I have been experimenting with Karo in sausage just a little. The idea came to me after experimenting with pure vanilla extract, yes vanilla in sausage, it’s not what you think it would be and belongs in baked goods I know, but so does nutmeg and mace as well as allspice but they all can and do work some sausage varieties.
Any-who, in some commercial sausages there is a flavor in the back that really makes the over all sausage flavor work. I can’t put my finger on it exactly but I believe the subtle flavor of vanilla is at play, it may not be vanilla exactly but something similar and it plays way in the back. A creamy sweetness but still savory is the best I can describe this subtle flavor I’m chasing.
The vanilla absolutely worked in breakfast sausage. But not exactly what I was looking for. So when I happened to look at a bottle of Karo, I haven’t specifically tasted the syrup in probably 25 years or so, it said right on the label “with real vanilla” and the syrup is obviously sweet so a light went off. I first tried it in my kielbasa recipe but I screwed that up by adding stone ground mustard as well, which was good btw, So I thawed out some of my Cumberland sausage and added Karo at 1.5% same as the salt. Fried up a small test patty and really couldn’t taste sweet or vanilla. Long story short I had to get up to 6% before the family agreed they liked the flavor change. Seems a lot of corn syrup in the mix but there is no additional sugar and I don’t believe it’s sweet power or flavor is as strong as cane sugar.
Just sharing my preliminary findings. I think this is worth further exploration.
Any-who, in some commercial sausages there is a flavor in the back that really makes the over all sausage flavor work. I can’t put my finger on it exactly but I believe the subtle flavor of vanilla is at play, it may not be vanilla exactly but something similar and it plays way in the back. A creamy sweetness but still savory is the best I can describe this subtle flavor I’m chasing.
The vanilla absolutely worked in breakfast sausage. But not exactly what I was looking for. So when I happened to look at a bottle of Karo, I haven’t specifically tasted the syrup in probably 25 years or so, it said right on the label “with real vanilla” and the syrup is obviously sweet so a light went off. I first tried it in my kielbasa recipe but I screwed that up by adding stone ground mustard as well, which was good btw, So I thawed out some of my Cumberland sausage and added Karo at 1.5% same as the salt. Fried up a small test patty and really couldn’t taste sweet or vanilla. Long story short I had to get up to 6% before the family agreed they liked the flavor change. Seems a lot of corn syrup in the mix but there is no additional sugar and I don’t believe it’s sweet power or flavor is as strong as cane sugar.
Just sharing my preliminary findings. I think this is worth further exploration.