One mans way of making Chorizo

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One mans way of making Chorizo
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kevin.vinke

Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 1304
Location: Niedersachsen, Germany

Posted: Fri Apr 04, 08 11:04 am Post subject:
Thanks Cab for clarifying that. I have some sausage that is for my tastes a bit porky so I want to get them smoked (Breganwurst comes smoked and unsmoked) to change the flavour.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Fri Apr 04, 08 11:13 am Post subject:

kevin.vinke wrote:

Thanks Cab for clarifying that. I have some sausage that is for my tastes a bit porky so I want to get them smoked (Breganwurst comes smoked and unsmoked) to change the flavour.

I'd wait till you're having a barbecue and hot smoke them. If you have guests round then freshly hot-smoked sausage will fly off the plates

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Fri Apr 04, 08 12:19 pm Post subject:

>> Ros -- somewhere cool for hanging. An old, but working, fridge (or even chest freezer for the ambitious) makes a good curing cabinet. However, you need to create a means of controlling it at a warmer temperature than it was designed for.
Fridges generally run at between about 2C and 7C (4C is the proper temperature). For curing (and cheesemaking) you want something like 12/15C (55/60F).
You can get temperature controllers for all sorts of purposes - just be careful that it is intended for controlling a *cooler* rather than a *heater* (because it has to switch the opposite way!) Hence reptile terrarium controllers are generally not best suited.
Set the fridge control to coldest, then let your add-on controller switch the mains supply to the fridge - its then in sole control.
A central heating (or more accurately aircon capable) room thermostat (inside the fridge) would do the job, but, used most simply, it puts mains electric switching inside the fridge - not a great idea. You could have it work through a relay... (or more expensively get a wireless room stat and have just the sensor inside the fridge)
I've found a brilliant controller, intended for tropical "reef" aquariums. It has separate heat and chill outputs with a programmable 'that's fine' band where it neither heats nor cools. Overkill for most folk, I suspect!
Get a max/min thermometer. Digital ones are pretty cheap. Get one with a humidity readout. You are lucky if you find a cheap one with humidity max/min recording. Things with a temperature sensor remote from the display (so you don't have to open the door to check) are pretty common. BUT a humidity sensor remote from the display is much rarer, and consequently more expensive.
Active humidity *control* is more expensive than temperature control.
However, you can get pretty fair passive control, by putting a tray of wet (dishwasher) salt in the fridge. Not salt solution, wet salt - you need lots of salt above the puddle! Protect the tray from drips from the meat!
And if you rig up a small, ex-computer, low voltage fan inside the fridge, connected so it runs whenever the fridge is actively chilling - then you'll occasionally stir the air inside the fridge, evening out the humidity and so minimising mould...

>> Kevin - defrosting. Defrost in a fridge. At 4C. Its slow, but hey, keep it at 4C max and after splitting your lump, you can refreeze surplus. This is acceptable food hygiene practice. Thawing at room temperature (eg on the kitchen counter) is not acceptable for commercial practice.
In the USA, they *must* freeze meat (for about a month) before making sausage for eating raw - because of the risk from a parasite - trichinosis.
Smoked *sausage* - it ought to have some nitrite/nitrate in there. More of a problem with cold smoked stuff, I believe. With hot smoking, you could check that the centre of the sausage temperature gets above 70C... "properly cooked".

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Fri Apr 04, 08 6:13 pm Post subject:

dougal wrote:

>> Kevin - defrosting. Defrost in a fridge. At 4C. Its slow, but hey, keep it at 4C max and after splitting your lump, you can refreeze surplus. This is acceptable food hygiene practice.

Just a small clarification.

Its an accepted industrial practice not general food / catering establishment. It needs very carefull time / tempreture control not possible to comply with easily (the cost of proving your method works would put you off). You would need a dedicated fridge & a room to work in held at the correct temp as a start.

Justme
Ps using pre frozen meats does have its problems as you will find that the meat looses more liquid so methods like salting & drying have a more pronounced affect.

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Fri Apr 04, 08 9:09 pm Post subject:

I don't believe Kevin has commercial aspirations.
So he doen't need to prove anything to anyone other than his family.

Quote:

Defrosting DOs

* Defrost food in the refrigerator. This is the safest method for all foods.
* Short on time? Thaw meat and poultry in airtight packaging submerged in cold water. Change the water every 30 minutes, so the food continues to thaw.
* Defrost food in the microwave only if it will be cooked immediately.
* Food can be cooked without defrosting it first. Make sure food reaches its safe internal
temperature.

Defrosting DON'Ts

* Avoid keeping foods in the Danger Zone—the unsafe temperatures between 40 °F and 140 °F.
* Don't defrost food in hot water.
* Don't thaw food on the counter. Food that's left out at room temperature longer than 2 hours or 1 hour if the temperature is above 90 °F, is not within a safe temperature range and may not be safe to eat.

That's official US Govenment advice from https://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~fsg/f01chill.html

Regarding trichinosis/trichinellosis, we really are fortunate not to have a problem with it in pork here in the UK ...
https://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/trichinosis/factsht_trichinosis.htm#prevention

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Fri Apr 04, 08 9:25 pm Post subject:

dougal wrote:

I don't believe Kevin has commercial aspirations.
So he doen't need to prove anything to anyone other than his family.

Thats was not my take on it either. Just wanted people to understand that its not "normal practice" to defrost & refreeze outside of very carefull conditions which you wont meet at home. What people do in the privacy of their kitchens is up to them but they should know the risks they are taking & take steps to minimise them.

dougal wrote:

Regarding trichinosis/trichinellosis, we really are fortunate not to have a problem with it in pork here in the UK ...
https://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/trichinosis/factsht_trichinosis.htm#prevention

We do test for it still in pigs just in case (had one batch of pigs delayed being released from the slaughter house as they wanted to do spot tests that week). It is also an accepted practice here in our food safety guidlines to freeze to protect from tric. I guess thats all ready in case we get it here.

Justme

kevin.vinke

Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 1304
Location: Niedersachsen, Germany

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 08 9:11 am Post subject:
Great advice from all thanks. I will keep the temps in mind though I do periodically check the temps on my fridge freezers and run them at below 4 and -21 (I used to work as a service engineer so know the importance). No not a commercial venture but I´ll try a mixture of all the suggestions over time.

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 08 4:25 pm Post subject:
Very interesting thread this! At the moment I only smoke and sell "low risk" foods, but would like to start processing meats in the future.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 08 5:37 pm Post subject:
Course, it's been a few days since we've seen Bodger, no?

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 08 10:58 pm Post subject:
Not that near a future, Nick!

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 08 12:14 pm Post subject:
I have a really good American sausage book here with lots of excellent recipes and one for chorizo. You can guess what I'm going to say can't you ? Yep ! There's no mention of including nitrates or any other chemicals. I've sampled my wears and to the disappointment of some, I'm still alive and kicking.

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 08 2:28 pm Post subject:
I may have just killed Nick I've just sent him home with three dexters, a bottle of last years cider and a chorizo

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 08 3:12 pm Post subject:
Any one of those should be enough to do it. All three seems like overkill.

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 08 3:21 pm Post subject:
Were the Dexters still moving ? and if so - are they as good at escaping as the last lot he got ?

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 08 11:48 pm Post subject:
So......anyone died yet?

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