pepperoni

[smoked]

Okay, I'm experimenting.....wanting to get a nice pepperoni that the whole family will like deejaydebbies recipe looks good but I for one don't have prague powder on hand (I usually use mortons tenderquick) and we tend to like it heavy on the paprika side.....so here is what I'm trying, if anyone has suggestions feel free to add..... (btw I had a major accident with grinding the pork and my poor knife shattered into 3 pieces :-( )

2 lbs ground beef (15%)
1 lbs ground pork (boston butt or country rib style)
4 1/2 teaspoons morton tenderquick
3 3/4 teaspoons ground pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed (slightly crushed)
3/4 teaspoons anise seed (slightly crushed)
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic poweder
4 1/2 teaspoons paprika
3 teaspoons cayenne pepper

I'll mix all this togethor, let sit in a fridge for 12 plus hours, then stuff into a fiberous casing and hang in the smoker for 4 or so hours at 200.....it will all depend on temp in the middle however!!!!!

this is work in progress, please feel free to add comment on what you think I'm missing :-)

 

[Dutch]

Smoked, your recipe looks about right in ingredient proportions. Itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s close to the Pepperoni recipe that I use from Mortonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s. Be sure that you get the internal temps up to 160*.

Good luck with the experimenting!!

 

[smoked]

thanks dutch, got them stuffed in fiberous casings and hanging in the smoker as we speak......hope it turns out, still smelled "beefy" to me so I'm afraid it will end up more like a beef stick......think next time I'm swaping the beef and pork amounts as most of the pepperoni I find on the market is more pork then beef...... thankfully also LEM said they were going to send me a replacement knife for the one that shattered in my new grinder under warranty...no questions asked....nice folks over there! :D

here they are just stuffed and ready to hang in the smoker....

 

[smoked]

update.....okay they got to 160, they smell very good btw......took them out and gave them a quick cold shower........so here they are right now, will have to let them rest a bit and then free from the casing and give them a try....

 

[smoked]

well I could not wait very long, I hung four of the full sized ones in the fridge in the garage to rest a bit.....but the smaller one had to be cut from the casing and tried.....had to...... to us it tastes more like a spicey beef stick, slight pepperoni overtones but just not the same....I think I'll end up swaping pork and beef next time.....here it is free from casing and sliced....plus one with the all time fan of my cooking just waiting.......and drooling......and drooling more.... :D

 

[goat]

I don't care for fennel or anise. I made some hotlinks a couple of days ago and included 1 tsp anise seeds to 8 lbs of meat and there is just too strong of a liquorish taste for me. Use these to suit your own tastes.

Goat

 

[smoked]

well I found that in this recipe that when at least crushed (or should I say a bit pulverised in a coffee grinder) there is no liqourish taste whatsoever.....granted the amount of paprika and cayenne make it a tad on the spicy side.....still only a pepperoni overtones, not real pepperoni....it's much more like a spicy beefstick....oh well....try try try again (until I really study and get into just dry curing.....)

 

[deejaydebi]

Smoked -

I'm not sure why but when it's smoked it does taste more like beef stick. If it just air dried it's more like pepperoni. Maybe it's just not a smokeable item?

 

[smoked]

how long do you let yours dry cure then? I've been hesitant to try that but if I could then I would love to make salami as well...... :)

 

[deejaydebi]

I leave it hang in the mud room (front unheated hallway) for about 2 months. Then just leave it open in the fridge for a few weeks. The self defrost mode in the new fridges dehydrates dry sausages nicely after you predry.

I think you have to use prague powder #2 and a fermentor for all hanging dry sausages, I don't think tender quick will do it. I haven't tried it yet though. I still have to check out the morton website.

I'm not going to smoke the salami. It taste to much like summer sausage smoked. I don't really like summer sausage. I had to make Zuppa out of my pepperoni man it was hot then! Very strange it - wasn't hot raw but it made the soup hot.

 

[smoked]

I think your right, tenderquick is not for dry curing, won't work....from everything I've seen prague 2 is that route.....and like I said, I don't have any prague at all either 1 or 2 so guess I need to buy some, just like some tang and ascorbic acid and many other things if I'm gonna jump into this :D so right now I'm sticking to smoking, but I'm really wanting to make my own salami big time.....man we love that stuff.....for being german I do like the italian stuff alot

is your mud room always at a specific temp and humidity?????? from what I've seen those are the two big factors outside of ph.......it almost sounds like a chemistry experiment and I've been a long long long time away from college :p

 

[dgross]

Wow smoked, got me dreaming of an lg Italian sub :D for breakfast! Looks great. Daun

 

[smoked]

well I've been researching more on making dry cured pepperoni and salami, got a few recipes and man it sounds labor and time intensive but interesting..... Deejaydebbie, I take it during the 2 months in your mud room that is basically the "incubation" period, but I'm not totally understanding the drying in the fridge thing...... I really want to give this a try, and in fact found a salami one that after the incubation you cold smoke a couple of times to get a nice smoke flavor before totally drying.....that sounds just up my alley!!!!

 

[deejaydebi]

Goat -

I love anise! Must be a Italian thing , we use it in alot of recipes. I got a great recipe for Biscotti (serveral actually) that use anise and almonds and I have to make a dozen loaves at a time or eveyone in the family gets upset! Thats my Christmas walk-in handout - Biscotti!

Smoked -

The refrigerator drys out the pepperoni faster. The self defrost mode is really a dehydrator sucking up he moisture so you don't get ice build up. Instead of sucking water it sucks the moisture out of the pepperoni! Try it - make or buy a beef stick or peperoni throw it in the fridge uncovered and unwrapped after a few days it will loose most of it's moisture. What stared out as a limp fatty piece of sausage now becomes a hard dry wonderful pepperoni!

My mud room works because on one side of the single pane, 12 light door is a floor heater that looks like a BBQ strapped to the basement ceiling and the other side is colder than a well diggers butt! This makes the mud room more humid than it would normally be. Condensation facory! Great place in incubate sausage and cheese(both require similar cool humid areas).

If you do a dry sausage you really need to get prague #2 and a fermenting agent or I think it will go bad. I have heard that fermento isn't any good for real salami - never tried it - just what I heard. I love salami and pepperoni that's what we use for snack food in my house - but ti gotta be real dry not greasy!

I got a recipe I haven't tried yet that uses Ascorbic acid and Saltpeter. I don't know what the equivelant of saltpeter is in the US.

Genoa Salami Recipe

Ingredients:
5 pounds Beef chuck, round or shank
3 pounds Lean pork butt, cubed
2 pounds Pork fat, cubed
5 tablespoons Salt
1 cup Brandy, good quality
1 1/2 tablespoon Sugar
2 tablespoons Whole peppercorns
1 tablespoon Ground white pepper
1 teaspoon Coriander seed-finely ground
2 teaspoons Garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon Cardamom
1/2 teaspoon Ascorbic acid
1 teaspoon Saltpeter
4 Feet large beef casings

Directions:
Grind the beef, pork, and fat separate through the coarse disk. Mix together and chill in freezer a half hour or so. Grind through the fine disk. Mix remaining ingredients in. Cure in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Pack into casings, tying off into 12" links, and hang to dry. Since the salami is a very thick sausage, eight weeks is the minimum time you should allow before sampling. Depending upon your specific drying conditions, twelve weeks is about the optimim drying time.

May have to help this one dry. 12 weeks bring us to warm weather.

 

[goat]

I got a recipe I haven't tried yet that uses Ascorbic acid and Saltpeter. I don't know what the equivelant of saltpeter is in the US.



Saltpetre is available here. I picked up some in Fredericksberg, TX at the place where they make Opa's Sausage. I have a recipe or two that call for it.

 

[deejaydebi]

I always heard Saltpeter was illegal in the US (except in bootcamp)

 

[smoked]

Round 2 is in the oven as we speak......

 

[smoked]

okay, round two has been making the house smell awsome....it hit the mark, cut the heat...let it cool down to 85 and now on it's way to the fridge for chill time....I'll remove the casings after that (I used fiberous ones as usual)...but here is them ready to hit the fridge, the mozz I made that is going to go very well with it, and somebody who really really really can't wait for me to cut casings and slice up.....

good boy, keep licking that pan and I won't have to wash it!!!

btw, second round of mozz and cutting the salt in the recipe by half was the BOMB....that is the best mozz cheese I've ever tasted....man so good.....and I made it.....oh so good.......

 

[ultramag]

Hey smoked, I'll even settle for that little one. Looking good.

 

[dacdots]

Debi,you can buy saltpeter at most any drug store.I have used it once but from what I read about it you have to be very accurate in weighing it for use as it is highly poisonous if mixed to strong.I use the instacure #2 {prauge powder} for such applications.Ive never done any dry curing,looks like a very involved process.but I use the #2 for curing country hams.The way I understand it the #2 is a nitrite which is the next stage of a nitrate [#1]