Hi Workingpoor,
You wrote:
Has anyone else had any experience with regrinding an old sausage into your new batch as your bacterial starter?
The process you are describing is called "backslopping" and dates back to the early Romans. It is not recommended in modern applications because it is not consistent. If you'd like dependable uniformity with each batch, use the correct culture for your product. Here is a helpful link:
http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=4796
You also wrote:
My only complaint is that my sausage is always a little too tangy.
I would guess offhand, you are using a culture that is too fast (for your tastes) such as LHP, or even a
medium culture such as F-RM-52. There is a slow culture available that produces
relatively mild acidification is desired. T-SPX is particularly recommended for the production of Southern European type of sausages, low in acidity with an aromatic flavor. The culture is suitable for molded as well as smoked fermented sausages (Semi Dry Cured). Each 25-gram packet of Bactofermâ„¢ T-SPX will treat 440 pounds (200 kilo) of meat.
If you switch to T-SPX and still have too much tangy flavor, then the problem is probably due to one or more of the following reasons:
- Temperature/humidity is higher than normal.
- Spice formulation - make an adjustment that favors the culture.
- Excessive water addition.
- Product delayed prior to entering the fermentation chamber or smokehouse, resulting in higher initial temperature.
- Leaner product giving more moisture and lower salt-in-water.
- Change of meat (from beef to pork) in recipe.
- Smaller diameter product processed at high humidity.
- Initial meat pH lower than normal.
- Wrong combination of carbohydrate. (sugar)
- Too slow drying that allows longer acidification.
Before you switch from glucose to sucrose, why don`t you try T-SPX? I believe it will make the difference you are looking for. The rate of bacteria growth (speed) is determined by the temperature. The amount of acid produced (tangy taste) depends upon the type and the amount of sugar added. Most traditional fermented sausages will exhibit very little pH drop greater than 5.3 simply because they contain very little sugar. In some sausages, their recipes actually call for no sugar at all. However, some fermentation will take place without added sugars because lactic acid bacteria naturally present in the meat will act upon natural glycogen.
Glucose (also called "Dextrose") is sugar refined from corn starch. It is the most simple in make-up of all types of sugar and therefore
the most readily used by lactobacilli. It is the ideal sugar for fermented sausages.
Sucrose is common table sugar and made from sugar beets in my area or sugar cane in the south. Sucrose is also called "saccharose" and it is also found in fruit, honey, and even DaveZac`s sugar maple tree sap. Sucrose is half glucose and half fructose. It is sometimes used with glucono delta-lactone for sausages with a medium-fermenting rate as sucrose is the second fastest acting sugar (after dextrose).
Lactose is sugar from milk. Its makeup is composed from glucose and galactose. The supermarket variety of non-fat dry milk is over 50% lactose and its water binding qualities are high. Fructose is sugar from fruits and honey. My horse is addicted to this stuff... (in apples). Maltose is malt sugar made during the fermentation process of germinating barley in the brewing industry. It helps to control the sour flavor produced during the procedure. In sausage making, it is a poor choice for fermentation. Galactose is closely related to glucose, but it is not nearly as sweet. Galactose is half lactose (milk sugar). In the human body, glucose is changed into galactose to enable the mammary glands to secrete lactose. Raffinose is the sugar of vegetables and whole grains. Maltodextrin is sugar produced from rice, potatoes, and corn and is used in the drinking soda industry.
Be sure to let us know how you come out with your next batch. Hope this info helps.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon