Dried Italian Sausage

[LOUSANTELLO]

Well, the dried sausage came out incredible. I'm going to dry them out maybe one more week. They are at close to 4 weeks right now. Here's the recipe I used.

Pork butts trimmed to remove a substantial amount of fat.

Fennel seeds= .20%
Cure #2 = .25%
Sea Salt = 2.5%
Dextrose= .60%
Coarse Black Pepper= .20%
Red Pepper Flakes=.30%
BLC-007=.005%

I cubed the meat and put it through a "coarse grind"
I mixed all the ingredients except the 007, diluted the 007 in distilled water and added that last.
PH was roughly 5.8

I put in in a chamber at 73 Degrees until PH dropped to 5.1, then proceeded to cure at 54 Degrees F until down to your desired texture.

I used a 38-42mm casing.

I did not add any mould-600, yet it found it's way to the casings anyway.

[Bob K]

Looks great Lou! No Funk taste?

[LOUSANTELLO]

Definitely better. It's probably a combination of a couple of things. #1) Probably the faster fermentation using more Dextrose #2) Faster Drying time due to the smaller casings #3) The fennel is pretty forward which may take away from the cheesier smell and taste. This one is a keeper, but the casings are a pain to peel off. Any suggestions?

[Bob K]

If you can wipe the mold off them you can vac seal with them on- they might become edible or at least easier to peel. You can also get fibrous casings in that size to try on the next batch.

[LOUSANTELLO]

I would love to keep them on, but this white mold is on the wetter side and not so powdery, otherwise I would just scrub them. How much of it needs to be removed before vacuum sealing? Will the vinegar penetrate the meat?

[Bob K]

I doubt the vinegar would get through the dried casing. The worst that can happen if you don't get it all is that the surface will get a bit slimey, which is why i remove the casing before vac sealing.

Try some and see what happens after week or so.

[LOUSANTELLO]

I took one outside and brushed it off with no vinegar. I got alot of it off. Once you vacuum sela it, will it continue to grow or will it atay this way?

[Bob K]

Mold is aerobic, it will die.

[redzed]

Lou, the casings will peel off a lot easier if you place the sausages into a plastic bag and leave in the fridge for a day. The casings will become moist and should peel off. If that doesn't work, wash the sausages in a basin of luke warm 10% salt water. You might need a soft brush to assist in removing the mould. Hang in room temp for a few hours until dry and vac seal.

[LOUSANTELLO]

If that doesn't work, wash the sausages in a basin of luke warm 10% salt water. You might need a soft brush to assist in removing the mould. Hang in room temp for a few hours until dry and vac seal.

Based on what you said above, the soaking is if I want to keep the casings on? I would really like to keep the casing on.

[redzed]

Not soaking! A quick wash in salt water. But first try it on a couple.

[LOUSANTELLO]

I hate to sound stupid, but how is 10% salt water measured? By weight? By volume? I have never heard of a percentage mixture using one dry source and one liquid.

[Bob K]

Its by weight Lou.
This table makes it simple http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... king-brine

[LOUSANTELLO]

So 10% is roughly 1 pound of salt per gallon?

[BriCan]

So 10% is roughly 1 pound of salt per gallon?

In all honesty the simple solution that I always use is to set the taps in the sink running gently with tepid water and gently wash off with a soft nylon brush then as mentioned pat dry and hang until completely dry

for me it is about cross contamination