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Ok, without sounding way out of left field I have a mission to come up with a black sausage using activated charcoal. A year and a half back in Kiev I had a black sausage studded with neon coloured mustard throughout that was delicious. I was given a task of creating something similar for a friend of mine who is also providing me with some goose meat to use in it.

I find it cathartic to write out my plan here when devising a good recipe and get some feedback before experimenting. So any input the gang has on my planned list of ingredients would be appreciated.

Per 1kg:

600 g Pork shoulder
200 g Goose meat
200 g Home cured bacon
88 ml Water
16 g Kosher salt (adjusted for bacon)
10 g Mustard seed, whole
8 g Minced garlic
3.75 g Black pepper, ground
3.2 g Sweet paprika
3.2 g Mustard powder
2 g Cure #1 (adjusted for bacon)
1.4 g Ground coriander
1.4 g Ground nutmeg
0.7 g Ground ginger
? Activated charcoal
70 g Cheese cubed (see my note below for further details)

As for the activated charcoal, I haven't a clue as to the usage percentage. I will have to play with it when I reach that point.

Some thoughts though:

1) Cube and cure the pork and goose meat for a few days in the fridge first. I'm not sure what impact the charcoal will have on the cure so better to ensure it is cured first.
2) I just realized I would probably adjust the level of salt and cure to account for the 20% bacon. So I would drop the salt/cure numbers above by 20%.
3) Goose will be double ground on a fine grind while pork and bacon would be ground once on a medium grind.
4) For the cheese I was thinking something why out of the box. Using sharp cheddar and mustard and sodium citrate to get a creamy emulsion and agar agar to gel said emulsion into a homemade "processed cheese". Agar agar has a higher melting point than gelatin and should handle my low smoking temps without breaking down. This method would allow me to add some natural colouring to make a very vibrant yellow/orange colour as well.
5) Hang and rest 24 hours, smoke with pecan, finish in a water bath with my immersion circulator, hang to bloom.

Long winded post but any thoughts/feedback would be appreciated!

Can't wait to see it.

The sausage in question that I had in Kiev is the far left one in this picture. Not the clearest view but it was pretty impressive looking as well as tasting ...

Update: I began manufacturing my "processed cheese" product for this sausage experiment today. Ingredients are as follows:

550 grams good aged cheddar, grated
180 grams lager (I had Stella so used that).
190 grams water.
24 grams sodium citrate.
11 grams agar agar.
6 grams dry mustard powder.
4 grams kosher salt.
A heavy squeeze of yellow ball park mustard.
Several heavy drops of neon yellow gel food colour.

Heated beer, salt and sodium citrate on medium heat and slowly whisked in the grated cheese. When creamy and emulsified I added mustard powder and neon yellow food colour and whisked. After tasted I realized it needed a more pronounced yellow mustard taste so added a good heavy squeeze of yellow ball park mustard. In a separate pan I added cold water and agar agar and brought to the boil whisking constantly. I then simmered for two minutes before adding to the cheese mix and incorporating with an emersion blender. Workig quickly as agar sets rapidly when removed from the heat, I poured into a small glass dish lined with parchment paper and left to set. This will be the cheese I will cube for my black sausage. I will add it is the best "processed American cheese" I have ever tasted. More of the black sausage process to come ...

Funny that - this is the second time I've come across sodium citrate in the last few days - the other was for a nacho cheese sauce. Does this form a 'no melt' high temp cheese?

Phil

wheels wrote:Funny that - this is the second time I've come across sodium citrate in the last few days - the other was for a nacho cheese sauce. Does this form a 'no melt' high temp cheese?

Phil

That's kind of the idea. I wanted a way to incorporate cheese and mustard together in something that could withstand the heat of smoking/poaching without melting into the sausage mass. I'm cubing and curing the meats as we speak and will resume this whacky project this weekend when I grind, stuff and smoke.

Funny enough, after making this product I had a hankering for nacho cheese sauce and made a batch using more liquid, cheese and some jalapenos (obviously no agar either)... turned out very yummy and much better tasting than in most processed crap.

I'm following your exploits with interest.

I've also come across sodium citrate mentioned in the context of cheese, on Radio 4 a couple of days ago - apparently it stops the fat separating from cheese when toasted under the grill. A little goes a long way so you can add a slice or two of 'nasty processed' stuff to a rarebit sauce made with quality stuff to get the sodium citrate into the sauce which then won't separate under the grill.

Yes: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/ ... us_6108794?

Can you explain what the charcoal adds to the mix?

DanMcG wrote:Can you explain what the charcoal adds to the mix?

To be honest, nothing more than making it jet black. Long story short, a co-worker mentioned having charcoal ice cream with his daughter and it brought up a conversation where I mentioned eating a black sausage that was made black by activated charcoal. Of course a challenge was made that I happily accepted and thus this thread was born. It seems to be all the rage to make things jet black, so the kids on instagram tell me, lol!

Thanks, the reason I asked is there is a beef rub out there that has charcoal in the ingredients list and never could figure out why.

Assembled the sausage today and in the fridge for an overnight rest before smoking. Few small issues, my cheese/mustard required fully freezing to dice as it was very sticky. I think I needed a little more agar next time. I ended up using 5g of activated charcoal per kilo of meat. Looks amazing! I admit I am probably a little insane coming up with this one but it does look impressive!

If you search "insane" on our forum you will get two pages of hits. It didn't take much charcoal to get the color.

NCPaul wrote:If you search "insane" on our forum you will get two pages of hits. It didn't take much charcoal to get the color.

A little goes a long way. And it is amazing how everything in the kitchen turns black as well! I was extra careful not to spill any but it still seemed to get into everything. Sausages are smoking as we speak then into an immersion circulator water bath to finish.