Hello,
I am posting this in the general discussion forum since it is related to a variety of meats.
I come from Croatia and here traditionally we usually make our own sausages, hams, bacon (like German speck or Italian pancetta). Products usually made at home are dried to a point where you do not need to cook them neither while making them nor later before eating. Of course if you make hot-dogs and sausages like that you need to thermically process them - but those style sausages are industry made and nobody is making them at home. Home made sausages, lard, cracklings, ham and other are usually made in late November which is usually a reson for family get-together since everyone joins in and helps; including neighbours. That is for people having someone back in villages usually their parents or for younger their grandparents; in cities - you just go to supermarket and buy industrial made food. Also when people slaghter the pig, veterenary comes or you bring to him some pieces to check for Trichinosis.
Now my question is as follows:
In usual recepies only salt is being used. Keeping the meat in salt is usually longer than in recepies available here, popular books on the topic (Michael Ruhlman, Brian Polycyn, Home Sausage Making) and recepies on the internet like for example in this forum and so on. As a matter of fact, most of those are for thermically processed sausages even bacon recepie. Also for curing everywhere it is mentioned to use pink salt or basically adding nitrite.
I will give 2 "standard" recepies for spicy sausage from Slavonia region and dried bacon (spek/pancetta). Obviously each family has their own variation.
Sausages:
20kg pork meat - usually from front shoulder blade.
5kg pork back bacon fat (white; one you would use to render lard/cracklings).
1% hot paprika (freshst as possible!!)
1% sweet paprika (freshst as possible!!)
1% garlic (optional)
2% salt.
Grind meat & fat; not to coarse but also not too fine; mix in the spices. Some people crush the garlic put it in the water than use that water to add to the mix and not the garlic itself. Some people do not use garlic. Some people add garlic as it is. Put it in pork casing caliber 32/34.
Hang them. Let them dry. Cold smoke them 4-5 times every second day for a few hours. Each time would be around 6-7 hours. Put the sausages in a cold, place with enough air circulation but not a lot so they dry. 32/34 caliber would need few weeks. Cut them & eat :)
Speck/Pancetta:
Take pork belly. Liberately put salt all over the meat pieces. Put them one over the other in some plastic bucket. Between each layer add extra salt. Some people also add garlic in between. You don't need to put salt where the skin is. You put layer 2 on top of layer 1 with skin down. Let it sit like this for 3 to up to 4 weeks. After, wash it, dry it. Smoke it 3-4 times every second day. Some people smoke less. When it gets nice brown "copper" color you can stop smoking. Let it hang for few weeks so it becomes dry. Cut it up & eat :)
Some nice pictures (not mine):
http://narodni.net/dimljenje-susenje-mesa/
The whole point why people like homemade except better taste, real meat, no soy, no binders, no fillers and so on is that it also has no nitrites.
So...I would like to try many of the recepies here but it is even hard to find nitrite salt unless you are a commercial food processor.
And I never heard anyone got sick from salt only sausages.
What is your opinion?
Thanks.
P.S Slanina nickname is bacon/speck/pancetta in my language :)
I am posting this in the general discussion forum since it is related to a variety of meats.
I come from Croatia and here traditionally we usually make our own sausages, hams, bacon (like German speck or Italian pancetta). Products usually made at home are dried to a point where you do not need to cook them neither while making them nor later before eating. Of course if you make hot-dogs and sausages like that you need to thermically process them - but those style sausages are industry made and nobody is making them at home. Home made sausages, lard, cracklings, ham and other are usually made in late November which is usually a reson for family get-together since everyone joins in and helps; including neighbours. That is for people having someone back in villages usually their parents or for younger their grandparents; in cities - you just go to supermarket and buy industrial made food. Also when people slaghter the pig, veterenary comes or you bring to him some pieces to check for Trichinosis.
Now my question is as follows:
In usual recepies only salt is being used. Keeping the meat in salt is usually longer than in recepies available here, popular books on the topic (Michael Ruhlman, Brian Polycyn, Home Sausage Making) and recepies on the internet like for example in this forum and so on. As a matter of fact, most of those are for thermically processed sausages even bacon recepie. Also for curing everywhere it is mentioned to use pink salt or basically adding nitrite.
I will give 2 "standard" recepies for spicy sausage from Slavonia region and dried bacon (spek/pancetta). Obviously each family has their own variation.
Sausages:
20kg pork meat - usually from front shoulder blade.
5kg pork back bacon fat (white; one you would use to render lard/cracklings).
1% hot paprika (freshst as possible!!)
1% sweet paprika (freshst as possible!!)
1% garlic (optional)
2% salt.
Grind meat & fat; not to coarse but also not too fine; mix in the spices. Some people crush the garlic put it in the water than use that water to add to the mix and not the garlic itself. Some people do not use garlic. Some people add garlic as it is. Put it in pork casing caliber 32/34.
Hang them. Let them dry. Cold smoke them 4-5 times every second day for a few hours. Each time would be around 6-7 hours. Put the sausages in a cold, place with enough air circulation but not a lot so they dry. 32/34 caliber would need few weeks. Cut them & eat :)
Speck/Pancetta:
Take pork belly. Liberately put salt all over the meat pieces. Put them one over the other in some plastic bucket. Between each layer add extra salt. Some people also add garlic in between. You don't need to put salt where the skin is. You put layer 2 on top of layer 1 with skin down. Let it sit like this for 3 to up to 4 weeks. After, wash it, dry it. Smoke it 3-4 times every second day. Some people smoke less. When it gets nice brown "copper" color you can stop smoking. Let it hang for few weeks so it becomes dry. Cut it up & eat :)
Some nice pictures (not mine):
http://narodni.net/dimljenje-susenje-mesa/
The whole point why people like homemade except better taste, real meat, no soy, no binders, no fillers and so on is that it also has no nitrites.
So...I would like to try many of the recepies here but it is even hard to find nitrite salt unless you are a commercial food processor.
And I never heard anyone got sick from salt only sausages.
What is your opinion?
Thanks.
P.S Slanina nickname is bacon/speck/pancetta in my language :)
