Pepperoni Recipe For You

[indaswamp]

Indeed...most of us started out making sausage without a stuffer. It does make a huge difference.

 

[Fueling Around]

...
Talk about night and day, but I'm sure I'm just preaching to the choir here...

We never learn from someone that just copies.
Your failures inform us too.
Great looking sticks. I get some pretty bad stuffs in every batch. Always get air in the start of every casing.

 

[Fueling Around]

... but I'm sure I'm just preaching to the choir here...

Speaking of preaching to the choir
go to https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forums/roll-call.133/ and introduce yourself

 

[chopsaw]

Just came back to write this one in my notebook .
Thinking about crossing it over to Umai casings I've had sitting in my sausage basket .
Might just smoke and dry in the fridge too .
I'm shooting for better color and heat with some tang . I like the way this sounds on paper for sure .

Some were, well very evident that mistakes were made during the stuffing process..

Some of that was from stuffing with the stand mixer .
When you get the new stuffer , pack the hopper , then run the meat paste out to the end of the tube , then put the casings on .
It helps load the casings , but also pushes some of the air out .

 

[nlife]

Thanks chopsaw.

The air pockets came from both the inexperience of my helper - my 11 y/o son, and my unsecured setup.

My basic process is that I pack the stuffer and punch it down as I fill to remove air pockets. Lubricate the seal, then I have my son crank the handle of the stuffer while I control the pressure on the casing. I don't have a large enough C-Clamp to hold the stuffer still, but this setup is fine when using a larger stuffing horn. It was quite a bit more difficult to crank the stuffer with the 13mm horn and my boy couldn't hold it steady while cranking.

We switched places and it was his first time on the horn. He was struggling to hold consistent pressure with one hand and coil with the other. He'd have to stop and coil with both hands, which ultimately pulled some of the casing off the horn and created air pockets. He also struggled to keep a constant pressure and it resulted in some portions of the casings being under filled while others were stuffed FULL.

I did my best to try and redistribute the meat throughout, but I could only do so much.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Looks good.

Dont worry about mistakes or what it looks like...we all been there.

 

[nlife]

Speaking of preaching to the choir
go to https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forums/roll-call.133/ and introduce yourself

DONE! Post can be found HERE.

 

[Fueling Around]

Excellent!

I have a plywood extended base on my old cast iron stuffer.
I use a couple of Irwin 6" Quick Grip clamps to hold it down.
Young son (or daughter) helper is the envy of the older gang.

 

[nlife]

Excellent!

I have a plywood extended base on my old cast iron stuffer.
I use a couple of Irwin 6" Quick Grip clamps to hold it down.
Young son (or daughter) helper is the envy of the older gang.

I picked up one of those the other day and it makes a HUGE difference. I've only used it on 32mm casings, but my boy was able to crank the stuffer like mad. The smaller casing should be much easier now.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Made it a few times.

View attachment 679351

For the idiots in the crowd (that would be me...) can anyone please explain or direct me somewhere accurate for the "let sit room temp 2 hours to bloom"?

Also, considering the "Cure #1" that is in here, how long does the processed meat need to 'sit' in order for the transformation to take place?

 

[indaswamp]

Blooming sausages just dries the casings a little so the sausages darken and look better. Also easier to vac seal a dry sausage. The cure #1 is fixed when the sausages are heated during the smoking/cooking step.

 

[chopsaw]

"let sit room temp 2 hours to bloom"?

I just made this myself . It's a good formula . The " Blooming " lets some color take place on the surface .
Here's mine that was bloomed 2 hours , plus 5 days at 60 degrees .


Mix up your meat , and hold overnight in a 36 degree fridge , and that will be good for the cure .

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Thank you. Very much.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

You can mix and stuff right away. If you let them hang even over night they will get better.....dont worry you aint going to kick the bucket.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

You can mix and stuff right away. If you let them hang even over night they will get better.....dont worry you aint going to kick the bucket.

I may very well be missing something, but isn't that exactly what the recipe on the Opening Post is saying?
Mix, Stuff, Refrigerate overnight, then Smoke?

Or....?

 

[nlife]

I may very well be missing something, but isn't that exactly what the recipe on the Opening Post is saying?
Mix, Stuff, Refrigerate overnight, then Smoke?

Or....?

Pretty much.

There's a few ways you can do this, but the key is that Cure #1 needs some time in/on the meat to work.

You can mix all the ingredients - including Cure #1 - together and let it sit in a covered bowl overnight, which is what I usually do. From what I understand, the cure needs around 12 hours or so to work it's magic. Alternatively, you can mix everything together and stuff the same day. Then leave them in the fridge overnight and smoke the next day. Stuffing and leaving it sit overnight has the benefit of letting the casing dry out so it takes great smoke.

Now, if you wanted to mix, stuff and smoke the same day, you'd need to add in a cure accelerator like Sodium Erythorbate or other types of suitable ascorbic acid. These help speed up the chemical reaction that happens over time with Cure #1.

I find it easier on my body to grind one day, mix, then let it sit in the fridge overnight. Get up the next morning to stuff, dry, smoke, and bloom. That way I have plenty of time to come up with alternate plans should something go wrong along the way. It also allows me time to pack and freeze.

 

[indaswamp]

I think the confusion here for S Sean the Nailer is the difference between cure diffusion throughout the meat paste, and color fixing from nitrite forming nitrousmyoglobin which gives the meat the red color....

Cure, like all salts, do take time to travel through meat and equalize; about 1/4" per day. Which is why overnight is plenty long enough for ground meat like that for sausages to be "cured". The meat will be a very dull color at this point, a good indication that the cure has done it's job and diffused through the meat. Now heat will accelerate equalization....most all the cure will be converted over to nitrousmyoglobin around 140-150*F.

 

[chopsaw]

can anyone please explain or direct me somewhere accurate for the "let sit room temp 2 hours to bloom"?

Here's an example of blooming that may be more helpful than my previous comment .
This is smoked sausage from another cook .
This is just out of some poaching liquid .

After a couple hours at room temp . Shows some color change .

 

[Flash Burn]

You can use LHP-Dry, one that can use cure 1 or 2 and be smoked with low heat

I'm going to give your recipe the 'ol college try. I've been using Victor's Taste of Artisan pepperoni recipe with a couple variations.

You mention LHP.
Any reason why F-LC wouldn't work?

 

[nlife]

This was my most recent batch. I think it's my best one yet. Not too dry, not to soft.

I toned the anise and fennel down just a touch. You can taste that it's there, it's just not as present as before. This batch is destined to be a christmas gift for the father in-law. He liked the sample I gave him so much that he ate it all before the mother in-law could try it. His only complaint was that I didn't give him enough.