This Wiener's Not A "Weener"

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 23:48

Hi Gang,
I received an interesting PM from a member today who wishes to remain anonymous. Seems he'd like to know why his sausage went south. Any ideas?
Here is his message:

Chuckwagon,
I built a 10 lb. batch of weiner meat, comprised of 50/50 beef & pork, using Rytek's weiner recipe. I used that particular recipe very successfully in the past, however, this batch turned out ugly. Even a starving spring black bear might not touch it!! It had a nasty bitter aftertaste(after frying up a sample pattie). The only difference this time was that instead of powdered milk, I used soy protein concentrate(2 cups to 10 lbs). Can you advise me what can be done to salvage the batch? I would hate to pack it out to the bush for either bear or coyote bait, as I would not recover my costs on either hide at this time of year, let alone the cost of a .204 bullet!!!!!

Has anyone got a comment or a suggestion to help out our fellow member?

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 00:24

Hi Chuckwagon,

By coincidence I also made a 2 lb batch of Wieners this past weekend. A previous batch I made was following the Rytek recipe method and I had other problems with that method. (Method not ingredients)

The Rytek ingredients look good to me, I don`t use Paprika in my Wieners and my ingredients are a little different. I have no explanation what could have gone wrong with your member`s batch.

Here are my ingredients:- (Keep in mind mine are for 2 lbs sausage, Rytek`s is for 1 kg) But for the conversion of 1 kg = 2.2 lbs, the 0.2 lbs should make little difference.

I use Beef Chuck, not Veal and Pork Picnic

4 Tbs Soy protein
½ tsp Insta Cure #1
3 tsp Mustard powder
¼ tsp black Pepper
¼ tsp white Pepper
¼ tsp ground Celery seeds
1 tsp ground Coriander
¼ tsp Garlic powder
2 tsp Salt
I always use Soy Protein and not Powdered Milk, although he also used Soy Protein that could not be the reason for the bad taste.
Did he maybe mention if he ground the meat only or if he emulsified it? (For home sausage making "emulsified" in a Food Processor)
Could it be the meat?
On some sausages I have found that they do not taste as good immediately after grinding, yet after letting the spices and meat "blend" overnight they taste a lot different.
This is very much the case with Cooked Bratwurst.

Sorry I can`t help with more.

Going back to my first paragraph and off topic, I changed the method from smoking then the 15-minute hot water in Rytek`s method, rather bring the smoker temp up to 170 F, then cold shower and let them ripen at room temp. In this way they are juicy and still have that "snap" to them when heating them prior to eating. I found the hot water method directly after smoking tends to reduce the smoke intensity from the casing.

NorCal Kid · Post by **NorCal Kid** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 01:12

I'm trying to think of particular ingredients that would lend a 'bitter' taste to the batch. Assuming here the meat is fresh & above suspicion, I'd then look at the spices, with paprika being on the top of possible 'bitter' offenders.

If for some reason the sample(s) taken from the mix & cooked were not thoroughly mixed or blended, an excess of one or two ingredients may be present (SPC, salt, paprika, etc) in the sample, possibly lending an off-taste.

Wish I had more to go on.
Not sure how to 're-claim' or salvage the load. IF the bitterness permeates the entire batch, one would be hard-pressed to mask the flavor-profile. Lotsa catsup & mustard, perhaps?

-Kevin

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 01:30

Some fresh herbs can leave a bitter after taste but none that i would think suitable for wieners.
Was the meat contaminated with gall? a ruptured gallbaldder can make a whole bunch of meat bitter.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 06:55

Thanks Guys,
The only thing I could come up with (besides the meat being "off") is that Spanish Paprika is bitter. Hungarian paprika is sweet. I don't even use the Spanish stuff anymore. Maybe "our guy" was shoeing horses and handling rusty horseshoes and didn't wash his hands before mixing in the paprika.

I once had a batch go bad within just a couple of hours when I used some "fresh" garden basil. That's when I was young and crazy. Now I'm just old and goofy! But I sure learned how NOT to put non-sterilized spices into my sausage.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

unclebuck · Post by **unclebuck** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:19

My problem has been solved. I have since sampled the fresh paprika that my good wife brought home and found it to be very bitter. I should have had the presence of mind to take that step PRIOR to adding to the emulsion, seeing that it is not labelled as to Spanish or Hungarian. Unfortunately it is the bitter Spanish $h!t. The ravens will now have a free meal as a result of my experiment gone awry.

And no CW, before I do anything with any kind of meat, especially ground meat, I "scrub up" almost like a surgeon, by using antibacterial soap. I even immerse my equipment in a sulfide solution prior to use, to ensure its cleanliness!!

NorCal Kid · Post by **NorCal Kid** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 16:18

unclebuck wrote:My problem has been solved. I have since sampled the fresh paprika that my good wife brought home and found it to be very bitter

NorCal Kid wrote:Assuming here the meat is fresh & above suspicion, I'd then look at the spices, with paprika being on the top of possible 'bitter' offenders.

Hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

-Kevin