Kielbasa too salty to eat

[AdamCA]

I’ve made the Kielbasa before and it is absolutely one of my favorite seasonings I’ve used. I didn’t find it overly salty but that can be a subjective thing. Not sure what could’ve happened but as was mentioned you can always take a little bit and fry it up prior to stuffing to make sure everything is good to go. Personally when I am using a seasoning for the first time I make a small test batch to make sure I like or if I need to make any adjustments. This is not a necessary step but I usually am making products from venison so I’m a little more cautious since I can’t just run to the grocery store and buy more if I don’t like the final product.

[JoeB]

Adam, do these packets include salt… Not familiar with them. Most I’ve seen salt and cure are added. Good advice

[processhead]

bikercowboy said in Kielbasa too salty to eat:

I recently made a 25 lb batch of kielbasa. I used the kielbasa spice package that was for 25 lbs. Followed the recipe to the letter, but the sausage is way too salty to eat.

Any ideas what could have went wrong? I have another spice package for 25lb of Polish, but I dont want to ruin any more meat.

Please help!

If you were using a premixed spice pack and did not make any adjustments, then we should be able to assume the salt content was probably correct.

If the salt content is correct, the only other thing that can go wrong is uneven distribution of the spices into the meat mixture.

How did you mix the spices into your meat? Hand mixing or mechanical mixing? If you dumped the whole spice pack into the mixing container, its possible you did not get the spices mixed evenly in the meat, which could make some parts saltier/spicier than other parts of the meat mix which would be correspondingly blander.

If adding dry spices, I like to sprinkle them in slowly while mixing the meat to help get everything dispersed evenly.

If I mix the spices in water first, I will do it in a blender and make slurry, then add the slurry into the meat slowly while its mixing.

Another thing that can potentially make sausage or cured meat saltier is if it gets too dry while smoking. Removing the water from the meat essentially concentrates the salt.

[bikercowboy]

I didnt add any salt to the mix. went straight by the directions. I also tasted it before stuffing, however, the cure would not have time to activate by then. I will try again with the polish seasoning since this is all I have left. I mix by hand, but was pretty confident I had it mixed well. We will see how the next batch goes.

[processhead]

Another advantage to mixing the seasoning pack with some water is the soluble spices like the salt and cure will dissolve and dilute down into the water. Now that the salt and cure is in solution, it becomes easier to get a more even distribution in your meat mix.

[JoeB]

It’s my understanding that cure #1 doesn’t activate till smoking / cooking. Protects the meat from bacteria growth during slow or cold smoking. Flash grilling / smoking does not require it, but does enhance the color to pink instead of gray during cooking. Cure#2 is necessary for fermented product only. It enhances good bat growth during the fermentation. I always mix with water first, but add cheese last (frozen). Just my opine

[processhead]

JoeB said in Kielbasa too salty to eat:

It’s my understanding that cure #1 doesn’t activate till smoking / cooking. Protects the meat from bacteria growth during slow or cold smoking.

Curing regularly takes place at low temperatures. It is common to cure meat at refrigerator-temperatures, and this is regularly done to hams, bacon, and sausage.

One of the benefits of curing meat is that bacterial growth is inhibited when the meat temperature is raised to the “danger zone”, between 40 degrees and 140 degrees, i.e. when smoking.

[JoeB]

No contest processhead . I think we are saying the same thing from different perspectives. Curing meat is not synonymous with cure#1. One is a process and the other is an additive that prevents the botulinum toxin. Salt is the big guy here. That being said, I was referencing flash cooking vs cold smoking. To my understanding when bacterial growth is not a problem it’s not necessary, but doesn’t hurt and does help color during cooking. as you know Insta Cure #1 is a specialty formulated mixture of Salt and Sodium Nitrite. Nitrites are necessary to prevent the botulinum toxin (Chlostridium botulinum) from growing in Low & Slow Smoked/Cooked Sausages, Bacon, Hams, and alike. The lower than normal temperatures and longer cooking process in the bacterial is a danger zone especially in smoked foods.

[twilliams]

JoeB you are referring to ECA and smoked meat stabilizer. The sure cure, pink cure salts works during its 12 hour refrigerator time before smoking. The ECA and smoked meat stabilizer doesnt start to work until a certain temperature during the cooking process

[JoeB]

Sorry I don’t use ECA or smoke meat stabilizer. I am referring to the sodium nitrite that uses the pink colored salt as a medium called cure#1 i.e. insta cure. But I know what your saying… Thanks. Nitrate is a whole different animal. It was also mixed in the raw ground meat in butcher shops to turn the meat red for looks. 18-1900’s Now, outlawed for a long time in most countries.

[lkrfletcher]

This is a fresh sausage right? do you even need any cure?

[JoeB]

No not necessary, unless you slow or cold smoke. I do use it in my fresh sausage because I don’t know what someone will do with it or how they will cook it after I give it to them. Just a safety thing.

[glen]

When using prepackaged pork I take into account the salt that was added to the meat for more water/weight.

[JoeB]

Glen, for the most part “prepackaged”, you’re working with an unknown. For me it’s best to use B.O. pork butts or chuck roll. Very few limitations on preprocessed meat. FTA will allow 50% water in cold cuts and processed meat. That’s why cold cuts get slimy after a few days… water is coming out and the additives can’t hold it in

[glen]

Right about the unknown, but if the OP used grocery pre-packed pork the salt they put in the package solution may be responsible for the too salty outcome

[JoeB]

Good thoughts, Always go back to the basics. The Romans had none of these wonderful additives. Just wild pig and a few spices … And lots, lots of wine. Romans never drank beer because it was considered barbaric since the Celts drank it. Romans drank wine. Their wine was always laced with water as it is not in their culture to drink wine straight. Romans drank calda during the winter. This is wine mixed with warm water and laced with spices. They would catch, butcher wild pigs, use their intestines’ for sausage casings and cook over an open fire. Premixed packs were no place to be found. Amazon delivery was limited by geographic location at that time

[AdamCA]

JoeB Yes there is salt in the seasoning mixture and if its supposed to be a cured product the cure is in a separate packet.

[JoeB]

Thanks Adam, I’ve seen the pre-packets before just never used them. Doesn’t that kind of tie your hands to someone else’s taste buds ?

[AdamCA]

JoeB That’s one way to look at it, or you can look at the ease of use for most of us home processors who got into this later in life. My grandfather made his own sausage but has long since been gone and no one else in the family does it so when I decided a few years ago to start making my own I really didn’t have an idea of where to start. The prepackaged seasonings I buy from Walton’s is perfect for me and as I’ve gotten more experienced I can make adjustments based on my own taste. I can add more spices or change the ratio of seasoning to meat to make subtle changes to the flavor of the end product. There are some seasonings that I make just as they are intended to be made and then there are others that I use the seasoning package as a base/starting point and make it my own.

[Jonathon]

JoeB So, the reason we suggest that people use pre-packaged seasonings are what AdamCA says above but also because it removes the single biggest issue in troubleshooting someones sausage problems. It doesn’t happen often but when someone comes here looking for help on a sausage problem and they used a “home-made” recipe that is simply what I will point to (unless there is some glaring obvious thing like didnt add any water) as the likely culrpit because it almost always is. Very often the problem is the salt content, either way too little or too much. Salt plays functional roles in meat processing beyond flavor. Excalibur has been doing this for decades and those are the exact same seasonings and spices that professional meat processors purchase from us. Yes, some of them, and some home people do make homemade recipes and they very well might be delicious but in general it is better and easier to use prepackaged seasonings from Excalibur.