Fresh chorizo with salt-only, Supaphos, and Activa

[EnriqueB]

I wanted to understand the practical implications of using two different binding agents, phosphates and transglutaminase, on my fresh sausages.

So I prepared three otherwise identical batches of fresh chorizo with the following composition:

• 400 g pork shoulder
• 125 g pork backfat
• 9 g salt
• 12 g sweet pimentón
• 1 g hot pimentón
• 3,5 g fresh garlic (1 clove)
• 0,75 g dry oregano
• 25 g red wine

I cubed the shoulder and added just salt on batch 1, vacuum packed and refrigerated for 24 h.

On the second batch I added the salt and 3,2 g Supahos (diphosphates + emulsifier "mono- and diglycerides"), vacuum packed and refrigerated for 24 h.

The third batch was just cubed, vacuum packed and refrigerated. Salt and 1,25 g of Activa EB ("meat glue") were added before the mixing stage.



Then the frozen backfat and the meat were grinded through an 8 mm die, the spices added and everything mixed by hand keeping the mix temperature cold all the time. Mixing was intentionally not very strong.

After stuffing and linking the sausages were left 24 hours drying in the fridge, then cooked sous-vide for 1 hour at 60ºC.


Left to right: salt-only, Supaphos, and Activa

One day later, they were reheated and seared at the same time on a cast iron grill. The were tried by my wife (blind test) and me.


Left to right: salt-only, Supaphos, and Activa

The results confirmed the theory:

The salt only batch was ok but the mild mixing stage showed in a slightly crumbly texture.

Phospates helped to produce a sausage that was noticeable more moist and succulent and with a nice texture even though mixing was not deep. They also helped retain the red color during cooking.

Transglutaminase had a lower effect than expected. It was true that the sausage was firmer to touch after the 24 h drying stage and a bit harder on bite, but it was not so different from the salt-only one, and it lost more juices. Likely the lower juiciness was due to the later addition of salt with respect to the other two batches. I must also say that the Activa I was using maybe wasn't totally active. I opened the package about 6 months ago and rapidly vacuum-packed individual portions and froze it, but enzymes degrade fast even when properly stored as I did.

I don't have the measured weight losses now with me, but I will post them later.

Conclusion: Though extra binder agents are not really requiered in homemade sausages, the effects of phosphates are clear and produced a sausage we liked much more, so I'll use Supaphos regularly for fresh sausage. Activa is expensive and the effects are not so nice, so I will leave it only for "sausages" with special shapes (squares or sheets, as proposed by Modernist Cuisine) where its meat glue properties are really needed.

Edited: Changed back fat amount from 100g to 125g. Changed salt from 1,8g to 9g. Per EnriqueB.

[DanMcG]

Thanks for the comparison, I do like phosphates in some sausages, especially smoked ones.

[wheels]

Thanks for posting this, it's interesting. For some reason, I'd never thought of 'meat glue' being used for this purpose.

The salt only batch was ok but the mild mixing stage showed in a slightly crumbly texture.

It would be interesting to know what the 'salt only' batch would be like with more mixing.

As an aside, it shows what a small world we live in, I've got a salt pot like that!

Phil

[vagreys]

Please be aware that when you add transglutaminase, your all-pork chorizo is no longer all-pork protein. For those of us who are truly allergic to beef, when you add transglutaminase to your chorizo, it becomes a beef product for some of us, with the potential for an allergic reaction.

[DiggingDogFarm]

Anyone with a food allergy should avoid the stuff, depending on the particular type of transglutaminase used (there are several with different properties,) it may contain pork, beef, milk byproducts as well as various ingredients derived plants and bacteria.

[vagreys]

What was your phosphate level for your phosphate test batch? Just curious.

[EnriqueB]

Sorry, I reviewed my notebook and there are two errors in the recipe (but I don't find a way to edit it): it should be 9 g salt and 125 g backfat.

And these were the weights of the 3 test sausages: Initial / After cooking sous-vide / After grilling, with percentages losses with respect to initial weight in parenthesis

Salt-only: 106 g / 93 g (-12,3%) / 79 g (-25,5%)
Supaphos: 114 g / 110 g (-3,5%) / 95 g (-16,7%)
Activa: 104 g / 86 g (-17,3%) / 73 g (29,8%)

[EnriqueB]

It would be interesting to know what the 'salt only' batch would be like with more mixing.

I can tell because that's the recipe I normally do. With a couple more minutes of good hand mixing, the texture is not crumbly at all. Very nice sausage, though not close to the juiciness and color of the one that used phosphates.

As an aside, it shows what a small world we live in, I've got a salt pot like that!

[EnriqueB]

What was your phosphate level for your phosphate test batch? Just curious.

I used 3,2 g of Supahos, as stated in its instructions (use 8 g per kg of meat). Wasn't really sure whether it was 8 g per kg of meat or meat+fat, but applied in only to meat.

Supaphos is not just phosphates but also maltrodexine (a dispersing agent, I understand) and emulsifier E471 (mono- and diglycerides). Given that phosphates normally are only used at about 0,2% of sausage weight, I understand that they are only a small part of Supaphos, in fact I was initially surprised by the high recommended usage percentage.

[NCPaul]

I think this is a very interesting experiment EnriqueB and I thank you for doing it.

[wheels]

It would be interesting to know what the 'salt only' batch would be like with more mixing.

I can tell because that's the recipe I normally do. With a couple more minutes of good hand mixing, the texture is not crumbly at all. Very nice sausage, though not close to the juiciness and color of the one that used phosphates.

Many thanks.

Phil

[vagreys]

Sorry, I reviewed my notebook and there are two errors in the recipe (but I don't find a way to edit it): it should be 9 g salt and 125 g backfat.

And these were the weights of the 3 test sausages: Initial / After cooking sous-vide / After grilling, with percentages losses with respect to initial weight in parenthesis

Salt-only: 106 g / 93 g (-12,3%) / 79 g (-25,5%)
Supaphos: 114 g / 110 g (-3,5%) / 95 g (-16,7%)
Activa: 104 g / 86 g (-17,3%) / 73 g (29,8%)

Recipe edited to reflect your changes. Sorry I missed the phosphate amount in the original post. I just plain overlooked it. Thanks so much for sharing your results. This is very interesting to me, especially about the phosphates since I'm currently looking into the minimum amount of phosphates required to achieve the improved texture vs the recommended amount.

[EnriqueB]

Recipe edited to reflect your changes.

Thanks!

This is very interesting to me, especially about the phosphates since I'm currently looking into the minimum amount of phosphates required to achieve the improved texture vs the recommended amount.

Because Supaphos is a mixture of several ingredients and the actual amount of phosphates is not specified, not much info can be derived from tests with it, but I remembered having read something about this question recently and looked it up: In the "Additives" chapter of the Handbook of Fermented Meat and Poultry by Toldrá (ed.) it says "relatively low concentrations of about 1 mg/kg, particularly in the form of mixtures of poly- and other phosphates, are enough to bring about the desired beneficial effects on dry/fermented sausages." (page 86). This seems to be dependent on the type of phosphate, as, "the higher the degree of polymerization (poly- vs tri- or di-phosphates), the higher the additive "multipurpose" effect and the better the results."

[EnriqueB]

Supaphos is not just phosphates but also maltrodexine (a dispersing agent, I understand) (...)

I correct myself, after looking it up in some books. Maltodextrin is not a dispersing agent. It is a simple carbohydrate derived from starch and has functional properties: it thickens, can be used as a filler, and can serve as food for bacteria during fermentation.

[wheels]

Superb information, thanks.

Phil