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I thought i might share my chorizo recipe, it creates a wonderful sausage both for curing and as a freah sausage. Obviously this is a spicy one. If you do not like spice replace chilli flakes with double the sugar.
What is imprtant here is the quality of both Paprikas. I buy essential organic sweet and essential organic smoked. Both are spanish
I would be interested in your opinions
Greyham

Burrington Chorizo (hot one)
Ingredients
4kg shoulder
1 kg pork back fat finely diced. I often brine this first
1 bulb garlic (65g)
100g salt
30g black pepper
100g sweet paprika
100g smoked paprika
50g chilli flakes
50g muscavado sugar
10g citric acid
10g cure 2
Method
1. Mince pork on large plate and fat on fine plate. Re-mince on large plate
2. Mince garlic to a paste with small amount of the salt
3. In a stainless steel bowl weigh out all dry ingredients
4. Add all to meat and mix thoroughly, add a small amount of water to help. This is a stiff mixture
Air dry for 24hours if possible then refrigerate
5. These can be air dried at 12 degree @ 60% humidity for three weeks.
6. However, i have great success in dehydrating for 12 hours and then vac packing for one week. Then opening and finishing in fridge.
7. This recipe is also very good as a fresh sausage. Simply replace cure 2* for salt petre

Thank you for sharing.

Greyham wrote:7. This recipe is also very good as a fresh sausage. Simply replace cure 2* for salt petre

I'm somewhat confused as to why? My thought would be to omit either. Can you advise please?

Saltpetre along with citric acid is a good stabliser. It also will give added definition to a fresh sausage. After one week to ten days a fresh chorizo with saltpetre will have cured lightly and firmed up. Thus its definition more refined. Now it can be added to a greater range of recipes. Look at Toulouse sausage as a parallell.

Can I just be clear on one thing. You replace 10g or Cure with 10g of Saltpetre ingoing to 5Kgs meat?

Greyham wrote:Simply replace cure 2* for salt petre

Greyham wrote:Saltpetre along with citric acid is a good stabliser. It also will give added definition to a fresh sausage. After one week to ten days a fresh chorizo with saltpetre will have cured lightly and firmed up. Thus its definition more refined. Now it can be added to a greater range of recipes. Look at Toulouse sausage as a parallell.

Replacing the Cure #2 - 10gm, with saltpetre, will result in an ingoing Potassium Nitrate level of 2000mg/kg. EU recommended maximum ingoing levels for saltpetre (Potassium Nitrate) are 178 mg/kg (the equivalent of 150mg/kg Sodium Nitrate). I'm guessing that you mean, "replace the cure #2 with (an appropriate level) of saltpetre", or similar; an amount of 0.7gm - 0.9gm saltpetre would be appropriate if you were to do this.

Now, you know this, and I know this, and I'm guessing that Quietwatersfarm knows this. But, regrettably, a person new to sausagemaking/curing may not: hence why we should be all be very careful what we write when putting recipes online.

I also fail to see the benefit in changing one 'long-term' nitrate cure for another, particularly as you are reducing the length of curing time.

Most authorities on the subject would recommend the use of cure #1 (or another sodium nitrite based cure) for such a short timescale. In which case, a straight swap for the Cure #2 is appropriate.

Phil

Thank you for sharing. The Spanish sausages are so poorly documented, and I'm always interested in how someone approaches them. You say you sometimes brine the back fat. I'm curious how well a brine penetrates the fat. Here in Virginia, we have a product called 'fatback' which is salt-cured pork back fat. Would fatback, scraped of surface salt, serve, or does it need the more delicate hand with salt that brining would provide?

Thank you all for your comments. I whole heartedly agree that i may have written inaccurately. My appologies.

replace the cure #2 with (an appropriate level) of saltpetre", or similar; an amount of 0.7gm - 0.9gm saltpetre would be appropriate if "

If making a fresh chorizo replace cure 2# with 2gm saltpetre. to 5kg meat

vagreys wrote:Thank you for sharing. The Spanish sausages are so poorly documented, and I'm always interested in how someone approaches them. You say you sometimes brine the back fat. I'm curious how well a brine penetrates the fat. Here in Virginia, we have a product called 'fatback' which is salt-cured pork back fat. Would fatback, scraped of surface salt, serve, or does it need the more delicate hand with salt that brining would provide?

I brine back fat for three months minimum. It works as well for making morcilla which i also make regularly. Differently in that i create a "porridge" before adding cured diced fat an then placeing in lined terrine moulds and baking in a bain marie in a low oven
One can also use fat back, which i also make but takes equally six months for salt to penetrate

wheels wrote:

Greyham wrote:7. This recipe is also very good as a fresh sausage. Simply replace cure 2* for salt petre

I'm somewhat confused as to why? My thought would be to omit either. Can you advise please?

I use salt petre for a number of reasons in fresh sausages.
colour, short term preservation, none use of gluten, taste, and presentation and display purposes. Also stability. In conjunction with sometimes citric acid.. muscovado sugar and or rice powder

What has suprised me so far is no one has commented on the levels of paprika in this recipe.......

Greyham wrote:What has suprised me so far is no one has commented on the levels of paprika in this recipe.......

I make a Spanish Longaniza that Len Poli has posted on his site and it uses 125g per 5k of smoked hot paprika.
and it has a nice flavor to it. Thanks for sharing the recipe it sounds like a great sausage and I'll be giving it a try soon.

DanMcG wrote:

Greyham wrote:What has suprised me so far is no one has commented on the levels of paprika in this recipe.......

I make a Spanish Longaniza that Len Poli has posted on his site and it uses 125g per 5k of smoked hot paprika.
and it has a nice flavor to it. Thanks for sharing the recipe it sounds like a great sausage and I'll be giving it a try soon.

I sometimes increase the quantity to 400gms of the two paprikas per 5kg. Particularyly if cold smoking and fully curing, This creates a sausage ideal for tomato sauce based braises/ stews. Vac packs beautifully too

Greyham wrote:I sometimes increase the quantity to 400gms of the two paprikas per 5kg.

Now that sounds like a lot to me, but I guess I won't know till I give it a go. thanks again

Greyham wrote:What has suprised me so far is no one has commented on the levels of paprika in this recipe.......

200g of Sweet & Smoked - no problems there!
Have always use La Chinata but trying a new spanish supplier this month - will let you know how it fares/compares.

Glad we have qualified the saltpetre - I like a little to in things here and there - don't quite know why (think its a nod to the old butchers flavours that are often lost in our new (albeit probably safer) recipes and methods.