Question about cure amount and cooking temp in Len Poli pepperoni recipe?

[worktogthr]

For Christmas, Santa bought me a Blackstone Pizza oven and I was thinking I should make my own pepperoni...

I was thinking about trying Len Poli's recipe which calls for only 1tsp of cure #1 for 6 pounds of meat and a cooking temp of 185-190.

So since I like to follow food safety rules and I have a fairly good understanding of the sausage basics, these two questions come to mind.

1. Shouldn't there be more cure #1 due to he 6 lbs of meat instead of 5. Or will cooking at 185-190 get it cooked in less than 4 hours.

2. Won't fat render out at those cooking temps? I usually try to go no higher than 165 when doing any type of cooked or smoked sausage.

I lied, and have another question.

3. Can I substitute sugar 1:1 for dextrose?

I was thinking about trying chicken pepperoni just because A local market has a great price on thigh meat and I am assuming the final IT has to be 165. Is that right?


Thanks guys in advance!

 

[dirtsailor2003]

For six pounds you'd want 6.79 grams of cure. If you don't have a way to weigh another 1/8-1/4 teaspoon would be fine.

165 is good for finished temp

Dextrose isn't as sweet as sugar. 70%-80%. So less sugar.

You can use Karo syrup 1.6oz per 5 pounds of meat.

If you need to hit an IT of 165 you will need to get your pit up to 175-180 at some point. I wouldn't worry about fat out at those temps.

 

[pc farmer]

Dextrose and sugar are way different.   Dextrose is cheap. 

 

[worktogthr]

For six pounds you'd want 6.79 grams of cure. If you don't have a way to weigh another 1/8-1/4 teaspoon would be fine.

165 is good for finished temp

Dextrose isn't as sweet as sugar. 70%-80%. So less sugar.

You can use Karo syrup 1.6oz per 5 pounds of meat.

If you need to hit an IT of 165 you will need to get your pit up to 175-180 at some point. I wouldn't worry about fat out at those temps.

Thanks so much for the info! I'll definitely share the results when I try this.