cjeanean
Well-Known Member
Taking a break from my cider and rice wine to explore a traditional Chinese cured sausage: lap cheong! For those who know this stuff, there is no other comfort food that can compare. My sister has celiac and hasn't been able to eat lap cheong in years, so I decided to give it a shot!
After doing some research, I've put together a recipe that I *think* works, but I'd love some input from more experienced sausage makers! Especially in regards to salt content....
My current recipe follows the (standard?) 2.5% salt content ratio, plus 2.5g of cure #2 per kg of meat. I like lap cheong with a heavier soy sauce flavor, but this results in sausage that is bordering on too salty. I think I can adjust my total salt based on the soy sauce content, but I'd appreciate someone double-checking my line of reasoning.
I use tamari gluten free soy sauce, which contains 980mg of sodium per tablespoon. 16 tablespoons in a cup=approximately 15g of salt. If my math is right, I should be able to reduce my granulated salt amount by 15g for each cup of soy sauce I add, correct? Or am I missing something you cure gurus know that I don't?
Also, is there a minimum time to wait until cure #2 is safe? Most of what I've seen thus far just says the product is done based on weight loss, but some resources say to use #2 for sausage that takes 30 days or longer while #1 is for less than 30 days--then, confusingly enough, those same resources say you MUST use #2 for unsmoked recipes. I think I'm fairly confident that #2 is required for this application, but I'm not clear on the time frame to wait before consuming. If I just base it on weight, these are good to go after about 10 days. Thoughts, anyone?
Curing at 50-55F and 60% humidity until reduced by 35% weight.
Pics of my latest batch!
After doing some research, I've put together a recipe that I *think* works, but I'd love some input from more experienced sausage makers! Especially in regards to salt content....
My current recipe follows the (standard?) 2.5% salt content ratio, plus 2.5g of cure #2 per kg of meat. I like lap cheong with a heavier soy sauce flavor, but this results in sausage that is bordering on too salty. I think I can adjust my total salt based on the soy sauce content, but I'd appreciate someone double-checking my line of reasoning.
I use tamari gluten free soy sauce, which contains 980mg of sodium per tablespoon. 16 tablespoons in a cup=approximately 15g of salt. If my math is right, I should be able to reduce my granulated salt amount by 15g for each cup of soy sauce I add, correct? Or am I missing something you cure gurus know that I don't?
Also, is there a minimum time to wait until cure #2 is safe? Most of what I've seen thus far just says the product is done based on weight loss, but some resources say to use #2 for sausage that takes 30 days or longer while #1 is for less than 30 days--then, confusingly enough, those same resources say you MUST use #2 for unsmoked recipes. I think I'm fairly confident that #2 is required for this application, but I'm not clear on the time frame to wait before consuming. If I just base it on weight, these are good to go after about 10 days. Thoughts, anyone?
Curing at 50-55F and 60% humidity until reduced by 35% weight.
Pics of my latest batch!
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