Dried Jalapeno for summer sausage - Question

[uncle eddie]

I picked up a half-pound of dried jalapeno's for my next batch of jalapeno/cheddar summer sausage. I have used jarred/drained jalapenos so far...but after taking a sausage making class in Hermann, MO, they convinced me dried was the way to go (binds with the meat better).

QUESTION:

• How many grams or ounces of dried jalapenos per pound of meat should I use (or percentage of meat weight)?
• Should I screen out the seeds?
  • They seem to settle at the bottom of the sack...so this can be accomplished pretty easily.

 

[chopsaw]

I'd certainly never match my advice against someone from Hermann Wurst Haus , but I'll give my opinion .
I've had G & W meats make my deer sausage for years . They always left the seeds in the hot version . Never cared for that . Bad mouth feel for me . I would take them out .

 

[uncle eddie]

I'd certainly never match my advice against someone from Hermann Wurst Haus , but I'll give my opinion .
I've had G & W meats make my deer sausage for years . They always left the seeds in the hot version . Never cared for that . Bad mouth feel for me . I would take them out .

I was already leaning in that direction - I appreciate your input!

 

[indaswamp]

I'd take the seeds out as well. as far as how much, I use 2-3# fresh jalapenos per 25# then put them on the dehydrator. I may have wrote the final weight down after drying....I'll see if I can find it for you.

 

[zwiller]

I've had lots of guys venison jap/cheese SS and never have been impressed with any of it. I think the dried japs is more of a visual thing myself. That's why I picked up jap powder. Never got around to using it yet tho. That said, dried and ground are same I think weight wise so I'd start with my standard starting add: .5% then I would smell. Keep bumping .5% until you are happy. Maybe also a fry test.

 

[rjob]

Poli's site has a spice chart that might be helpful

General Tips for Sausage Making

lpoli.50webs.com

Meats & Sausages also has info

Sausage Recipe

Sausage Recipe Secrets

www.meatsandsausages.com

Info also is in his book.

Dried jalapeños- l would grind the seeds and dried jalapeños into a fine powder makes for a Spicer seasoning.

 

[uncle eddie]

I just called Hermann Wurst House and spoke to the owner and he said to:

• start with 1 oz. of dried jalapeno's for 25 pounds of meat
• remove the seeds - he confirmed they made a bad texture and the seeds do get stuck in your teeth.
• hydrate before adding to the meat - he said it would double in weight

He said ^^^this^^^ was a good dosage rate for a test batch and to adjust the dosage rate going forward

 

[chopsaw]

hydrate before adding to the meat

This is what my gut feeling told me , but I wasn't sure .
I always look at things that take away moisture , and figure they need to bring their own .
Thanks for the follow up .

 

[rjob]

Nothing like being able to call the pro and get information!
Thanks for the feed back.

 

[jimmyinsd]

if you are going to rehydrate the dried jap, why start with dried jap? could you get the same by just seeding some fresh jalapenos and then popping them in a dehydrator or low temp over to remove a bit of the excess moisture? is this a convenience thing?

 

[zwiller]

I just called Hermann Wurst House and spoke to the owner and he said to:

• start with 1 oz. of dried jalapeno's for 25 pounds of meat
• remove the seeds - he confirmed they made a bad texture and the seeds do get stuck in your teeth.
• hydrate before adding to the meat - he said it would double in weight

He said ^^^this^^^ was a good dosage rate for a test batch and to adjust the dosage rate going forward

Good info. BTW 1oz:25lbs = .25% Hydrating does seem silly but hey they're the pros.

This is what my gut feeling told me , but I wasn't sure .
I always look at things that take away moisture , and figure they need to bring their own .
Thanks for the follow up .

I assumed they would rehydrate from moisture in meat or water added to mix?

 

[chopsaw]

I assumed they would rehydrate from moisture in meat or water added to mix?

That's my point . Adding in dry actually takes away from the moisture .
If you rehydrate first , they bring the extra moisture needed with them .

 

[uncle eddie]

That's my point . Adding in dry actually takes away from the moisture .
If you rehydrate first , they bring the extra moisture needed with them .

When I did the class, we put them in dry and added Heffeweizen for moisture to the sausage, japs, cheddar and spices...and it turned out fine. I plan to do the same except I will use water.

FWIW - I did not dislike the flavor from the German beer in the finished hard salami and in the test patty ... but I prefer using water better.

 

[bertman]

Mike at Wurst Haus is the best. I'm wondering (and don't be offended) why you aren't using your own homegrown jalapeños for your sausage? I agree with everyone who says no seeds.

I usually dehydrate our peppers and freeze, ziploc, or vac seal for later. Even better if they are smoked first.

 

[uncle eddie]

Mike at Wurst Haus is the best. I'm wondering (and don't be offended) why you aren't using your own homegrown jalapeños for your sausage? I agree with everyone who says no seeds.

I usually dehydrate our peppers and freeze, ziploc, or vac seal for later. Even better if they are smoked first.

Convenience.

 

[bill ace 350]

I haven't used dried jalepeno, but use dried crushed red pepper frequently, lots of seeds.

You could grind them to a finer consistency, but I never do. No complaints.

As far as sticking to the teeth, can't recall it happening.

Doesn't seem to happen much when whole seeds are used on pizza either.

 

[crazzycajun]

I've had lots of guys venison jap/cheese SS and never have been impressed with any of it. I think the dried japs is more of a visual thing myself. That's why I picked up jap powder. Never got around to using it yet tho. That said, dried and ground are same I think weight wise so I'd start with my standard starting add: .5% then I would smell. Keep bumping .5% until you are happy. Maybe also a fry test.

I have used the powder from sm and could never get any heat the more I added changed the flavor , but never added heat. I have used dehydrated from waltons also not much heat but did not change the flavor like the powder did. Red pepper flakes in my brats give it a nice heat but not the jalapeño flavor. Fresh in the summer sausage seemed to work the best but with any fresh peppers it’s hard to get consistency good luck

 

[uncle eddie]

I ended up making 20 pounds of sausage over the 4th. 10 pounds was with the dried jalapenos.

I went with 0.5 oz. for 10 pounds of meat - a little higher than what was recommended by Mike from the Wurst Haus (0.4 oz./10 pounds meat). Test patties were spot on (pic below). Resting in the fridge right now. We'll see how it looks sliced this evening.

Also - I just put the dried jalapenos directly in the meat and did not hydrate them first. They hydrated just fine with the meat moisture and the little bit of water I added to the mix.

I will post something later.

 

[pikestabber]

Dried jalapeños- l would grind the seeds and dried jalapeños into a fine powder makes for a Spicer seasoning.

I grow jalapenos and cayenne peppers, mix at rate of maybe 3 jals to 1 cayenne, dehyrdate completely, and grind into a fine powder. This is my go to for adding heat to any sausage. I'd say we use 1/2 tsp per pound of meat for stuff we share and 1tsp per pound for stuff we eat in house as my wife and I both love spicy.

 

[indaswamp]

So I thought I would add this here....I bought 3# of whole fresh jalapenos. After cutting the stems off, slicing in half then scraping the seeds out I then diced the jalapenos to dry in my dehydrator. Probably 2.5# at this point. Upon drying I weighed the dried jalapenos....81.9 grams. So that's 27.3 grams of dried jalapenos in 1# of fresh jalapenos.