Mixing spices

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bobrap

Meat Mopper
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Dec 9, 2012
169
32
Estill Springs, TN
Good morning all.  Gonna try my hand at this recipe today.  I've read a lot about mixing your spices with water.  Should I mix the spices with the wine?  Also, any suggestions/modifications to the recipe?  Thanks.

10-lbs pork

2-cup cold red wine (homemade, of course
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)

2-cup chopped fresh parsley

10-tsp salt

2-tbsp garlic powder or-4 to 5 garlic cloves, minced

2-tbsp fresh ground pepper

6-tsp cayenne

6-tbsp fennel seed

4-tsp crushed chili peppers

10-tbsp paprika

Using a 7mm plate
 
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Good morning all.  Gonna try my hand at this recipe today.  I've read a lot about mixing your spices with water.  Should I mix the spices with the wine?  Also, any suggestions/modifications to the recipe?  Thanks.

10-lbs pork

2-cup cold red wine (homemade, of course :))

2-cup chopped fresh parsley

10-tsp salt

2-tbsp garlic powder or-4 to 5 garlic cloves, minced

2-tbsp fresh ground pepper

6-tsp cayenne

6-tbsp fennel seed

4-tsp crushed chili peppers

10-tbsp paprika

Using a 7mm plate
Sounds like it will be good. You've got the fennel and the peppers, so the flavor should be in line with what you're looking for. The Paprika should add a nice color, too.

Since you aren't curing it, you will definitely want to ensure everything stays cold while you work with it, and you either use/cook it soon, or freeze it ASAP. 

Other than the salt, the seasonings you have will not dissolve, nor will they absorb too much of the water/wine you're planning on adding (and the red wine is a nice touch here - go for it - but add it cold as well). If you were using something like soy protein concentrate/isolate or nonfat dry milk, I would caution against mixing it ahead of time. Doing so is like trying to mix a lump of clay in your meat, and that's a huge pain in the butt. Learn from my mistake and don't... What I do always do is mix any cure I'm using in enough water to dissolve it, or in the water or wine I'm adding to help insure an even mix - don't want hot spots and uncured spots. Save that tip for later, if you use cure in sausage in the future.

How are you going to use this stuff? Loose fresh, stuffed fresh, meatballs, or what?

This reminds me - was planning on a spaghetti tomorrow night. Better see if I have any Italian Sausage in the freezer. If not, I better make up a few pounds.
 
Oof... just looked again at the recipe...

6 TABLESPOONS of fennel for 10 lbs of pork? Dude... that's a lot of fennel. If that's what you are going for, it's your party. Too much for me.
 
Thanks for the reply.  Should have said I plan on stuffing into hog guts.  When you mentioned about curing, do you recommend adding cure?  I have cure#1.  Don't plan on smoking until I can figure out how to use my 1st gen MES 30.

Just saw your latest post after I posted.  Went back and looked at the original recipe, which is for 5#s.  Calls for 5 tbsp.  So mine should have read 10 tbsp!
 
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Thanks for the reply.  Should have said I plan on stuffing into hog guts.  When you mentioned about curing, do you recommend adding cure?  I have cure#1.  Don't plan on smoking until I can figure out how to use my 1st gen MES 30.
You can do either. Curing helps minimize the risk of any food poisoning if the meat is left in the danger zone for too long so that bacteria grow. It also changes the flavor slightly - and I prefer the cured flavor. If you cure, I'd suggest leaving the sausage in the fridge overnight to allow that magic to happen prior to freezing. Otherwise, keep it cold and use soon or freeze as I mentioned above, and you'll have a great sausage.

If you were smoking, I'd definitely recommend curing it, due to the length of time it takes to do so before getting up to a safe internal temp.
 
Use Cure #1 if you would like to cool smoke at less than 200°F...If you prefer to not use Cure #1, not common in Italian Fennel Sausage, Smoke the Sausage at 225°F or higher. If processed properly, at these temps Sausage of common sizes easily get above the danger zones 140°F in 2 hours of less, even 3" diameter Chubs, posing no foodborne illness risk whatsoever...JJ
 
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