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1 kg/2 lbs pork (70% lean, 30% belly)
1½ tbsp nitrite salt
½ tsp white sugar
2 tsp white pepper
½ tsp caraway
½ tsp coriander
1½ tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp MSG
200 mg ascorbic acid
50 cc/1 fl oz cold water
Lactic acid fermentation starter
Hog casings

I used European nitrite salt (99.4% NaCl, 0.6% NaNO2). Landjaeger traditionally contains 50% beef, but I skipped that since I don't like beef in sausages. The sausages should be pressed into a quadratic shape, but I found that procedure complicated so I skipped that too.

The sausages were fermented at room temperature for 4 days, then cold-smoked at 20 C/70 F for 20 hours, then hung to dry in 12 C/54 F, 70% RH until having lost 35% of their original weight (1-2 weeks). Then moved to dry room temperature for 24 hours.

any idea why ascorbic acid is used along with a starter??

It accelerates the conversion of nitrite to NO2, and it also has anti-oxidant properties, as well as lowering the pH to some extent.

re the anti-oxidant properties, i thought that was only a concern if you wanted your meat to stay pink, which is not a concern with these. is there some other reason for an anti-oxidant?

also, re conversion of nitrogen salts, since this is a dried and aged sausage made to be eaten uncooked, would not cure #2 be a good choice

also, that is a tremendous amount of garlic, equivalent to about 2 cloves per pound. that would seem high even for hungarian salami. i thought that, generally, german sausages have little to no garlic.

The sausage is cured for only a week or two, so I wanted the ascorbic acid there to hurry up the nitrite conversion. I don't know if it's necessary.

Yes, I should have said that - sorry! It's a lot of garlic, but it turned out very good and I like it that way. Maybe 1/4-1/2 tsp would be more suitable for sensitive palates. I think it was ½ tsp in the original recipe, which I unfortunately have lost.

the reason i asked about the ascorbic acid is because i was wondering if it might be added as a texture thing. i know when we add vinegar to the standard chorizo recipe, a number of us get a dry and crumbly product. not all that pleasant for a chorizo. so i wondered if a landjaeger would be helped by somthing that made the meat somewhat dry and stiff, as perhaps the ascorbate might do. it was just a thought. one thing i do have trouble with is getting the firm yet moist texture that my favorite [and out of business] german butcher was getting with his various snack sticks. dang, i wish i knew how he did that. you could almost snap them in half, yet they were somewhat moist, and chewy. usinger's comes close to that with their sticks [for those of us in the states].
thanks for the recipes. i am going to try the gyulai this weekend!!

No, the ascorbic acid was not in the original recipe. I think that this Landjaeger will get a consistency somewhat like the one you describe. This is because it is pressed during the four days of fermentation (ideally, they should be turned 90 degrees after 2 days and end up quadratic). Well, I pressed mine, but they were elastic and ended up more or less like before. Anyway, I just tasted one, and it was quite delicious. Needs a few days more drying (4 days already). The consistency was superb, just the way you described it. This must have to do with the pressing.

Are you planning on eating the gyulai raw or cooked? If raw, double the amount of salt. I edited the recipe.

i always eat it raw [for the last 4 decades], so i will use cure #2 and diddle with the salt as needed. ordinarily i use 1 1/2 tsp salt per # meat and 1/5 tsp cure #2. i think aftrer drying this is about 2.5% salt. i use canning salt; not kosher. still don't know what the big deal is about using expensive kosher salt. haven't kicked the bucket yet. looking forward to trying your recipe!! thanks again.

sorry, forgot to ask: what is nitrite salt?? not familiar with that one here in the states.

Nitrite salt is 99.4% NaCl, 0.6% NaNO2. Use your own salt/cure mixture in the way you are used to. You seem to have the knowledge.

Changed the recipe after tasting.