Weight vs measuring spoons in sausage making

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crankybuzzard

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Jan 4, 2014
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Montague County, TX
Many times over the last few years that I've been on this forum I've witnessed folks that have complained about too much salt in their sausage after smoking. One of the common denominators is that they are using teaspoons or tablespoons to measure ingredients out.

In order to show the differences in SALT when measured out with "spoons", I did an experiment this evening.

I took 6 different salts and measured out 1 level Tablespoon of each. The salts used in this experiment were:

Popcorn salt
Normal Morton's table salt (non iodized)
Morton's kosher salt
Morton's ice cream salt
Smoked Morton's kosher salt (smoked by me, not store bought)
Himalayan pink salt (the stuff my bride loves)

Before starting the test, I checked the calibration of my scale.

All looked good, so I began weighing the samples.

As you can see from the pic below, there are big differences with some and slight differences with others.


In order to quantify my findings, I measured each type of salt 3 times, with new salt each time, and took the average of each for the presentation board.

Once I was finished with all measurements, I once again checked the calibration of my scale.


So, if you want repeatable recipes, and you want to make certain that your sausage isn't too salty, start weighing your ingredients!

The scale shown above cost 15 bucks on Amazon. It's a cheap investment that will pay for itself in short time.
 
Nicely done.

BUT

Where did you get that scale.

Ok i see Slamazon.
 
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Great post.

Measuring all ingredients helps make great recipes, and recipes you can duplicate at any time.
 
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     Great Info CB

Gary
 
Nice work CB, this will be an eye opener for many of the new sausage makers.
I have the same scale and love it.
 
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Great info CB,, I have the same scale I use for weighing my Archery tips for correct weights 

Nice - POINT for the lesson 
 
I knew there would be a difference, but a few of them surprised me! The Himalayan pink salt blew me away, it's heavily mineralized, so I'm assuming that's what made it so dense.
 
Interesting test.  I too was surprised a the big difference in the Himalayan Pink Salt.  Thanks for taking the time to do this and share!
 
Here you go again how much new info do you think this old man can handle wasn't that good in school to star with. 
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Will have to say you postings have been very informative and tested before posting good job cranky.
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Warren
 
Thx. CB. I am also printing off the the charts and putting them up in the "shack" where we butcher and make sausage. 
 
Good post CB, and certainly pointworthy.

I am 100% agreement with you on the use of weight versus volume when measuring all ingredients, especially salt. I did something similar to what you've done several years ago using 7 different salts we had in the pantry, though my specific interest was in kosher salt. For many years, the kosher salt that I have used is the Diamond Crystal brand, the brand that most culinary schools, professional food and recipe writers, and professional chef's use. Once, when I ran out of Diamond Crystal, I substituted Morton's kosher and, to make a long story short, through the finished product away as it was way too salty.

When I finished the comparison of the various salts, I found that, as you can see from the table below, by an equal volume, the weight of Diamond Crystal kosher salt is 73% of Morton's weight. Knowing that tells me that if a professionally written recipe calls for kosher salt, I assume that they are referring to Diamond Crystal, and I adjust accordingly if I have no choice but to use Morton's. The same adjustments work with the other salts listed as well.

 
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