# Salt ratio for Fresh Sausage ?



## olecrosseyes (Jan 5, 2020)

It's time for me to make fresh sausage again. What are your go to ratios of salt per pound of pork shoulder?

When we are talking about salt, does it matter to you what kind of sausage you are making?
Sweet Italian Sausage
Hot Italian Sausage
Breakfast Sausage

When I'm asking about the salt content please be specific on the grain whether it be, kosher, pickling or iodized table salt or does matter to you?

Thanks for your inputs in advance!
Denny O


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## DanMcG (Jan 5, 2020)

For salt in fresh sausage, I go about 1.5% of the meat weight. It doesn't matter what sausage I'm making. 
Don't use iodized salt, other than that to me salt is salt and the grain size doesn't matter. I usually dissolve it in some water with the spices and mix it into the meat.


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## olecrosseyes (Jan 5, 2020)

I appreciate your answer in weight.  So for 3 pounds you would add about 4 1/3rd teaspoons?


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## DanMcG (Jan 5, 2020)

I'd have to think about that, I measure by weight, not volume. 
3 lbs would be 1362 grams and 1.5% of that would be 20.5 gms.


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## DanMcG (Jan 5, 2020)

Here's where you run into trouble with types of salt measured by volume.
Kosher salt is 12 grams per TBSP, and table salt weighs 22 grams per TBSP (info from Len Polis site)  So you'd want less then 2 of  kosher or one of table salt.

Take a look at some of these recipes to get an idea of volume.
http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage recipes.htm#FRESH


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## daveomak (Jan 5, 2020)

But a grams scale...  About $12...  get one that is a 0-100 grams range....


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## chef jimmyj (Jan 5, 2020)

Can't go wrong with this highly rated Scale...JJ


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## crazymoon (Jan 5, 2020)

OCE, I'm chiming in to say what others are saying and that is to buy a cheap scale.It will make any sausage recipe measuring so much easier. My go to recipe for 10 pounds of hot Italian calls for 4 tablespoons . I just looked and most of the recipes I have call for that amount of salt per 10 pounds. I alway use NON-iodized salt.


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## daveomak (Jan 5, 2020)

I have this one

 A good scale..


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## olecrosseyes (Jan 5, 2020)

Sorry guys I know better than to ask a question about salt in a volume form. Yes I have digital scales, it was late last night and I wasn't thinking, dumb me!

So 1.5 % sounds very close to the rest of you?


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## olecrosseyes (Jan 5, 2020)

DanMcG, many thanks for the link!!
crazymoon Thank you for the "in general" or "as a rule of thumb" comment.


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## W.O.W. (Jan 13, 2020)

crazymoon said:


> OCE, I'm chiming in to say what others are saying and that is to buy a cheap scale.It will make any sausage recipe measuring so much easier. My go to recipe for 10 pounds of hot Italian calls for 4 tablespoons . I just looked and most of the recipes I have call for that amount of salt per 10 pounds. I alway use NON-iodized salt.


Why non iodised salt.  ? ? Up until now I have always used iodised table salt. I need to understand the  difference when being used in fresh sausage .


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## daveomak (Jan 13, 2020)

the anti caking ingredients can add an off flavor...   Use Kosher salt and weigh it....  2% is a good starting point...


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## W.O.W. (Jan 13, 2020)

daveomak said:


> the anti caking ingredients can add an off flavor...   Use Kosher salt and weigh it....  2% is a good starting point...


Thanks for your reply but OMG , I am not into metric and grams and stuff  at all and need to  go by teaspoon or tablespoons etc. I understand Kosher has a different weight  per volume than ordinary table salt . How does a teaspoon of Kosher compare with a teaspoon of ordinary salt . Would it be somewhat lighter than iodised  table salt ?  
How about non iodised salt
I wouldn't have a clue how to use a gram scale and would make some pretty bad mistakes  with guesswork using one  .


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## daveomak (Jan 13, 2020)

Try google


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## chef jimmyj (Jan 13, 2020)

A Tablespoon of Diamond Crystal Kosher is Half the weight of Table Salt. Mortons Kosher is 30% lighter for a given Volume of Table Salt. If you Weigh using a Scale, 1 ounce is 1 ounce so it don't matter if you use Rock Salt or Super Fine Salt...JJ


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## W.O.W. (Jan 13, 2020)

⁸


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## W.O.W. (Jan 13, 2020)

Well, as daveomack suggested to try Google I did and found one teaspoon of table salt weighs 0.20 ounces in my language  and a teaspoon of kosher is 0.21 so practically negligible for my purposes .


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## chef jimmyj (Jan 14, 2020)

We don't use Iodized Salt because with the amounts in Sausage and Curing, the Iodine gives a Metallic flavor to the meat. Also, with Salt, as the Volume increases, the Weight Difference between Table and Kosher increases, dramatically...JJ


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## daveomak (Jan 14, 2020)

You might have checked a bit deeper......   This is what I found....

Salt additions should be weighed to have consistency between types of salt

Salt Type ..........................................Weight of 1/4 cup (grams)

Morton’s Table Salt..................................... 76.0
Morton Pickling Salt.................................... 74.0
La Baleine Coarse Sea Salt.........................66.8
La Baleine Fine Sea Salt............................ 64.8
Morton’s Kosher Salt.................................. 62.0
Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt..................... 45.2
Maldon Sea Salt......................................... 33.2


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## chef jimmyj (Jan 14, 2020)

W.O.W. said:


> Well, as daveomack suggested to try Google I did and found one teaspoon of table salt weighs 0.20 ounces in my language  and a teaspoon of kosher is 0.21 so practically negligible for my purposes .



There is no way Kosher is Heavier, even a small amount, than Table Salt. Tiny Table Salt Grains pack more densely in a spoon than the large, light Flakes of Kosher Salt. As part of my Food Science ciriculum, I had my students prove this out. I'm afraid your source is mistaken...JJ


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## W.O.W. (Jan 14, 2020)

OK , thanks for all the responses .It has been an interesting discussion . As for my particular use of salt I am talking about 3 or 4  teaspoons to a 5 pound batch of sausage. I  guess for anyone using  cups or pounds on a commercial scale , the small weight difference would mean more .
As far as iodized salt imparting an off taste in my sausages , it never has any more than it does when sprinkling salt on food on the table  or from using it for cooking anything else . (which is none) So I guess I will just carry on using iodised salt for everything which is medically  better for a person than non iodised . Everyone has their own opinions but for me , salt is salt in it's form for human consumption . 
This is a nice site  and it is great to see that it is more active than some other this time of year. It was totally bombarded with commercials and popups before I corrected that with an add block which works fine on my PC here but can't use this site on my tablet because I have not found a suitable android add  block system  yet for it . . Fortunately all other sites and everything else work add free on my tablet .This is the only site that affects it negatively  so when I get notice of a reply to a thread on my tablet I wait until I am on my PC to  open it . .


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## couger78 (Jan 14, 2020)

W.O.W. said:


> As far as iodized salt imparting an off taste in my sausages , it never has any more than it does when sprinkling salt on food on the table  or from using it for cooking anything else . (which is none) So I guess I will just carry on using iodised salt for everything which is medically  better for a person than non iodised . Everyone has their own opinions but for me , salt is salt in it's form for human consumption .


You are certainly able to use whatever salt you so choose for sausage-making. The overwhelming majority of experienced sausage-makers (and chefs worldwide) will advise to NOT use iodized salt due to the purportedly_ 'off' _flavor it contains. Blind studies have shown, however, when a variety of salts are taste-tested, the differences between salts (_sea, kosher, iodized, etc_) was virtually undetectable when used _within_ prepared foods—as opposed to _sprinkling on top_ where the  differences in both flavor and texture are more pronounced.
I personally love using Kosher salt in all kitchen-related activities, so we always have a box on hand. I dont care for the taste of iodized salt on my food, so we don't keep any in stock.
Re: weighed vs volume measurements— for consistency sake, I highly recommend weighing all ingredients for sausages. As has been mentioned already, the varying amounts of salt (including CURE) and other spices can make or break a good sausage. If I'm going to the trouble and expense of making a quality product, I dont wish to compromise the content by having my measurements vary.
20 grams of brick = 20 grams of salt. A cup of brick does not equal a cup of salt.
**Please note: if you're using brick in your sausages, time to find a new recipe!


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## olecrosseyes (Jan 19, 2020)

_@*couger78 "*20 grams of brick = 20 grams of salt. A cup of brick does not equal a cup of salt.
**Please note: if you're using brick in your sausages, time to find a new recipe!"_

Love that as a bi-line!


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## SmokinEdge (Jan 25, 2020)

Many years ago I stopped measuring my sausage ingredients, and started weighing everything. That, all by its self, jumped my sausage game to another level, more so than anything else.


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