I keep losing my spiciness

[chrisgoforth]

I have been trying to make an extremely spicy sausage for my coworkers. They really enjoy the different sausages I make but they want something that is over the top spicy. These are guys that enjoy trying to see how many ghost peppers they can eat. I tried making a kielbasa with diced habanero peppers (seeds and all) in it and it still wasn’t hot enough for them so I increased the amount of peppers to almost a 50/50 ratio of meat to peppers and they still wanted more.  

So I went and bought some Carolina reaper puree from wwwpuckerbuttpeppercompany.com that is supposed to be the newest hottest pepper out there. I experimented with the amount of pepper by mixing up a batch of Texas hot link sausage (https://griffinsgrub.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/texas-hot-links/) and then dividing into 1lb portions. In each portion I added specific drops of pepper puree starting with 2 and going up to 32 drops. I then smoked all of these different links. The only deviation I made in the recipe (which was really good all by itself) was I did a 50/50 split of pork and beef instead of all pork.

The difference in heat between 2 - 8 was extremely slight. The difference between 16 -32 was a little hotter than the 2 -8 but still was fairly mild. I seem to be losing most of the heat during the cooking process. I am assuming it is rendering out as its smoked. My thoughts are to try the following but I am open to both criticism and suggestions on this:

1. add rice to the mix to hold the pepper juice 

2. add milk solids to the mix

3. lower the cooking temp to reduce the amount of loss moisture

Any other thoughts to make a REALLY spicy sausage?

 

[smokin phil]

Pure capsaicin.

 

[DanMcG]

I'd use a powdered ghost pepper instead of the puree. What temp are you smoking at?

 

[okie362]

Might try dehydrating the puree then grinding it.  It should re-hydrate as it cooks.  I do this with Jalapeno and habaneros.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I'll second using powdered spice instead of actual peppers or purée. The powders will bind to the meat and not disapate when cooking. I have both habanero dust and ghost pepper dust and they are way hotter than eating the actual pepper.

 

[chrisgoforth]

I never thought about dehydrating the peppers. I really like that idea. As for what temp I usually run at about 180 and bring the sausage to 155 if I am using insta cure in it.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

You may want to try a step method (you must use cure)

1 hour at 120 no smoke
Then add ten degrees and smoke. Every hour add 10 degrees until you get to 170-180. Continue the smoke as long as you like. Take the sausages to a min. IT of 156. This process can take anywhere from 10-16 hours depending on the size and type of sausage.

 

[oregon smoker]

most definitely use the pepper dust.

Tom

 

[chrisgoforth]

Any suggestions on how much dust to use per pound to make it very hot but still on the edible side? I ordered a 2.5 oz jar of ghost pepper dust and I am going to try and dehydrate some of the carolina reaper puree as well.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Any suggestions on how much dust to use per pound to make it very hot but still on the edible side? I ordered a 2.5 oz jar of ghost pepper dust and I am going to try and dehydrate some of the carolina reaper puree as well.

That's a tough one because everyone's perception of hot is different. I'd experiment. Make one pound batches start with what you think will be hot. Let it rest overnight after mixing them do a fry test on a patty. If it's not hot enough do another batch and add more powder. Keep a log so you know what you've been doing.

 

[bluewhisper]

The important question is, is that workplace hiring? Sounds like a nest of chileheads.

 

[okie362]

If you try the dehydration make sure your dehydrator is somewhere out of the way of foot traffic.  It can be a bit painful on the eyes.  Don't ask how I know this since it's a bit embarrassing to show my ignorance on a public forum. 

 

[oregon smoker]

That's a tough one because everyone's perception of hot is different. I'd experiment. Make one pound batches start with what you think will be hot. Let it rest overnight after mixing them do a fry test on a patty. If it's not hot enough do another batch and add more powder. Keep a log so you know what you've been doing.

  I worked with my butcher pal in Medford on a project to make HOT HOT beer sausage. the plan was to keep them in a crock pot of beer (low) prior to serving. each batch he said was not hot enough so try again. Frank finally got to where you could not get it any hotter (in our opinion it was horrible cause all you tasted was hot not any flavor of meat or anything but hot. he accepted that mix and went thru 50lbs a week. turned out his plan was he owned a bar in Ashland and gave/sold then to boost beer sales. point is as above, start with small amounts and work up till it just flattens out and becomes hot for sake of hot

hope this helps,

Tom

 

[bluewhisper]

It's true that once you get into extreme heat, the food that you've spiced is just a carrier.

 

[letthemeatrest]

if you can find an asian store around you, try thai chili peppers... they hold "heat" really well even after being cooked. i'm sweating just looking at them. i consider habanero to just be somewhat spicy, and these are spicy as hell.

these are cheap, and you can even grow them at home. at the asian grocery store you can get an entire ziplock quart filled with these peppers for just a few dollars.

just cut 3-4 up and mix it into your meat before stuffing it.

thaichili.jpg

• letthemeatrest
• Jul 9, 2015

 

 

[bluewhisper]

That's a pretty pic. I'm fortunate to know some people in the pepper products business, they have some great stuff. I set my comfort level at straight habanero/scotch bonnet with occasional forays into hotter stuff. But there are also many pepper flavors that aren't hot, waiting to be explored.

 

[letthemeatrest]

 
That's a pretty pic. I'm fortunate to know some people in the pepper products business, they have some great stuff. I set my comfort level at straight habanero/scotch bonnet with occasional forays into hotter stuff. But there are also many pepper flavors that aren't hot, waiting to be explored.

 i love peppers and spicy food, that's awesome you get to try out lots of different peppers. what i like is that each pepper has its own characteristics

for the habanero, i would say its more of a flavored pepper.. it would make wings taste good

for the thai peppers, i would say its straight up heat/hotness that enhances whatever flavor you already have by making that flavor spicy

 

[chrisgoforth]

I plan on doing an increasing level of hotness and tracking each mixture to see what level becomed inedible but im trying to figure out a basic starting point. So should I start out with 1 tsp per lb of meat or is that even to much. The funny part is I dont like spicy food so I dont even taste test it. I let my coworkers try it out and adjust based on their reaction. Im kind of cruel like that. We did come up with the idea of a sausage twinkie today. The thought was to make the sausage then pull a plug out of the center with a cigar cutter and fill that center with the Carolina Reaper puree. It was decided this might be just a little over the top and might actually hurt someone. I will probably do about 7 - 10 lbs total. 

The new plan is to do the following:

Texas hot link recipie

Add increasing amounts of ghost pepper powder (start with 1/4 tsp per lb and double for each lb)

Dehydrate the carolina reaper puree and add increasing amounts (start with 1/4 tsp per lb and double for each lb)

Add finely diced thai chili peppers (start with 5 chili's per lb and double for each lb)

Any thoughts or concerns?

 

[letthemeatrest]

 
Add finely diced thai chili peppers (start with 5 chili's per lb and double for each lb)

Any thoughts or concerns?

1 per pound of thai chili pepper is probably too much already!!  if you have 7-10 lbs of meat, i would say try 4-5 peppers

 

[bluewhisper]

459858606_86a0816654_o.jpg

• bluewhisper
• Jul 9, 2015