Lime Juice instead of Vinegar

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LinkMeAllOver
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Lime Juice instead of Vinegar

Post by LinkMeAllOver » Mon Jun 24, 2019 19:11

Hi all,

Long time lurker, first time poster here.

I'm planning on making a spicy sausage in a few days with a variety of South American chilies, cilantro, coriander, garlic, onion, etc., and I was considering adding some lime for a bit of tanginess. I know some chorizo recipes use vinegar, but I want the zing of citrus flavour instead as I think it will go nicely with the other flavours. I'm considering either using just the zest from the limes, the juice, or both.

Anyone have any experience with this ingredient(s)? Any recommendations on proportions? I will likely be doing about a 10 lb. run of this recipe and I obviously don't want to end up with a bunch of crumbly sausage.

Also, I've read that lime juice is about 6.5% acid by volume, whereas most household vinegar (white, balsamic, apple cider) range around 5-6%. Does the different type of acid (citric vs acedic) have any bearing on the degree to which the protein is denatured, or is it the pH the only thing that matters?

Thanks very much!
Agoracritus
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Re: Lime Juice instead of Vinegar

Post by Agoracritus » Mon Jun 24, 2019 23:45

Lime juice/zest sounds perfect for your recipe!

Lime pairs really well with your other ingredients (I’m thinking “Pico de Gallo”, minus the tomatoes)

I wouldn’t worry about the added liquid or acidity. A little bit of lime goes a long way.

My only suggestion would be to go easy on the lime in your initial mix, and adjust to taste (with a few quick cooked samples) before settling on your final formula. The overall flavor balance should be your guide.
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Re: Lime Juice instead of Vinegar

Post by jrittvo » Tue Jun 25, 2019 00:28

I’d go with the lime juice. Lime zest ends up tasting bitter to me as an ingredient. It’s different from lemon or orange zest, at least for the limes available at my supermarket.
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Re: Lime Juice instead of Vinegar

Post by Agoracritus » Tue Jun 25, 2019 08:38

I agree with jrittvo. Even just the juice is a fairly bitter citrus. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with bitter flavors, just be sure to balance them out with their counter/complimentary flavors (like sweet, salty, sour, umami).

If you find your initial test batch/sample to be a bit too much on the bitter side, try adding a bit of sweetener (like sugar, honey, agave etc). And keep us posted how your sausages turn out. They sound tasty!
LinkMeAllOver
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Re: Lime Juice instead of Vinegar

Post by LinkMeAllOver » Tue Jun 25, 2019 18:51

Agoracritus wrote:
Tue Jun 25, 2019 08:38
I agree with jrittvo. Even just the juice is a fairly bitter citrus. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with bitter flavors, just be sure to balance them out with their counter/complimentary flavors (like sweet, salty, sour, umami).

If you find your initial test batch/sample to be a bit too much on the bitter side, try adding a bit of sweetener (like sugar, honey, agave etc). And keep us posted how your sausages turn out. They sound tasty!
I've got brown sugar as part of my ingredients list already, actually.

Sounds like I'm using lime juice. I'll tread lightly and fry up a test patty to see how it plays. Since no one has chimed in with a recommended proportion I"ll refer to a few recipes and see how much vinegar people are using per pound.

Back soon with pics and post-production notes. :)
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redzed
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Re: Lime Juice instead of Vinegar

Post by redzed » Tue Jun 25, 2019 20:56

Go easy with the lime juice. Worth experimenting with, but as you already noted, It has has more acid and as was pointed above, is also more bitter. The way that the Central and South American chorizos evolved where acid was added to the sausage was for preservation, as much as it was for flavour. Personally I'm not a fan of high acid sausages, it denatures the proteins and greatly affects the bind and texture. Now when I make boerewors, I use a young white wine (approx 3.5 pH) which gives me enough acid and, IMHO better flavour. Having said this, :) it so so happens that today I am making a Chorizo Cubano, and will adding some cider vinegar to it. But rather than 60ml per kg as per recipe, I'll splash in 40ml.
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Re: Lime Juice instead of Vinegar

Post by MatterOne » Wed Jun 26, 2019 23:36

Is this going to be a fresh sausage? There are only a two fresh sausage recipes (Hmong sausage and Chorizo Criollo Colombiano) on the meatsandsausages site and they both use 30ml per kg of meat. There is also a cooked sausage (Relleno de Huescar) and a fermented sausage (Lomo Embuchado Iberico), and they both use 15ml per kg.

And that's not to say that you couldn't use more, but at least you know a safe place to start.
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