Cured Sausage Taste

[forkin pork]

I recently started to make my own homemade cured sausage and I think things are going great except for one thing.
My sausage always comes out for the most part tasting like store bought salami with that "Tangy" taste.
Years ago with my father-in law (Italian) we made sausage but if never had that tangy taste.
I only use salt, cure #2, pepper, some sugar and sometimes a starter culture.
Can someone tell me what is happening here and/or what is causing this tangy taste?
Thanks for your time.

 

[SmokinAl]

I'm guessing the starter culture is giving you the tangy taste, but I'm no sausage expert.
Al

 

[tallbm]

I recently started to make my own homemade cured sausage and I think things are going great except for one thing.
My sausage always comes out for the most part tasting like store bought salami with that "Tangy" taste.
Years ago with my father-in law (Italian) we made sausage but if never had that tangy taste.
I only use salt, cure #2, pepper, some sugar and sometimes a starter culture.
Can someone tell me what is happening here and/or what is causing this tangy taste?
Thanks for your time.

Hi there and welcome!

I'm not sure what is going on but usually with smoked/grilled sausages you use cure #1 not cure #2. #2 is used for dry age cured items that uncooked.

Also there is a chance that your faither in law didn't add any cure and made what are called Fresh sausages.
With fresh sausage you grill or smoke at a temp of like 225F or higher.
Fresh sausages without cure come out brown color and not pink/redish color.

Let us know how the Italian sausages looked and were cooked when your father in law did them.

 

[browneyesvictim]

^^^^ yeah that!

Can you be more specific on your recipe and process? Are you trying to "dry cure"? What kind of sausage do you WANT to make? The sugar along with the culture is meant to ferment your sausage for giving you that tangy taste.

 

[forkin pork]

Thanks for the replies, first let me say, I'm no pro but I've been making fresh sausages of all types for at least 18 yrs now, and smoking meats for just as long, you can see my cooker in my avatar pic.
But with that being said, I'm no professional and can always learn something from someone else.

Ok the sausage that I'm making and having trouble with is Italian Dried Cured, and in the past my father-law and ol'timer from Italy never used cure #1 or #2 ever in his curing process, ever, and the stuff was great.
I however, use #2 in my curing and perhaps that and/or the culture with the sugar like Browneye said is what is making it tangy tasting, it good and people love, I just don't care for the store bought tangy taste.

Now with that cleared up o_O
Can anyone help better explain how to set up the Inkbird temp control, I'm totally puzzled :confused::confused:

 

[forkin pork]

I just had a brain fart and thing I figured it out..........MAYBE
I think I was misunderstanding the word "Differential" and applying those values in a different manner.
Will let you know

YUP I GOT IT FIGURED OUT...... Daaa!

 

[tallbm]

Ah that additional info is good to have.
I will have to let others that do dry cure help you out.
Same when it comes to the Inkbird :)

 

[forkin pork]

Thank for that info tallbm, this is all info that the Inkbird doesn't send you, it will be very helpful in me fine tuning everything.

HEY! I miss being part of a forum, and I was here many years ago, I'm glad to be back.

 

[daveomak]

I only use salt, cure #2, pepper, some sugar and sometimes a starter culture.

Fermented sausage is what you are attempting to making... Different animal.. Acidification takes place to keep the meat shelf stable... That's where the what is causing this tangy taste? .. comes from....
Basically, you are mixing apples and oranges in making your sausage.. Every method, for different sausages, has a reason... steps cannot be mixed and matched... that would be like adding nitro methane to your family car to boost horsepower...
May I suggest you use recipes from a reputable source like Marianski.. Follow the recipe... The web and U-Tube are very poor sources as are most "Home" recipes... Omissions, word substitutions, translations... all are pitfalls to producing safe sausage...