I used the SEARCH and read 33 topics on Lactic Acid, and 15 on citric acid. All but one were discussing lactic acid producion by bacterial ferment.

My question is this: in a cooked salami, why would meat texture from direct lactic acid addition be any worse or more crumbly than that achieved by a...

Is an Equilibrium Cure permitted in commercial production?

Here is a great deal for Canadians who would like to get the little Hanna meat tester. Works out to less than the American price of $99USD and free shipping.

Greeting Everyone!
I stumbled upon this site a while ago, very awesome compilation of information.
I enjoy making summer sausage and feel as though it is perfect (at least for my taste), with one exception. The casings seem to become loose during the cooking process and sometimes has undesirable...

I mentioned something the other day about soft fat on peanut fed pigs and Redzed asked about it but I was unable to find the paper where I got the information. I knew I had bookmarked it somewhere in the computer but couldn't find it to save my life. Anyhow, I found it this morning buried in one of...

Occasionally I've seen people having difficulties with mince not adhering to collagen casings and thought after seeing this I might share this to give food for thought in this matter.

I recently made a batch of snack sticks which required fermentation. Each day I would cut about three inches off a...

Hanna recently released a new version of the HI981036 Meat pH Tester. This version has a ±0.05 pH accuracy, which is huge improvement over the previous version that had a ±0.2 pH accuracy. And the great thing is that the price of this unit is only $99 USD. So to all of you penny pinchers and slurry...

Very often when I use red pepper (chorizo for example) this seems to negatively influence the bind. The sausage gets crumbly, fat renders out. It seems to be exclusive to red pepper powder, both mild and spicy. If I make a farce first in which I incorporate the spices, it's not so bad, but if I mix...

I have been investigating brines for cooked ham. A few of them recommend adding cure no. 1 to the cure after cooking the salt and spices first. Is there any science behind this? Would nitrite lose some of its curing abilities if cooked? I only have access to 0,6 % N in the salt I use.
Does anyone...

Porcine Myology

One of the slickest presentations I`ve ever seen, has been provided free of charge to us by the University Of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska. These folks take their meats seriously and share their technology. Be sure to check out the following website. I`ve got it set to come up on...

You might recall about two years ago I started with a new batch of piglets that came from crossing a blue butt with a Yorkshire hog. Here are the cute critters.

Once they got to size they were given a good warm bath and a shave.

After this all sorts of things were made from blood sausage to...

Do you guys that smoke your sausage and then finish it by poaching notice any difference in the taste, smoke, overall quality or other characteristics vs. finishing them in the smokehouse?

Im considering the poaching method if it saves me some time, but not wanting to sacrifice anything.

Thanks.

In today's news we learned that sausages from a small Canadian producer are suspected with listeria contamination.

Canadians also remember 2008 outbreak where 12 people died after consuming listeria contaminated products from Maple Leaf Foods.

Listeria monocytogenes (commonly called Listeria)...

This is an interesting read for beginners with more technical links included:

Some facts that sometimes defy logic-

Diluting 1 part meat to 10 parts (distilled, unionized) water will not measurably change the Ph.
The probes that pierce the meat are not the most accurate method.

Common method:

Measuring pH of Meat
Fermented Sausages and Post-rigor Muscle

1.Calibrate the...

I do not know if it was already here:
If not, it might come in handy.
Author - Grandfather.

Malabar is a Canadian wholesale supplier to the meat processing and retail industries. It has a periodic newsletter and interesting resource library:

Malabar is HACCP certified (Hazard analysis and critical control points) and I didn`t know what that meant so I looked it up on Wikipedia. The...

I've encountered a strange problem after making several tons of sausage....literally.

We make fresh sausage with a dozen or so different recipes. Volumes are high for a boutique shop, with both wholesale and retail account.

A couple of weeks ago I started getting complaints that several of the...

Hi,
I noticed that a local supplier in Victoria sells GDL ( Glucono Delta Lactone) as an additive in successful Salami making.
Many years ago I made Salamis with nothing but salt and spices.
Do we have any members that have used this additive successfully?
Google list it as a help to Athletes in...

In learning to control capsicum heat. Question! which would have more concentration in sausage, cayenne or red pepper flakes. Also what would be the formula for getting the right amount of heat percent wise for mild,moderate and heavy amount. Per pound or kilo. I have ruined some sausage in my...

Made pepperoni a few weeks ago (Pepperoni, Powder Keg, Semi-Dry-Cured Quick, (Bactoferm™ FLC) In the refrigerator for all this time and in a paper bag. Went to cut off a hunk today and discovered this. About 10 days ago decided to wipe down pepperoni with some vinegar, just a touch of mold (barely...

In some areas, pork prices are at an all-time high of $3.83 a pound! :shock: Get ready for another spike in pork prices! Is anyone following the story of PED? It`s Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea and it`s a viral infection we can`t cure. It`s highly contagious and scientists are baffled. No one even...

I have some cut up inside round ready for the grinder which has been vacuum sealed and frozen for almost a year. I was going to either make snack sticks or summer sausage with it. Would it still be good?

Soon after I learned that there were some guidelines for seasoning sausage I started to apply them also to whole meat. I add salt and cure to my bacon and rolled butts at the rate of 2% salt and .25% cure #1. That works out just about right. So I started with split chicken and since I don't want my...

Rabid Duck! :twisted:

I just got this e-mail from a old hunting buddy:

Today at 7:31 AM
Real nice!
I'm ready to ups u some boned duck meat
Where do i send it?
Or are u coming this way soon?

Seems some folks shoot ducks! He wants me to make some duck sausage, I keep half for my efforts. I'll...

I'm still learning techniques and recipes and am going to make Italian sausage and bratwurst today. I went to my local butcher yesterday and bought the following meats:
3 kilos boneless pork shoulder, with fat cap attached
2 kilos hog jowl
2 kilos clean back fat
1 kilo veal

I haven't cut the meat...

Topic Was Split By CW On 031614@11:46 From The Following Link:

I'm not surprised that I'm paying more for better cuts of pork than in the US since we don't have the massive corn and soya production industry here and all of the prime materials for livestock feed have to be imported. Pigs here eat...

This topic about alcohol in sausage was split 022814 @12:50 hrs by CW and is a continuation from this link:

Those really look good Chris!
I have always loved hunting C.Geese...but never cared for eating them. I wish I had tried sausage.

On the Alcohol that seems to be a problem with sausage...

New rules in the EU dramatically restrict the use of traditional wood smoke in flavouring meats.There is considerable panic in Poland as a large number of producers are not ready to undertake production under the new regulation.

The EU has determined that there are substantial health hazards in...

I just received an email from a friend telling me that she had gone to a holiday dinner at a friend's home. The meat was roast turkey with a savory rub and some of the same spice blend used in the stuffing. This friend is quite sensitive to capsicum. She was fine during the meal, her husband is a...

Just wanted to bring this topic up again, could someone please help with my question?

How do they keep the different cuts together (maintain the adhesion) after smoking?

Don't know if this is the right forum but I'm wondering if anyone can explain the difference between rubbed sage and ground sage. I haven't seen rubbed sage anywhere on a grocery store shelf. RAY

Our fellow member Rick has asked a great question that I believe I ought to share with others. He wrote to me:
CW, If my recipe has no call for sugar, and I'd like to add a culture to my sausage, what percentage of dextrose would I have to add, to feed the culture in order to get the best level of...

I am looking for some suggestions here....the last batch of sausages I made ended up with too many air pockets between the meat and casing, as well as a few inside the sausages. Any ideas on the cause or a solution? Could it be from too coarse of a grind?

Thanks,

Travis

Hi All,
today was my 4th attempet of making emulsified sausages and it
was also my 4th failure, I did everything by the book (I think...), i ground
the cold meat twice and sepertly from the fat, i used a powerfull food processor in a small batches, add the fat last and used ice cold water through...

Alright, don't crucify me, but the grocery store sells Johnsonville or Ekrich Farms Cheddar Brats and I want to make some that are similar........I know, but my wife only likes these kind.

I'm trying to determine how I should grind the meat, for example, fine, medium, or course grind? Grind once,...

Our member and friend Nepas is a moderator of another forum and has asked a very important question that one of his members posted. As it surely concerns all of us, I am posting it for our members to read as well. Here's how I responded:

Hi Nepas, Nice to hear from you. Hope all is going well....

Have any of you guys ever stuffed your sausage and hung it at room temperature to dry and maybe used a fan to speed up the drying process so you can put it in the smoke?

I did that on my last batch. The only difference I noticed was when the sausage was finished in the smokehouse the casings...

In New Zealand there is a shrub called a pepperwood, pepper leaf and horopito (Maori name). Its latin name is Pseudowintera colorata. The leafs colours are amazing and very depending on how much sun they get.

From Wikipedia (

Horopito leaves are used in cooking in a variety of ways. Horopito is...

Here is an interesting and disturbing article from yesterday's British press.

this my first post, I would like to ask if its true that cola should not be mixed with curing salt
because it will form a potentially lethal compound.