Homemade Sausage Making

Saucisson d'Ardenne

This is a traditional Belgian smoked and fermented sausage that's on the EU list of PGI European certificates of origin. Mild and gently seasoned, it's great if you like the smoke flavour in dry cured sausages. The saucisson I made is made with pork only, but some variations also include beef.

PGI info can be found here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content ... XC0603(02)



Recipe for 1kg of meat
Meats
750g class I pork from leg and and loin, no fat or connective tissue
250g hard back fat
Ingredients
22g fine sea salt
3g Cure#2
2g granulated garlic
1g cumin
1g mace
1.5g crushed juniper berries
2g dextrose
1g sucrose
0.3g Texel DCM-306 starter culture
Process
1. Cube meat and fat, mix with salt, Cure#2, and refrigerate in a sealed container for 48 hours.
2. Freeze fat completely, leave the cubed and cured meat in freezer for one to two hours so that it it freezes partially.
3. Revive starter with small amount of distilled water and a pinch of dextrose. Add to meat within 20 minutes.
4. Grind everything through 6mm plate. Do not grind fat separately.
5. Mix starter culture and spices with the meat. Keep ground meat cold, mix thoroughly, taking care not to over mix to avoid fat smearing. You may want to refrigerate the meat between the grinding, mixing and stuffing steps.
6. Stuff into 45-50mm beef middles. D'Ardenne may also be made in large diameter casings.
7. Ferment at a temp of 18-20C for 48-72 hours, until pH drops to 5.2 or slightly lower.
8. Cold smoke in two 8hr sessions over 2 days, taking care not to go over 20C. I also added juniper berries to the smoker.
9. Hang for approximately 4 - 5 weeks at 12C and 75-80% RH, until a weight loss of 35%. Weight loss is calculated from the weight of the sausage after stuffing.
10. Mould is not desired on this sausage. Mine took some on after about two weeks in the chamber and I left it on.

Looks great. Curios that while keeping the salt at 2.5% why you have raised the cure amount in a few of your recent creations?

Thanks for the link, a great deal of interesting info there. And I think a successful rendition on your part

Bob K wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 22, 2021 14:17

Looks great. Curios that while keeping the salt at 2.5% why you have raised the cure amount in a few of your recent creations?

O.3% Cure #2 is still well within the limits and I am trying to get better colour. Next batch I might go back to using S. erythorbate.

BTW, with this particular saucisson, I have concluded that while it's mild and pleasant, the taste is slightly flat. A couple of grams of white pepper would have probably made a difference.

redzed wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 22, 2021 17:37

O.3% Cure #2 is still well within the limits

While I really don't think a little extra nitrite will harm you the US regs are at 156ppm in going nitrite for a commuted product...you are adding around 186ppm.
The in going nitrate however is WELL below the limit whether your cure #2 contains 1% 0r 4% nitrate, or some-wear in between

Bob K wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 22, 2021 18:50

redzed wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 22, 2021 17:37

O.3% Cure #2 is still well within the limits

While I really don't think a little extra nitrite will harm you the US regs are at 156ppm in going nitrite for a commuted product...I think the CA regs are less.
The in going nitrate however is WELL below the limit whether your cure #2 contains 1% 0r 4% nitrate, or some wear in between

The U.S. regs. for nitrate and nitrite in dry cured products is much higher than 156ppm....

dry cured products
Sodium and potassium nitrite- 625ppm
Sodium and potassium nitrate- 2187ppm

@Redzed- very cool site you found for looking up PGI info. I have been looking for just such a resource. Thanks for posting.

Indaswamp wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 22, 2021 19:45

The U.S. regs. for nitrate and nitrite in dry cured products is much higher than 156ppm....

dry cured products
Sodium and potassium nitrite- 625ppm
Sodium and potassium nitrate- 2187ppm

That is for uncommuted whole muscle cuts and if you research it further the specified period of time is over 90 days
See page 24 of the USDA Handbook
The amount of ingoing nitrite used in dry cured products, such as country ham, country style pork
shoulder, prosciutto, etc., is based on the green weight of the meat or poultry in the product
formulation. These products are prepared from a single intact piece of meat or poultry that has
had the curing ingredients directly applied to the surface, and has been dried for a specified period
of time. For large pieces of meat, the curing ingredients must be rubbed on the surface several
times during the curing period. The rubbed meat or poultry cuts are placed on racks or in boxes
and allowed to cure. Nitrite is applied to the surface of the meat or poultry as part of a cure
mixture.

Bob K wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 22, 2021 18:50

redzed wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 22, 2021 17:37

O.3% Cure #2 is still well within the limits

While I really don't think a little extra nitrite will harm you the US regs are at 156ppm in going nitrite for a commuted product...you are adding around 186ppm.
The in going nitrate however is WELL below the limit whether your cure #2 contains 1% 0r 4% nitrate, or some-wear in between

Now Bob, I live in the Great White North and the USDA regs don't apply. Canadian regulations are 200ppm nitrite for all products, smoked or long term cure/dried, and an additional 200ppm is permitted to long term cured/dried. The #2 formulation that I have is 6.25% nitrite and 4.5% nitrate that works out to 186ppm and 135ppm respectively.

As to the USDA regs, yes the in going amounts seem crazy high, but the amounts have to be adjusted so that the finished product does not exceed 200ppm of nitrite.

Thank you for the clarification Bob...

redzed wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 21, 2021 20:12

PGI info can be found here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content ... XC0603(02)
. . .

Interesting. I was under the impression that Ardennes ham was Belgium's only PDO (PGI?) product. Don't know where I read that. My wife is Belgian and we seek out the Ardennes products when we're over there visiting (which did not happen in 2020). France gets all the attention, but Belgium has some worthy stuff.

Lorenzoid wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 23, 2021 17:44

redzed wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 21, 2021 20:12

PGI info can be found here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content ... XC0603(02)
. . .

Interesting. I was under the impression that Ardennes ham was Belgium's only PDO (PGI?) product. Don't know where I read that. My wife is Belgian and we seek out the Ardennes products when we're over there visiting (which did not happen in 2020). France gets all the attention, but Belgium has some worthy stuff.

Yes there is more to Belgium than fried potatoes and waffles. I did a cycle tour in Belgium in 2019. Cycled 1,200km, great cycling infrastructure and very friendly people.

Red have you ever used corn syrup Solids to enhance colour in dry salami?

Ed I have seen Corn Syrup solids in recipes and thought it was just another form of sugar? Do you know if you use instead of sugar/dextrose? or in addition to? Do you know why it enhances color? Does it make it more red?

redzed wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 23, 2021 18:10

Yes there is more to Belgium than fried potatoes and waffles. I did a cycle tour in Belgium in 2019. Cycled 1,200km, great cycling infrastructure and very friendly people.

Yes, there is also beer, and their national pastime, cycling.