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Adding zingy brightness without acid for fresh sausages

Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 01:12
by LinkMeAllOver
Does anyone have any hints or tricks for this? I tried using lime juice once for a recipe but predictably it ended up mealy. I've tried using lemon extract but it seems to give a weird consistency to the sausage. Twice now I've used extract and the meat didn't behave like it usually does. It was firmer and less pasty; for some reason I have a lot of broken casings when stuffing (cannot figure that out for the life of me); and there's air pockets left in the final product even though I stab the hell out of my links several times during production (this might be a function of it being firmer after mixing?). I'd love to use lemon peel but I'm making large batches, 50-100 lbs. at a time and am not about to hand rind that many lemons, which are expensive here to boot. Dried lemon rind just doesn't have that 'pop' and is more bitter than lemon-y.

I've tried experimenting with sumac a bit and it does a decent job, but I'm curious what other options might be out there. I'm very hesitant to use vinegar since it will likely ruin my bind.

Any thoughts?

Re: Adding zingy brightness without acid for fresh sausages

Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 01:46
by Scogar
I might be missing something here, but what are you making? And wouldn't that guide you a bit? Like vinegar for Mexican chorizo or sumac for a middle Eastern taste...wouldn't the manner in which you add tartness be somewhat associated with the style of sausage? However, in general terms have you considered maybe a ferment of the sausage with more sugar than needed as this does seem to reduce the pH which would create a more sour flavor without the specific addition of an acid

Re: Adding zingy brightness without acid for fresh sausages

Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 15:31
by LinkMeAllOver
Yes and no. Sometimes I just want the option to add some brightness to the final product. I'm frequently coming up with original (ish) recipes and acidity can help with balance. I also see existing recipes that call for vinegar or sometimes lemon flavour and when I'm doing the quantities I'm doing I can't be rinding a zillion lemons.

I'm not fermenting, drying or smoking any sausages, though. Legally, right now, I can't. I'm selling these and where I live as soon as fermenting, smoking or drying come into play it becomes part of federal oversight and regulation and I'm just not able to deal with that (separate facility).

Re: Adding zingy brightness without acid for fresh sausages

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 03:45
by redzed
Adding vinegar or a large amount of lemon juice will denature the proteins, break the bind and affect the texture of the sausage. Look into using ascorbic acid which is an effective anti-oxidant and is often added to ground beef to maintain the red colour when on display. Rosemary, if used to flavour the sausage, also acts as an antioxidant.

Re: Adding zingy brightness without acid for fresh sausages

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 09:54
by DanMcG
I've had good luck with lemon extract in some bratwurst and wieswurst recipes, and I never noticed anything different with he farce. What percentage did you use for the extract? Last batch I made had 4.5gm per Kg and it was very pronounced but close to what I wanted.

Re: Adding zingy brightness without acid for fresh sausages

Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2021 14:36
by LinkMeAllOver
DanMcG wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 09:54
I've had good luck with lemon extract in some bratwurst and wieswurst recipes, and I never noticed anything different with he farce. What percentage did you use for the extract? Last batch I made had 4.5gm per Kg and it was very pronounced but close to what I wanted.
I used a 43ml bottle with about 40 lbs of farce. It was the Clubhouse brand you see on your typical grocery shelf. I bought some lemon emulsion, which is not water-based and apparently holds its flavour better when cooked, at least according to all the baking blogs I read about it on. I meant to use it for a large batch of sausage I made over the last two days but completely forgot to include it. Oh well, next time.

Re: Adding zingy brightness without acid for fresh sausages

Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2021 14:37
by LinkMeAllOver
redzed wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 03:45
Adding vinegar or a large amount of lemon juice will denature the proteins, break the bind and affect the texture of the sausage. Look into using ascorbic acid which is an effective anti-oxidant and is often added to ground beef to maintain the red colour when on display. Rosemary, if used to flavour the sausage, also acts as an antioxidant.
Does ascorbic acid not denature proteins? Also, what percentage do you use?

Re: Adding zingy brightness without acid for fresh sausages

Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2021 18:29
by redzed
LinkMeAllOver wrote:
Fri Apr 09, 2021 14:37
redzed wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 03:45
Adding vinegar or a large amount of lemon juice will denature the proteins, break the bind and affect the texture of the sausage. Look into using ascorbic acid which is an effective anti-oxidant and is often added to ground beef to maintain the red colour when on display. Rosemary, if used to flavour the sausage, also acts as an antioxidant.
Does ascorbic acid not denature proteins? Also, what percentage do you use?
The maximum amount that you can use is 500ppm, or 0.5g per kg. of meat. That amount will not denature the proteins of affect the bind.

Re: Adding zingy brightness without acid for fresh sausages

Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 15:57
by LinkMeAllOver
redzed wrote:
Sun Apr 11, 2021 18:29
The maximum amount that you can use is 500ppm, or 0.5g per kg. of meat. That amount will not denature the proteins of affect the bind.
Awesome. Thanks.