Encapsulated Citric Acid

[Dave in AZ]

kyle yeah, I like your method myself. And also don’t like it sitting on the ECA. I skip the ECA if I don’t cook immediately. I always think, if someone went to all thos effort to coat citric acid with palm oil, because of how crumbly the meat gets otherwise, I don’t want to let this stuff sit and “crumblify”!
Last time I mixed and let it sit overnight, I ended up using 24% total water to get it thru my 10mm tube for 16mm sticks! I kept having to add mooore lol. They turned out good, but that’s a lot of water. I should have gone with 19mm sticks thru 13mm tube, but I was out of those.

[Fatslob]

Thanks everyone - How much of a difference does the ECA actually make in the flavor?

I will double grind in the evening, cover and mix in seasoning etc. the following morning

[glen]

Fatslob said in Encapsulated Citric Acid:

ECA adds a sharp taste (twang) sensation like a hard or genoa salami without curing overnight or a couple of days
It is optional and some don’t like the taste in their meat products

[tarp]

Stuffing is near impossible without a lot of add water. Make your links and let set overnight forget ECA

[Dave in AZ]

To me the ECA is that twang you get with original Slim Jims. I tried it because I liked those, but now I’ve had a ton of meat sticks without it and like them as well or better. It just depends on your target flavor, I’d guess most I see folks make don’t have any. I made some pepperoni flavored ones recently and added ECA to get the bite. But I also made some basic “kabanosy” that were awesome, just salt/pepper/nutmeg/caraway. And I like a black pepper/coriander one I did targeting pastrami, wouldn’t want ECA in there.

Oh, here is a good reference you might have: chicken wings. The salt and vinegar rub ones are just citric acid. The lemon pepper ones are citric acid with lemon flavor. But BBQ, Teriyaki, cajun, and buffalo don’t have any citric acid. So, just think about how you like those flavors?

What is your spice mix or recipe?
(P.s thx for your question, I’m sitting here today trying to decide on what meat sticks to make, so enjoying the subject!)

[glen]

ECA adds a sharp taste (twang) sensation like a hard or genoa salami without curing overnight or a couple of days
It is optional and some don’t like the taste in their meat products

[NDKoze]

I daily only use ECA for Summer Sausage and I love it for that. I don’t like it as much in snack sticks.

[mrobisr]

As NDKoze said I only use ECA for my SS and do as Kyle said I grind, mix, and stuff one day and smoke/cook the next typically. I have never had a problem with letting the ECA sit overnight. If you are going to add the cure and smoke immediately then you will need to use sodium erythrobate or ascorbic acid so the cure has time to actually cure. Without a real cure accelerator the cure needs a very minimum of 12 hours really it needs more like 18-24 hours for color development. I have on occasions used the SE and let the meat sit in he fridge for 6-8 hours and it was just fine.

[Fatslob]

Thanks All - Never used the ECA before and thought I would try it for my snack sticks this time. But now I’m not going to, as I love my recipe which makes nice meaty flavored sticks with enough smoke flavor to know it’s there. If I wanted more of a summer sausage or salami type taste, then I would make summer sausage or salami - lol.

My specialty though is my Italian sausage, both mild spice and spicy. After trial and error, I have created a spice blend that I can’t envision changing. My brother and son love it so much, they tell me to just make it and patty it up. I also think I have come up with what I believe is the proper 3 spices and amounts for making mildly spicy and spicy sausages.

[samspade]

Well dont tempt us. Give out the goods.

[Bob Stehlik]

Fatslob No holding back! We need a good "meat hack " to make our Italian better. As samspade said, “Give up the goods!”.

[Fatslob]

Should I post my Italian sausage spice blend and 3 ingredient spicy blend here?

[kyle]

Fatslob you can or there is a user recipe section

[Bob Stehlik]

Fatslob Please post it here and then you can also copy it over to the “User Recipe” recipe section as kyle suggested. Thanx

[Fatslob]

OLD WORLD ITALIAN SAUSAGE - Regular or the popular term - Sweet

See below for what to add to make mild spicy or spicy Italian Sausage

This is for one pound, so you will of course have to adjust.

Pork Butt - Looking for 80/20 - 70/30 (I prefer a little higher ratio of fat, but 80/20 works)

K Salt - 1TSP
Blk Pepper - 1/2 TSP
Reg Paprika - 3/4 TSP
Coriander - 1/2 TSP
Tyme - 1/4 TSP
Anise - 1/4 TSP
Gr Mustard - 1/4 TSP
Dry Parsley - 1/2 TBLSP
Fennel - 3/4 TSP
Sugar - 1TSP
Gran Garlic - 1 TSP
Oregano - 1/4 TSP
Dry Basil - 1/4 TSP
Nutmeg - 1/2 TSP
Marjoram - 1/4 TSP
Water - 1/8 Cup (I end up adding just a bit more)

All seed should be ground except coriander (if using seed) and fennel. These should be crushed slightly (for lack of a better term) or pulsed a time or two in a spice grinder. If I have coriander seed and always with fennel seed, I will slightly roast first on the stove top just until I smell the difference - DO NOT BURN), before the crushing or pulsing of the coriander and or fennel seed

My Kick-Up the Heat blend - Per Pound

I use this for any sausage or when making my own burger from Chuck or my favorite burger using Brisket

For Mild Spicy - 3/4 TSP of Crushed Red Pepper, 3/4 TSP of Cayenne and 1/2TSP of White Pepper
For Spicy - Just double up on the Crushed Red Peppers, Cayenne and White Pepper

This is also my blend to make any spicy type of sausage or burger.

[kyle]

Fatslob looks good. Thanks for sharing

[Bob Stehlik]

Fatslob Thank You. Looks awesome. Have you ever used a dry red wine instead of water?

[gus4416]

Fatslob thanks for the recipe

[Fatslob]

Bob Stehlik

Nope - I won’t screw with this recipe - lol

[Dave in AZ]

Fatslob thx very much for the recipe. I love making odd sausages, but honestly we eat more Italian sausage than anything else by far. So will give this a go!