Farmer Johns Cold Smoked Sausage question

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driedstick

Smoking Guru
Original poster
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Nov 3, 2011
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N. Central Idaho
So,, I have been eating this since I was a youngin (many yrs now) this is a cold smoked sausage with no cure,, I know I know,,,but no one in my family or anywhere on the little prairie has gotten sick... They cold smoke for 4 hours with apple wood and this is usually done in around Thanksgiving so temps are very cold here,, and the smoker is just a old wood shed with stove pipe buried in ground and heat source 10ft or so away..

This is a very simple recipe and I want to do it but I want to add Tender quick to it for my purpose of smoking

I need to know how much salt I should take out for the Tender quick addition

Here is the recipe 

20lbs ground pork

8 tbls salt

4 tbls course  ground fresh pepper

Very simple recipe but very good,

Once I get this down I will add more ingredients to play with, sage, garlic ect. 

I know do fry test ect, which I will, I was just wanting a good starting point.

Thanks for the help 

A full smoker is a happy smoker 

DS
 
 
TQ is 1.5 tsp. (1/2 TBS.) per pound of ground meat.... If you were wanting to cure the sausage.... 1 TBS per pound when doing a rub on whole muscle meat...

Personally, I would use Cure #1 at 1 tsp. per 5#'s of ground meat and adjust the salt myself...


You can read up on some cures in the link below......

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?736-Curing-Salts


Dave
 
TQ is 1.5 tsp. (1/2 TBS.) per pound of ground meat.... If you were wanting to cure the sausage.... 1 TBS per pound when doing a rub on whole muscle meat...

Personally, I would use Cure #1 at 1 tsp. per 5#'s of ground meat and adjust the salt myself...


You can read up on some cures in the link below......

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?736-Curing-Salts


Dave
Thanks Dave, I got the curing thingy down but was wondering a good starting point with the salt reduction on the recipe,, Maybe 4tbls to start??  That is a great read, I have it posted on my shop wall by where I do my sausage mixin. 
pot.gif


I have TQ and Cure #1 I guess it will be last minute  decision on that. 
 
I agree with Dave.  Skip the tenderquick and use cure 1.   This way you wont have to alter the recipe.  20 pounds of meat, you would use 4 tsp. of cure 1.  Reinhard.
 
 
I agree with Dave.  Skip the tenderquick and use cure 1.   This way you wont have to alter the recipe.  20 pounds of meat, you would use 4 tsp. of cure 1.  Reinhard.
Thanks, but if the salt was dead on in the first batch, wouldn't it be too salty,, I will stay with the correct cure amounts but looking at taking out some of the original salt.

DS
 
 
Thanks, but if the salt was dead on in the first batch, wouldn't it be too salty,, I will stay with the correct cure amounts but looking at taking out some of the original salt.

DS

 

Mix up a batch using the cure, but don't add the salt. Mix it really well, do a patty test, and then add salt to your taste.

It won't be exactly the same, no smoke, but it should give you an idea on the salt flavor.
 
If you are concerned about additional salt flavor from 4 tsp. of cure 1 just cut the salt in the recipe to 7 Tablespoons but it should not affect the original recipe much in my opinion.  Reinhard
 
Mix up a batch using the cure, but don't add the salt. Mix it really well, do a patty test, and then add salt to your taste.

It won't be exactly the same, no smoke, but it should give you an idea on the salt flavor.
Yep that was going to be my next option,,,,, do a 5lb batch so I am not out that much

Thanks CB

DS
 
Yep that was going to be my next option,,,,, do a 5lb batch so I am not out that much

Thanks CB

DS

If it turns out bad, and I doubt it will, you could always use the links on a bun with lots of mustard, or in spaghetti. I've hidden a few mistakes under pasta and meat sauce. Thumbs Up
 
If it turns out bad, and I doubt it will, you could always use the links on a bun with lots of mustard, or in spaghetti. I've hidden a few mistakes under pasta and meat sauce.
icon14.gif
mistakes???? me??? Never!!!! LOL

                                                                                                                                         
BSmeter.gif
 Why is this in the red???? 

Ya, I have hidden some also,,, 

DS
 
I would estimate that Morton Tender Quick is approximately 80% salt. Like Dave said above it should be added at 1/2 Tablespoon per 1 Pound of meat.

Doing the math, 80% of 1/2T comes out to me 0.40 T. That is 0.40 Tablespoons of salt added per 1 pound of meat.

Multiply by 20 for the 20 pounds of meat in your recipe and you have 8 Tablespoons of salt. (20 x 0.40 T = 8T).

In my opinion you should be able to add Tender Quick at 1/2 Tablespoon per 1 Pound of meat and NOT add any additional salt. This will give you the same amount of salt content in the end. I would expect the sausage to have a slightly different taste and texture due to the cure though.  
 
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Cure #1 is 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% sodium chloride.  I doubt many could tell the taste difference between Cure #1 and pure salt.

How ever much Cure #1 you use I would leave out that much salt.  Be sure to mix your cure#1 and your salt very well.

You can cold smoke uncured meat.  You have to be extremely careful to not let the air around the meat exceed 40°f.  I had contemplated trying this, but decided I probably wouldn't pay as much attention as I should to do it safely.

So if it's 30°f out and you are using dust in an AMN(P)S it can be possible.
 
I find this very interesting. For all accounts this seems to be the very recipe for some sausage my boss brought to work. It was a little salty and to be honest I thought it was venison. I asked what kind of fat he added and he said it's all pork. I'm thinking all pork fat, he corrected me, It;s ALL pork. He did use cure #1 salt and pepper cold smoked about 3-4 hours a day for 3 days.

 That's what got me renewed my interest in smoking and introduced me to cold smoking. Which in turn brought me here to one of greatest forums on the web.

 Can't wait to hear how it turns out.
 
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