Too Salty!!!!

[Caribou]

I made some smoked Hungarian sausage this weekend from a recipe published in Harold W. Webster's "The Venison Sausage Cookbook".  The sausage came out lovely to look at but just a little bit too salty for my taste.  It's not ruined but I would not give it to anyone with hypertension! ;)
The recipe, which uses 5 pounds of meat, calls for 3 level TBS of Morton Tender Quick AND 2TBS of salt.  So, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  In the background of all this salt there is some good flavor going on.
Here's my question, could this recipe be redone without the added salt?  I'm assuming that the nitrites and nitrates in MTQ provides for the curing of the meat or does the additional salt have a role in preservation somehow?
Thanks
Carolyn

[pensrock]

I would not be afraid to try it without the added salt. You may want to check on the MTQ bag or site to see if 3T is enough for 5# of meat. As long as there is the proper amount of MTQ for the amount of meat you are doing you should be able to modify any or all of the other seasonings in the recipe.

[Caribou]

Thanks Pensrock, you know I'm looking at the MTQ bag and it says "1 tablespoon of Tender Quick cure per pound of meat".   Now they are describing "Pork chops, spareribs, chicken and other small cuts of meat" at this amount.  Geez, now I'm worried it's not only too salty but maybe under-cured to boot! :-\
Carolyn

[Mr Walleye]

Caribou

I don't use TQ for that reason in sausage. Instead I use cure #1 (1tsp per 5 lbs) then add the amount of salt you want. As in your example you could try 2 or 3 tbs of salt in addition to the cure #1.

Mike

[Caribou]

Thanks Mike, you are so right.  I learned my lesson!
This is only my second experience with smoking sausage and I just followed the recipe verbatim.
Do you think this sausage I smoked is safely cured with the amount the MTQ I used? 3TBS to 5lbs of meat?
Carolyn

[Mr Walleye]

That's a good question Carolyn. I know a number of people have experimented with using less than the TQ amount of 1 tbs per pound but I never have. I think the other factor is how long it took the sausage to get past 140 degrees. My thought is it's probably ok but I will yeild to some of the others like Habs. Hopefully he will be along and comment on this.

Mike

[Habanero Smoker]

I use to use TQ and the standard amount to mix into ground meat is 1/2 Tablespoon (1 1/2 teaspoons) per pound, with no additional salt or sugar added. I still would say that is still too much salt for 5 pounds, but to get the appropriate amount of cure you should use that measurement. So for 5 pounds you should use at least 2 1/2 Tablespoons, that can cut down on the salt a little bit, and do not use the additional salt the recipe calls for.

[Mr Walleye]

Habs

I always thought TQ recommended 1 tbs per poound of meat, I certainly could be wrong though.

Mike

[Smoking Duck]

I think Harold Webster either a) owns a salt mine or b) is a hypertension physician; in either case, I think he's looking for job security  ;D

I would not worry about the meat being under-cured.  If you can put up with the salty taste, enjoy it without risk.  In the future, Mike and Habs are spot on.  Put the required amount of MTQ in for your meat and skip the salt.  I've had recipes where they were cured and called for onion salt and garlic salt as well and I'll always substitute with powder.  It is a good lesson learned however and I'll bet the next batch will be perfect!

If you are willing to share that recipe, I'd love to see it if you have time to type it up.

SD

Mike I think (my memory could be wrong) there are different measurements for muscle meat and ground meat which would make sense since it is easier for the cure to penetrate ground meat as there is much more surface area in ground meat versus muscle.

[Habanero Smoker]

The 1 Tablespoon per pound is when you use it as a dry cure. From my understanding Caribou is mixing it into ground meat. When you mix it into ground meat (making sausage) you use less of it. I'm sure if you check the Morton site, and look at their cure recipes for their pepperoni and other sausages it will state 1/2 Tablespoon per pound.

[Mr Walleye]

Habs

You are correct (as usual  ;) ) the recipes on their site indicate 1.5 tsp per lb in their sausage recipes. This leads me to a few thoughts/questions.

Why is their labelling so confusing?
Secondly, I quickly read through their booklet and the amounts are different for different sausage?
Why do they sell their booklet separately from their cure?

Things that make ya go hmmmmm.  ???

No wonder I quit using it!  :D
There are a ton of people who use it in sausage at 1 tbs per pound in sausage according to various forums around the net.

Mike

[Smokin Soon]

The book from Rytek Kutas has pretty much gotten me away from MTQ except for Bacon and Canadian Bacon. Most of his recipes call for an exact amount of cure #1 [insta-cure] and are excellant without all of the added salt. In the past, when a recipe called for MTQ, I used my pre-mix of MTQ and dark brown sugar at a 50/50 mix and have not had any problems. It may not meet the required minimum of nitrite though.

[Caribou]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the help with this and putting my mind at ease about the amount of cure.
There's so much for me to learn about sausage making and curing but that's what makes it so fun!
I will definiately try this again in the future without the added salt because I do think it would be a winner if the salt was toned down.
I do not know what the rules are about posting a published recipe, but I will play it safe and give the link to it on Google Books.

http://books.google.com/books?id=YL4M5xEwajIC&pg=PT144&vq=hungarian&source=gbs_search_r&cad=1_1#PPT144,M1

There are some of the pages from the book posted there including this recipe.
We've tried one of the fresh sausage recipes and it was really good, the Mild and Easy Venison Sausage.
Carolyn

[NePaSmoKer]

I dont use MTQ either.

nepas

[Tenpoint5]

Carolyn,
I noticed on the recipe that you linked to that there is an * behind the MTQ "Mix", but there isn't any notes at the bottom of the recipe. There might be a notation some where that says to use less salt or something. Just something that made me wonder.

By the way I only use MTQ for bacon and CB. Well maybe a little to get a fake smoke ring sometimes for my buddies that are stick burners.