Homemade Sausage Making

CW... Kindly, can you explain where the thread from BriCan went... The information he provided on ShinkenSpeck was fantastic and yet it seems to have been deleted? Help? Explain? This is most dissapointing.

Looks like it was moved and the link CW posted does not work.

Thanks DLFL... Move or "Removed" maybe. And you are correct; The link posted by CW does not work. CW, as moderator did you remove the information from BriCan purposefully? If yes, Mind telling why? Thanks

Yes I do mind telling you why. First, it is not "public information". Second, BriCan is no longer a member of this forum and his posts have been deleted. I suggest you go to Sausagemaking.org to contact him and find his recipes.

Hmmm. OK. Thanks.

There is a German sausage house in our area where they make schinkenspeck that some of my friends rave about. I'd like to try my hand at it and have a couple of questions. I've read and re-read this thread as well as the one on the Polish site and need to turn my head around a bit on this. CW, you converted the amounts for the cure:

Cure mix: ( CW please recalculate for US cures please )

1,0 kg non iodized salt
0,18 kg peklosol
0,06 kg sugar
You can add 0.01 kg Sodium erythorbate E316 ( antioxidant ) for nicer colour.

My pleasure Siara. Here are the U.S. equivalents.

35 oz. (2.2 lbs. = 1000 gr.) salt
6.35 oz. (180 gr.) peklosol
2.11 oz. (60 gr.) sugar
1/3 oz. (10 gr.) sodium erythorbate (ascorbic acid)

Rather than peklosol, how much cure #1 should I use? And by how much do we need to increase the salt since peklosol is has considerably more than Cure #1? I'm only going to make a 1 to 1.5 kg piece, so do I really need to make such a large batch of cure? And lastly, the recipe calls for cold smoking, well but for how long? The author assumes that we are supposed to know that part of the process, well I must be one of the unwashed who does not.

CW, I would be grateful for your guidance here and if anyone else has experience with making this stuff, your advice would be vastly appreciated.

Thanks,

Chris

Chris, Recalculate the amounts you need based on one kilogram of meat mix. About 2 % salt and .25 % cure #1 Or about 20 grams of salt and 2.5 grams of cure #1 and about .8 grams of sugar. Unless you are planning to make about a ton of this.

Ross you are right, the amounts here are for a bigger batch of meat. And, I went back to the Polish forum and it turns out that the "peklosol" reference is in fact to our Cure #1. The original author of the recipe lives in Canada. So I guess I will use common sense and reduce the proportions here since you probably only need to cover the meat with dry cure. Seems to me that most German recipes for speck call for juniper berries, so I will also add these once I get my hands on some. Have not been able to forage for these this summer.

Hi Chris,
Ross is correct, do recalculate with the US Cure #1, Easy as chips. Several calculators available, one on this forum is an easy one to use.
I don't like to confuse anybody but from what I understand about peklosol, it is different than US Cure #1. and used in different quantities.
It's too important to make sure everybody uses the correct quantity for the weight of meat used, this does not include the weight of pure fat.
I hope somebody with more brains than me, might correct me. I am still learning too.
Regards,
Jan.

When I cure bacon or butt portions for small hams I weigh the meat and use the percentages that I stated. In that way it never comes out too salty. The meat will absorb the salt with no regard for your sense of taste. In the past and before I found this forum I would use excessive amounts of salt and time and the results were always bad. The 2% salt and .25% cure #1, some sugar and molassas works very well for me if I allow about a week per inch of thickness.

My effort at making schinkenspeck. Used pieces from butt and one from loin.
pork 2100g
Salt 60g
Cure #2 1/2tsp
Sugar 1 tbsp
Juniper 15 crushed berries.

Dry cured 5 days. Cold smoked with oak and juniper berries 10hrs one day and another 10 hours the following day. Three weeks in curing chamber.

As far as my assessment, the flavour was best after 10 days in the chamber, with the smoke and other flavours both coming through nicely. After three weeks there is a stronger tang and the smoke not as pronounced.

Redzed, I may just have to follow through on my threat to move up there, preferably next door. My mouth waters, looking at those pictures. Schinkenspeck was perhaps my favorite (sorry, must practice: favourite) part of breakfast during my many trips to Germany. ...although I admit to having consumed more than my share of smoked lachs.

Keep up the good work, and you may be inundated by... well, me, for one. That looks delicious.

Red,
That Schinkenspeck looks wonderful, it's such a pity that I don't have a curing chamber yet.
Jan.

el Ducko wrote:Redzed, I may just have to follow through on my threat to move up there, preferably next door. My mouth waters, looking at those pictures. Schinkenspeck was perhaps my favorite (sorry, must practice: favourite) part of breakfast during my many trips to Germany. ...although I admit to having consumed more than my share of smoked lachs.

Keep up the good work, and you may be inundated by... well, me, for one. That looks delicious.

Just let me know when you are coming and I'll make new batch, cut back on the salt and substitute the juniper berries with habanero seeds.

crustyo44 wrote:Red,
That Schinkenspeck looks wonderful, it's such a pity that I don't have a curing chamber yet.
Jan.

What are you waiting for Jan? It's another learning curve and fun!

Hi Red,
I am looking for a working fridge that can be converted into a curing chamber. We are hitting 36 centigrade heat and up to 90% humidity here. You will understand that a good refrigerator is mandatory.
I am also shopping around for bits and pieces.
Regartds,
Jan.