Sausage making plunge

[uncle eddie]

I am six months ahead of you...so not quite a "noob" anymore but definitely not a veteran by any means.
Listen to the veterans.
I hope you enjoy making sausage as much as I do!

 

[Nefarious]

I am six months ahead of you...so not quite a "noob" anymore but definitely not a veteran by any means.
Listen to the veterans.
I hope you enjoy making sausage as much as I do!

More then likely, and will also enjoy eating the reward as much as you.

 

[Nefarious]

My wife is having ACL surgery tomorrow and I will have more time with little to do for a few days so making sausage will fill some of that time. I took the advise of SmokinEdge and tallbm and converted the above recipe from crazymoon above to grams spice to Kg meat. I've looked at several online versions and this seems like a good place to start. To convert from tbs and tsp to grams, i did not measure, i just found a conversion for each individual spice.

For the meat 10 lb * 454 gr/lb is 4540gr meat.

Salt is 18gr/tbs and 4tbs is 72gr / 4540gr =.016gr salt/ gr meat or 16gm salt/kg meat // seems too much
Pap is 6.8gr/tbs and 2tbs is 13.6gr / 4540 gr = .003 gr pap/ gr meat or 3 gr pap/kg meat // seems small
CRP is 6gr/tbs and 2tbs is 12gr / 4540 gr = .0026 gr crp/ gr meat or 2.6 gr crp/kg meat
Cay is 12 gr/tbs and becomes 2.6 gr cay/kg meat
Fen is 5.8gr/tbs and becomes 3.8 gr fen/kg meat
Ani is 6.7gr/tbs and becomes 3 gr ani/kg meat
Wp is 2.3gr/tsp and becomes .5 gr wp/kg meat
Bp is 2.3gr/tsp and becomes .5 gr bp/kg meat // seems small
Su is 12.5gr/tbs and becomes 6 gr su/kg meat

I will start with half the salt and add more after the fry test. I'm doing the fry test for practice since this will be cooked in a red pasta sauce and I can add anything I want/ need then.

 

[SmokinEdge]

My wife is having ACL surgery tomorrow and I will have more time with little to do for a few days so making sausage will fill some of that time. I took the advise of SmokinEdge and tallbm and converted the above recipe from crazymoon above to grams spice to Kg meat. I've looked at several online versions and this seems like a good place to start. To convert from tbs and tsp to grams, i did not measure, i just found a conversion for each individual spice.

For the meat 10 lb * 454 gr/lb is 4540gr meat.

Salt is 18gr/tbs and 4tbs is 72gr / 4540gr =.016gr salt/ gr meat or 16gm salt/kg meat // seems too much
Pap is 6.8gr/tbs and 2tbs is 13.6gr / 4540 gr = .003 gr pap/ gr meat or 3 gr pap/kg meat // seems small
CRP is 6gr/tbs and 2tbs is 12gr / 4540 gr = .0026 gr crp/ gr meat or 2.6 gr crp/kg meat
Cay is 12 gr/tbs and becomes 2.6 gr cay/kg meat
Fen is 5.8gr/tbs and becomes 3.8 gr fen/kg meat
Ani is 6.7gr/tbs and becomes 3 gr ani/kg meat
Wp is 2.3gr/tsp and becomes .5 gr wp/kg meat
Bp is 2.3gr/tsp and becomes .5 gr bp/kg meat // seems small
Su is 12.5gr/tbs and becomes 6 gr su/kg meat

I will start with half the salt and add more after the fry test. I'm doing the fry test for practice since this will be cooked in a red pasta sauce and I can add anything I want/ need then.

I would encourage you to forget the recipe as written and apply standard measure to it to start with. Spoons of salt, for example are all over the map in weight, granulated salt vs kosher and kosher has 3 different gain sizes, so volume is worthless here. You can get by with volume on aromatics that are dry, but trying to convert a spooned measured recipe into weight is futile.

Apply salt in a percentage to meat weight. Weigh the salt. 1.5% to 2% is the playing field. That is 15g to 20g/Kg Salt to meat weight. Pick your percentage for sugar and apply the same.

For seasoning start with this.

paprika) 2g/kg
crushed red pepper) 0.5g/kg
cayenne) 0.5g/kg
whole fennel) 2g/kg
whole anis) 1g/kg
white pepper) 2g/kg
black pepper) 2g/kg

These will turn out a good product, but are definitely subjective to your taste and can be adjusted as such. Keep it straight forward and eliminate variables at the start. This is a much faster path to success.

 

[Nefarious]

I would encourage you to forget the recipe as written and apply standard measure to it to start with. Spoons of salt, for example are all over the map in weight, granulated salt vs kosher and kosher has 3 different gain sizes, so volume is worthless here. You can get by with volume on aromatics that are dry, but trying to convert a spooned measured recipe into weight is futile.

Apply salt in a percentage to meat weight. Weigh the salt. 1.5% to 2% is the playing field. That is 15g to 20g/Kg Salt to meat weight. Pick your percentage for sugar and apply the same.

For seasoning start with this.

paprika) 2g/kg
crushed red pepper) 0.5g/kg
cayenne) 0.5g/kg
whole fennel) 2g/kg
whole anis) 1g/kg
white pepper) 2g/kg
black pepper) 2g/kg

These will turn out a good product, but are definitely subjective to your taste and can be adjusted as such. Keep it straight forward and eliminate variables at the start. This is a much faster path to success.

Ok, I'll start with this with some adjustments to make it a little hotter.

The main question is, do I have to use this much salt. As a family we do not have salt in our spice drawer, we do not put a salt shaker on the table at meals. Is there any reason other then taste that I have to use this much salt? Can I start with half and add more if I need?

 

[SmokinEdge]

Ok, I'll start with this with some adjustments to make it a little hotter.

The main question is, do I have to use this much salt. As a family we do not have salt in our spice drawer, we do not put a salt shaker on the table at meals. Is there any reason other then taste that I have to use this much salt? Can I start with half and add more if I need?

For fresh sausage there is no salt requirement at all, although I would add 0.5% salt just as a base line. As long as it is fresh to be cooked to food safe IT, play with the salt all you want. What I posted is a general palate level of preferred salt, but you don’t have to use that much. Cured and smoked sausage run under a little more strict guideline.

 

[indaswamp]

If you want the sausage to bind-you need the salt. And you need to mix to form the bind from the extracted proteins.

 

[DougE]

And, if you are wearing nitrile gloves while mixing, expect them to be pulled off when the meat gets sticky

 

[Nefarious]

If you want the sausage to bind-you need the salt. And you need to mix to form the bind from the extracted proteins.

That's if I'm making sausage links? That project is next. I'll add some because I used to use store bought sausage which is one of the reasons for doing this, and it had too much. I don't think zero is the correct amount. Plus I can make it taste how I want.

 

[JckDanls 07]

And, if you are wearing nitrile gloves while mixing, expect them to be pulled off when the meat gets sticky

I keep a couple of the plastic bondo applicators in my reach to clean gloves off after mixing...

 

[TNJAKE]

That's if I'm making sausage links? That project is next. I'll add some because I used to use store bought sausage which is one of the reasons for doing this, and it had too much. I don't think zero is the correct amount. Plus I can make it taste how I want.

Edit. I'll start reading entire posts before commenting

 

[SmokinEdge]

That's if I'm making sausage links? That project is next. I'll add some because I used to use store bought sausage which is one of the reasons for doing this, and it had too much. I don't think zero is the correct amount. Plus I can make it taste how I want.

It’s not strict on fresh sausage. salt does help with bind, but this can be worked around if need be, you will sacrifice some things but it will work.

Like I originally posted, start with.5% salt as a baseline and work from there.

 

[DougE]

Seems like a minimal amount of salt is necessary to get some protein extraction going on to make a good bind.

 

[crazymoon]

NF, You'll need to add more salt if you are mixing up your sausage and it doesn't start to stick to your hands . IMHO you will have a crumbly pile of pork burger without some salt?

 

[Nefarious]

And, if you are wearing nitrile gloves while mixing, expect them to be pulled off when the meat gets sticky

Ha ha, my hands are really small, so that is for sure. Maybe I should put rubber bands around my wrists, call them glove suspenders.

 

[indaswamp]

speaking of latex gloves and mixing sausage.......

buy some of those cheap poly liner gloves from walmart that come 3 to a pack for $2.00.....put a pair of those on then put your latex glove on over it. No more cold hand while mixing.

Can also find them at Pilot or Love's truck stops....

(and it helps with small hands....<sarc>)

 

[Nefarious]

speaking of latex gloves and mixing sausage.......

buy some of those cheap poly liner gloves from walmart that come 3 to a pack for $2.00.....put a pair of those on then put your latex glove on over it. No more cold hand while mixing.

Can also find them at Pilot or Love's truck stops....

(and it helps with small hands....<sarc>)

I didn't see the link?

 

[indaswamp]

I don't have a link. I tried to find them on Walmart.com. I see them here every winter. Come in Black, brown, and grey...usually a 3pack. One size fits all. Cheap liner glove...

Any polypro liner glove will work, but those are really cheap.

 

[indaswamp]

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Polar-Ex...Magic-Gloves-Pack-of-3/792358819?athbdg=L1700

Says boys glove, but they fit my hand and I wear lg. latex gloves....

 

[Nefarious]

Says boys glove, but they fit my hand and I wear lg. latex gloves....

yea, awesome. I only need lg gloves because they are long fellows, a poet and don't know it'. These are perfect. I can even wear them with my outdoor work gloves.