Homemade Soppresatta , pics attached.

[NYBowhunter]

Looking good, enjoy.

[chas0218]

Just curious why were you afraid to run the fat through the grinder? When I have added fat and smoked it the larger fat chunks don't really give you that yum kind of feeling when nawing on a piece. Maybe just a texture thing for me but I don't like my ground meats with big chewy chunks.

[crappyice]

Did you follow a recipe regarding spices? If so, can you share???


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Do you guys freeze this to preserve it once it is done?

[diplomat019]

If you didn't have a place  to hang it where the temperature was controlled do you think hanging it in a refrigerator would be suitable? Im thinking like a mini fridge or something where you could set the temperature to 50° or so. I know humidity plays a factor but if people are hanging up in the basement for example where you might not know the correct humidity I wonder if you could just hang it in the fridge and get the same results

[NYBowhunter]

22 hours ago, crappyice said:

Did you follow a recipe regarding spices? If so, can you share???


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have set measurements for things like salt , cures and amount of wine but all the other spices i added are all eyeballed and set to our taste preference. Before i put my mixture into casings i will take a snall amount and fry up as a patty and will try it along with other family members to ensure its the taste we want. Gotta say the batch i did was killer. I dont have my book in front of me to give you the spices, will check when i get home.

[NYBowhunter]

1 hour ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

Do you guys freeze this to preserve it once it is done?

Depending on how much you make.  But my rule of thumb is that when they are all fully dry whatever you wont consume  within a 2 week period will get frozen.  Mind you it has a cure and salt in it so im sure it could last much longer in the fridge than 2 weeks, but i dont take any chances with having little ones eating it.  I made 55 lbs. Of soppresatta , so once dryed the vast majority was vacumn sealed and put in freezer. I sent 2 packages, one to florida and other to Georgia and they arrived just fine even after a few days with no refrigeration  (but then again its cool outside). I also take the extra step of smoking mine for 10-12 hours before they are hung to dry, so technically they are cooked before they are even hung. I could eat mine right out of the smoker, but the texture at that point is more like a bologna than a dried sausage..

[NYBowhunter]

32 minutes ago, diplomat019 said:

If you didn't have a place  to hang it where the temperature was controlled do you think hanging it in a refrigerator would be suitable? Im thinking like a mini fridge or something where you could set the temperature to 50° or so. I know humidity plays a factor but if people are hanging up in the basement for example where you might not know the correct humidity I wonder if you could just hang it in the fridge and get the same results

Im not quite sure how that would work  out in a fridge as i dont measure humidity or temperature,  but i would tend to believe they would not fully dry out in an fully enclosed unit like a fridge.  Mine are placed in a fully enclosed patio that stays relatively cool during the winter months and its been working out really well.  

[diplomat019]

10 minutes ago, NYBowhunter said:

Im not quite sure how that would work  out in a fridge as i dont measure humidity or temperature,  but i would tend to believe they would not fully dry out in an fully enclosed unit like a fridge.  Mine are placed in a fully enclosed patio that stays relatively cool during the winter months and its been working out really well.  

What if you have a temperature change?   Lets say you get a day or two in the mid 60's?

 

 

[NYBowhunter]

49 minutes ago, diplomat019 said:

What if you have a temperature change?   Lets say you get a day or two in the mid 60's?

 

 

Oh the temps do fluctuate, they definitely do not remain at a constant. I dont get concerned so much if we have a couple of warmer days, i would only get concerned if temps were that warm for a few days. Keep in mind my patio is elevated (2nd floor), fully enclosed, all windows, no insulation and tiled,  so it stays relatively cool even with a couple warm days. And i can open windows if i need it cooler or dryer. Fortunately have not had it where the temps. reached in 60's. I wouldn't even attempt to make soppresatta if i didnt have the luxury of this patio or even a cool basement or wine cellar would work if the conditions were right. Thats why i time all my sausage making and drying during the heart of our winter.

[pt0217]

Just curious why were you afraid to run the fat through the grinder? When I have added fat and smoked it the larger fat chunks don't really give you that yum kind of feeling when nawing on a piece. Maybe just a texture thing for me but I don't like my ground meats with big chewy chunks.

Sorry. I had checked out for a while.
The meat grinder heats up and melts the fat. It turns to mush. In sopresatta the fat should be well defined. The texture on mine wasn't too bad pretty consistent with the meat. It is a hard texture. You have to chew it. Sort of like jerky. My wife was picking the fat out. She said the same thing you did.

[pt0217]

Did you follow a recipe regarding spices? If so, can you share???

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I got from the internet

[pt0217]

I got from the internet

[pt0217]

Did you follow a recipe regarding spices? If so, can you share???


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I used a mix of 75% venison 25% pork. I used red wine(Pinot Noir) instead of white. Because the venison is a red meat. I also used fiberous casings instead of natural. I poked holes in them with a push pin after stuffing.

[ATbuckhunter]

Did you use Nitrates and nitrites(curing salts) in your soppresatta? I'm planing on doing this next year and im not a fan of putting them in the meat. I hear some people don't do it at all. I smoked the last deer I shot this year and it turned out great. I believe the name for what I did is Capicola. 

[pt0217]

Yes. Everything I read says it's a must. I bought everything on line. Sausage maker.com
Instacure 2
Dextrose
And the bactoferm are the curing agents you need.

[ATbuckhunter]

20 minutes ago, pt0217 said:

Yes. Everything I read says it's a must. I bought everything on line. Sausage maker.com
Instacure 2
Dextrose
And the bactoferm are the curing agents you need.

That's what im reading as well, but a few people have mentioned that they were taught to do it with out and never will put any cures other than regular non iodized NaCl (salt). The reason I don't want to add nitrites in the meat is because its reaction in the body. It is a known carcinogen, but the main reason I don't want it is because it effects the hemoglobin in the blood that transports oxygen to the muscles. 

[NYBowhunter]

Most all franks, kilbossa, deli cold cuts all contain nitrites. The cure i use  in my soppresatta is prague powder # 1 along with using non iodized salt. I also use a dark red wine , protien powder (binding agent for the fat and meat) along with my many other spices. My mixture of meat is 55% ground pork and 45% ground venison.  I dont use instacure 2 (which i assume is similar to the prague powder) and i dont use dextrose or bactoferm. Without the protien powder its difficult to get that marbling  effect and you typically will see a seperation of the fat from the meat ( which i dont like).

[ATbuckhunter]

3 hours ago, NYBowhunter said:

Most all franks, kilbossa, deli cold cuts all contain nitrites. The cure i use  in my soppresatta is prague powder # 1 along with using non iodized salt. I also use a dark red wine , protien powder (binding agent for the fat and meat) along with my many other spices. My mixture of meat is 55% ground pork and 45% ground venison.  I dont use instacure 2 (which i assume is similar to the prague powder) and i dont use dextrose or bactoferm. Without the protien powder its difficult to get that marbling  effect and you typically will see a seperation of the fat from the meat ( which i dont like).

Appreciate the break down. Recipes that don't call for curing salts are far and few between right now. 

[pt0217]

Being my first time. I read a lot of stuff online and found a simple recipe. While I respect the old timers that have practiced their craft for many years and are confident in their product. As a first timer I wanted to be sure I was making something safe to eat.
I would recommend anyone to try this. It was a lot of fun and the finished product exceeded my expectations.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

On 2/9/2017 at 3:03 PM, NYBowhunter said:

Most all franks, kilbossa, deli cold cuts all contain nitrites. The cure i use  in my soppresatta is prague powder # 1 along with using non iodized salt. I also use a dark red wine , protien powder (binding agent for the fat and meat) along with my many other spices. My mixture of meat is 55% ground pork and 45% ground venison.  I dont use instacure 2 (which i assume is similar to the prague powder) and i dont use dextrose or bactoferm. Without the protien powder its difficult to get that marbling  effect and you typically will see a seperation of the fat from the meat ( which i dont like).

Not sure how expensive the protein powder was but I have had great results using powdered milk as a binding agent. 

 

The big difference in Prague powder (which is about equivalent to instacure #1) and Instacure #2 is the was the #2 breaks down. it is more like a time release and works great for long aging processes. 

[ATbuckhunter]

2 hours ago, pt0217 said:

Being my first time. I read a lot of stuff online and found a simple recipe. While I respect the old timers that have practiced their craft for many years and are confident in their product. As a first timer I wanted to be sure I was making something safe to eat.
I would recommend anyone to try this. It was a lot of fun and the finished product exceeded my expectations.

I'm nervous as well to try it, but I have many family members that never used any nitrites so ill be asking them to teach me how to do it. 

[NYBowhunter]

3 hours ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

Not sure how expensive the protein powder was but I have had great results using powdered milk as a binding agent. 

 

The big difference in Prague powder (which is about equivalent to instacure #1) and Instacure #2 is the was the #2 breaks down. it is more like a time release and works great for long aging processes. 

Protein powder is fairly cheap, i purchased mine online a couple years back. From what im told it can also be bought at vitamin shops like GNC. I've had great results with the prague and protien powders.

[chas0218]

If you are looking for supplies check out this site. They are out of buffalo and are great to deal with. I have a store locally in Horseheads that I get the majority of my supplies from. First link has some of the stuff Culvercreek mention and the second link has protein.

http://www.sausagemaker.com/preserving-cures-ingredients-s/2018.htm

http://www.sausagemaker.com/searchresults.asp?Search=protein&Submit=