Adjusting Pepperoni color

[rfwoodvt]

Afternoon all.

Happy Hannukah and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate.

Made a batch of Marianski's pepperoni the other day. Pretty much nailed it spot-on to what I was looking for from a flavor profile. A little tweaking in the heat and other spices is in order but not much.

Only disappointment was that it didn't have that tangible pepperoni orange color we see in commercial pepperoni. Indeed, there is almost no noticeable color that says, "Pepperoni!" This isn't a major issue except that it makes it hard to distinguish it from my summer sausage on casual glance.

Wondering if, and how much, I might up the paprika to get the color without significantly altering the flavor, and if it did alter the flavor, how might it be altered?

 

[smokininthegarden]

Another option would be to use annatto powder instead of paprika, it should have less of
an effect on the flavor.

Cal

 

[mosparky]

Commercial Pepperoni also has anti-oxidents added, which I suspect have an effect on color change. I looked up most of the ingredients and BHT and BHA I found were anti-oxidents but no explanation to explain why they are used. So i'm guessing they help retain color or perhaps that is a side effect of the true purpose and we have now come to expect/hope for it ( like smoke rings on meat, cosmetic only)

 

[chopsaw]

Made a batch of Marianski's pepperoni the other day.

The recipe I see from Marianski is a fermented dry cured sausage . Is that what you did ?
I have done the Kutas cooked pepperoni . The color won't be the same as dry cured fermented sausage .

 

[rfwoodvt]

The recipe I see from Marianski is a fermented dry cured sausage . Is that what you did ?
I have done the Kutas cooked pepperoni . The color won't be the same as dry cured fermented sausage .

It was marianski's fast ferment recipe.

 

[DanMcG]

FD&C RED #51 and/or #40 Is used commercially, or buy some cheap paprika, you can add that all day long without changing the flavor. ;)