Albanski Sudzuk (Albanian style dry cured sudzuk)

rgauthier20420
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Albanski Sudzuk (Albanian style dry cured sudzuk)

Post by rgauthier20420 » Mon Nov 24, 2014 22:50

I've got an Albanian co-worker and I'm always bringing him in tastes I'm my cured smoked stuff and he loves. I love challenges, so I've set out to find a recipe for this sausage. It appears to be a dried beef product smoked with hickory, but I've no idea as far as spices because I've never had it. Can anyone aid in steering my in the right direction or providing a link to a recipe or some reading material?

Thanks in advance everyone!
Last edited by rgauthier20420 on Fri Dec 12, 2014 16:20, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Igor Duńczyk » Tue Nov 25, 2014 00:49

There was this bulgarian guy some time ago who came up on this forum with total state-of-the-art Sudzuk production process + recipe, nicely documented in pictures, so OH how I wish I could remember the author or where to look for that thread :neutral: Any help out there ??

I guess that this bulgarian version of sudziuk would meet Albanian expectations.
There are many versions of this type of sausage, and though the general rule usually is to use pure beef only, turkish recipes also often include sheep or mutton. Perhaps they also do so in Albania too? :roll: Sudzuk also give a seldom chance to use such exotic spices as Cumin, Sumak and perhaps even a little pinch of Nigella Sativa :razz:
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Post by Igor Duńczyk » Tue Nov 25, 2014 00:58

Here it is:
http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.ph ... c&start=30
and go to the posting of the 18th December 2013 where Soujoukforlife writes his first posting!
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Post by rgauthier20420 » Tue Nov 25, 2014 02:14

Thanks so much Igor!!! I'll take a good look through it tonight. I love trying new recipes and varieties.
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Post by redzed » Tue Nov 25, 2014 03:43

Marianski also has a recipe here: http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/sucuk

The Albanian version is also known as suxhuk, so you might google that. Be sure to update us on this search as I'm a curious to see what you will come up with. I have never met an Albanian (that I know of). :???:
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Post by rgauthier20420 » Tue Nov 25, 2014 15:15

redzed wrote:Marianski also has a recipe here: http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/sucuk

The Albanian version is also known as suxhuk, so you might google that. Be sure to update us on this search as I'm a curious to see what you will come up with. I have never met an Albanian (that I know of). :???:
Thanks for the link and info Red. He's bringing some in today to work so I can try it. I've read a few things from some of the online groceries and from their descriptions it's smoked with hickory also. The version you pointed to looks to be fermented and then dried like a typical salami.

The threads that Igor so graciously point to appear to have the sausage ground, mixed with the spices (no cure), and then dried at what looks to be closer to fridge temps until dried throughout.

Neither of these versions seems to be smoked. He was telling me a story of what he remembered when he was still living in Albania of his grandmother having a big outhouse style smoke house. In the winter time, she'd fill it with hanging sausage and have a small fire going at the center on the ground where she would then smoke them for days until she wanted to bring some inside.

Once I try the version he says he likes from the store we are going to get a plan together for a couple different procedural tries. I will be using proper amounts of Cure #1/#2 as needed to be safe for both of us though. I'll definitely keep this thread updated with pics of everything as we go.
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Post by Igor Duńczyk » Tue Nov 25, 2014 17:47

Regional differences have much to say when it comes to Sudjuk. The armenian version in the thread (whose author I hope will mingle in again sometime even if I erroneously labeled him as bulgarian :???: Nerir indz!!) seems quite close to the kind of Sudjuk that I have encountered in Bulgaria actually; horseshoe shaped, pressed and hard dried.

In Croatia where I reside at the moment, the Sudjuk is larger, usually filled into a 50 mm casing which is bent to form a circle, and dried´n smoked without being pressed.

This is the more typical shape of this northern part of the Balkans and also what you are likely to meet in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Croatian style Sudjuk be seen on the homepage of the well known company Gavrilovic who started their meat business back in 1690! http://www.gavrilovic.hr/en/product/sudjuk/116/
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Post by rgauthier20420 » Tue Nov 25, 2014 17:52

Igor Duńczyk wrote:Regional differences have much to say when it comes to Sudjuk. The armenian version in the thread (whose author I hope will mingle in again sometime even if I erroneously labeled him as bulgarian :???: Nerir indz!!) seems quite close to the kind of Sudjuk that I have encountered in Bulgaria actually; horseshoe shaped, pressed and hard dried.

In Croatia where I reside at the moment, the Sudjuk is larger, usually filled into a 50 mm casing which is bent to form a circle, and dried´n smoked without being pressed.

This is the more typical shape of this northern part of the Balkans and also what you are likely to meet in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Croatian style Sudjuk be seen on the homepage of the well known company Gavrilovic who started their meat business back in 1690! http://www.gavrilovic.hr/en/product/sudjuk/116/
I can definitely see how the regions come into play on this style of sausage. It's actually pretty amazing. Here's the link to the stuff that he brought in today for tasting. It's smoked with Hickory and a frontal garlic flavor with other spices in the background. It wasn't very spicy (although he wants ours to be), and my guess it is indeed fermented (although the smoke overcame any sort of tang that might have been there).

http://www.europeangusto.com/product/br ... a-sudzuka/

My plan is use the recipe that he'd posted and add FLC and Cure #2. It'll either go in 60-65mm middles or 32-35mm hog casings. Thoughts on either? I'll ferment, smoke, and then dry until it's ready for tasting. He said when he was younger this stuff was usually for Christmas and New Year type occasions. I'm hoping if we get it going this weekend it could be ready by then. We'll see.
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Post by rgauthier20420 » Tue Nov 25, 2014 19:57

So we've settled on a the proportions of the recipe. They are driven from the thread that Igor had posted with the additions of the culture and Cure #2

Here's the recipe (it's not mine):
3 lbs. of beef
2% salt
3 T garlic powder
3 T paprika
2 T ground black pepper
2 T cumin
1 T cinnamon
2 T dried onion
F-LC
Cure #2

We added dried onion because according to my co-worker everything has lots of onion where he's from. I've also updated the Salt % and removed all the "heaping" notes from the recipe. Sorry....but that's not a unit of measurement in my book. I'll be jotting down weights in grams when everything is weight out so I can calculate percentages also so it can be more repeatable and changes can be made where needed.

We picked up the chuck meat today at lunch and it's getting the Cure and salt tonight until the grind on Friday.
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Post by redzed » Wed Nov 26, 2014 06:30

Hey rg, I like your enthusiasm! You are hooked! What does the T stand for? If it's tablespoons, you are a bit on the high side! :grin: Take a look here for the recommended amounts of spices in one Kg, and adjust only slightly for starters. http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/secrets And if you are making a dry cured sausage bump up the salt to 2.5 percent. Lastly, while the American version might have been smoked with hickory, it's unlikely that the Albanians used it. Hickory does not grow in Europe.
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Post by rgauthier20420 » Wed Nov 26, 2014 12:24

Thanks for the review Red. The tablespoon measurements are the same as the ones from the recipe that person used in the thread Igor had posted. Although his isn't smoked, my friend told me how he remembers his grand mother having and outdoor smoke house of sorts with sausage hanging. Now if in fact there was sausage in there and what it was being smoked with I guess we'll never know but I'm going on what he's said. Not to mention he loves the smoke flavor and it seems to remind him of it all so. The actual smoke is likely to be a combination of hickory, Apple, and maple though because I don't have just hickory here.
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Post by rgauthier20420 » Wed Nov 26, 2014 15:13

Red, I also looked at a few of the recipes that are looked within the links he'd posted in that thread and they all seem to have the spices measured in "heaping tbsp". That makes me believe/think that he didn't miss type also.

When I tried what my friend brought in, it really was a punch in the face of flavors going on. It sort of reminded me of a heavily spiced pepperoni. The outcome should be pretty interesting.
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Post by Igor Duńczyk » Thu Nov 27, 2014 01:34

Hi RG (...curious to know what the "R" stands for? :roll: )

I´d also say that with one tablespoon of each spice you´ll have such a feast of flavours that the meat flavour itself may become just a secondary feature. And not to be a wisecracker bit the only spice I´d go carefull with is the cinnamon.
Did you ever try Sumak ? That´s a truely oriental spice, and though not a drop-dead-necessity in Sudjuk could add to the excotism (just a suggestion).
And unless your Paprika is hot I´d throw a bit of chilli too.

As for the smoke you can ask your friend if he recalls or has an impression if juniper was added to the composition of smoke wood, either as berries or/and branches?
Juniper can really be a key ingredient in smoke flavour in much of Europe - many of the classical German and Tyrolean raw hams are dry cured with a. o. crushed juniper berries and smoked for hours and hours over a mixture of pinewood and fresh juniperbranches.
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Post by rgauthier20420 » Mon Dec 01, 2014 15:52

Igor Duńczyk wrote:Hi RG (...curious to know what the "R" stands for? :roll: )

I´d also say that with one tablespoon of each spice you´ll have such a feast of flavours that the meat flavour itself may become just a secondary feature. And not to be a wisecracker bit the only spice I´d go carefull with is the cinnamon.
Did you ever try Sumak ? That´s a truely oriental spice, and though not a drop-dead-necessity in Sudjuk could add to the excotism (just a suggestion).
And unless your Paprika is hot I´d throw a bit of chilli too.

As for the smoke you can ask your friend if he recalls or has an impression if juniper was added to the composition of smoke wood, either as berries or/and branches?
Juniper can really be a key ingredient in smoke flavour in much of Europe - many of the classical German and Tyrolean raw hams are dry cured with a. o. crushed juniper berries and smoked for hours and hours over a mixture of pinewood and fresh juniperbranches.
The R is the for my first name "Richard". I went ahead and and knocked each measurement down by 1 Tbsp for the spice mix. I knocked the cinnamon down to 2 tsp and also added 2 tsp of cayenne. That was planned but I'd forgot to add it to the list. Man these things smell REALLY interesting. The cinnamon comes through in the aroma and they are smelling really good.

Here are a few shots. They were fermented for just under 48 hours at 80 F and 85 RH and then smoked for about 5 hours and are currently hanging at 55 F and 77 RH. After they fermented, I noticed some small dots of white fuzz on them. I'm not looking to get any exterior mold on these (good of bad), so I wiped them down with a vinegar and water mix before getting the smoke.

Image

Image

Image
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Post by Bob K » Mon Dec 01, 2014 16:28

Lookin good Rg!


Was there any sugar added to the recipe, and were you able to check the Ph after fermenting?

What is the white thing and the paint-type can for?
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