# powdered buttermilk



## fishhawk (Feb 17, 2010)

I've seen where some guys add powered buttermilk to their sausage to give it more tang.  What I need to know is how much do you add per pound and what kind of sausage do you add it to. Thanks Ron


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## davef63 (Feb 18, 2010)

good question, i'd like to know as well.
dave


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## marknb (Feb 18, 2010)

I'm not an expert by any means, but I did ask one a while back about this. Here's what he told me, at the risk of peeing off my main sausage stuff supplier (names have been omitted to protect the innocent - me!).

What he said was, adding powdered milk solids to add flavor or 'tang' is a scam designed to market surplus whey/buttermilk solids, that they don't actually add much of anything.  I've used Fermento, principly whey protein and dried milk solids, and, while it didn't hurt anything, I didn't particularly notice that trademark tang either.

If you're not going to go 'long form' and ferment/air dry sausage - using Cure #2, fermenting cultures, etc, the only way to develop that extra zip is to use encapsulated citric acid.  Its encapsulated so that the citric acid isn't released until the sausage reaches a certain temp.  Apparently, if its released too early, or interacts with the meat too long before reaching the finish, it can drop the pH of your meat, causing high water loss and dry crumbly sausage.   

Like I said, this isn't me talking.  Hopefully other members will chime in here with their experiences using powdered milk or the ECA.  It could be the powdered milk is also useful for retaining a certain amount of moisture, or for binding the meat.


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## mulepackin (Feb 18, 2010)

As Mark says, powdered milk can be, and is used successfully as a binder in sausages. I use it often. I have not used either powdered buttermilk, or regular buttermilk as a flavoring agent so I cannot speak to the results you might get with it in that context. Binders in general can get a bad rap. There is likely a basis for this in that some commercial processors used it properly, an possibly found that it may have been an inexpensive way to stretch meat and get more end product, so more is used than necessary. None the less, a binder used properly is an important ingredient for moisture and flavor retention, and aids in a nice appearance.


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## ringodad (Feb 22, 2010)

I've used powdered milk and powdered cultured buttermilk. Buttermilk does add a little sharpness to the meat, but it is true - if you want real summer sausage tang it's a quack, just like Fermento. Don't let that stop you - like I said, it does add a little body to the sausage, and you do want filler to help the sausage retain some moisture and plumpness for a softer "bite". That said, I've never gone wrong with 3% dried milk or buttermilk by weight. For a 5 pound batch of meat, that came to 4 TBSP of dried milk. 
On a related note - get a good digital scale! Most of the recipes I find are portioned by weight, not volume so I always have to convert on my own since I normally don't exceed 5-7 Lb batches.


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## deerjackie (Feb 25, 2010)

i use 2 cups of non fat dry milk to 10 lbs meat making summer sausage and it works great. no dry crumbly sausage. cooking at 175 till internal is 160.


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