Meat Processing

@outlaw179 That’s a tough question, the official recommendation would be to toss it out. However, the only proven instance in which Nitrites become carcenogens is when you char that meat, this is why bacon has tightly regulated ingoing parts per million (ppm) of nitrites, because many people char it when cooking. Now, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any other possible ill effects of too much nitrite but the main concern isn’t an issue it summer sausage as long as you dont pan fry it for some reason.

I tried that and went to 190 with no luck, I think it will need different ingredients so I think I’ll have to go about this differently. Thank you for your help.

Thanks guys!

@aaronf I’ve got a few things to hopefully help you here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK1CeOGxPA0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIckigS7K_4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be1dK0BFo8c And most of the Meatgistics University Sausage Casings category (https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/category/42/sausage-casings) will have some information for you. Blow outs (when the casing splits) are something to keep in mind but as long as your casings aren’t old and brittle it shouldn’t be that bad. If you are making a breakfast sausage (use the Fresh Collagen Casings) and it is going to be cooked in a pan I like natural casings better.

@Douglas-Moore Technically the cure would continue to work in the meat for up to 8 days as the cure will be effective up to that point. However, there would be some problems with that, the salt is working on the proteins pretty much from as soon as you add it to the meat, if you let it sit in the fridge for that long I think you would have some real issues when you went to cook. I think that case hardening, which is where the outside of the meat either dries or gets cooked too quickly and cannot pass heat efficiently into the center of the sausage, would be a major issue. Long story short (too late!) I wouldn’t ever let it sit more than 24 hours. Also, just make sure it is stuffed before you hold it, if you try to stuff after 12 hours it can be difficult, after 24 hours might be impossible. Hope this answered your question!

@Joe-Hell that is where the hillbilly common sense comes into play !

@PapaSop ya its a bad deal. Go through all the work to make them, then the very last process can screw them up!

@pversage I did this when I tried to make sticks in a sous vide cooker. it took a long time for them to dehydrate but they did eventually firm up. I can’t think of any reason that having them forzen first would then mean that the dehydrator wouldn’t work. Worst case scenario it doesn’t make too much of a difference and you are left in the same spot, so I’d say do it!

@Jonathon I made up over 10 lbs of Harissa seasoning yesterday. That might be a decent substitute!

@Jonathon thank you

@21cedar I’d go with silicone. I was going to suggest the Beyond products as well. One of these days I will get around to buying some to compare to the real thing.

I did 30# of summer sausage last year finishing them in my Sous Vide and they turned out amazing. I also finished my snack sticks the same way. I vacuum sealed them first then put them in 154-degree water for about an hour. I didn’t want to bring the temperature higher than the normal smoker finish internal temp so that the fat wouldn’t render.

@armyguy Oh heck yeah, nice pick up on that Talsa Mixer! Those things are awesome! You can really get great protein extraction without smearing any fat in those. The first time I used one I thought it wasnt working because the meat just looking like ground meat that had been mixed a few times, and didnt have the look it gets when mixed in retail mixers. But sure enough, I picked it up and it was stretchy and sticky but still have great particle definition!

Yeah, i’d definitely do a small batch first. You can take a cured sausage seasoning and make fresh out of it but you probably want to reduce the amount of seasoning for lb of meat by a little. This is because with cured sausage seasonings the salt is increased as it has to play a part in extracting the proteins

@Jonathon can’t argue with your logic, please let us know how the experiment turns out.

@tarp Yup, you made the right decision! Some of the seasonings can set up but if you are using water in your product it isnt too big of a deal. If you have a brick of seasoning and you are wanting to use it to make a fresh product and you aren’t adding any water a few minutes in a hi-powered blender will do the trick.

@Doug-Kapfenstein There really isn’t much more to it than what you just said, you’re dead on there! Salami CAN be a little different depending on what you want. If you want really good particle definition then I would grind your fat and lean separate and then mix them together. If you don’t care about particle definition then the only difference between salami and summer sausage is the seasoning and maybe the casing you use! Either way, I’d follow this process https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/619/how-to-make-homemade-salami but if you aren’t looking for particle definition and you are comfortable enough making summer sausage without a step by step process to refer to then you can make Salami!

@woodduck The size of the cheese is fine for 17mm and above casings and I would assume you are using either 19 or 21 so you should be all good! I actually did a bit of a break down on this in Meatgistics University: Cured Sausage 204

@Doug-Kapfenstein Yeah like @Parksider said, that’s a very long time, shouldn’t need more than 20 minutes. Hanging them might help dry them out but I think your casings are going to continue to separate from the meat, once you get some moisture in there it is usually not reversible. You could simply peel the casings if hanging them doesn’t work? Wouldn’t have the snap and they would look a little odd but shouldn’t affect the taste much, if at all.

@GLwempren Unfortunately no, Celery Juice Powder is Nitrites, it’s just in a “plant grown” form. They are pretty expensive, which is part of the reason that bacon/hams with “No Nitrites added other those occurring in nature” are a good deal more expensive.