Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Fermento & Dextrose Substitutes in Summer Sausage Recipe

Topher from Benton, TN asked:

I have a summer sausage recipe that calls for fermento and dextrose. Do I need to buy these to make summer sausage? What are their purpose? Can I substitute something else?



Topher,

Thanks for the question and yes there are substitutions for dextrose (pure sugar) and fermento (non-fat dried milk).

My only suggestion on the dextrose is to add a little bit less sugar than dextrose - 80% of what the recipe calls for. Sugar is sweeter to the taste than dextrose.

On the fermento, you can add an equal amount of non-fat dried milk, which you can purchase at any supermarket.

One additional tip when processing summer sausage: Only add 1/4 of the non-fat dried milk into the mix before grinding. This product is a binder and will really make the meat sticky, so it can bind up your grinder when trying to complete your second grind. Add the rest of the non-fat dried milk after the second grind, and then mix very vigorously until the meat batch becomes very sticky. This will help bind the meat in the large casing together tightly, which is very important when processing large diameter products such as summer sausage.

Good luck and thanks for the question!

"The Meat Man"
Brad Lockwood

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