I have been asked to make a Brazilian Sausage Recipe...

[uncle eddie]

At my church there is a Pastor from Brazil. Great guy/pastor with a cool accent. A couple of us at church make sausage and we have been handed the following recipe so he can get a taste of home between his infrequent trips back to the old-country. It is a fresh sausage, like a bratwurst, so I am not sure why some of the items are in the recipe. My comments are in parenthesis. Would appreciate some veteran input as well.

Brazilian sausage
5.5 lbs of leg/ham ... (we are using pork butt or picnic roast)
0.5 lbs pork fat ... (don't think this is needed when using the above)
2 tbsp. of crushed red peppers
1g Nutmeg
3 garlic cloves
2 cups of cold water ... (this seems excessive - plan to use water 'as needed' for stuffing)
1 cup Parmesan cubes
Arugula to suit
40g / 1.4oz salt ... (will probably go 1/2 salt, do a test patty, then add more to suit)
15g / 0.5oz antioxidant ... (what is this for?)
2g / 0.07oz instacure#1 ... (not needed as we are stuffing hog casings and grilling or freezing it immediately after making)

 

[thirdeye]

Shooting from the hip here...

• I agree with leaving out the additional fat and go with all pork butt.
• I would calculate the salt at 1.5%
• I'm not familiar with antioxidant
• The addition of cure could be used for a pinkish color, or to tighten the grind, or for the 'cured' flavor. I make a Texas hot link that is a fresh sausage, but has cure added for all of these reasons. It's okay to leave it out.
• I wonder if some icy cold white wine would be a substitute to icy water? Or 50:50 wine and water?

Thinking outside the box, I bet this recipe would make really good meatballs too.

 

[chopsaw]

0.5 lbs pork fat ... (don't think this is needed when using the above)

Agree . Not needed .

2 cups of cold water ... (this seems excessive - plan to use water 'as needed' for stuffing)

I always add the liquid slowly and mix . Measure out the 2 cups , but add a bit at a time . When the mix binds stop adding . That's way to much water in my opinion .

40g / 1.4oz salt ... (will probably go 1/2 salt, do a test patty, then add more to suit)

I use 18 grams of salt per 2 1/2 pounds of pork grind .

15g / 0.5oz antioxidant ... (what is this for?)

Sodium erythorbate or maybe citric acid . Sets the color , acts as a preservative and aids in emulsifying . It's used by most people to speed up the effects of curing so you can go right to the smoker . I use it to set color . I have it in bulk , if you need some let me know .
Edit : Sodium Erythorbate speeds the cure .

 

[chopsaw]

2g / 0.07oz instacure#1 ... (not needed as we are stuffing hog casings and grilling or freezing it immediately after making)

Just a comment to mirror what Third eye said above . I add cure to grilling sausage all the time . Adds flavor , texture and color . Personally , I would use it .
This is a cured Bratwurst that was grilled . You can see the color difference .

Cut shot . These were wrapped in pretzel dough and baked . Different texture too . Maybe that's part of it ?

 

[uncle eddie]

Thanks guys…appreciate the feedback

 

[slavikborisov]

I don’t see an issue with the cure and cure accelerator maybe it was smoked at one point and left in the receipt but it’s effects won’t harm you even in fresh sausage

 

[uncle eddie]

Getting ready for Friday and Saturday.
-- Friday is brats, andouille and breakfast sausage.
-- Saturday is now two types of Brazilian sausage.

FWIW - 52 pounds of pork butt, deboned, trimmed, and excess fat removed yielded about 2 pounds of pork fat and 43 pounds of "ready for the grinder" pork butt

t.