Rytek Kutas recipes, salt content

[byacey]

I've tried Rytek Kutas's Ukrainian garlic sausage recipe on a few occasions and found it to be quite salty.

On the last batch I've cut back on the salt:
for 10 lbs of meat, I've been using 1.5 ozs of salt, and 0.6 oz of sodium nitrite. Do these numbers seem reasonable?

Edit: This is the cure I'm using: https://highcaliberproducts.com/product/cure-curing-salt-f-s-500g-pkg/

It's 5% Sodium Nitrite.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi byacey;

Welcome to the forum.

I don't have that book handy right now so I haven't reviewed his recipe. I like to keep the salt content around 2%. If you use 2% that would be 2.8 oz. (or 18 grams per 1,000 grams of meat). Your salt amount is much lower, than I use. so I don't know why your sausage is so salty. Or is that the amount you are planning to use. Using less salt is alright, but it does impact the flavor.

You cure is a little high, and it should be .40 oz (11 grams), but that wouldn't make your sausage salty. Are you weighing your salt, or using volume, then converting to weight?

[byacey]

Everything is by weight.

[CoreyMac]

With salt content i prefer to keep it simple. I make the cure a constant. 1 tsp for 5lbs, then work the salt from there.  No matter how much salt you choose to add its always 1 tsp in 5 lbs for the cure.

Corey

[Habanero Smoker]

I've tried Rytek Kutas's Ukrainian garlic sausage recipe on a few occasions and found it to be quite salty.

On the last batch I've cut back on the salt:
for 10 lbs of meat, I've been using 1.5 ozs of salt, and 0.6 oz of sodium nitrite. Do these numbers seem reasonable?

Edit: This is the cure I'm using: https://highcaliberproducts.com/product/cure-curing-salt-f-s-500g-pkg/

It's 5% Sodium Nitrite.

Cure #1 is 6.25% sodium nitrite. Since the cure you are using, which is 5% , I can see that you can add more than .40 oz to get to the maximum amount of 156 ppm. I still don't understand why 1.5 oz. of salt would make 10 pounds of sausage salty. You can try lowering it down to 1 ounce, then cook a test patty to check for saltiness, then if needed you can add more salt to your sausage mix, remix and do another taste test.

To do a test patty, I generally will take 1 or 2 tablespoons of the mixture, form it into a patty, tightly wrap it in plastic wrap and drop it into simmering water until it is cooked through. You can also test by frying, but I find that frying tends to make the sausage taste saltier than it is.

[byacey]

I was doing the same, except I microwaved the sample. the 1.5 ozs is what I arrived at, after cutting back the salt.

For 10 pounds of meat in the Rytek recipes, he calls for 4 to 5 Tablespoons of salt, plus 2 teaspoons of cure which totals to nearly 6 Tablespoons of salt, or converted into ozs:   3 ozs salt plus the cure. Essentially I cut the salt in half, not including the addition of cure.