Too Salty?

Air dried cured Meat Techniques

Too Salty?

Postby Will England » Mon Dec 13, 2004 2:46 am

I'm new to the Forum, but I've been making my own sausages for quite a few years. My Name is Will England, just moved from Alaska to Alabama. Retired from the U.S. Army and retired from my locksmith business. I have a much better setup of equipment now since I have room and have been adding to my tools and equipment. I also have the time............

One of the things I have experienced over the last 38 years of making my own sausage/product, most varieties. is the recipies call for much more salt than I can stand the taste of.

Taking into consideration that I know what is going to happen to my sausage from the time I make it until I find it on my plate at the table. I've cut way back on the salt. My Smoked Kielbasa has just enough salt that I don't have to add it when I'm eating. I know that when my sausage comes out of the smoker it is cooked sufficiently and that it'll be vacuum packaged in quantities that will feed my wife and I then frozen. I make doggonne sure that I use enough Nitrite or Nitrate as the recipie calls for. I've always added or lessened the amount of spices to the way I like it.

The sausage I give to friends or family comes with a warning that the sausage/or product is lightly salted, and generally is frozen. I tell them to defrost just before use. Don't let it hang around.

Fresh sausages are also serving sized, vacuum packed and frozen. Many times when it comes time to cook the sausage I leave it right in the vacuum packed bags and into the water it goes. After the right amount of boiling time I open the bags and will continue to prepare the sausage by browning or whatever the meal calls for.

If it's your sausage/product make it the way you like it.

Thank you folks, I've enjoyed reading all of the posts I hope that my posts answer someones questions or at least gives them an idea of experimenting with whatever they are doing.

Can someone lead me to a recipe for Abruzzese Dried Sausage? An Italian sausage I believe.

Thanks again

Will England
Decatur, Alabama
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Postby Spuddy » Tue Dec 14, 2004 12:01 pm

Hi Will, welcome to the forum.
Abbruzzese is indeed an Italian salame.
Try using a standard pure pork salami recipe and add some ground fennel seeds. This should get you fairly close.
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Postby Will England » Tue Dec 14, 2004 2:57 pm

Thanks for your help. I'll try your suggestion and see what happens.

Will
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Salt Content

Postby Parson Snows » Sat Dec 18, 2004 5:58 am

Will England wrote

The sausage I give to friends or family comes with a warning that the sausage/or product is lightly salted, and generally is frozen. I tell them to defrost just before use. Don't let it hang around.


The nitrates and/or nitrites act as the preservative, and not the salt. The amount of salt that you would noramally include in a sausage (typically in the range of 1.8 %) has almost no preservative effect. You would need to add salt at a rate of 14 % to 17 % (depending on which research you refer to) of the total mix for it to start to become effective. Clearly adding this amount of salt would result in an uneatable product.

kind regards

Parson Snows
Heavenly Father Bless us
And keep us all alive
There's ten around the table
And food enough for five... Amen
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Postby Will England » Sat Dec 18, 2004 9:07 pm

Thank you, Parson. You've added figures and percentages to my Statements.

Thanks,

Will England,
Decatur, Alabama
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Too Salty

Postby Parson Snows » Sun Dec 19, 2004 7:41 am

Glad that I could be of some help

kind regards

Parson Snows
Heavenly Father Bless us
And keep us all alive
There's ten around the table
And food enough for five... Amen
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