces oxygen inside the smokehouse. Botulism, a potentially fatal illness causing flaccid paralysis, is the effect of food poisoning caused by clostridium botulinum. In 1925, the American Meat Institute introduced the use of sodium nitrite to America`s meat products. Since that time, there has not been a single case of food poisoning in this country due to botulism in commercially prepared cured meats. Sodium nitrite has also been found to prevent the growth of Listeria monocytogenes - the bacteria responsible for Listeriosis, a very virulent disease that can potentially result in the development of meningitis in newborns.
Following drying, cured-cooked-smoked sausages are prep-cooked (and smoked if desired) to destroy any possible trichinella spiralis and retain moisture. Finish cooking them on the grill or in a pan. These are the famous Bratwurst, Bockwurst, Knockwurst, and emulsified sausages known as hot dogs or "wieners". Also included in the emulsified category are bierwurst, Vienna sausage, and bologna. Cooked Italian mortadella, salami, Chinese "lop chong", Cajun boudin (blood) sausage, smoked Polish kielbasa, and German Berliner, are other popular favorites.
Type (3.) Semi-Dry Cured Sausage - These are tangy, fermented, cured, sausages served on a fancy plate at a party or simply sliced with a pocketknife while you`re in the saddle. They are cured with nitrite (Cure #1), cooked during preparation, dried (yielding about 75%), but not usually further cooked before serving them. (An exception is pepperoni on pizza). Favorites include varieties of summer sausage, landjaeger, kabanosy, and "slim jims".
Type (4.) Dry Cured Sausage - This is the only sausage that is not cooked during its preparation, and not usually cooked before serving or eating. Special precautions are taken with pork sausage in this category, as the destruction of possible trichinella spiralis becomes necessary. This is the only type sausage safe to eat without having been refrigerated and it is made with Cure #2 containing nitrate. Favorites include salamis from virtually every country, dry-cured Mexican chorizo, Italian sopressata, pepperoni, and other fermented sausages. A hygrometer, thermometer, fermentation chamber, and curing chamber, are necessary to produce dry cured sausages as well as a reasonable amount of sausage-making experience and a practical knowledge of the dry-curing procedure and a basic understanding of how bacteria affect the production of this type sausage. This type of sausage is discussed in "Project A". (see index)
Before we can make great sausage, we have to talk about what we`re doing and where we`re going. It would be nice to just jump in and start grinding sausauge... but it doesn`t work that way. Let`s talk about a good plan. Nothing succeeds like a good plan.
Just think! For the rest of your life, you can make better sausage than you can purchase in any store! Nothing is stopping you. But first you must THINK! If you arm yourself with a bit of knowledge, you`ll never buy anything out of your butcher`s cold case again. Alas, you must read a bit too. Sure, we must read to retain knowledge. There`s no getting around it. No one can hand you knowledge on a plate at any price. It`s going to take some effort, so don`t be afraid to go over the written material slowly if necessary - until it sinks in and stays put.
Okay, here we go... Remember, it doesn`t have to be a chore; it may be great fun. The knowledge behind this craft will determine your success or failure. A little knowledge NOW... will determine whether your sausages turn out to be superior or just mediocre. Knowledge is power. Basically, there are only four types of sausages:
Type (1.) Fresh Sausage -"Fresh" sausage (meaning not cured), must be refrigerated and eaten within three days, or frozen for use later. Ol` timers know there is no such thing as a "secret recipe". There is however, "simply great sausage" - made using only salt, pepper, and only one or two other "signature ingredients". Add all the seasonings you wish; stuff it inside casings or mold it into patties; but use it within three days or freeze it, as it is not cured and not smoked. Refrigerate it at 38°F (3°C). This is the famous "breakfast" type sausage containing pork and sage. Other favorites include fresh Italian and fresh kielbasa, the well-known Polish sausage.
Important:
Fresh sausage is never smoked as the process cuts off oxygen, raising the risk of obligate anaerobic and microaerophile bacterial development, including clostridium botulinum!
Type (2.) Cured, Cooked, And Smoked Sausage - This sausage is cured using sodium nitrite to destroy the toxin secretions produced by obligate anaerobic clostridium botulinum bacteria, as the oxygen is cut off when the meat is placed inside casings, and again as smoke replaces oxygen inside the smokehouse. Botulism, a potentially fatal illness causing flaccid paralysis, is the effect of food poisoning caused by clostridium botulinum. In 1925, the American Meat Institute introduced the use of sodium nitrite to America`s meat products. Since that time, there has not been a single case of food poisoning in this country due to botulism in commercially prepared cured meats. Sodium nitrite has also been found to prevent the growth of Listeria monocytogenes - the bacteria responsible for Listeriosis, a very virulent disease that can potentially result in the development of meningitis in newborns.
Following drying, cured-cooked-smoked sausages are prep-cooked (and smoked if desired) to destroy any possible trichinella spiralis and retain moisture. Finish cooking them on the grill or in a pan. These are the famous Bratwurst, Bockwurst, Knockwurst, and emulsified sausages known as hot dogs or "wieners". Also included in the emulsified category are bierwurst, Vienna sausage, and bologna. Cooked Italian mortadella, salami, Chinese "lop chong", Cajun boudin (blood) sausage, smoked Polish kielbasa, and German Berliner, are other popular favorites.
Type (3.) Semi-Dry Cured Sausage - These are tangy, fermented, cured, sausages served on a fancy plate at a party or simply sliced with a pocketknife while you`re in the saddle. They are cured with nitrite (Cure #1), cooked during preparation, dried (yielding about 75%), but not usually further cooked before serving them. (An exception is pepperoni on pizza). Favorites include varieties of summer sausage, landjaeger, kabanosy, and "slim jims".
Type (4.) Dry Cured Sausage - This is the only sausage that is not cooked during its preparation, and not usually cooked before serving or eating. Special precautions are taken with pork sausage in this category, as the destruction of possible trichinella spiralis becomes necessary. This is the only type sausage safe to eat without having been refrigerated and it is made with Cure #2 containing nitrate. Favorites include salamis from virtually every country, dry-cured Mexican chorizo, Italian sopressata, pepperoni, and other fermented sausages. A hygrometer, thermometer, fermentation chamber, and curing chamber, are necessary to produce dry cured sausages as well as a reasonable amount of sausage-making experience and a practical knowledge of the dry-curing procedure and a basic understanding of how bacteria affect the production of this type sausage. This type of sausage is discussed in "Project A". (see index)
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill!
should read SPANISH. Nearly all Mexican chorizos are of the "fresh" variety and must be refrigerated and eaten within 3 days, or else frozen.Chuckwagon wrote: Type (4.) Dry Cured Sausage -.......Favorites include salamis from virtually every country, dry-cured Mexican chorizo, Italian sopressata, pepperoni, and other fermented sausages........
Experience - the ability to instantly recognize a mistake when you make it again.
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Chuckwagon
- Veteran
- Posts: 4494
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 04:51
- Location: Rocky Mountains
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Chuckwagon
- Veteran
- Posts: 4494
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 04:51
- Location: Rocky Mountains
FRESH SAUSAGE - Learning The Basics - Lose Your "Old" Spices, Chop By Hand, And Never Substitute!
Here is the first recipe we'll make. For some reason, it took me a long time to discover the magic combination of thyme and sage in proper proportion, although I ate plenty of breakfast sausage growing up. I just took it for granted that all breakfast sausage was made using these two ingredients. It`s especially nice cooked over an open campfire in a black skillet. One day, I sampled someone else`s recipe and gained a real appreciation for Rytek`s and Stan`s recipes for English breakfast sausages.
This is simple "fresh" type sausage - meaning no cure is being added. It must be refrigerated and consumed within three days, or frozen for use later, and it must NOT be smoked! During the next few "fresh" sausage projects, we'll pay attention to grinding and stuffing techniques and the basic rules of sausage making. Again... the home sausage maker`s first rule is "fresh" sausage must NEVER be smoked! Why? Fresh sausage does not contain cure. Think about the necessary criteria necessary for pathogenic bacterial growth.
1. lack of oxygen - smoke and casings cut off oxygen to bacteria
2. temperature - the "danger zone" is 40°F to 140°F - the smokehouse temperature
3. moisture - trapped inside casings
4. nutrient - natural sugars in the meat feed pathogenic bacteria
So, sausages not containing an actual curing agent such as sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite, must NOT be smoked. However, if you wish to smoke a particularly desirable sausage, simply add one level teaspoon of Cure #1 to the five-pound recipe and thoroughly distribute it. Stuff it into a casing and cook it to at least 138° F. Smoke as desired (usually only about 2 hours). Full instructions will be presented later in this project.
Recipe #1 - Breakfast Sausage by Stan Marianski
Link here... http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... /breakfast
pork shoulder (butt) ... 1 kg. (2.2 lbs. )
salt..............18 gr. (1 Tblspn.)
pepper.......2.0 gr. (1 tspn.)
sage............2.0 gr. (2 tspn.)
nutmeg......0.5 gr. (1/4 tspn.)
ginger.........0.5 gr. (2/3 tspn.)
thyme ........1.0 gr. (1 tspn.)
cayenne.....0.5 gr. (1/4 tspn.)
cold water 100 gr. (3/8 cup)
22-26 mm sheep casings or 28-30 mm hog casings
Please use fresh spices. If your spices are older than six months, toss `em! Why spend your hard-earned bucks on great meat and then try to flavor it with spices that have given up their flavor or have gone stale? Toss those little red and white cans that have been on your spice shelf since 1974! You know who you are....! Now, toss `em. Break down and buy some new spices. It will make a terrific difference in the final quality of your project. And for goodness sakes... by all means grind your own fresh black pepper. The stuff in the can on your grocer`s shelf has been there since last Christmas! Why not buy a small coffee grinder and use it only for grinding whole peppercorns occasionally? Keep the ground (coarse is best) pepper in a sealed glass container out of direct sunlight.
Now, let`s try something completely different. I`m going to ask you to follow along with me on this just to gain an appreciation for how sausage was first made in its early history. The Romans had to use two large knives to chop their sausage meat. The Chinese (who aren`t really known for their sausage [other than Lop Chong], first used the primitive, practical food processor - two Chinese clevers - to chop meat into sausage mince for stuffing into casings. At any rate, you`ll probably be surprised that the best texture for chewing, consists of meat cubes chopped from 3/8" to 1/2". Nobody can "chop" perfect little cubes, so don`t even try! Just chop the mince manually this time. Note that the plates on electric grinders below this size, are usually bordering on emulsification, especially if your grinder`s knife is in need of sharpening. For some real fun and experience, please try chopping your own - just for this one recipe. It will give you an appreciation for your electric grinder and cause you to sharpen its blade! Wilford Brimley would say it will give you a "more harmonious outcome"!
If you just can`t bring yourself to use two Chinese clevers, (you big chicken...) you may grind the meat using a 3/8" plate. Mix the meat with all the ingredients, including the water, and then stuff the mixture into 22-26 mm sheep casings or 28-30 mm hog casings. Tie the sausages into 4" links. The recommended cooking method for this type of sausage is frying or grilling. (See also Code Of Regulations §319.143.)
Note: If you like this recipe and wish to make 10 pounds, simply multiply all ingredients by 4.5 - remember there are three teaspoons in a tablespoon.
Substitute Ingredients? Don`t Do It!
I was young, crazy, and full of pee and vinegar in Las Vegas, Nevada when Rytek Kutas opened his "Hickory Shoppe". It smelled wonderful. Later, he wrote, "Probably one of the stupidest things we did was opening the shop while making only one kind of sausage." Later, I discovered that most sausage is basically the same, with only minor alterations making each quite unique. However, most people who make their own sausage, fall into a routine of substituting ingredients because of convenience. Sadly, those folks never truly experience the unique flavors of many cultures` favorite, signature sausages.
Most sausage makers by far, limit their efforts to making less than half a dozen of their favorite or most convenient sausages the rest of their lives. In many cases, it is limited to two or three. The reason we`re including a variety of sausages in Project KB, with different techniques, grinds, preparations, and casings, is to offer you experience in making several different sausages with several unique flavors. My advice is, "Never change the ingredients or procedures of established and proven recipes". If you SUBSTITUTE ingredients, then you`ll never know how the original was meant to be. When someone asks you, "Have you tried authentic teewurst?" what will you say? "Well, almost... I sort of substituted black pepper for chopped pimento and sugar for powdered dextrose. I didn`t have cardamom, so I used celery seeds and cinnamon. Gosh, I really hated that teewurst."
If you never try sheep casings for a slender, favorite, cooked-cured, sausage, then how will you know how tender they are with that special "snap" when you bite into them? And another biggy is if you substitute bitter Mexican paprika for sweet Hungarian paprika. For shame! For a buck or two, you will have the experience of tasting an entire batch of great sausage with the rich, original, authentic flavor of sweet Hungarian.
My point is, you`ll never know the authentic stuff... the genuine article... if you substitute ingredients trying to save a few pennies. When I was young, a little old woman placed a piece of paper in my hand. It read:
"The Substitute Recipe"
I didn`t have potatoes; So I substituted rice.
I didn`t have paprika; So I used another spice.
I didn`t have tomato sauce; So I used tomato paste.
A whole can - not a half can; I don`t believe in waste.
A friend gave me the recipe; He said you couldn`t beat it.
There must be something wrong with him; I couldn`t even eat it!
Here is the first recipe we'll make. For some reason, it took me a long time to discover the magic combination of thyme and sage in proper proportion, although I ate plenty of breakfast sausage growing up. I just took it for granted that all breakfast sausage was made using these two ingredients. It`s especially nice cooked over an open campfire in a black skillet. One day, I sampled someone else`s recipe and gained a real appreciation for Rytek`s and Stan`s recipes for English breakfast sausages.
This is simple "fresh" type sausage - meaning no cure is being added. It must be refrigerated and consumed within three days, or frozen for use later, and it must NOT be smoked! During the next few "fresh" sausage projects, we'll pay attention to grinding and stuffing techniques and the basic rules of sausage making. Again... the home sausage maker`s first rule is "fresh" sausage must NEVER be smoked! Why? Fresh sausage does not contain cure. Think about the necessary criteria necessary for pathogenic bacterial growth.
1. lack of oxygen - smoke and casings cut off oxygen to bacteria
2. temperature - the "danger zone" is 40°F to 140°F - the smokehouse temperature
3. moisture - trapped inside casings
4. nutrient - natural sugars in the meat feed pathogenic bacteria
So, sausages not containing an actual curing agent such as sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite, must NOT be smoked. However, if you wish to smoke a particularly desirable sausage, simply add one level teaspoon of Cure #1 to the five-pound recipe and thoroughly distribute it. Stuff it into a casing and cook it to at least 138° F. Smoke as desired (usually only about 2 hours). Full instructions will be presented later in this project.
Recipe #1 - Breakfast Sausage by Stan Marianski
Link here... http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... /breakfast
pork shoulder (butt) ... 1 kg. (2.2 lbs. )
salt..............18 gr. (1 Tblspn.)
pepper.......2.0 gr. (1 tspn.)
sage............2.0 gr. (2 tspn.)
nutmeg......0.5 gr. (1/4 tspn.)
ginger.........0.5 gr. (2/3 tspn.)
thyme ........1.0 gr. (1 tspn.)
cayenne.....0.5 gr. (1/4 tspn.)
cold water 100 gr. (3/8 cup)
22-26 mm sheep casings or 28-30 mm hog casings
Please use fresh spices. If your spices are older than six months, toss `em! Why spend your hard-earned bucks on great meat and then try to flavor it with spices that have given up their flavor or have gone stale? Toss those little red and white cans that have been on your spice shelf since 1974! You know who you are....! Now, toss `em. Break down and buy some new spices. It will make a terrific difference in the final quality of your project. And for goodness sakes... by all means grind your own fresh black pepper. The stuff in the can on your grocer`s shelf has been there since last Christmas! Why not buy a small coffee grinder and use it only for grinding whole peppercorns occasionally? Keep the ground (coarse is best) pepper in a sealed glass container out of direct sunlight.
Now, let`s try something completely different. I`m going to ask you to follow along with me on this just to gain an appreciation for how sausage was first made in its early history. The Romans had to use two large knives to chop their sausage meat. The Chinese (who aren`t really known for their sausage [other than Lop Chong], first used the primitive, practical food processor - two Chinese clevers - to chop meat into sausage mince for stuffing into casings. At any rate, you`ll probably be surprised that the best texture for chewing, consists of meat cubes chopped from 3/8" to 1/2". Nobody can "chop" perfect little cubes, so don`t even try! Just chop the mince manually this time. Note that the plates on electric grinders below this size, are usually bordering on emulsification, especially if your grinder`s knife is in need of sharpening. For some real fun and experience, please try chopping your own - just for this one recipe. It will give you an appreciation for your electric grinder and cause you to sharpen its blade! Wilford Brimley would say it will give you a "more harmonious outcome"!
If you just can`t bring yourself to use two Chinese clevers, (you big chicken...) you may grind the meat using a 3/8" plate. Mix the meat with all the ingredients, including the water, and then stuff the mixture into 22-26 mm sheep casings or 28-30 mm hog casings. Tie the sausages into 4" links. The recommended cooking method for this type of sausage is frying or grilling. (See also Code Of Regulations §319.143.)
Note: If you like this recipe and wish to make 10 pounds, simply multiply all ingredients by 4.5 - remember there are three teaspoons in a tablespoon.
Substitute Ingredients? Don`t Do It!
I was young, crazy, and full of pee and vinegar in Las Vegas, Nevada when Rytek Kutas opened his "Hickory Shoppe". It smelled wonderful. Later, he wrote, "Probably one of the stupidest things we did was opening the shop while making only one kind of sausage." Later, I discovered that most sausage is basically the same, with only minor alterations making each quite unique. However, most people who make their own sausage, fall into a routine of substituting ingredients because of convenience. Sadly, those folks never truly experience the unique flavors of many cultures` favorite, signature sausages.
Most sausage makers by far, limit their efforts to making less than half a dozen of their favorite or most convenient sausages the rest of their lives. In many cases, it is limited to two or three. The reason we`re including a variety of sausages in Project KB, with different techniques, grinds, preparations, and casings, is to offer you experience in making several different sausages with several unique flavors. My advice is, "Never change the ingredients or procedures of established and proven recipes". If you SUBSTITUTE ingredients, then you`ll never know how the original was meant to be. When someone asks you, "Have you tried authentic teewurst?" what will you say? "Well, almost... I sort of substituted black pepper for chopped pimento and sugar for powdered dextrose. I didn`t have cardamom, so I used celery seeds and cinnamon. Gosh, I really hated that teewurst."
If you never try sheep casings for a slender, favorite, cooked-cured, sausage, then how will you know how tender they are with that special "snap" when you bite into them? And another biggy is if you substitute bitter Mexican paprika for sweet Hungarian paprika. For shame! For a buck or two, you will have the experience of tasting an entire batch of great sausage with the rich, original, authentic flavor of sweet Hungarian.
My point is, you`ll never know the authentic stuff... the genuine article... if you substitute ingredients trying to save a few pennies. When I was young, a little old woman placed a piece of paper in my hand. It read:
"The Substitute Recipe"
I didn`t have potatoes; So I substituted rice.
I didn`t have paprika; So I used another spice.
I didn`t have tomato sauce; So I used tomato paste.
A whole can - not a half can; I don`t believe in waste.
A friend gave me the recipe; He said you couldn`t beat it.
There must be something wrong with him; I couldn`t even eat it!
Last edited by Chuckwagon on Sun Aug 10, 2014 16:19, edited 1 time in total.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill!
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Chuckwagon
- Veteran
- Posts: 4494
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 04:51
- Location: Rocky Mountains
Many folks begin their sausage-making experience with "whole-muscle" meat projects. Nothing wrong with this, and our pal "Trucktramp" has requested the information "up front", so I'm including it here. This project allows beginners to learn the principles of safe handling, cutting, weighing, and preparing a brine. This project is a no-fail, first-class recipe that you'll enjoy. You'll never find this quality of ham in a supermarket! Now you can make your own moist and tasty "Boiled" - Cured Ham! Get ready for big flavor!
"Hobble Creek Hog Leg" by Chuckwagon
For years, brine-soaking whole-muscle meats to preserve them was just about the only method used by home hobbyists. Often their centers would begin to spoil before the salt-cure penetrated the meat sufficiently, especially if the cut contained a bone. Worse, the unquestionable barriers of skin and fat allow only slow penetration of the curing agent. For smaller cuts of meat, simple brine soaking arguably may be sufficient and remains a widely used practice today by hobbyists. However, in curing larger hams or cuts of meat, the curing brine must be forced or injected into the cells of the meat to provide complete penetration within the short time allotted before spoilage occurs. Traditionally this has been done by curing solution being introduced through the main artery of a leg or ham and this "nature's pipeline" literally distributes curing pickle to every cell including bone marrow. Perhaps you`ve purchased a brine injector having two different needles. The one with a slanted, sharpened end is the one to use for injecting an artery. The needle is usually 5-3/8 inches in length, 3/16 of an inch in diameter, and is made of chrome-plated brass.
Don`t confuse arteries (carrying blood to the animal's cells) with veins, which return blood to the heart. Pumping a vein will simply not work as it collapses the vein and will not carry the brine solution. How will you know the difference? Veins are larger than and not as flexible as arteries. Because an artery is sometimes hard to locate after an animal has been butchered, and since time equals money in a commercial operation, these days most often a curing solution is injected quickly into the flesh using a gang of smaller needles. A variety of "stitch pumping" gang needles are available to commercial processors, but generally, we home hobbyists are "stuck" (no pun intended) with the second type "perforated" single needle that comes with your brine injector. It is usually 5-1/2 inches long, 3/16 of an inch in diameter, and contains a dozen perforations. This needle is withdrawn slowly as the cure is distributed throughout the meat. Care must be taken not to "overpump" the meat as it may become mushy since salt removes some protein. For this reason, only six to twelve percent of the meat`s weight is injected and then it is left to soak in the remaining refrigerated brine. Recipe instructions usually carefully indicate the exact amount of brine to be used and the recommended amount of time for soaking. Anyone can "give a piggy a shot" and injection pumping a ham before soaking, is by far, preferred over simple brine soaking alone. Weighing brine cure is simple. Simply move the decimal point left one place as you weigh the meat. This gives you the 10% brine weight. If the item contains a shank or bone, be sure to inject sufficient cure along the bone.
Boiled Ham Is Never Boiled
Generally, only hams of 14 pounds or less are selected for this type of water-cooked ham. Following the curing process, the ham is smoked then prep-cooked in water until the IMT (internal meat temperature) reaches about 150° F. (66°C.) before it is finally baked and served. This "preparatory cooking" ensures protection against all sorts of pathogenic bacteria as well as microbial parasites such as trichinella spiralis. "Boiled Ham" is by far, the most common type of ham made worldwide. But "boiled ham" is never boiled. Preparatory cooking in heated water has undoubtedly given this ham its name. Please note that a water temperature of only 170°F. (77°C.) is required to safely prep-cook the ham by reaching 150°F.(66°C.) IMT. (Water boils at 212° (100° C.).
Selecting The Meat
Whenever referring to any meat, the term "fresh" simply means not cured. Ask your butcher for a "fresh ham" (uncured rear leg) or "fresh picnic" (uncured front leg). A "fresh" ham or picnic must be either fully cooked (with leftovers being refrigerated and consumed within a few days), or fully cured using sodium nitrite (Cure #1) and salt. Whenever it is cooked, "fresh ham" becomes roasted pork - perfect for a weekend barbeque! However, when fresh hams cured with sodium nitrite and brined in saltwater "pickle", they take on an entirely different taste and texture we know as "cured ham". For your first project, you may wish to use a smaller "picnic" of only about 12 or 13 pounds. Leave the bone in place and leave the skin on. Both these items help the meat retain moisture. Be sure to keep the meat refrigerated until you are ready to inject it and place it into the brine.
Making A Brining Solution Using Salt
(1.) How much brine is needed?
We must consider three separate qualities in the brine we are about to make. First, the volume of liquid must be determined. Second, we must note the strength of the nitrite "pickup" in parts per million. Third, the amount of salt in the pickling solution will partially determine how quickly the pork will turn to ham.
Begin making a brine-curing solution by determining how much water is going to be needed. The liquid must cover the meat yet it is important to use a container that is not too large. The size and shape of the container should definitely be taken into account in order to use a minimum volume of brine. When the volume has been determined, the weight of that volume will be used in a formula to determine the salinity strength of the liquid. There`s a simple ol` timer`s adage that reads, "The amount (weight) of brine should equal about forty or fifty percent of the weight of the meat being cured". In other words, you don`t need a barrel-full of brining cure to baptize one duck! Simply use enough brine to equal forty percent of the duck`s weight. I like to get a "ballpark" figure by placing the ham into the receptacle used for brining and cover it with cold water with just a little to spare. This gives me 100%. It`s simple to divide it in half and weigh it. Once this volume of water is determined, it is weighed to use the sum in a mathematical formula.
Remember to pat the ham completely dry and place it back into the refrigerator. And remember to record both the volume and weight of the water in your notes. For reference, one U.S. gallon weighs 8.33 lbs.
Let`s say you wanted to cure 20 pounds and 12 ounces of ham using enough brine to equal 40% of the weight of the meat. (20 pounds and 12 ounces is 20.75 lbs.). Twenty and three quarters pounds multiplied by .40 is 8.3 pounds. That is how many pounds of water you`ll need. That happens to be the weight of one gallon of water. That means if you cure ten pounds of ham, you`ll only need half a gallon of water, which weighs 4.1 pounds. If one gallon of water weighs 8.33 pounds, then we can simply divide 5.6 by 8.33 to get .67 or simply gallons of water.
Remember, we`re just measuring an "adequate" amount of liquid at this point. A rough estimate. I like to use 50% of the weight of the meat being cured for a formula because it makes the math easier! For instance, if I am going to brine 14 pounds of meat, I know I`ll have to use 7 pounds of water - or just a little less than a gallon. The amount of brine is wholly determined by your own judgment. We`ll determine the amount of salinity later. Right now be concerned with making enough brine to cover the meat.
Now, test yourself! You`d like to brine a ten pound ham and you`ve found a snug container for the brine, so you`ve decided to use 0.40% of the weight of the meat. How much water will you need? Grab a pencil and figure it out. Next compare your math with mine. Ten pounds of ham multiplied by 0.40 equals 4 pounds. That`s the weight of half-a-gallon of water.
(2.) How much cure #1 is needed?
How strong must the curing capability be? Note that for immersion, pumped, or massaged products, the legal maximum in-going nitrite limit is 200 part per million. (In comminuted sausage, the legal maximum is only 156 ppm.) In a brine-cure, 200 ppm pickup is achieved when 4.2 ounces of Cure #1 is added to ONE GALLON of water. In other words, to achieve 200 parts per million, 8.33 pounds of water (1 gallon) must contain 4.2 ounces (120 grams) of Cure #1. This is much more cure than is added to comminuted sausage simply because after the sodium nitrite has worked its magic, the remaining brine is poured down the drain. This is not done in comminuted sausage where the nitrite remains in the sausage until it has been completely reduced to nitric oxide. Note the volume amount in 4.2 ounces is 20 teaspoons or a little more than 6 tablespoonsful!
In our recipe for brine-curing a ten pound ham, we need to use 1/2 gallon (0.5 gallons) of water, so we must multiply 120 (grams) by .5 which gives us 60 grams - the total amount of Cure #1 needed in half a gallon of water to cure our ten-pound ham at 200 parts per million sodium nitrite.
(3.) How much salinity is recommended?
There is no all-inclusive, all-purpose brine. A solution`s strength is entirely up to the sausage maker. However, there are some practical applications with the use of salt and many recommended strengths have been made by experienced sausage makers for a variety of reasons. For instance, it has been found that generally, poultry is best when brined in a solution of only 21° to 25° SAL. On the other end of the scale, fish are usually brined in a solution of 70° to 80° SAL. What about pork and beef? Anywhere from about 40° to 70° SAL is effective. A brine of 40°SAL is most popular because the formula is so simple to remember (one pound of salt to one gallon of water). If you are racing the clock to cure a ham before it begins to sour, a brine of 75° SAL is not out of the question. All things considered, a stronger brine may be used for a shorter period of time, while a weaker brine takes longer to effect the same result. Why do we bother to measure the strength of the brine each time we make it? In a nutshell... consistency! We like to be able to predict the outcome and be sure of its unvarying success time after time.
If you study the brining tables below, you`ll see that the first column designates Salinometer Degrees in which water is measured from a point containing no salt whatsoever, to a point where it becomes totally "saturated" and cannot dissolve more added salt. The scale is divided into 100 degrees for convenience. Note that 14°SAL is the strength of seawater, while 100° represents saturated salt water brine. The second column indicates the percentage of salt by weight in the solution, while the third column specifies the number of pounds of salt (per gallon of water) needed to attain that particular degree of brine strength. It is this third column you`ll need to use to determine just how much salt (by weight) must be added to make the brine strength of your choice, indicated in the first column.
Let`s make a 40°SAL brine-cure solution for our ten-pound ham. That`s a lighter-end brine strength for pork and should require only about five day`s brining time to pickup 200 parts per million sodium nitrite providing we inject it also. Begin by looking in the left column of the brining chart (below) to find 40°SAL. In the third column we find that it corresponds with .98 (one pound) of salt for ONE GALLON of water. One pound equals 453.5 grams. We`ve already determined that our 10-pound ham needs 0.5 gallons of ice water, so we`ll multiply 453.5 grams by .5 to get 226.75 grams needed for a half-gallon of water. This is 8 ounces (1/2 lb.) of salt. However, at this point, it becomes necessary to take into consideration, the salt content in the Prague Powder Cure #1. As we are adding 60 grams of Cure #1to the brine, we must deduct that amount from the weight of the kosher salt we are about to add. With this adjustment, we are ready to proceed. Here`s the recipe:
Hobble Creek Hog Leg
Brining Cure For 14 lbs. Of Boiled Ham
1/2 gallons ice water (32°F.)
60 grams Cure #1 (also called Prague Powder #1, Instacure #1 or "pink salt" #1)
226.7 grams (1/2 pound) of salt (not iodized)
2/3 cup powdered dextrose
Make the brine by adding the Cure #1 and the salt to the icewater and stirring it until the salt becomes dissolved. Many people have attempted to cure a ham by simply soaking it in salt brine before it spoils. The truth is that in using brine soaking only, the cure will not penetrate the innermost flesh, bone, and marrow of the leg, by the time it begins to spoil. - the very reason we must render a little assistance with a brining needle and give the piggy a shot in several places. You may find a large hypodermic called a "brining needle" in your kitchen supply store or at your favorite sausage supply store. We are going to inject 10% of the meat`s weight in brine so the next step is to weigh out 1 pound of brine. That`s 453.5 grams (16 ounces) of solution. Pour it into a plastic cup and weigh it. Next, inject it in several places throughout the entire ham, but only into meaty muscle. Don`t worry about injecting the fat as it cannot be cured using sodium nitrite. Having injected the ham, submerge it in the remaining brine, (called a "pickle"), for 4 to 5 days at near as 38° F. as possible. Longer brining will produce a more salty product. This step removes the threat of some notoriously dreadful bugs including such micro-organisms as clostridium botulinum, campylobacter jejuni, escherichia coli O157:H7, listeria, cyclospora cayetanensis, staphylococcus aureus, clostridium perfringens, and three pathogens in particular responsible for 1,500 deaths annually - salmonella, listeria monocytogenes, and toxoplasma. Following a week`s brining, the ham should be ready to cook. Generally, this type of ham is not smoked. However, it is your choice and may be done at this point. DO NOT soak the ham in fresh water before smoking or cooking it. Simply rinse it off, pat it dry, and begin smoking it (if desired) by preheating your smoker to 140° F. and introducing smoke for several hours.
Immediately following this step, place the ham into a suitable cooking utensil whereby it may be covered with 170° water and maintained at that temperature until the internal meat temperature reaches 150°F. Again, most hams of this type are never smoked. Lots of people mistakenly believe that smoking a ham cures it. Smoking meat absolutely does NOT cure it. This "preparatory" cooking is part of the curing process, and may take some time. Be patient and don`t try to rush the cooking. Use a probe type thermometer with a timing alarm to alert you when the meat has cooked. Note that as the temperature surpasses 138°F. (59°C.), any possibly existing trichinella spiralis are destroyed. At 150°F. (66°C.), the ham becomes fully "prep cooked" and the threat of "crypto" has been removed. Next, cool the ham with cold running water, pat it dry, and then refrigerate it until it is finally cooked by any number of means to a finishing-serving temperature of 160° F.
Most people would be astonished if they realized how easy it is to actually re-introduce staphyloccous aureus at this point, having destroyed any trace of it previously by the cooking-curing step. Unfortunately, when re-introduced, staph may develop toxins which are not destroyed by further cooking! Ouch! So, if you smoke the ham, please get it into a refrigerator as soon afterward as possible until you reheat it for serving. Use sterile plastic gloves to handle it, and make sure the shelves in your smoker are clean too, or simply hang it while smoking. Remember, in order to smoke the ham, it must be dry to the touch. Use your smokehouse to maintain the ham`s IMT at 140°F., the upper edge of the bacterial "danger zone".
When preparing the ham for dinner, please note that the FSIS suggests using a minimum 325°F. oven and serving it when the IMT reaches 160°F. For a moister ham, some folks even re-introduce it into boiling water before serving it. Of course microwaves or countertop appliances may be used as well. This ham is actually best having rested a couple of days. Be sure to wrap the ham tightly in butcher paper and keep it refrigerated. As this is a fully-cooked and cured product, it is perfectly safe to slice cold for sandwiches.
What about sweetener? In ham, it`s just like my banjo pickin` - a little goes a long way! Powdered dextrose is only 70% as sweet as sugar but it forces itself into meat cells more readily. If you don`t have it on hand, dissolve regular sugar into the brine. Technically, adding sugar will increase the strength of the brine. Many people say that it "counteracts" the harshness of salt, but I disagree. I believe it simply "balances" flavors. Please make your first ham simply as possible, using a minimum of added sweetener, without additional flavorings or seasonings. Don`t expect it to be as strongly-flavored as "country ham". The pros simply do not add a variety of other flavoring ingredients to "boiled ham". The taste of properly cured ham is exquisite. The two most common mistakes by beginners are over-spicing and overcooking good ham.
A Few Notes About Injection:
Some folks prefer not to inject the flesh with a perforated brining needle. Instead, the leg`s main artery (if intact), may be used as "nature`s irrigation system" to distribute brine to all parts of the meat. In this case, use a large, single-orifice needle to inject the artery. Don`t use a vein... its like me - just won`t work! How do you tell the difference? An artery is pliable. A vein is hardened, smaller, and darker.
Note About Cures:
Don`t be afraid to use meat cures, but use them while exercising common sense - having learned how to measure them properly. They generally come with simple instructions. You may purchase sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite cures very cheaply from any sausage supply company. My favorite is The Sausagemaker™ in Buffalo, New York. Their staff is most courteous and I knew the founder (Rytek Kutas) many years ago in Las Vegas, Nevada when he owned the Hickory Shoppe. You may receive a free catalog and order the ham cure (Instacure #1) at www.sausagemaker.com or call on the phone: 1-888-490-8525. These folks even have a staff to answer all your questions. Other good outfits include: Allied-Kenco Products in Houston, Texas 1-800-356-5189 (http://www.alliedkenco.com/catalog) and Lem Products at:http://www.lemproducts.com/ or Butcher Packer Supply Co. in Detroit, Mich. at: http://www.butcher-packer.com/
Note the difference between sodium nitrate (NaNO3) and sodium nitrite (NaNO2). Modern science has not produced a substitute for either cure used as agents to preserve meat and destroy clostridium botulinum. As these salts are poisonous used in proportionately greater amounts, companies have continually tried to improve upon them although their efforts have been unsuccessful. In the United States, the formulas are mixed precisely, uniformly, and in specific weight-by-volume amounts determined by the Food And Drug Administration. Griffith Laboratories manufactures TWO cures. They may NOT be substituted one for the other, nor may they be mixed.
Cure #1, also called Prague Powder #1 contains 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% sodium chloride (salt). It is also known as Instacure #1 or simply Cure #1, and is made specifically for use in smoked and cooked sausages, fish, ham, and jerky.
Cure #2, also called Prague Powder # 2 contains 6.25% sodium nitrite, plus 4% sodium nitrate, and 89.75 sodium chloride (salt). It is also known as Instacure #2. This formula is used for dry-cured sausages and meats whenever curing time allows the nitrate to gradually break down into nitrite. (It is actually the nitrite further reducing to nitric oxide that cures meat).
Notice that formula #1 contains nitrite while formula #2 contains both nitrite and nitrate. Again, one curing agent must never be confused with the other within any recipe and one certainly must not be substituted for the other. If you mix, cure, and smoke sausage, or cure and smoke hams, it becomes your responsibility to follow directions mixing exactly four ounces Prague Powder with one hundred pounds of meat, or for us home consumers, precisely two level teaspoons mixed with a little water for even distribution, for each ten pound batch of sausage. If you are mixing only five pounds of sausage, add just one level teaspoon of curing salt. If you are wondering why the brine for ham contains so much cure (compared to sausage), it's because after it works its magic in ham, most of it goes straight down the drain! Always remember that any recklessness in mixing these salts may potentially injure someone. Measure twice - mix once! Incidentally, the Morton product known as Tender Quick* contains 0.5 sodium nitrite, 0.5 sodium nitrate, salt, sugar, and propylene glycol (for brined meats). Please follow the directions carefully.
Please note: The formulas used in the United States are much stronger than those found in other countries. If you are not sure how much sodium nitrite is allowed in your country, please ask for some assistance.
Salt Brine Tables for Brine at 60 F (15° C) in US Gallons
Column 1 = Salometer Deg. °
Column 2 = % Salt by Weight
Column 3 = Lbs. Salt Per Gal. Of Water
Column 4 = Lbs. Salt Per Gallon Of Brine
Column 5 = Lbs. Of Water Per Gallon of Brine
0_____ 0.000_____ 0.000_____ 0.000_____ 8.328
1_____ 0.264_____ 0.022_____ 0.022_____ 8.323
2_____ 0.526_____ 0.044_____ 0.044_____ 8.317
3_____ 0.792_____ 0.066_____ 0.066_____ 8.307
4_____ 1.056_____ 0.089_____ 0.089_____ 8.298
5_____ 1.320_____ 0.111_____ 0.111_____ 8.292
6_____ 1.584_____ 0.134_____ 0.133_____ 8.286
7_____ 1.848_____ 0.157_____ 0.156_____ 8.280
8_____ 2.112_____ 0.180_____ 0.178_____ 8.274
9_____ 2.376_____ 0.203_____ 0.201_____ 8.268
10____ 2.640_____ 0.226_____ 0.224_____ 8.262
11____ 2.903_____ 0.249_____ 0.247_____ 8.256
12____ 3.167_____ 0.272_____ 0.270_____ 8.250
13____ 3.431_____ 0.296_____ 0.293_____ 8.239
14____ 3.695_____ 0.320_____ 0.316_____ 8.229
15____ 3.959_____ 0.343_____ 0.339_____ 8.222
16____ 4.223_____ 0.367_____ 0.362_____ 8.216
17____ 4.487_____ 0.391_____ 0.386_____ 8.209
18____ 4.751_____ 0.415_____ 0.409_____ 8.202
19____ 5.015_____ 0.440_____ 0.433_____ 8.195
20____ 5.279_____ 0.464_____ 0.456_____ 8.188
21____ 5.543_____ 0.489_____ 0.480_____ 8.181
22____ 5.807_____ 0.513_____ 0.504_____ 8.174
23____ 6.071_____ 0.538_____ 0.528_____ 8.167
24____ 6.335_____ 0.563_____ 0.552_____ 8.159
25____ 6.599_____ 0.588_____ 0.576_____ 8.152
26____ 6.863_____ 0.614_____ 0.600_____ 8.144
27____ 7.127_____ 0.639_____ 0.624_____ 8.137
28____ 7.391_____ 0.665_____ 0.649_____ 8.129
29____ 7.655_____ 0.690_____ 0.673_____ 8.121
30____ 7.919_____ 0.716_____ 0.698_____ 8.113
31____ 8.162_____ 0.742_____ 0.722_____ 8.105
32____ 8.446_____ 0.768_____ 0.747_____ 8.097
33____ 8.710_____ 0.795_____ 0.772_____ 8.089
34____ 8.974_____ 0.821_____ 0.797_____ 8.081
35____ 9.238_____ 0.848_____ 0.822_____ 8.073
36____ 9.502_____ 0.874_____ 0.847_____ 8.064
37____ 9.766_____ 0.901_____ 0.872_____ 8.056
38____ 10.030____ 0.928_____ 0.897_____ 8.047
39____ 10.294____ 0.956_____ 0.922_____ 8.038
40____ 10.558____ 0.983_____ 0.948_____ 8.030
41____ 10.822____ 1.011_____ 0.973_____ 8.021
42____ 11.086____ 1.038_____ 0.999_____ 8.012
43____ 11.350____ 1.066_____ 1.025_____ 8.003
44____ 11.614____ 1.094_____ 1.050_____ 7.994
45____ 11.878____ 1.123_____ 1.076_____ 7.985
46____ 12.142____ 1.151_____ 1.102_____ 7.975
47____ 12.406____ 1.179_____ 1.128_____ 7.966
48____ 12.670____ 1.208_____ 1.154_____ 7.957
49____ 12.934____ 1.237_____ 1.181_____ 7.947
50____ 13.198____ 1.266_____ 1.207_____ 7.937
51____ 13.461____ 1.295_____ 1.233_____ 7.928
52____ 13.725____ 1.325_____ 1.260_____ 7.918
53____ 13.989____ 1.355_____ 1.286_____ 7.908
54____ 14.253____ 1.384_____ 1.313_____ 7.898
55____ 14.517____ 1.414_____ 1.340_____ 7.888
56____ 14.781____ 1.444_____ 1.368_____ 7.878
57____ 15.045____ 1.475_____ 1.393_____ 7.867
58____ 15.309____ 1.505_____ 1.420_____ 7.857
59____ 15.573____ 1.536_____ 1.447_____ 7.847
60____ 15.837____ 1.567_____ 1.475_____ 7.836
61____ 16.101____ 1.598_____ 1.502_____ 7.826
62____ 16.365____ 1.630_____ 1.529_____ 7.815
63____ 16.629____ 1.661_____ 1.557_____ 7.804
64____ 16.893____ 1.693_____ 1.584_____ 7.793
65____ 17.157____ 1.725_____ 1.612_____ 7.782
66____ 17.421____ 1.757_____ 1.639_____ 7.771
67____ 17.685____ 1.789_____ 1.668_____ 7.764
68____ 17.949____ 1.822_____ 1.697_____ 7.756
69____ 18.213____ 1.854_____ 1.725_____ 7.744
70____ 18.477____ 1.887_____ 1.753_____ 7.733
71____ 18.740____ 1.921_____ 1.781_____ 7.721
72____ 19.004____ 1.954_____ 1.809_____ 7.710
73____ 19.268____ 1.988_____ 1.837_____ 7.698
74____ 19.532____ 2.021_____ 1.866_____ 7.686
75____ 19.796____ 2.056_____ 1.895_____ 7.678
76____ 20.060____ 2.090_____ 1.925_____ 7.669
77____ 20.324____ 2.124_____ 1.953_____ 7.657
78____ 20.588____ 2.159_____ 1.982_____ 7.645
79____ 20.852____ 2.194_____ 2.011_____ 7.633
80____ 21.116____ 2.229_____ 2.040_____ 7.621
81____ 21.380____ 2.265_____ 2.069_____ 7.608
82____ 21.644____ 2.300_____ 2.098_____ 7.596
83____ 21.908____ 2.336_____ 2.128_____ 7.586
84____ 22.172____ 2.372_____ 2.159_____ 7.577
85____ 22.436____ 2.409_____ 2.188_____ 7.584
86____ 22.700____ 2.446_____ 2.217_____ 7.551
87____ 22.964____ 2.482_____ 2.248_____ 7.542
88____ 23.228____ 2.520_____ 2.279_____ 7.532
89____ 23.492____ 2.557_____ 2.309_____ 7.519
90____ 23.756____ 2.595_____ 2.338_____ 7.505
91____ 24.019____ 2.633_____ 2.368_____ 7.492
92____ 24.283____ 2.671_____ 2.398_____ 7.479
93____ 24.547____ 2.709_____ 2.430_____ 7.468
94____ 24.811____ 2.748_____ 2.461_____ 7.458
95____ 25.075____ 2.787_____ 2.491_____ 7.444
96____ 25.339____ 2.826_____ 2.522_____ 7.430
97____ 25.603____ 2.866_____ 2.552_____ 7.416
98____ 25.867____ 2.908_____ 2.570_____ 7.409
99____ 26.131____ 2.948_____ 2.616_____ 7.394
99.6__ 26.289____ 2.970_____ 2.634_____ 7.385
100___ 26.395____ 2.986_____ 2.647_____ 7.380
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
"Hobble Creek Hog Leg" by Chuckwagon
For years, brine-soaking whole-muscle meats to preserve them was just about the only method used by home hobbyists. Often their centers would begin to spoil before the salt-cure penetrated the meat sufficiently, especially if the cut contained a bone. Worse, the unquestionable barriers of skin and fat allow only slow penetration of the curing agent. For smaller cuts of meat, simple brine soaking arguably may be sufficient and remains a widely used practice today by hobbyists. However, in curing larger hams or cuts of meat, the curing brine must be forced or injected into the cells of the meat to provide complete penetration within the short time allotted before spoilage occurs. Traditionally this has been done by curing solution being introduced through the main artery of a leg or ham and this "nature's pipeline" literally distributes curing pickle to every cell including bone marrow. Perhaps you`ve purchased a brine injector having two different needles. The one with a slanted, sharpened end is the one to use for injecting an artery. The needle is usually 5-3/8 inches in length, 3/16 of an inch in diameter, and is made of chrome-plated brass.
Don`t confuse arteries (carrying blood to the animal's cells) with veins, which return blood to the heart. Pumping a vein will simply not work as it collapses the vein and will not carry the brine solution. How will you know the difference? Veins are larger than and not as flexible as arteries. Because an artery is sometimes hard to locate after an animal has been butchered, and since time equals money in a commercial operation, these days most often a curing solution is injected quickly into the flesh using a gang of smaller needles. A variety of "stitch pumping" gang needles are available to commercial processors, but generally, we home hobbyists are "stuck" (no pun intended) with the second type "perforated" single needle that comes with your brine injector. It is usually 5-1/2 inches long, 3/16 of an inch in diameter, and contains a dozen perforations. This needle is withdrawn slowly as the cure is distributed throughout the meat. Care must be taken not to "overpump" the meat as it may become mushy since salt removes some protein. For this reason, only six to twelve percent of the meat`s weight is injected and then it is left to soak in the remaining refrigerated brine. Recipe instructions usually carefully indicate the exact amount of brine to be used and the recommended amount of time for soaking. Anyone can "give a piggy a shot" and injection pumping a ham before soaking, is by far, preferred over simple brine soaking alone. Weighing brine cure is simple. Simply move the decimal point left one place as you weigh the meat. This gives you the 10% brine weight. If the item contains a shank or bone, be sure to inject sufficient cure along the bone.
Boiled Ham Is Never Boiled
Generally, only hams of 14 pounds or less are selected for this type of water-cooked ham. Following the curing process, the ham is smoked then prep-cooked in water until the IMT (internal meat temperature) reaches about 150° F. (66°C.) before it is finally baked and served. This "preparatory cooking" ensures protection against all sorts of pathogenic bacteria as well as microbial parasites such as trichinella spiralis. "Boiled Ham" is by far, the most common type of ham made worldwide. But "boiled ham" is never boiled. Preparatory cooking in heated water has undoubtedly given this ham its name. Please note that a water temperature of only 170°F. (77°C.) is required to safely prep-cook the ham by reaching 150°F.(66°C.) IMT. (Water boils at 212° (100° C.).
Selecting The Meat
Whenever referring to any meat, the term "fresh" simply means not cured. Ask your butcher for a "fresh ham" (uncured rear leg) or "fresh picnic" (uncured front leg). A "fresh" ham or picnic must be either fully cooked (with leftovers being refrigerated and consumed within a few days), or fully cured using sodium nitrite (Cure #1) and salt. Whenever it is cooked, "fresh ham" becomes roasted pork - perfect for a weekend barbeque! However, when fresh hams cured with sodium nitrite and brined in saltwater "pickle", they take on an entirely different taste and texture we know as "cured ham". For your first project, you may wish to use a smaller "picnic" of only about 12 or 13 pounds. Leave the bone in place and leave the skin on. Both these items help the meat retain moisture. Be sure to keep the meat refrigerated until you are ready to inject it and place it into the brine.
Making A Brining Solution Using Salt
(1.) How much brine is needed?
We must consider three separate qualities in the brine we are about to make. First, the volume of liquid must be determined. Second, we must note the strength of the nitrite "pickup" in parts per million. Third, the amount of salt in the pickling solution will partially determine how quickly the pork will turn to ham.
Begin making a brine-curing solution by determining how much water is going to be needed. The liquid must cover the meat yet it is important to use a container that is not too large. The size and shape of the container should definitely be taken into account in order to use a minimum volume of brine. When the volume has been determined, the weight of that volume will be used in a formula to determine the salinity strength of the liquid. There`s a simple ol` timer`s adage that reads, "The amount (weight) of brine should equal about forty or fifty percent of the weight of the meat being cured". In other words, you don`t need a barrel-full of brining cure to baptize one duck! Simply use enough brine to equal forty percent of the duck`s weight. I like to get a "ballpark" figure by placing the ham into the receptacle used for brining and cover it with cold water with just a little to spare. This gives me 100%. It`s simple to divide it in half and weigh it. Once this volume of water is determined, it is weighed to use the sum in a mathematical formula.
Remember to pat the ham completely dry and place it back into the refrigerator. And remember to record both the volume and weight of the water in your notes. For reference, one U.S. gallon weighs 8.33 lbs.
Let`s say you wanted to cure 20 pounds and 12 ounces of ham using enough brine to equal 40% of the weight of the meat. (20 pounds and 12 ounces is 20.75 lbs.). Twenty and three quarters pounds multiplied by .40 is 8.3 pounds. That is how many pounds of water you`ll need. That happens to be the weight of one gallon of water. That means if you cure ten pounds of ham, you`ll only need half a gallon of water, which weighs 4.1 pounds. If one gallon of water weighs 8.33 pounds, then we can simply divide 5.6 by 8.33 to get .67 or simply gallons of water.
Remember, we`re just measuring an "adequate" amount of liquid at this point. A rough estimate. I like to use 50% of the weight of the meat being cured for a formula because it makes the math easier! For instance, if I am going to brine 14 pounds of meat, I know I`ll have to use 7 pounds of water - or just a little less than a gallon. The amount of brine is wholly determined by your own judgment. We`ll determine the amount of salinity later. Right now be concerned with making enough brine to cover the meat.
Now, test yourself! You`d like to brine a ten pound ham and you`ve found a snug container for the brine, so you`ve decided to use 0.40% of the weight of the meat. How much water will you need? Grab a pencil and figure it out. Next compare your math with mine. Ten pounds of ham multiplied by 0.40 equals 4 pounds. That`s the weight of half-a-gallon of water.
(2.) How much cure #1 is needed?
How strong must the curing capability be? Note that for immersion, pumped, or massaged products, the legal maximum in-going nitrite limit is 200 part per million. (In comminuted sausage, the legal maximum is only 156 ppm.) In a brine-cure, 200 ppm pickup is achieved when 4.2 ounces of Cure #1 is added to ONE GALLON of water. In other words, to achieve 200 parts per million, 8.33 pounds of water (1 gallon) must contain 4.2 ounces (120 grams) of Cure #1. This is much more cure than is added to comminuted sausage simply because after the sodium nitrite has worked its magic, the remaining brine is poured down the drain. This is not done in comminuted sausage where the nitrite remains in the sausage until it has been completely reduced to nitric oxide. Note the volume amount in 4.2 ounces is 20 teaspoons or a little more than 6 tablespoonsful!
In our recipe for brine-curing a ten pound ham, we need to use 1/2 gallon (0.5 gallons) of water, so we must multiply 120 (grams) by .5 which gives us 60 grams - the total amount of Cure #1 needed in half a gallon of water to cure our ten-pound ham at 200 parts per million sodium nitrite.
(3.) How much salinity is recommended?
There is no all-inclusive, all-purpose brine. A solution`s strength is entirely up to the sausage maker. However, there are some practical applications with the use of salt and many recommended strengths have been made by experienced sausage makers for a variety of reasons. For instance, it has been found that generally, poultry is best when brined in a solution of only 21° to 25° SAL. On the other end of the scale, fish are usually brined in a solution of 70° to 80° SAL. What about pork and beef? Anywhere from about 40° to 70° SAL is effective. A brine of 40°SAL is most popular because the formula is so simple to remember (one pound of salt to one gallon of water). If you are racing the clock to cure a ham before it begins to sour, a brine of 75° SAL is not out of the question. All things considered, a stronger brine may be used for a shorter period of time, while a weaker brine takes longer to effect the same result. Why do we bother to measure the strength of the brine each time we make it? In a nutshell... consistency! We like to be able to predict the outcome and be sure of its unvarying success time after time.
If you study the brining tables below, you`ll see that the first column designates Salinometer Degrees in which water is measured from a point containing no salt whatsoever, to a point where it becomes totally "saturated" and cannot dissolve more added salt. The scale is divided into 100 degrees for convenience. Note that 14°SAL is the strength of seawater, while 100° represents saturated salt water brine. The second column indicates the percentage of salt by weight in the solution, while the third column specifies the number of pounds of salt (per gallon of water) needed to attain that particular degree of brine strength. It is this third column you`ll need to use to determine just how much salt (by weight) must be added to make the brine strength of your choice, indicated in the first column.
Let`s make a 40°SAL brine-cure solution for our ten-pound ham. That`s a lighter-end brine strength for pork and should require only about five day`s brining time to pickup 200 parts per million sodium nitrite providing we inject it also. Begin by looking in the left column of the brining chart (below) to find 40°SAL. In the third column we find that it corresponds with .98 (one pound) of salt for ONE GALLON of water. One pound equals 453.5 grams. We`ve already determined that our 10-pound ham needs 0.5 gallons of ice water, so we`ll multiply 453.5 grams by .5 to get 226.75 grams needed for a half-gallon of water. This is 8 ounces (1/2 lb.) of salt. However, at this point, it becomes necessary to take into consideration, the salt content in the Prague Powder Cure #1. As we are adding 60 grams of Cure #1to the brine, we must deduct that amount from the weight of the kosher salt we are about to add. With this adjustment, we are ready to proceed. Here`s the recipe:
Hobble Creek Hog Leg
Brining Cure For 14 lbs. Of Boiled Ham
1/2 gallons ice water (32°F.)
60 grams Cure #1 (also called Prague Powder #1, Instacure #1 or "pink salt" #1)
226.7 grams (1/2 pound) of salt (not iodized)
2/3 cup powdered dextrose
Make the brine by adding the Cure #1 and the salt to the icewater and stirring it until the salt becomes dissolved. Many people have attempted to cure a ham by simply soaking it in salt brine before it spoils. The truth is that in using brine soaking only, the cure will not penetrate the innermost flesh, bone, and marrow of the leg, by the time it begins to spoil. - the very reason we must render a little assistance with a brining needle and give the piggy a shot in several places. You may find a large hypodermic called a "brining needle" in your kitchen supply store or at your favorite sausage supply store. We are going to inject 10% of the meat`s weight in brine so the next step is to weigh out 1 pound of brine. That`s 453.5 grams (16 ounces) of solution. Pour it into a plastic cup and weigh it. Next, inject it in several places throughout the entire ham, but only into meaty muscle. Don`t worry about injecting the fat as it cannot be cured using sodium nitrite. Having injected the ham, submerge it in the remaining brine, (called a "pickle"), for 4 to 5 days at near as 38° F. as possible. Longer brining will produce a more salty product. This step removes the threat of some notoriously dreadful bugs including such micro-organisms as clostridium botulinum, campylobacter jejuni, escherichia coli O157:H7, listeria, cyclospora cayetanensis, staphylococcus aureus, clostridium perfringens, and three pathogens in particular responsible for 1,500 deaths annually - salmonella, listeria monocytogenes, and toxoplasma. Following a week`s brining, the ham should be ready to cook. Generally, this type of ham is not smoked. However, it is your choice and may be done at this point. DO NOT soak the ham in fresh water before smoking or cooking it. Simply rinse it off, pat it dry, and begin smoking it (if desired) by preheating your smoker to 140° F. and introducing smoke for several hours.
Immediately following this step, place the ham into a suitable cooking utensil whereby it may be covered with 170° water and maintained at that temperature until the internal meat temperature reaches 150°F. Again, most hams of this type are never smoked. Lots of people mistakenly believe that smoking a ham cures it. Smoking meat absolutely does NOT cure it. This "preparatory" cooking is part of the curing process, and may take some time. Be patient and don`t try to rush the cooking. Use a probe type thermometer with a timing alarm to alert you when the meat has cooked. Note that as the temperature surpasses 138°F. (59°C.), any possibly existing trichinella spiralis are destroyed. At 150°F. (66°C.), the ham becomes fully "prep cooked" and the threat of "crypto" has been removed. Next, cool the ham with cold running water, pat it dry, and then refrigerate it until it is finally cooked by any number of means to a finishing-serving temperature of 160° F.
Most people would be astonished if they realized how easy it is to actually re-introduce staphyloccous aureus at this point, having destroyed any trace of it previously by the cooking-curing step. Unfortunately, when re-introduced, staph may develop toxins which are not destroyed by further cooking! Ouch! So, if you smoke the ham, please get it into a refrigerator as soon afterward as possible until you reheat it for serving. Use sterile plastic gloves to handle it, and make sure the shelves in your smoker are clean too, or simply hang it while smoking. Remember, in order to smoke the ham, it must be dry to the touch. Use your smokehouse to maintain the ham`s IMT at 140°F., the upper edge of the bacterial "danger zone".
When preparing the ham for dinner, please note that the FSIS suggests using a minimum 325°F. oven and serving it when the IMT reaches 160°F. For a moister ham, some folks even re-introduce it into boiling water before serving it. Of course microwaves or countertop appliances may be used as well. This ham is actually best having rested a couple of days. Be sure to wrap the ham tightly in butcher paper and keep it refrigerated. As this is a fully-cooked and cured product, it is perfectly safe to slice cold for sandwiches.
What about sweetener? In ham, it`s just like my banjo pickin` - a little goes a long way! Powdered dextrose is only 70% as sweet as sugar but it forces itself into meat cells more readily. If you don`t have it on hand, dissolve regular sugar into the brine. Technically, adding sugar will increase the strength of the brine. Many people say that it "counteracts" the harshness of salt, but I disagree. I believe it simply "balances" flavors. Please make your first ham simply as possible, using a minimum of added sweetener, without additional flavorings or seasonings. Don`t expect it to be as strongly-flavored as "country ham". The pros simply do not add a variety of other flavoring ingredients to "boiled ham". The taste of properly cured ham is exquisite. The two most common mistakes by beginners are over-spicing and overcooking good ham.
A Few Notes About Injection:
Some folks prefer not to inject the flesh with a perforated brining needle. Instead, the leg`s main artery (if intact), may be used as "nature`s irrigation system" to distribute brine to all parts of the meat. In this case, use a large, single-orifice needle to inject the artery. Don`t use a vein... its like me - just won`t work! How do you tell the difference? An artery is pliable. A vein is hardened, smaller, and darker.
Note About Cures:
Don`t be afraid to use meat cures, but use them while exercising common sense - having learned how to measure them properly. They generally come with simple instructions. You may purchase sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite cures very cheaply from any sausage supply company. My favorite is The Sausagemaker™ in Buffalo, New York. Their staff is most courteous and I knew the founder (Rytek Kutas) many years ago in Las Vegas, Nevada when he owned the Hickory Shoppe. You may receive a free catalog and order the ham cure (Instacure #1) at www.sausagemaker.com or call on the phone: 1-888-490-8525. These folks even have a staff to answer all your questions. Other good outfits include: Allied-Kenco Products in Houston, Texas 1-800-356-5189 (http://www.alliedkenco.com/catalog) and Lem Products at:http://www.lemproducts.com/ or Butcher Packer Supply Co. in Detroit, Mich. at: http://www.butcher-packer.com/
Note the difference between sodium nitrate (NaNO3) and sodium nitrite (NaNO2). Modern science has not produced a substitute for either cure used as agents to preserve meat and destroy clostridium botulinum. As these salts are poisonous used in proportionately greater amounts, companies have continually tried to improve upon them although their efforts have been unsuccessful. In the United States, the formulas are mixed precisely, uniformly, and in specific weight-by-volume amounts determined by the Food And Drug Administration. Griffith Laboratories manufactures TWO cures. They may NOT be substituted one for the other, nor may they be mixed.
Cure #1, also called Prague Powder #1 contains 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% sodium chloride (salt). It is also known as Instacure #1 or simply Cure #1, and is made specifically for use in smoked and cooked sausages, fish, ham, and jerky.
Cure #2, also called Prague Powder # 2 contains 6.25% sodium nitrite, plus 4% sodium nitrate, and 89.75 sodium chloride (salt). It is also known as Instacure #2. This formula is used for dry-cured sausages and meats whenever curing time allows the nitrate to gradually break down into nitrite. (It is actually the nitrite further reducing to nitric oxide that cures meat).
Notice that formula #1 contains nitrite while formula #2 contains both nitrite and nitrate. Again, one curing agent must never be confused with the other within any recipe and one certainly must not be substituted for the other. If you mix, cure, and smoke sausage, or cure and smoke hams, it becomes your responsibility to follow directions mixing exactly four ounces Prague Powder with one hundred pounds of meat, or for us home consumers, precisely two level teaspoons mixed with a little water for even distribution, for each ten pound batch of sausage. If you are mixing only five pounds of sausage, add just one level teaspoon of curing salt. If you are wondering why the brine for ham contains so much cure (compared to sausage), it's because after it works its magic in ham, most of it goes straight down the drain! Always remember that any recklessness in mixing these salts may potentially injure someone. Measure twice - mix once! Incidentally, the Morton product known as Tender Quick* contains 0.5 sodium nitrite, 0.5 sodium nitrate, salt, sugar, and propylene glycol
(for brined meats). Please follow the directions carefully. Please note: The formulas used in the United States are much stronger than those found in other countries. If you are not sure how much sodium nitrite is allowed in your country, please ask for some assistance.
Salt Brine Tables for Brine at 60 F (15° C) in US Gallons
Column 1 = Salometer Deg. °
Column 2 = % Salt by Weight
Column 3 = Lbs. Salt Per Gal. Of Water
Column 4 = Lbs. Salt Per Gallon Of Brine
Column 5 = Lbs. Of Water Per Gallon of Brine
0_____ 0.000_____ 0.000_____ 0.000_____ 8.328
1_____ 0.264_____ 0.022_____ 0.022_____ 8.323
2_____ 0.526_____ 0.044_____ 0.044_____ 8.317
3_____ 0.792_____ 0.066_____ 0.066_____ 8.307
4_____ 1.056_____ 0.089_____ 0.089_____ 8.298
5_____ 1.320_____ 0.111_____ 0.111_____ 8.292
6_____ 1.584_____ 0.134_____ 0.133_____ 8.286
7_____ 1.848_____ 0.157_____ 0.156_____ 8.280
8_____ 2.112_____ 0.180_____ 0.178_____ 8.274
9_____ 2.376_____ 0.203_____ 0.201_____ 8.268
10____ 2.640_____ 0.226_____ 0.224_____ 8.262
11____ 2.903_____ 0.249_____ 0.247_____ 8.256
12____ 3.167_____ 0.272_____ 0.270_____ 8.250
13____ 3.431_____ 0.296_____ 0.293_____ 8.239
14____ 3.695_____ 0.320_____ 0.316_____ 8.229
15____ 3.959_____ 0.343_____ 0.339_____ 8.222
16____ 4.223_____ 0.367_____ 0.362_____ 8.216
17____ 4.487_____ 0.391_____ 0.386_____ 8.209
18____ 4.751_____ 0.415_____ 0.409_____ 8.202
19____ 5.015_____ 0.440_____ 0.433_____ 8.195
20____ 5.279_____ 0.464_____ 0.456_____ 8.188
21____ 5.543_____ 0.489_____ 0.480_____ 8.181
22____ 5.807_____ 0.513_____ 0.504_____ 8.174
23____ 6.071_____ 0.538_____ 0.528_____ 8.167
24____ 6.335_____ 0.563_____ 0.552_____ 8.159
25____ 6.599_____ 0.588_____ 0.576_____ 8.152
26____ 6.863_____ 0.614_____ 0.600_____ 8.144
27____ 7.127_____ 0.639_____ 0.624_____ 8.137
28____ 7.391_____ 0.665_____ 0.649_____ 8.129
29____ 7.655_____ 0.690_____ 0.673_____ 8.121
30____ 7.919_____ 0.716_____ 0.698_____ 8.113
31____ 8.162_____ 0.742_____ 0.722_____ 8.105
32____ 8.446_____ 0.768_____ 0.747_____ 8.097
33____ 8.710_____ 0.795_____ 0.772_____ 8.089
34____ 8.974_____ 0.821_____ 0.797_____ 8.081
35____ 9.238_____ 0.848_____ 0.822_____ 8.073
36____ 9.502_____ 0.874_____ 0.847_____ 8.064
37____ 9.766_____ 0.901_____ 0.872_____ 8.056
38____ 10.030____ 0.928_____ 0.897_____ 8.047
39____ 10.294____ 0.956_____ 0.922_____ 8.038
40____ 10.558____ 0.983_____ 0.948_____ 8.030
41____ 10.822____ 1.011_____ 0.973_____ 8.021
42____ 11.086____ 1.038_____ 0.999_____ 8.012
43____ 11.350____ 1.066_____ 1.025_____ 8.003
44____ 11.614____ 1.094_____ 1.050_____ 7.994
45____ 11.878____ 1.123_____ 1.076_____ 7.985
46____ 12.142____ 1.151_____ 1.102_____ 7.975
47____ 12.406____ 1.179_____ 1.128_____ 7.966
48____ 12.670____ 1.208_____ 1.154_____ 7.957
49____ 12.934____ 1.237_____ 1.181_____ 7.947
50____ 13.198____ 1.266_____ 1.207_____ 7.937
51____ 13.461____ 1.295_____ 1.233_____ 7.928
52____ 13.725____ 1.325_____ 1.260_____ 7.918
53____ 13.989____ 1.355_____ 1.286_____ 7.908
54____ 14.253____ 1.384_____ 1.313_____ 7.898
55____ 14.517____ 1.414_____ 1.340_____ 7.888
56____ 14.781____ 1.444_____ 1.368_____ 7.878
57____ 15.045____ 1.475_____ 1.393_____ 7.867
58____ 15.309____ 1.505_____ 1.420_____ 7.857
59____ 15.573____ 1.536_____ 1.447_____ 7.847
60____ 15.837____ 1.567_____ 1.475_____ 7.836
61____ 16.101____ 1.598_____ 1.502_____ 7.826
62____ 16.365____ 1.630_____ 1.529_____ 7.815
63____ 16.629____ 1.661_____ 1.557_____ 7.804
64____ 16.893____ 1.693_____ 1.584_____ 7.793
65____ 17.157____ 1.725_____ 1.612_____ 7.782
66____ 17.421____ 1.757_____ 1.639_____ 7.771
67____ 17.685____ 1.789_____ 1.668_____ 7.764
68____ 17.949____ 1.822_____ 1.697_____ 7.756
69____ 18.213____ 1.854_____ 1.725_____ 7.744
70____ 18.477____ 1.887_____ 1.753_____ 7.733
71____ 18.740____ 1.921_____ 1.781_____ 7.721
72____ 19.004____ 1.954_____ 1.809_____ 7.710
73____ 19.268____ 1.988_____ 1.837_____ 7.698
74____ 19.532____ 2.021_____ 1.866_____ 7.686
75____ 19.796____ 2.056_____ 1.895_____ 7.678
76____ 20.060____ 2.090_____ 1.925_____ 7.669
77____ 20.324____ 2.124_____ 1.953_____ 7.657
78____ 20.588____ 2.159_____ 1.982_____ 7.645
79____ 20.852____ 2.194_____ 2.011_____ 7.633
80____ 21.116____ 2.229_____ 2.040_____ 7.621
81____ 21.380____ 2.265_____ 2.069_____ 7.608
82____ 21.644____ 2.300_____ 2.098_____ 7.596
83____ 21.908____ 2.336_____ 2.128_____ 7.586
84____ 22.172____ 2.372_____ 2.159_____ 7.577
85____ 22.436____ 2.409_____ 2.188_____ 7.584
86____ 22.700____ 2.446_____ 2.217_____ 7.551
87____ 22.964____ 2.482_____ 2.248_____ 7.542
88____ 23.228____ 2.520_____ 2.279_____ 7.532
89____ 23.492____ 2.557_____ 2.309_____ 7.519
90____ 23.756____ 2.595_____ 2.338_____ 7.505
91____ 24.019____ 2.633_____ 2.368_____ 7.492
92____ 24.283____ 2.671_____ 2.398_____ 7.479
93____ 24.547____ 2.709_____ 2.430_____ 7.468
94____ 24.811____ 2.748_____ 2.461_____ 7.458
95____ 25.075____ 2.787_____ 2.491_____ 7.444
96____ 25.339____ 2.826_____ 2.522_____ 7.430
97____ 25.603____ 2.866_____ 2.552_____ 7.416
98____ 25.867____ 2.908_____ 2.570_____ 7.409
99____ 26.131____ 2.948_____ 2.616_____ 7.394
99.6__ 26.289____ 2.970_____ 2.634_____ 7.385
100___ 26.395____ 2.986_____ 2.647_____ 7.380
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill!
CW - maybe being a bit anal here.
My pork is pretty lean, not much fat can be seen anywhere except about 1/4 under the skin.
I say this as I want to be "precise 1st time up" have suffered dry and saw dust products in the past.
Should I defat the meat and weigh it, add as required to get the 20+%.
Should I then add with belly meat fat mixture.
thanks & rgds Spud.
My pork is pretty lean, not much fat can be seen anywhere except about 1/4 under the skin.
I say this as I want to be "precise 1st time up" have suffered dry and saw dust products in the past.
Should I defat the meat and weigh it, add as required to get the 20+%.
Should I then add with belly meat fat mixture.
thanks & rgds Spud.
Last edited by spud on Tue Sep 02, 2014 08:25, edited 1 time in total.
-
Chuckwagon
- Veteran
- Posts: 4494
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 04:51
- Location: Rocky Mountains
Spud my bud,
Breakfast sausage: http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... /breakfast
If you use pork "butt" (shoulder), you'll have just the right balance of meat and fat. Lean shoulders are about 20% and the more fatty ones contain up to 30% fat. No need to "de-fat" the meat. Just grind it and if it looks a little lean, you may wish to add a little more. Backfat in this case, is ideal. Hey, where in the world are you getting such lean butt?
Geeeze, come to think of it, my girlfriend has a nice lean butt herself! 
oops!
In America, commercial breakfast sausage makers can legally add up to 50% fat. You ought to see it all melted in the bottom of a pan.
Please realize that adding more fat to the recipe will not prevent the dry, "sawdust" texture developed as the result of too much heat added too quickly in your smoker. It must be a very slow process.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
Breakfast sausage: http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... /breakfast
If you use pork "butt" (shoulder), you'll have just the right balance of meat and fat. Lean shoulders are about 20% and the more fatty ones contain up to 30% fat. No need to "de-fat" the meat. Just grind it and if it looks a little lean, you may wish to add a little more. Backfat in this case, is ideal. Hey, where in the world are you getting such lean butt?
Geeeze, come to think of it, my girlfriend has a nice lean butt herself! oops! In America, commercial breakfast sausage makers can legally add up to 50% fat. You ought to see it all melted in the bottom of a pan.
Please realize that adding more fat to the recipe will not prevent the dry, "sawdust" texture developed as the result of too much heat added too quickly in your smoker. It must be a very slow process.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
Last edited by Chuckwagon on Tue Sep 02, 2014 08:27, edited 1 time in total.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill!
CW said:
Read this again and again...it is a slow process and NEVER try to hurry..it took me a LONG time a lot of dry sausage and meats and the great advice given on this site to really figure this out!!!
Please realize that adding more fat to the recipe will not prevent the dry, "sawdust" texture developed as the result of too much heat added too quickly in your smoker. It must be a very slow process.
Read this again and again...it is a slow process and NEVER try to hurry..it took me a LONG time a lot of dry sausage and meats and the great advice given on this site to really figure this out!!!
