Mortadella color?

[larry]

I just finished my first batch of mortadella,and it came out really pale, barely any pink color. It is more like the color of turkey breast. I followed the Charcuterie recipe, but used pork loin instead of shoulder. It did start out a little pale, but pink. The only variables I can think of were that I used the kitchenaid to emulsify on its highest speed; the back fat smeared when ground, and the cure #1 went into the bowl with the wine, before the meat went in. I'm thinking it was the pale pork loin that caused the pale color. The texture was pretty good for a first effort, and the taste is fine. All the temperatures were hit precisely on schedule during emsulifying and poaching. Any thoughts?

[grisell]

No cure?

[SausageBoy]

I'm thinking it was the pale pork loin that caused the pale color.

Yup, that'll do it!

[ericrice]

Timing of the post is perfect - I just made my first batch based on Jason's recipe and had the same result, almost grey in color. Taste is good but it isn't eye appealing and the fat chunks don't stand out. I was attributing it to possibly overcooking it??

[ericrice]

forgot to say, I did use shoulder...

[larry]

Grissel: I did use cure #1. Is that what you meant, or did you mean did I age it in my chamber? This recipe didn't call for any down time for the meat from grinding through poaching, other than returning to the freezer between steps. I've seen several recipes, none of which called for any sort of rest or curing time between stuffing and poaching. Are you thinking that the cure #1 (pink salt) did not have time to change the color of the mix?

[BriCan]

I just finished my first batch of mortadella,and it came out really pale, barely any pink color. All the temperatures were hit precisely on schedule during emsulifying and poaching. Any thoughts?

Every ones second guessing, if you could post the recipe it would be a big help

[ericrice]

Here's mine....

Pork Shoulder 630 gm
Pork Fat (1) 420 gm (Hard fat from the back or throat)
Crushed Ice 310 gm
Garlic Powder 1.7 gm
Dextrose 15 gm
Mace 2 gm
Coriander 1 gm
Cinnamon 1 gm
Cayenne 1 gm
Cubed fat (2) 75 gm
Pistachio nuts (optional) 25 gm (weighed after shelling and peeling)
Black Pepper lightly Crushed 2 gm
Salt 23 gm
Cure #1 1.9 gm

[larry]

BriCan: My recipe is very close to ericrice's. I used:

1 lb. Pork loin, cubed to about 3/4 inch cubes (recipe called for shoulder)
12 oz. back fat
10 oz. crushed ice
1.5 Tbl. salt (about 20g)
0.5 tsp. instacure #1
2 tbl. white wine
0.25 tsp bayleaf
0.5 tsp toasted ground coriander
0.5 tsp. mace
0.25 tsp. ground nutmeg
1.5 tsp. black pepper (half ground, half crushed)
0.5 tsp. minced garlic
0.5 cup dried milk powder
4 oz. cubed, blanched backfat

Procedure:

I added wine, cure #1, garlic to bowl, then added cubed meat and stirred. I then ground the meat (not the fat) through a small plate. Meat was nearly frozen and grinding was very clean. I scraped the remaining liquid from the bowl into the ground meat and mixed it slightly, and put it back in the freezer.

I took the 12 oz. of backfat, and ground it through the small plate. I did not re-freeze the grinding attachment, and the fat was very cold, but not frozen. the fat smeared almost from the beginning, partially due to the temp., partially due to the small plate, and partially due to a little bit of skin residue left on the fat. I kept grinding and returned the ground, smeared fat to the freezer.

I then put the ground pork in the kitchenaid mixer, with a frozen bowl and frozen paddle, with the crushed ice, and began mixing, and added the remaining spice ingredients and salt, and turned the speed up to full. My recipe called for mixing until the temp. hit 40 degrees F. It took around five minutes. I then added the fat and mixed on high speed until the mix hit 45 degrees F (per my recipe). I then added the dry milk powder and mixed until temp hit 58 degrees F (per my recipe). Did a quenelle test, which tasted fine but was the same pale color as my now fully emulsified mix.

I stuffed into a 90mm fibrous casing, using a one gallon plastic bag with a corner cut off, pricked, squeezed, tied off, and poached in 170 degree F. water until the internal temp hit 150 degrees F.

I cooled it in an ice bath down to around 65 degrees F and put it in the refrigerator.

Bear with me, as this was recited from memory, as my recipe is at home and I'm at work.

[wheels]

ericrice

Here's how mine looked with Jason's recipe:

http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/?e=562

Any help?

Phil

[ericrice]

A bit - I did get the recipe and pic right off your site, gave Jason credit since you had there as well. I definitely didn't get that color. Yours looks great! I'm wondering now if the color may be a product of "whipping" it too much. I kept it cold enough though. I'm not a baker but if you incorporate enough air into chocolate I think that lightens up a lot in color like inside a 3 musketeer bar
That's close to the color mine ended up come to think of it!

[wheels]

Mmm... Odd The only thing I can think of that may help would be to 'pre-cure' the meat for a few hours.

Phil

[larry]

Phil: I like that idea, and I think the whipping theory may also have contributed. I was thinking the same thing as ericrice when my mixer was on high speed and the mix seemed to be getting paler as I watched. I don't see any reason that a brief cure would be in any way dangerous, and it would give the cure #1 a chance to do its thing before being cooked.

I think I'll try that, and turning the mixer speed down, and using shoulder. I was also thinking of oven cooking instead of poaching for the next batch.

[wheels]

I don't think that poaching it is the problem.

Phil

[larry]

Phil: I don't either. I was thinking that the DOC italian mortadella is cooked in an oven, from what I have read, and it might make a difference in the flavor, but I agree that poaching wouldn't affect the color. Len Poli has a recipe on his website that calls for a long roast in a 170 degree F oven.