Q: Reducing Salt in Recipe

[DailyLunatic]

First, I know not to adjust the ratio of Curing Salt. But as a beginner, I'm not certain how much I can adjust the regular salt. First time I made, I figured I'd just stubbed my toe, but second time it is still too salty. I want to adjust but not certain that it is not a part of the curing process.

Should that salt ratio be maintained as well? ...or is it treated as just another seasoning?

 

[DougE]

I do 1.5% regular salt in addition to the 0.25% cure#1 .......... 1.75% total salt.

 

[DougE]

If your recipe has sugar, that will offset the saltiness to some degree as well.

 

[DailyLunatic]

I do 1.5% regular salt in addition to the 0.25% cure#1 .......... 1.75% total salt.

Are you saying you should never drop below that ratio of total salt?

Edit: Specially, is it SAFE to make the adjustment? Currently, the recipe is 1.6% salt, and 0.3% cure. I'd like to try 1.0% salt and 0.3% cure. Is that safe?

-sterling

 

[Fueling Around]

I make fresh sausage at 1/2% salt. No worry on cure time there.
I made my last cure at 1% total salt and no sugar. Cure time is roughly double without the added salt to help with nitrite penetration.

 

[DougE]

Most recipes I adapt have more salt than I use. I think some go even lower, but remember, from a safety standpoint, salt and cure both play a role in safely smoking below the danger zone.

 

[DougE]

I make fresh sausage at 1/2% salt. No worry on cure time there.
I made my last cure at 1% total salt and no sugar. Cure time is roughly double without the added salt to help with nitrite penetration.

Just who I was hoping would come by and weigh in.

 

[cptnding]

My understanding has always been don't go below 1.5% total salt for safety. This would mean 1.26% salt and .25% cure #1 for rough measurements.
However I don't doubt Fueling Around's information. Makes perfect sense that with less salt the cure penetration would just take longer and if the meat was fresh the longer curing time is not an issue.
Are you curing sausage or whole muscle?

 

[DailyLunatic]

I make fresh sausage at 1/2% salt. No worry on cure time there.
I made my last cure at 1% total salt and no sugar. Cure time is roughly double without the added salt to help with nitrite penetration.

I make fresh sausage at 1/2% salt. No worry on cure time there.
I made my last cure at 1% total salt and no sugar. Cure time is roughly double without the added salt to help with nitrite penetration.

Thank you.
This recipe includes an Accelerator (.05% Sodium Erythobate), and did not mention including a cure time. Even with the accelerator, I usually stuff on day one, and smoke on day 2 ('cause I'm scared that way)

Good to know that - a) salt is necessary for the cure process, and b) that it can be greatly reduced, provided the cure time is extended.

I assume, from above, this will be sufficient if I were to halve the salt?

This was my second attempt at sausage, and it turned out much better, texture wise, but still dry and crumbly. One elephant at a time, though.

-sterling

 

[DailyLunatic]

My understanding has always been don't go below 1.5% total salt for safety. This would mean 1.26% salt and .25% cure #1 for rough measurements.
However I don't doubt Fueling Around's information. Makes perfect sense that with less salt the cure penetration would just take longer and if the meat was fresh the longer curing time is not an issue.
Are you curing sausage or whole muscle?

Sausage.
I'm using Henry Duncan's Mennonite Sausage recipe. Trying to keep things simple until I get a better hang on things.
Personally, I like salty. But, this is right on the edge of what I can take. Wife won't touch it after the first bite.

-sterling

 

[DougE]

This was my second attempt at sausage, and it turned out much better, texture wise, but still dry and crumbly

What you say here makes me think you're getting fat smearing/fat out causing the crumbly texture. Smoking too hot can cause it and also letting the meat get too warm during grinding/mixing. Keep everything cold during grinding and mixing ..... like 30 to 32°F. I also keep pretty cold during stuffing, but I'm not as strict at that point. Also could be not enough fat in your grind to start with. 80/20 lean to fat is about right.

 

[DailyLunatic]

What you say here makes me think you're getting fat smearing/fat out causing the crumbly texture. Smoking too hot can cause it and also letting the meat get too warm during grinding/mixing. Keep everything cold during grinding and mixing ..... like 30 to 32°F. I also keep pretty cold during stuffing, but I'm not as strict at that point. Also could be not enough fat in your grind to start with. 80/20 lean to fat is about right.

See:

Q: Grinding Chicken Skin & How to Juice Things Up

Beginner, so pardon if this has been discussed. I could not find on my search here. This is only my second batch. First batch was dry and crumbly. (There were other issues, but keeping is simple here.) Fat was 15 - 20%, but I forgot to add water, and I blamed dryness on that. That is, until...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Where I am trying to solve the dry issue.
-sterling

 

[Fueling Around]

Sorry
Lost tracking of this thread.
30% fat is much better in pork sausage.
Low salt sausage follows DougE rules to keep it cold during the processing. I have my father in laws cast iron stuffer. The bottom horn is a pia for the wasted meat, the cast iron is great as it goes in the cold fridge for a couple hours before stuffing.

I have not run into issues with my low salt recipes.

My last cure at 1% was intact whole meat and a dry rub. I haven't done the math, but even at 1%, the salt level is pretty high on the surface of the meet.

 

[slavikborisov]

SmokinEdge had a post on this a while back as to the safety of the percentage of salt he might be able to chime in

 

[zwiller]

My understanding has always been don't go below 1.5% total salt for safety. This would mean 1.26% salt and .25% cure #1 for rough measurements.

This is kinda what I remember too but cannot offer a cite where it came from. In general I find 2% too salty for my tastes (and I like salt). You start at 2% then add cure, then say STPP and SE and it's simply too much. 1.25-1.75% usually. I am alot like John Fueling Around in that I like it lower in fresh and higher on cured/smoked. I will add that my pork injection (for PP) is 1% salt and it's JUST RIGHT. You cannot tell it's even in there but is MUCH tastier than without, if that makes any sense. Good point on the sugar DougE I find sugar also adds a thickness of the flavor and keeps it on the palette longer. I will also say if you fail at nailing the spice formula for the sausage it will leave things kinda flat/lacking and salty. I am typically bumping spices up from recipes in the green book or online and happier with the outcome.