Nepas Pepperoni

nogoer · Apr 4, 2011

nepas said:
Mike

Here ya go.

2 pounds lean ground beef (85% lean or leaner)
2 teaspoons liquid smoke flavoring (opt)
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons mustard seed
1 1/2 or 2 teaspoons crushed fennel seed
1 or 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons Morton's Tender Quick curing salt or just a tad under 1/2 tsp cure #1

32-33mm collagen casing

You can hold the mix in the fridge 48 hours prior to stuffing if you wish.

Mix the above into the water for easier mixing into the meat.

Have you ever tried using red wine instead of the water?

Ive been trying to find an acceptable "quick" pepperoni method and am now very eager to try yours! Most everything i have found consisted of mixing up some ground beef, shaping it into a log and baking it low in the oven until it dried out. I tried that once, ate some of it because i hate wasting food, then tossed it and vowed never to try that again.

What is your texture like? I imagine this is probably close to a beef "kielbasa" but in pepperoni flavor.

rich- · Apr 4, 2011

Another question if I may.

Should I have a pan with water in the smoker with the pepperoni snack sticks?

I have read somewhere that a bit of water was needed when smokong meat to keep the meat from drying out, but not particuley making pepperoni.

My reason for this question is because I put close to 20 pounds of stuffef beef stick in my smoker with a pan of water in the bottom of the smoker, I kept the smoker temp down to 120 degrees the first 1 1/2 hrs, then I lit my gas burner and had chips in the smoke pan and smoke for the next 3 hrs and temps at 140 to 150 degrees. Then kicked the smoker temp up to about 180 degrees until the internal temp of the snack stick came up to 140 degrees.

The majority of my 20 pounds of snack stick resembles steamed sticks. The rich red color is not there, and the casing does not have that pepperoni wrinkled look that it should.

I suspect I goofed by having the water in the smoker.

Right or Wrong?

BGKYSmoker · Apr 4, 2011

Rich- said:
Another question if I may.

Should I have a pan with water in the smoker with the pepperoni snack sticks?

I have read somewhere that a bit of water was needed when smokong meat to keep the meat from drying out, but not particuley making pepperoni.

My reason for this question is because I put close to 20 pounds of stuffef beef stick in my smoker with a pan of water in the bottom of the smoker, I kept the smoker temp down to 120 degrees the first 1 1/2 hrs, then I lit my gas burner and had chips in the smoke pan and smoke for the next 3 hrs and temps at 140 to 150 degrees. Then kicked the smoker temp up to about 180 degrees until the internal temp of the snack stick came up to 140 degrees.

The majority of my 20 pounds of snack stick resembles steamed sticks. The rich red color is not there, and the casing does not have that pepperoni wrinkled look that it should.

I suspect I goofed by having the water in the smoker.

Right or Wrong?

I dont think you did anything wrong. Just need a little info.

What kind of smoker do you have? When i do any kind of sausage in my Bradley i do 5 lb batches and use some water in the pan. Larger batches i use my proofer/smoker or smokehouse.

Also what kind of mix did you use, Self made or a kit? Pepperoni is a dry type of stick.

There are a few factors here to. Like Gas produces extra moisture so if your gassing the chips and the water = extra moisture.

rich- · Apr 4, 2011

My smoker is an old restraunt food warmer. It has the electric heating unit and I have also added a barbque gas burner through the side so I can have the fire to make the smoke.

I started the process by preheating the smoker with the electric heat unit with smoker temps at or below 120 degrees., after the first couple hrs, I then lit the burner to heat the chip pan for the smoke and took the smoker temps gradually up to approx 180 degrees. This went for approx 3 more hours to get the internal meat temp to 152 degrees.

All this time, there was water in the water pan and the electric unti was on keeping the water hot and or steaming, not really sure how much steam, but I assume a fair amount, since the water pan is a part of the original food warmer.

As to my seasoning mix, it is my home grown recipe that I have been trying, I have taken bits and pieces from many other peoples and am trying to make one I like. We have a local meat market here near Tacoma, Wa. called Stewart meats, Its the old fashioned meat market of days gone by. They make the best pepperoni I have ever tasted and I am attempting to find a flavor close to what they make.

This is my third attempt at this. The flavor is good, My last batch I did turned out about the same as this batch today, except it lacked in spicy hot flavor, it didn't come out nice and pepperoni red like most does, and it was not all wrinkeled up like it should have been, again on that batch I had a water pan in the smoker.

my first batch I made, I honestly can't rememmber if I had a water pan in or not, but he pepperoni was nice and red, and all wrinkeled like I would expect it to be. I just wish I could rememmber if I had a water pan in then or not.

I hope this helps you to understand what I did and if possable you can suggest what I may be doing wrong.

Thanks so much for your input, Rich

rich- · Apr 4, 2011

Also,of the 20 punds I made up, I did 2--2# batches of meat, 1 added a small amount of red wine vinagar and the other I added a small amount of Liquid smoke. I will do neither of these again, first off, it made stuffing a pain in the butt, second, it did nothing for flavor.

I was just trying to groom my recipe to see what i like. All the rest of the meat was all dry ingredients.

Would be glad to share the basic recipe that I have used in all 3 of my batches, if you like.

BGKYSmoker · Apr 5, 2011

Rich

I too have a proofer that i made into a smoker. It has a 1700 watt element, temp dial, blower, water pan which i converted to a wood pan, thermo couple and installed a vent. As you know these were meant to be proofers not smokers so a vent is an important part of the smoking process. I can run temps from 40* to 280* if needed but rarely ever exceed 175*. Exess moisture can build up inside the these causing a steamed enviroment.

As for red wine vinegar it can impart the taste when mixed with anise and fennel. Both important parts of pepperoni. Liquid smoke can be added like 1 tsp per every 5 lbs of meat. To get a nice red color you can increase the paprika.

I have photos of my proofer/smoker build on the forum.

Thanks for wanting to share your recipe, But i have so many i hardly use them.

Good luck and SMOKE ON

rich- · Apr 5, 2011

Thank you for your reply,

I did cut a 4" X 10" hole in the roof of the food warmer and set in a vent for a house furnace floor vent, this way I can control it, also in the door of the warmer, I have an 8" X 2" slot cut through the door with a sliding damper cover. My warmer had the fan removed before I became the proud owner of it.

In the batch I mentioned earlier, I put it all back in, without any water, and lit the gas burner for the heat, I put a temp probe in one of the sticks and another temp probe just in the smoker, I brought the smoker temps up to approx 190 degrees and kept it there untill the probe in the meat stick registered 155 degrees, then pulled the sticks and did another ice water dunk.

All but a couple sticks came out looking, feeling and tasting more to what I want.

My next attempt will be without any water at all, and will be as you have suggested, a 5 lb. batch, I needn't be making so much dog treats.

Thanks for all the help. Rich

BGKYSmoker · Apr 5, 2011

Rich- said:
Thank you for your reply,

I did cut a 4" X 10" hole in the roof of the food warmer and set in a vent for a house furnace floor vent, this way I can control it, also in the door of the warmer, I have an 8" X 2" slot cut through the door with a sliding damper cover. My warmer had the fan removed before I became the proud owner of it.

In the batch I mentioned earlier, I put it all back in, without any water, and lit the gas burner for the heat, I put a temp probe in one of the sticks and another temp probe just in the smoker, I brought the smoker temps up to approx 190 degrees and kept it there untill the probe in the meat stick registered 155 degrees, then pulled the sticks and did another ice water dunk.

All but a couple sticks came out looking, feeling and tasting more to what I want.

My next attempt will be without any water at all, and will be as you have suggested, a 5 lb. batch, I needn't be making so much dog treats.

Thanks for all the help. Rich

Anytime.

Below are some pics of my proofer/smoker.

Vent from a POJ MES

Working smoker.

kuzzy · Oct 16, 2016

hi all,

i realize this is a pretty old thread but was hunting for a pepperoni recipe i remembered you (Nepas) from another forum which for the life of me cant remember the name of lol.

anyway just curious what the smoke time was on these and a rough cooking time?

thanks

mike.

BGKYSmoker · Oct 16, 2016

kuzzy said:
hi all,

i realize this is a pretty old thread but was hunting for a pepperoni recipe i remembered you (Nepas) from another forum which for the life of me cant remember the name of lol.

anyway just curious what the smoke time was on these and a rough cooking time?

thanks

mike.

Heck i cant remember that far back

I dont keep notes.

ou812dano · Jun 10, 2017

Thanks for the recipe. Turned out great.

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Nepas Pepperoni

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Nepas OTBS #242

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Nepas OTBS #242

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