Chorizo First Timer
Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2016 8:11 pm
Hi from the UK.
So several months ago I decided I wanted to try making fermented sausages. Having acquired the relevant technology from an extremely generous and experienced gentleman and a fridge I finally had my curing chamber sorted where I could control humidity and temperature and airflow.
So off I go into making the Chorizo from the River Cottage cookbook. You may know the one but if not here it is :
Ingredients
Makes about 20 medium chorizo
3-4 lengths of beef runner casings
5kg boneless shoulder or hand of free-range pork, with about 20% fat (measured roughly by eye)
1kg cured pork loin
100g PDV salt (i.e. 2% of the weight of the pork shoulder or hand)
125g smoked hot paprika
70g sweet paprika (unsmoked)
15g cayenne pepper
50g fennel seeds, lightly toasted
10 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
12 glasses red wine
Equipment:
Meat mincer
Sausage stuffer
Butchers hooks and string
Meat slicer (optional)
Chorizo
There are probably hundreds of recipes for chorizo. Throughout Spain, and indeed Mexico, families have been handing down their own recipes for generations. The meat is flavoured with a spice mix, usually largely informed by paprika, but which can also include fiery cayenne or naga chilli, which will send it off the Scoville scale (the scale that chilli heat is measured in). This recipe is for a salami-style chorizo, made with a fairly eclectic blend of spices that can be altered to suit your own heat threshold. It also includes pieces of cured loin of pork, which provide a nice contrast, both texturally and visually. Steve has added smoked paprika to the mix, to give it a more subtle smokiness. Alternatively, you could use ordinary paprika and cold-smoke the salami yourself, after it has had 2 weeks or so of normal air-drying.
Method
Soak the casings for at least 2 hours in cold water.
Mince the pork shoulder or hand using the coarse (8–10mm) plate of your mincer and place in a bowl.
Cut the pork loin into small cubes and add to the minced meat with all the other ingredients except the wine.
Mix thoroughly, using your hands, so that the flavourings are well distributed throughout the mixture.
Now add enough wine to bind the mixture (but not too much or it will leach out of the skins later, carrying flavour with it, and also some of the crucial salt).
Pack the mixture into the sausage stuffer and fit a medium nozzle on the end.
Load the casing on to the sausage stuffer, tie the end with string and fill the casing, to form sausages about 30cm long, packing tightly and ensuring there are no air pockets.
Secure the other end of the casing with string.
To begin with, you will need to hang the chorizo in a warm place, ideally 25–27°C, to enable incubation of the bacteria and facilitate fermentation.
After 12 hours in this environment, move the chorizo to your dry-curing spot, which should be between 12 and 18°C with a humidity level of approximately 70% and a constant circulation of air.
Make sure the chorizo are not touching a wall, or each other, and they are not in direct sunlight.
Over the coming weeks, test the pH to ensure it is below 4.5.
Allow 6–10 weeks for the chorizo to cure if you want to eat it raw.
Serve cut into thin slices.
Note: Should you want to, you can cook with the chorizo soon after mixing rather than leave it to cure.
Try crumbling it over fish before baking or putting it into casings and cooking like a sausage to serve with scrambled eggs.
There will be an extra saltiness to it, but not to its detriment.
Just hold back on additional seasonings in the dish you are preparing.
Well, me in my utter naivety decided to forgo the PH testing. Also, you may notice the lack of nitrates and fermentation culture in the recipe. Further... I bought a cheap meat grinder... towards the end I found grey goo coming from the centre screw...cheap tat.
So in my chamber they go, and I start reading a bit here and there about it all. I discover people saying nitrates are a must...fermentation cultures... starter cultures etc etc. I am worried but I think 'sod it I will see how it goes, if it goes wrong then learn from the mistakes.'.
3 weeks later inevitably, green furry mould, white specks of mould and yellow specks of mould. Looking around more I find posts on here where yellow mould and fluffy mould = very very bad. It all smells fine but suffice to say I don't want to go messing with this stuff.
So... back to square 1, so I come to you fine ladies and gentlemen who have vast experience in this...
I have now procured the following :
Beer testing strips for PH
Prague Powder #2
LS25 starter culture
Acidophilus culture in a jar (alternative starter culture)
I have today used a technique I got from here to farm my own white mould culture from a shop bought salami so thats now growing in a jug in the kitchen for the skins.
I have bought a better quality meat grinder, a proper sausage stuffer (in a barrel with a crank).
I'm going to be bleaching the chamber out and giving it a good wash out so none of the nasty spores remain.
I control the humidity by a bowl of water and a teatowel in the bottom, when the humidity reaches over 75 the fan kicks in. Temperature is stable at 12.5, if it drops down to 11 a ceramic heater kicks in, higher than 13 the fridge kicks in.
So... Now I am taking this approach a LOT more seriously... Is there anything else I should know? I also have several questions...
Would it help if I bought a small fan to have a constant air current around the chamber? I'm not overly concerned about the humidity as this is controlled quite easily, the extraction fan works very well in expelling the air and bringing the humidity down again, but my concern is that its not 'draughty' enough.
Fermentation - Am I correct in saying leave at room temp until the ph reaches 5.5 or less (usually around 6-36 hours depending on the culture)?
Drying - Spray the casings liberally with the mould solution over a few days, or soak them in the solution before stuffing.
If there is any mould other than chalky white mould/green mould wipe it down with a vinegar/water solution and spray again.
That's all I can think of at this time, apologies for the lengthy introduction but I just want to know if I am doing this correctly.
So several months ago I decided I wanted to try making fermented sausages. Having acquired the relevant technology from an extremely generous and experienced gentleman and a fridge I finally had my curing chamber sorted where I could control humidity and temperature and airflow.
So off I go into making the Chorizo from the River Cottage cookbook. You may know the one but if not here it is :
Ingredients
Makes about 20 medium chorizo
3-4 lengths of beef runner casings
5kg boneless shoulder or hand of free-range pork, with about 20% fat (measured roughly by eye)
1kg cured pork loin
100g PDV salt (i.e. 2% of the weight of the pork shoulder or hand)
125g smoked hot paprika
70g sweet paprika (unsmoked)
15g cayenne pepper
50g fennel seeds, lightly toasted
10 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
12 glasses red wine
Equipment:
Meat mincer
Sausage stuffer
Butchers hooks and string
Meat slicer (optional)
Chorizo
There are probably hundreds of recipes for chorizo. Throughout Spain, and indeed Mexico, families have been handing down their own recipes for generations. The meat is flavoured with a spice mix, usually largely informed by paprika, but which can also include fiery cayenne or naga chilli, which will send it off the Scoville scale (the scale that chilli heat is measured in). This recipe is for a salami-style chorizo, made with a fairly eclectic blend of spices that can be altered to suit your own heat threshold. It also includes pieces of cured loin of pork, which provide a nice contrast, both texturally and visually. Steve has added smoked paprika to the mix, to give it a more subtle smokiness. Alternatively, you could use ordinary paprika and cold-smoke the salami yourself, after it has had 2 weeks or so of normal air-drying.
Method
Soak the casings for at least 2 hours in cold water.
Mince the pork shoulder or hand using the coarse (8–10mm) plate of your mincer and place in a bowl.
Cut the pork loin into small cubes and add to the minced meat with all the other ingredients except the wine.
Mix thoroughly, using your hands, so that the flavourings are well distributed throughout the mixture.
Now add enough wine to bind the mixture (but not too much or it will leach out of the skins later, carrying flavour with it, and also some of the crucial salt).
Pack the mixture into the sausage stuffer and fit a medium nozzle on the end.
Load the casing on to the sausage stuffer, tie the end with string and fill the casing, to form sausages about 30cm long, packing tightly and ensuring there are no air pockets.
Secure the other end of the casing with string.
To begin with, you will need to hang the chorizo in a warm place, ideally 25–27°C, to enable incubation of the bacteria and facilitate fermentation.
After 12 hours in this environment, move the chorizo to your dry-curing spot, which should be between 12 and 18°C with a humidity level of approximately 70% and a constant circulation of air.
Make sure the chorizo are not touching a wall, or each other, and they are not in direct sunlight.
Over the coming weeks, test the pH to ensure it is below 4.5.
Allow 6–10 weeks for the chorizo to cure if you want to eat it raw.
Serve cut into thin slices.
Note: Should you want to, you can cook with the chorizo soon after mixing rather than leave it to cure.
Try crumbling it over fish before baking or putting it into casings and cooking like a sausage to serve with scrambled eggs.
There will be an extra saltiness to it, but not to its detriment.
Just hold back on additional seasonings in the dish you are preparing.
Well, me in my utter naivety decided to forgo the PH testing. Also, you may notice the lack of nitrates and fermentation culture in the recipe. Further... I bought a cheap meat grinder... towards the end I found grey goo coming from the centre screw...cheap tat.
So in my chamber they go, and I start reading a bit here and there about it all. I discover people saying nitrates are a must...fermentation cultures... starter cultures etc etc. I am worried but I think 'sod it I will see how it goes, if it goes wrong then learn from the mistakes.'.
3 weeks later inevitably, green furry mould, white specks of mould and yellow specks of mould. Looking around more I find posts on here where yellow mould and fluffy mould = very very bad. It all smells fine but suffice to say I don't want to go messing with this stuff.
So... back to square 1, so I come to you fine ladies and gentlemen who have vast experience in this...
I have now procured the following :
Beer testing strips for PH
Prague Powder #2
LS25 starter culture
Acidophilus culture in a jar (alternative starter culture)
I have today used a technique I got from here to farm my own white mould culture from a shop bought salami so thats now growing in a jug in the kitchen for the skins.
I have bought a better quality meat grinder, a proper sausage stuffer (in a barrel with a crank).
I'm going to be bleaching the chamber out and giving it a good wash out so none of the nasty spores remain.
I control the humidity by a bowl of water and a teatowel in the bottom, when the humidity reaches over 75 the fan kicks in. Temperature is stable at 12.5, if it drops down to 11 a ceramic heater kicks in, higher than 13 the fridge kicks in.
So... Now I am taking this approach a LOT more seriously... Is there anything else I should know? I also have several questions...
Would it help if I bought a small fan to have a constant air current around the chamber? I'm not overly concerned about the humidity as this is controlled quite easily, the extraction fan works very well in expelling the air and bringing the humidity down again, but my concern is that its not 'draughty' enough.
Fermentation - Am I correct in saying leave at room temp until the ph reaches 5.5 or less (usually around 6-36 hours depending on the culture)?
Drying - Spray the casings liberally with the mould solution over a few days, or soak them in the solution before stuffing.
If there is any mould other than chalky white mould/green mould wipe it down with a vinegar/water solution and spray again.
That's all I can think of at this time, apologies for the lengthy introduction but I just want to know if I am doing this correctly.