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  • Useful info for all Sausage Heads

    I thought the sausage heads and would-be sausage heads might find this useful. You can find it at Allied-Kenco's website. I found it while ordering sausage making supplies.

    Most Additives used in sausage & jerky making are not spices and do not do necessarily "Season The Meat". They usually perform a function such as retaining color or moisture. They can also protect meat from bacteria while smoking or drying. However, some additives such as cures do affect taste and color to a degree.
    Additives are also used to improve food by:

    Improving the keeping quality of a food by making it last longer on the shelf or in the fridge, Cures are used, for example, prevent the growth of bacteria. Binders are used to stop food from drying out.
    Improving to the taste and the appearance of foods by using enhancing flavors and colors.
    Another benefit of food additives is that consumers can be offered a wider choice of foods. Many processed foods contain additives. Some common examples are bacon, margarine, ice cream and bread.

    Some people believe that because food additives are chemicals they should be banned. However, everything in the world, including the food we eat and our bodies, is made of chemicals. Air, water, glucose and salt are chemicals in the same way that food additives are.

    Many food additives occur naturally, such as red color from beetroot (Beet red), and purple color from grape skins (anthocyanins). These colors can be extracted and added to foods.

    Some food additives found in nature can be manufactured, for example, ascorbic acid. Other additives are manufactured but not found in nature, such as aspartame, which is used to replace sugar.
    Always follow the directions provided and do not add more than directed.

    SAUSAGE BINDER- Also known as Soy, Soy Protein, Soy Flour and other brand names
    This ingredient is used to prevent weight loss and shrinkage to products being processed in the smokehouse, by helping to retain the natural juices (moisture) in the meat. This product also helps to bind the sausage together and can be used in meat products such as burgers to retain the natural juices from cooking out. Although not generally used in fresh sausages it may be added with good results. You should use the following ratios:
    Smoked products Use binder up to 5% of the meat weight.
    Fresh products Use binder up to 3% of the meat weight.
    Sausage binder weighs out at about 4 oz. per cup so 4 cups would equal about one lb.
    WATER - Water is used in sausage making to add moisture to the meat, to add lubrication to the stuffing process and to help distribute the seasonings through out the meat. This water, called added water, will cook out of the meat before the natural moisture, called bound water, cooks out of the meat. Thus, you have a moister product when cooked. Water is also added to lubricate the meat making it easier to stuff into casing. Adding water to the seasoning and ingredients helps carry them into the meat and distributes them evenly during the mixing stage. You can add water up to 10% of the meat weight. Always use ice-cold water.
    Water is also used to shower the finished product after smoking. This stops the cooking process and prevents swiveling.
    Some water supplies have high lime contents that leave white powder spots on sausage after showering. Check for hard water.
    CURES - Cures are used in sausage products for color and flavor development as well as retarding the development of bacteria in
    the low temperature environment of smoked meats.
    Salt and sugar both cure meat by osmosis. In addition to drawing the water from the food, they dehydrate and kill the bacteria that make food spoil. In general, though, use of the word "cure" refers to processing the meat with either sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate.
    The primary and most important reason to use cures is to prevent BOTULISM POISONING (Food poisoning). It is very important that any kind of meat or sausage that will be cooked and smoked at low temperature be cured. To trigger botulism poisoning, the requirements are quite simple - lack of oxygen, the presence of moisture, and temperatures in range of 40-140° F. When smoking meats, the heat and smoke eliminates the oxygen. The meats have moisture and are traditionally smoked and cooked in the low ranges of 90 to 185° F. As you can see, these are ideal conditions for food poisoning if you don't use cures. There are two types of commercially used cures.

    Prague Powder #1 -
    Also called Insta-Cure and Modern Cure. Cures are used to prevent meats from spoiling when being cooked or smoked at low temperatures (under 200 degrees F). This cure is 1 part sodium nitrite (6.25%) and 16 parts salt (93.75%) and are combined and crystallized to assure even distribution. As the meat temperate rises during processing, the sodium nitrite changes to nitric oxide and starts to "gas out" at about 130 degrees F. After the smoking /cooking process is complete only about 10-20% of the original nitrite remains. As the product is stored and later reheated for consumption, the decline of nitrite continues. 4 ounces of Prague powder #1 is required to cure 100 lbs of meat. A more typical measurement for home use is 1 level tsp per 5 lbs of meat. Mix with cold water, then mix into meat like you would mix seasonings into meat.
    Prague Powder #2

    Used to dry-cure products. Prague powder #2 is a mixture of 1 part sodium nitrite, .64 parts sodium nitrate and 16 parts salt. (1 oz. of sodium nitrite with .64 oz. of sodium nitrate to each lb. of salt.)
    It is primarily used in dry-curing Use with products that do not require cooking, smoking, or refrigeration. This cure, which is sodium nitrate, acts like a time release, slowly breaking down into sodium nitrite, then into nitric oxide. This allows you to dry cure products that take much longer to cure. A cure with sodium nitrite would dissipate too quickly.
    Use 1 oz. of cure for 25 lbs. of meat or 1 level teaspoon of cure for 5 lbs. of meat when mixing with meat.
    When using a cure in a brine solution, follow a recipe.
    SWEETENERS: Sugars are use to add flavor and to cover or mask salt. Sugars will cause browning when the product is pan fried or grilled.
    Dextrose - 70% as sweet as cane sugar and quite a bit heavier. Helps reduce nitrate to nitrite as meats are cured. Used to counter salt in brines.
    Maple Sugar - Used in producing bacon - adds flavor and aroma.
    Corn Syrup and Corn Syrup Solids - Only about 40-50% as sweet as cane sugar. This additive will help to hold water and color in meat, bind the meat when curing sausage at low temperatures, aid the fermentation process when semi-dry or dry curing. Add no more than 2% of the green weight of the meat.
    NON-FAT DRY MILK:
    Acts as a binder, helps retain the moisture of the meat. You can use up to 12% (of the meat weight) without affecting the taste of the sausage.
    FERMENTO: Use to produce a tangy taste in sausage such as summer, pepperoni and thuringer. The recommended level to start with is 3%, add up to 6% to produce a more tangy taste, but do not exceed 6% or the sausage will become mushy. This product does not require refrigeration.
    Sodium Erythorbate: is the salt of Ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Erythorbates role in cured meats is as a curing accelerator to speed up curing process, as an antioxidant for the prevention of oxidative rancidity and to help avoid pigment oxidation. Erythorbate allows you to smoke and smoke cook sausages containing cures immediately after stuffing. For hams, bacon, or whole muscle meats you can usually smoke or smoke cook 24 hours after injection and brine curing. When used in sausage, add 1 ounce per 100 pounds of meat. For brines and injection, use 1 ounce per gallon of brine made.
    NOTE: Please check the label on all pre-mixed blends for Erythorbate , as some of pre-mixes blends contain Erythorbate in them.
    Sodium Tripolyphosphate (Also Known As Sodium phosphate) is a food grade phosphate that is used with meat products to help in the retention of moisture and soluble proteins. Sodium Tripolyphosphate is compatible with all curing ingredients such as nitrites, nitrates, sugar, salt and ascorbic acid or its derivative, sodium erythorbate.
    USAGE REQUIREMENTS: The maximum amount of phosphate permitted by the Meat Inspection Division is no more than .5% to be retained by the meat in the finished product.
    DIRECTIONS FOR USE: Dissolve the sodium phosphate in water using the recipe below, to produce the .5% limit suggested in the guidelines.
    EXAMPLE: For 100 lb. of sausage use the following recipe.
    Meat 100.00 lb.
    Water / Ice 4.00 lb. (2 quarts)
    Sodium Tripolyphosphate .50 lb. (1 and 1/2 cups)
    NOTE: The water may be tap water if necessary to dissolve the phosphate, but the water with phosphate solution
    should be ice water cold when actually used with the meat. Try dissolving the phosphate in a small amount of
    the water with the remaining water being ice water or crushed ice.
    Potassium Sorbate - A Solution Of Potassium Sorbate Will Prevent Mold Formation On Jerky.
    Mix 3-1/4 Oz. With 1 Gallon Of Water & Dip Or Spay On.
    ANTIOXIDANT: Antioxidant are use to slow the oxidation of fat in meat products that causes the browning naturally.
    This product is usually used with fresh meats. Antioxidant is composed of Salt (95.8%), BHA (1.4%), BHT (1.4%), and Citric Acid (1.4%).
    USAGE:
    1. Use 4.0 oz. per 100-lbs. meat with 35% fat content.
    2. Use 3.5 oz. per 100-lbs. meat with 30% fat content.
    3. Use 3.0 oz. per 100-lbs. meat with 25% fat content.
    4. Use 2.5 oz. per 100-lbs. meat with 20% fat content.
    ENCAPSULATED CITRIC ACID: Use encapsulated citric acid when making summer sausage or snack sticks and that distinctive "tang", associated with reduce pH, is desired but the lengthy fermentation cycle is not. When used correctly, it is almost impossible to tell if the sausage was manufactured by fermentation or by the use of this product. There is no need to worry about processing under special conditions. You just add the citric acid to the meat at end of the mixing process (making sure that you do not grind meat again), and then blend into the meat by hand or by mixer. If using a meat mixer, mix only until the encapsulated citric acid is blended into the meat mix, usually about one minute is sufficient. Longer mixing can cause the capsules to rupture resulting in the premature release of the citric acid.
    Encapsulated citric acid is citric acid, a naturally occurring acid, that has been encapsulated (coated) with maltodexrine, a hydrogenated vegetable oil, which will melt at 135 degrees F. releasing the citric acid into the meat product. This prevents the citric acid from releasing and prematurely lowering the ph of your sausage meat mix. If the meat's ph drops before the protein sets at 105-115 degrees you will get a negative effect on the texture of your finished sausage. It won't bind as well and the texture will be crumbly.
    Encapsulated citric acid should be added and mixed in after the grinding is complete as not to rupture the capsules. Since the encapsulation prevents release into the meat until the meat's internal temperature reaches 135 degrees F. a ruptured or damaged capsule will release the citric acid prematurely causing the undesired affects listed above.
    Once the capsule is melted releasing the citric acid into the product decrease in pH is achieved resulting in the distinctive "tang" or sour taste associated with reduced pH products.
    Suggested usage for this purpose is 3 oz. for 25 lb. of meat
    Also use to preserve color of fresh sausage during storage. Use 1/2 oz. to 1 oz. per 100 lb. of meat for this purpose.
    NOTE: Too much Citric Acid will cause the meat to turn white.


    Tom

  • #2
    Thanks Gunny. And questions/additions/comments please start a new thread, and they will be added here if needed :{)
    In God I trust- All others pay cash...
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