I'm trying to figure out what's giving the "heat and red color" of fresh HOT italian sausage. I tried crushed red pepper and my nephew wants more heat. I tried Cayenne. Although it's hotter, it's the wrong kind of heat. Suggestions?

I always hate the idea of inviting people to split portions. It never fails that every time I do that, I think I made enough and half of it is gone,,,,,but I think I'm all set for a while. LOL

Good to know. Thank You Bob.

I did not know that. Most of the soppressata is usually done in 4 week or so, so you`re suggesting cure #1? What is the downside to using #1?

I made some dried italian sausage. The casings were quite small. I kept the humidity at 75% and they are down to 48% weight loss in 3 weeks. They look and taste great, but What is the time that you usually want the cure #2 to dissipate? I thought I remember reading about this. Is it safe to vacuum p...

My first batch of soppressata I made 2 years ago was using T-SPX. I tried the 007 because I didn`t really care for the aroma of the T-SPX batch. I originally called it more of a dirty sock cheesy smell. I opened one yesterday along with a fairly new 007 batch I made 4 weeks ago. There`s no doubt tha...

There's always somebody willing to split it up. Don't throw the feeler out there to too many people. They will all want in. Let them wait in line for your next batch. The issue I have is when I think it's a great idea to split 3 ways, and when it's done, you don't feel like you ended up with enough,...

I've been using the 007 for the last year and I think it's great. I'm not getting any of the acidity issues you are describing at all. I just made a batch last week again. Meat started at 5.9PH. I use .3% dextrose and I use the exact proportion of 007 stated on the bag ( 50 grams per 225Kg). I mix t...

This is easy. You make the phone call in advance and tell them you are picking up a case of pork butts and you are doing it on Saturday. "How many pounds are you in for?" When I make cured Italian sausage or soppressata, I usually throw the feeler out there to two other people and we will split the ...

Rather than starting multiple threads, I will just ask all of my questions in one. I made soppressata 5 weeks ago. I had a concern because my pork never reached 5.1. Yesterday I made some dried Italian sausage. I cubed the meat the night before and I did NOT mix any ingredients. Prior to adding ingr...

I originally used the T-SPX, although I switched to 007 just to see if it affected the flavor. I`ve been using 007 for the last year and have no reason to go back to T-SPX. I`m not exactly sure whether the flavor was affected, but I do like the results I am getting from the 007. Nothing else has cha...

The reason I asked was because I too noticed the PH to rise from when I put them in the chamber after 17 days. I did not know whether this is normal. My sample was sitting in a plastic dixe cup. I popped the sample out of the cup onto a plate and took a measurement from the bottom. It`s sitting at 5...