Question - Target % of dry spices (not salt) in a salami or summer sausage

[LoydB]

I got some of those fancy lined casings from Walton's - some are black pepper, some are red pepper, and some are gyro seasonings. I'm going to do a lamb shoulder & beef heart summer sausage to play off of the gyro theme. I'm trying to figure out that fine line between too much spice and not enough. At the moment, I've got around 7% in my gyro mix -- I'm wondering if that's going to be overpowering.

We all know the salt %, I'm wondering what people use for a spice target %.

 

[indaswamp]

I can not help you with your spice profile other than to point you to recommended rates in Marianski's yellow salami book. I do know that if you use more than 2% powder....in any combination of spices......it will affect the bind and you will get a weird texture. Also more prone to voids as the salami dries. 1.5% powders is the recommended max.
Now you can use a coarser grind for your black or white pepper instead of fine grind to free up for more of your spice powders.

Hope this helps.

 

[indaswamp]

You can also up the fat content and it will help if you use more than 2% powders......

 

[DanMcG]

Len Poli recommends 0.75%-2% flavorings for a cooked sausage. 7% sounds high to me, but I've never separated the spice percent out of my recipes before.

 

[LoydB]

I can not help you with your spice profile other than to point you to recommended rates in Marianski's yellow salami book.

indaswamp That was the first place I looked -- I couldn't find a recommendation for totals, only the tables at the end of chapter 5 discussing how much to use of each individual type.

 

[LoydB]

So here's where I'm ending up, 1.35%

 

[indaswamp]

Oughta work! Can't wait to see it!

 

[indaswamp]

4.7-4.8 final pH is pretty low....gonna be tangy for sure. Going for American style??

 

[LoydB]

4.7-4.8 final pH is pretty low....gonna be tangy for sure. Going for American style??

I like my summer sausage tangy. If I was doing it a salami, I'd go higher.