Seasoning Measurements

[ademily87]

I recently got a bag of A.C. Legg "OP HOT AND SPICY SNACK STICK SEASONING". One whole bag minus the cure does 25lbs of meat. The bag weighs 18.5oz.

I am doing a 3lb batch of snack sticks. I have made a 80/20 blend of brisket and pork butt. Because I was doing only three pounds, I did some math.

The whole 18.5oz package does 25lbs of meat. 18.5oz divided by 25 comes out to 0.74oz per pound. I had a weighed 3lbs of meat, so, 0.74 X 3= 2.22oz. I did exactly 2.2oz of seasoning to the meat, and 1tbsp of cure that was leftover from one of my summer sausage kits. I mixed it very well in a stand mixer for about 4 minutes, with the appropriate amount of water. Using a vertical stuffer I made 4 "links" of snack sticks. Using the left overs in the stuffer, I made 3 2oz sausage patties.

I cooked the patties, and they're one of the most salty things I've ever eaten. Does that mellow out with snack sticks while they sit and cure for 24 hours? Did I do some math wrong? Is the cure measurements for summer sausage different than snack sticks? I feel like I followed the directions to a T. I'm very OCD when it comes to instructions (written ones). The summer sausage instructions for the cure is 1TSP per pound. I did one TBSP which is the equivalent of 3TSP.

Am I over thinking this? I felt very confident until I tried the patties. I've never made snack sticks before though, so I dunno if they'll taste totally different from the patties.

 

[indaswamp]

It was salty because you used 1TBSP. of cure which is way too much. the correct amount is 1 oz. per 25# of meat, which is 28.35 grams...or 1.134grams per pound. for 3# that's a little less than 1 tsp.

 

[johnnyb54]

Whenever I need to convert seasonings I always use grams. 25 lbs. is 11340 grams and 18.5 oz. is 525 grams. 11340/525 = 21.6 grams per lb. So a 3 lb. batch is 21.6x3= 64.8 grams. 64.8 grams is equal to 2.29 oz. of seasoning. You should use 1tsp of cure per 5 lbs. of meat. I don’t know the amount of water you used but a terrific calculator for cure can be found here
Diggity Dogs cure Calculator.

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[JckDanls 07]

1tbsp of cure that was leftover from one of my summer sausage kits.

Do we know what kind of cure this is ?? That's the problem with using the little cure packs that comes with a KIT ... The whole packet is for 25 lbs of meat....

 

[pa42phigh]

There is a sticky at the top of this fourm maybe that will help https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/ams/pre-proportioning-mix-ingredients.10152/

 

[chef jimmyj]

Too much Cure! Salt does not go away. You might consider cooking with the sausage. Soup, Chili, Stew, etc...JJ

Here is a similar situation...

I done messed up about 19 pounds of summer sausage. Any ideas what to do with it?

Long story short... I had roughly 19 pounds of ground meat for summer sausage... had a spice kit for 25 pounds... didn't think much about it in a hurry I dumped it all in..... smoked it, came out perfect looking. Pulled it out a day later to package and decided to sample... smells awesome but...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[tallbm]

I recently got a bag of A.C. Legg "OP HOT AND SPICY SNACK STICK SEASONING". One whole bag minus the cure does 25lbs of meat. The bag weighs 18.5oz.

I am doing a 3lb batch of snack sticks. I have made a 80/20 blend of brisket and pork butt. Because I was doing only three pounds, I did some math.

The whole 18.5oz package does 25lbs of meat. 18.5oz divided by 25 comes out to 0.74oz per pound. I had a weighed 3lbs of meat, so, 0.74 X 3= 2.22oz. I did exactly 2.2oz of seasoning to the meat, and 1tbsp of cure that was leftover from one of my summer sausage kits. I mixed it very well in a stand mixer for about 4 minutes, with the appropriate amount of water. Using a vertical stuffer I made 4 "links" of snack sticks. Using the left overs in the stuffer, I made 3 2oz sausage patties.

I cooked the patties, and they're one of the most salty things I've ever eaten. Does that mellow out with snack sticks while they sit and cure for 24 hours? Did I do some math wrong? Is the cure measurements for summer sausage different than snack sticks? I feel like I followed the directions to a T. I'm very OCD when it comes to instructions (written ones). The summer sausage instructions for the cure is 1TSP per pound. I did one TBSP which is the equivalent of 3TSP.

Am I over thinking this? I felt very confident until I tried the patties. I've never made snack sticks before though, so I dunno if they'll taste totally different from the patties.

Hi there and welcome!

Like the others are saying, you went way to much cure.
Also be very careful with cure #1 as if you do way too much and it can kill/poison u.

1 pound of meat/material is 1.13gm of cure#1 at 156ppm. So just remember 1.13gm per pound. This will be roughly one scant 1/4 teaspoon per pound of material if you don't have a scale. And 1 scant teaspoon for 5 pounds of material.

1 tbsp (tablespoon) is = 3 teaspoons so you basically put enough cure for 15 pounds of meat!

Also as you do sausage and sticks going by weight is the best way to go BUT often store bought seasonings can be less then precise with their teaspoon/tablespoon measurements so figure out by weight is the way to go like you did for the most part.

A key trick to sausage and stick making is to mix up your sausage with weighed out seasoning (record how much weight in sausage and weight in seasoning to get per pound units) and do a fry test. Make a small patty or two and fry up.

If it taste bland add more seasoning and fry test. Repeat till you get it right.
If it taste like it MIGHT be too salty... it is too salty. So add some more sausage grind and mix again and test again until it isn't too salty.
This Fry Test trick is crucial and you only need to skip it once or twice and be burned by it, so simply try to make the time and do it anytime/every time you are not using a well measured or tried and true seasoning and mix recipe.

I hope this info helps and good luck on the next batch! :)

 

[chopsaw]

Can't answer this without knowing what you used for cure . Didnt read thru everything , don't have my glasses on .
Just wanted to say ac legs, ask the meat man breaks it down for smaller batches . I just search the mix I have from leggs with how much per pound . Takes you to a web page .

 

[ademily87]

Thanks guys. I'll try and snap a picture of the cure packet before I head into work. The instructions said 1TSP per pound so I did just that.

 

[JckDanls 07]

That's sounding more like tender quick than it does cure #1 ...

So the full pack looked like it coulda been 25 tsp . ?

 

[Fueling Around]

You did great breaking down the seasoning pack by weight.
indaswamp and tallbm hit the reasons.
1 tablespoon of cure is basically .... 1 tablespoon of salt.
Salt level doesn't make much difference if #1 or #2 cure.
A mounded 1/2 teaspoon (.6 tsp) of cure #1 is what you should have used for 3# of meat.
You added an extra 2-1/2 teaspoons of salt to 3# of meat.
The added salt alone is too much for me in #3 of meat besides what is in the basic seasoning package.
Problem is you have 3 times too much sodium nitrite in the meat mix.
Me i wouldn't use the meat as is. If you cannot cut it it at least by half with more meat, shed a tear and dump it.

When you get into the ambiguous measurements of mounded, heaping, scant or even level teaspoon (tsp) or Tbl (tablespoon) the results are not accurate. A slip of the typing finger turns a teaspoon into a tablespoon.
I use a scale as you did for the seasonings.

 

[olaf]

These seasonings can sometimes settle. I always mix them before measuring out what I need.

 

[ademily87]

So here's the cure packet and instructions. I did the same amount for my summer sausage and I'm using the same batch of ground for my snack sticks that I used for the SS. SS hung in my fridge over night after a 10 hour smoke. Just tried a slice this morning. It's perfect!

Maybe I got an extra salty batch of AC Leggs? I have no clue. I'm just gonna do these sticks in the oven and take a nap (I work 3rd shift). Who knows, maybe they'll turn out.

Thanks again for everyone's help and pointers.

 

[daveomak.fs]

What country are you in....

 

[ademily87]

What country are you in....

'Murica.

 

[daveomak.fs]

Where did you get that cure ?? In America, cure#1 is the FDA approved cure for meat processing at home....

 

[ademily87]

Where did you get that cure ?? In America, cure#1 is the FDA approved cure for meat processing at home....

It was in a summer sausage kit I purchased at a local Walmart.

 

[daveomak.fs]

Must have been made in Canada by Eastman Outdoors...

Anywho, that cure is 98.5% salt... 1 tsp. is approx. 6 grams ....
so you added ~18 grams salt in 3# meat...
3 x 454 = 1362 grams.. 18/1362 = 1.3% salt, which in itself is not high...

Cure#1 ~= 6.25% nitrite... 1 tsp. for 5#'s of meat...

I think the Eastman mix was specifically formulated for 1.25% cure....

A.C. Leggs is formulated for 6.25% nitrite in the cure..


The number show, 9 tsp. of 1.25% cure for 3# of meat vs. 3/5 tsp for 3#'s of meat using the cure#1..
That's where you screwed up...
I've used many A.C. Leggs mixes and have not found them salty....

DO NOT MIX INGREDIENTS FROM DIFFERENT MANUFACTURERS....
Their recipes and ingredients are a marriage to insure customer satisfaction...

 

[pa42phigh]

Must have been made in Canada by Eastman Outdoors...

Anywho, that cure is 98.5% salt... 1 tsp. is approx. 6 grams ....
so you added ~18 grams salt in 3# meat...
3 x 454 = 1362 grams.. 18/1362 = 1.3% salt, which in itself is not high...

Cure#1 ~= 6.25% nitrite... 1 tsp. for 5#'s of meat...

I think the Eastman mix was specifically formulated for 1.25% cure....

A.C. Leggs is formulated for 6.25% nitrite in the cure..

View attachment 470159
The number show, 9 tsp. of 1.25% cure for 3# of meat vs. 3/5 tsp for 3#'s of meat using the cure#1..
That's where you screwed up...
I've used many A.C. Leggs mixes and have not found them salty....

DO NOT MIX INGREDIENTS FROM DIFFERENT MANUFACTURERS....
Their recipes and ingredients are a marriage to insure customer satisfaction...

Wow nice catch !!

 

[daveomak.fs]

Gotta get lucky once in awhile.... Like a blind squirrel finding an acorn.... LOL...