Vinegar Anyone!

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Rick
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Vinegar Anyone!

Post by Rick » Tue Sep 23, 2014 21:33

I was wondering since garlic seems to be a favorite spice which is incorporated into about every sausage, has anyone every tried a 10# batch of sausage and instead of putting in a pint of ice water, adding a pint of cold cider vinegar instead?

For those of use who also love pickled anything, it would seem a garlic vinegar sausage would be in order! That would satisfy the love for those two ingredients.

Just a thought.
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Post by Baconologist » Tue Sep 23, 2014 22:13

The problem is that acid denatures proteins, negatively affects the bind and yields a crumbly sausage.
One must be very careful when incorporating anything acidic.
Godspeed!

Bob
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Post by Rick » Tue Sep 23, 2014 22:19

Bob, that's NOT what I wanted to hear, but I guess I'll have to go with it!

Rick
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Post by Tasso » Wed Sep 24, 2014 05:06

Vinegar is a mandatory component of Mexican Chorizo, whether bulk or cased. I've found that a little vinegar goes a long way. To be honest, I'm not personally that fond of the vinegar flavor, but some people might like more of it than I do. (On the other hand, I LOVE garlic!)

Vinegar in Mexican style Chorizo does indeed make the resulting sausage more crumbly, but that is an expected, if not intended, characteristic of that particular sausage.

So it's not a bad idea, Rick. In fact, it sounds like something worthy of experimentation. For bulk sausage that is going to be crumbled and pan-fried, to be mixed thereafter with other foods before serving (e.g., scrambled eggs or omelets, stuffed into peppers, etc), the sausage you contemplate might be just the thing.
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Post by Cabonaia » Wed Sep 24, 2014 05:13

Hey Rick - Pork, vinegar and garlic are a great combination. I just made 7 lbs. of Portuguese linguica. 10 cloves of fresh garlic went into it, along with +1/2 cup wine and 2.5 TB vinegar. It is true that you have to be careful with wine and vinegar or you get a crumbly sausage. But it can be done with wonderful results if you observe a few rules. I took advice I got on this forum and have found that the following tips really work:

- don't overdo - a little goes a long way
- add wine and vinegar last - just before mixing. For linguica, I let it rest overnight or even a couple days after adding the salt, cure and spices. But I don't add wine and vinegar until just before mixing and stuffing. The meat paste stiffens up quite a bit after adding salt and cure, so the liquids help loosen it up for mixing and stuffing.
- chill wine and vinegar to near freezing before using them.
- add them a little at a time, don't just dump them in. Some people say spray them in, but I haven't tried that.
- this last time I got the best texture ever. I used a big "chili plate" for the grind, and chopped the back fat by hand. Not sure if that made the difference.
- mix extra well

Len Poli's and Hank Shaw's "Hunter Angler Gardener Cook" sites both have good linguica recipes, if you're interested. Like any sausage, you can adjust recipes to your liking - I like mine with extra red pepper and fresh garlic. But I stick tightly to the wine and vinegar proportions, as these will either make or break your results.

Cheers,
Jeff
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Post by Rick » Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:50

Well it sounds like there is some hope yet. Thanks to all for your thoughts and suggestions.
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