Bigwheel's Lonesome Yankee Bratwurst Recipe

[aris]

I typically put 1% salt in my sausage. So is MSG a complete replacement for salt, or would you think that 0.5% salt and 0.5% MSG is the answer?

[Spuddy]

you can use anything up to a 1:2 ratio of MSG:Salt.
Any more than that and you start losing the taste of the salt. MSG doesn't taste salty at all, instead it has a very slight sweetness and imparts a sensation of "something savoury" without tasting salty. In fact if added to something that is over salty it will actually take the edge of it and this is why you shouldn't exceed the one third MSG to 2 thirds salt as it will overpower the salt and force you to add more!!

This is one of the reasons that people think thay have had a reaction to it when they have had a Chinese as a lot of Chinese Takeaways use too much then overcompensate with the salt, subsequently you're up all night drinking water. It's not just the MSG but the ounce of salt you've consumed with it that makes you feel so bad.

I use MSG at home regularly (although rarely in sausages) with no side effects yet I've suffered the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome when eating out. When I found a takeaway that didn't have that effect on me I got chatting to them and asked if they used MSG (explaining that I'd suffered elsewhere) and they explained to me what I've written above and I must admit it makes perfect sense.

Anyway I'd recommend starting with something like one tenth of the salt quantity and then go up or down according to your taste.

[aris]

Anyway I'd recommend starting with something like one tenth of the salt quantity and then go up or down according to your taste.

So, you mean if I have 5kg of meat, and use 50g of salt in that - I should use 5g of msg on top of that?

Aris

[Spuddy]

Anyway I'd recommend starting with something like one tenth of the salt quantity and then go up or down according to your taste.

So, you mean if I have 5kg of meat, and use 50g of salt in that - I should use 5g of msg on top of that?

Aris

Yep, spot on. That's what I would start with.

[aris]

I'll give it a shot. I've seen MSG for sale at my local asian grocer.