Homemade Sausage Making

Hi All,

A quick question. I have just made some coppa according marianski and after the required 3 wweks drying it was great, but a still a bit moist (though perfect tasting. After 4 weeks the texture is brilliant but it is now a touch salty. Im not sure what to do next time really. Obviously i can try 3.5 weeks and it should be a good compromise. I dont dare use less salt. maybe the type of sea salt is the problem?!?!

Im also worried that once packed, the coppa will be even more salty as weeks go by.

Any thoughts?

Andrej

Hi AndrewJ,
Let's go to the big guy himself. It's only fair to ask the author of the recipe rather than trying to speculate. I'll forward this post to Stan and we'll see what he recommends. I'll be in touch. Thanks for writing in.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Great Chuck, Itll be interesting to hear because im not so worried that it was salty, its more WHY that concerns me and how to fix it. That aside the result is great.

Hi Andrew J,
You wrote:

im not so worried that it was salty, its more WHY that concerns me and how to fix it.

Actually Andrew, Stan has already answered those two questions in his book, "Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages" on page 187-188. He states, "When smoking large amounts of meat that will be kept for a week or longer, remember that it [salt] will keep on drying out (losing moisture). Salt will, however, remain inside and your sausage will now taste saltier and will be of a smaller diameter. The meat flavor will also be stronger now. In such a case you may use less salt than originally planned for, let`s say 15 g/kg.

Hope this helps.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Hi,

Ok cool. Ill try that. I was just worried about using less salt for safety reasons, especially as its unsmoked meat etc. Because im new to this im not sure how much is too much or how little is too little and the salt/nitrate/nitrite thing scares me a bit. But ill try that next time.

Thanks much

Hi Andrew J,
I haven't heard from Stan yet. He may still be in Poland.
In his last sentence in that paragraph he was talking about Sausage. If you use less salt in a brining solution, be sure to calculate it using a table. There are several sources available to do that. Siara's table on this site is outstanding. Also, Stan's book contains all sorts of info and brining tables as well. If you are a bit confused when mixing it, just shoot me a message and I'll be glad to help you anytime. Using less salt is certainly an option - up to a point. As you know, a specified amount of it is absolutely necessary for safety reasons as well as modification of proteins.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon