Bad Sausage Day

[JZ]

I personally don't care who's recipe it is and really don't care where the fault lies. I am only concerned with the fact that there are errors that could compromise someones health and people that use those recipes should be aware of that.

This book has been in circulation for 7 years now and it appears there are lots of knowledgeable people aware of these HEALTH related errors. Yet nothing has been done to notify the owners or purchasers of this book about this issue and provide them with the corrections needed to continue with this new hobby safely. For newbies, like me that buy this book, we are not aware of these issues and there is no way we would find out unless we were involved in forums like this one. I am sure there are lots of people that buy this book and do not participate in forums like this and would never know they could be putting their families at risk with some of the recipes therein. I like this book and have nothing against Ruhlman, Polcyn or the publisher. But how difficult is it to include a piece of paper in the book that identifies the HEALTH related errors and the associated corrections.

I read the comments on the other link and there is a lot of bickering. But at the end of the day no one seems to address the REAL issue which is.

Where are the health related errors in the book and what are the corrections. Forget the finger pointing. It's not important.

[BAM1]

This seems to be turning into what I see on a lot of other forums. Bickering and finger pointing.  #1 if you do not know the basic amount of cure to use per pound of meat you shouldn't be making sausage, jerky,etc. #2 if you have a serious health concern PM one of our forum moderators. If they can't answer your question it's time to go back to microwaves and vending machines.

[Habanero Smoker]

I guess it is a matter of perspective. Most of the replies about this subject I do not consider bickering or finger pointing, but a discussion. On this board, the topic has mainly been about the incorrect amounts of sodium nitrite and/or salt levels in some recipes in a book.

Where does one learn the basic amount of cure to use per pound of meat? Most beginners rely on books published by knowledgeable people in the field to obtain the correct information. Or even if the person is knowledgeable about the volume measure i.e. teaspoon, tablespoon etc, he may not be that knowledgeable about the metric weight conversion. If the metric conversion is wrong, a person can unknownly use the wrong amount.

If I were aware of any recipe that is blatantly wrong that may be a safety issue, I first PM the poster. If that person didn't change his post I go ahead and make a public post.

[NePaSmoKer]

Well we can fix that.
We all gotta play nice

[JZ]

I guess it is a matter of perspective. Most of the replies about this subject I do not consider bickering or finger pointing, but a discussion. On this board, the topic has mainly been about the incorrect amounts of sodium nitrite and/or salt levels in some recipes in a book.

Where does one learn the basic amount of cure to use per pound of meat? Most beginners rely on books published by knowledgeable people in the field to obtain the correct information. Or even if the person is knowledgeable about the volume measure i.e. teaspoon, tablespoon etc, he may not be that knowledgeable about the metric weight conversion. If the metric conversion is wrong, a person can unknownly use the wrong amount.

If I were aware of any recipe that is blatantly wrong that may be a safety issue, I first PM the poster. If that person didn't change his post I go ahead and make a public post.

Well said Habs.

At the end of the day what I would like to see is a list of corrections . I am going to go through my copy and  make corrections that I see are obvious to me. The basics I will look for are 5lbs of meat gets 1tsp of cure which equals 5.6 g (say 6 g). Since I haven't started dry cure and may not I will leave those recipes unless someone tells me the same rule applies then I will use the same principle and make corrections to those.

I think I will also post my finds if that is ok with the Moderators. That way if someone spots an error I have made it can be corrected and if someone is aware of one I missed then it could be added to the list.

[Habanero Smoker]

If it can't be done on this site, I can easily get something up on the recipe site, I just have to figure out the best area. The only issue is that there seems to be more then one printing of the book. You can PM me the errors that are in the book, but also look to see if there is a revision number, or if yours say Second Edition, because  at least one error mentioned by you is not an error in my copy.

[Tenpoint5]

If it can't be done on this site, I can easily get something up on the recipe site, I just have to figure out the best area. The only issue is that there seems to be more then one printing of the book. You can PM me the errors that are in the book, but also look to see if there is a revision number, or if yours say Second Edition, because  at least one error mentioned by you is not an error in my copy.

I don't think that anyone would have a problem with a thread designed to keep people safe. I also agree a statement as to which printing and which edition the error was noted in, has to be mentioned when posting an error.

[JZ]

Habs  I sent you a PM.

From what I can tell the book I have (recent purchase) states it is a first edition and published in 2005. I will email you a PDF file of the copyright page. If there are 2 different versions of the same edition it might be a little more challenging try to make a comprehensive list.   

[devo]

This subject has been brought up on several sites. Michael Ruhlman is not a expert of charcuterie, he is a expert of the culinary scene. Brian Polcyn who helped Ruhlman write the book definitely knows his stuff and he has the credentials to back it up. I do find their books short on technical detail and you really need to know something about how they go about producing the product or you will be lost. Here is something that makes me question their methods.

F-LC is a mixed culture containing Pediococcus acidilactici, Lactobacillus curvatus and Staphylococcus xylosus. A 25-gram packet of Bactoferm™ F-LC will treat 220 pounds (100 kilo) of meat. You can use the whole packet in 100 pounds of meat or use half of the packet and refreeze remaining culture. Now authors Polcyn and Ruhlman of "Charcuterie" would have us use ¼ of a packet in any production under 50 pounds of meat. On the other hand, recipes by Stan Marianski contain 1.25 grams (1/2 tspn.) of F-LC culture per 11 lbs. of sausage.

The recommendation is not from the manufacturer Chr. Hansen, but rather from Polcyn and Ruhlman - the authors of "Charcuterie". The suggestion is printed in the second paragraph under Lactic Acid And Live Cultures on page 179 of the book "Charcuterie". The author says, "small batches must contain at least a quarter of the package to ensure that enough of the live culture gets into the sausage".

Me? I'm sticking with Stan  Marianski and I'm following the recipes he has published. I'm sure if it was meant that we use a quarter package (F-LC ), Chr. Hansen would specifically write it on the package.

Simple things he leaves out like, Home Cured Pancetta!
By MICHAEL RUHLMAN | Published: JUNE 8, 2009
http://ruhlman.com/2009/06/home-cured-pancetta/

Fails to identify the type of cure he uses (#1 or #2). Of course we know it is #1, but amateur readers don't know that.

[squirtthecat]

I just checked my copy and on pg 164 - 165 the hot dog ingredients for a 2.5 lb batch call for 1tsp/7g pink salt. This is apparently a first edition and the copyright date is 2005.

I have that very same book.  Ordered from Amazon when I first got into smoking.

2005 First Edition.
2.5 lb batch calls for 1tsp/7g pink salt.


Chris, is there anything on the copyright page that would indicate a printing?

[Tenpoint5]

I just checked my copy and on pg 164 - 165 the hot dog ingredients for a 2.5 lb batch call for 1tsp/7g pink salt. This is apparently a first edition and the copyright date is 2005.

I have that very same book.  Ordered from Amazon when I first got into smoking.

2005 First Edition.
2.5 lb batch calls for 1tsp/7g pink salt.


Chris, is there anything on the copyright page that would indicate a printing?

There should be a row of numbers that will tell the printing the printer and the year it will look something like this.
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 QGD 10 11 12 13 14 15
Which would be the 3rd printing in 2010 by Quad Graphics Dubuque.

[Habanero Smoker]

Devo;

Thanks for the additional information. To be fair to Ruhlman, he did spend almost a year at the Culinary Institute of America learning charcuterie while doing research there.

As for the additional starter culture he uses, I will add that to the list. But that is one of the things he does explain on his blog. His argument on that is that the starter culture is mostly filler, and there is very little bacteria culture in the package. His reasoning is to adding the extra culture is to insure you have enough. He makes a good point, in that if you use the proper amount of dextrose, the dextrose will be all consumed, and the bacteria will no longer grow, and produce lactic acid. Therefore the extra bacteria will not alter the taste of the final product. Since the dormancy of bacteria has a self life of a year or less when stored in the freezer, and I don't use much per year, there is not additional cost to me.

Other then the Library of Congress number. The other numbers I see on my pages are:
TX609 R84 2005
641.6'1-dc22

JZ;

I got your PM, and replied.

[JZ]

I couldn't figure out a way to upload a PDF file to the forum so here is a pic of the copyright page in my book.


For some reason the pic will not show up as the rotated copy I made in photobucket but the information is still here, just a little harder to read.

[Habanero Smoker]

I see what you mean, there is not way to attach a file if you click on the icon. I did get your email you sent with the attached file.

My copyright book is the same, except the bottom row of numbers.

Yours are:
15 16 17 18 19 20

Mine are:
4 5 6 7 8 9 0

[squirtthecat]

And mine..