Rogue Recipes...

[jeffchris83]

Hi everyone, I am a home sausage maker. I have long enjoyed making and eating snack sticks, summer sausages, and fresh brats. I am tired of feeling chained to the packaged mixes (though, I admit, very good) and would like to start trying my hand at preparing my own seasoning blends. I would like to maybe incorporate some of the rubs that I love on ribs and roasts, but I worry that I will get the salt/cure proportions all wrong.

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions on the matter?

I do have Instacure#1 and ECA on hand, just not sure what to think about adding in some of my own seasonings with them…

[twilliams]

jeffchris83 what specific flavors are you looming for? I can see what i have for recipes

[craigrice]

jeffchris83 when making your own seasoning you still need the proper amt. of nitrite’s and nitrates to assure the proper curing @johnathon or Austin would know the amounts or would direct you to the proper reference material to do it in a safe manor .

[jeffchris83]

twilliams, I have some BBQ rubs that I’d like to incorporate. I also have a hot wing dry rub.

[Jonathon]

jeffchris83 The best thing to do would be to use a basic mix that gives you some of the flavors you would want and then expand from there. Salt content is your big issue here, too much and it will be inedible, too little and it will have no flavor and wont bind together.

I’d recommend going with something the H Summer and then cutting back on the seasoning per lb by about 1/4, then make up that 1/4 with whatever rub you want to try. Do it in small batches, that way if you ruin something it’s not the end of the world and you can quickly and easily try again using either more, or less of your rub! Hope it turns out well and good luck!

[jeffchris83]

Thanks for all the comments and ideas. My wife and kids are at a church event all weekend…guess I’ll smoke some meat.

[erich52]

Another good tip is to utilize the tip that Jonathon gave and you can always cook it up like a hamburger patty and taste prior to making your large batch. This way you can adjust the seasoning accordingly. I have been doing something similar with my fresh deer brats that I have been making the last several years.

[Departing Contestant]

jeffchris83

I have always found this helpful

Guidelines for Spice Usage

General rule: About 1-2 g of spice is added to 1 kg (2.2 lbs) of meat. One teaspoon of dried ground spice weighs about 2 grams.

one dry ounce = 2 tablespoons (28.3 grams)
The following tables are reprinted with permission fron the book “Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages” Chapter 12 Creating Your Own Recipesand will help you create your own recipes. This is how much spices the professional sausage maker adds to 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs) of meat. Mace is the outer shell of nutmeg
0.5 25lbs = .1925 pepper (not to make hot)
Other Ingredients in g per 1 kg of Meat

[jeffchris83]

Next question. How much carrot fiber/lb?

[Jonathon]

jeffchris83 We’ve got per 1 and 5 lb batches conversions for all additives here https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/811/additive-conversion-chart and we also have Cures and Seasonings breakdown charts here https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/category/23/seasonings

[jeffchris83]

Departing Contestant Thanks, I’ll give a that a go.

[jeffchris83]

Jonathon Thanks, that’s pretty helpful. I have been making snack sticks for a while And have not quite mastered the casing portion . I always end up with bits not sticking well to the meat and some areas fatting out. I cook very slow and take a while to get to temp, always figured I was missing a binder. Used carrot fiber for the first time and had the same issue. Also the meat is a little dry.
I Used beef and pork 60/40. Plenty of fat In the mix, don’t think I cooked too fast. Any ideas on what I may keep missing?
Also, using smoked collagen 19mm casings.

[Jonathon]

jeffchris83 Is the 60/40 60% bef and 40% pork or is it a total of 60% lean and 40% fat? That would be a little too high on the fat and it would render out, but I am assuming it is beef to pork ratio not lean to fat. So, i’d guess you are having issues with protein extraction, carrot fiber is great but if you are having issues with protein extraction [Sure Gel](https://www.waltonsinc.com/sure-gel-meat-binder is probably the best thing to add. Another way to improve your protein extraction is to obviously grind through a 1/8th plate on your last grind and then mix mix mix! It should be sticky and pully, like hold a clump in two hands and pull it apart and it should stretch a long way before breaking. The fact that you are getting fat out and it was dry in a product that had enough fat leads me to believe this is your issue. Good luck!

[jeffchris83]

Jonathon my mix is 60/40 beef / pork. Not meat /fat. I use my hands to mix. And it takes forever, but I do the same with SS and get beautiful results. The sticks look pretty good until the ice bath, that’s when everything gets loose. Not sure about the dryness in the sticks, but again the SS is nice and moist. Only difference I can really point out is the eca in the SS that I don’t put in the sticks. I do refrigerate overnight for the cure time With the sticks.

[Jonathon]

jeffchris83 How are you laying them in the fridge overnight? Are they stacked and looped over eachother or are they laid out flat? Laying out flat is the better of the two options, now, would this absolutely be the cause of your issue, maybe, maybe not but it is something to try!

[jeffchris83]

Jonathon pretty much in a pile. Probably not getting all that dried out, are they?

Another thing… It’s there any harm in adding eca for the tang but not smoking right away?

[Jonathon]

jeffchris83 The danger in adding the ECA and not going to the smoker is that the encapsulation will rupture and leak the acid into the meat too early. This will cause a lot of issues with your meat as it is going to denature the proteins before it is time. You can end up with dry crumbly products, products with a lack of adhesion, excessive fatting out to name the big ones. The cottonseed oil on the ECA is designed to not breakdown until it has reached 130°, and it must stay above that temp for an hour for the ECA to totally dissolve. However, when you mix the ECA in, it is almost impossible to not rupture some of them through mechanical action, when we go right to the smokehouse this isn’t much of an issue because it is relatively a small amount. However, leave it overnight and give that acid all that time to work and it can destroy.

Yeah, single stack is the way to go, you get problems with the casings when they are pressed up against eachother.

[archeryrob]

You want Sausage recipes, snack sticks or what?