How much Salt should you add to Sausages | Beyond the Recipe

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Today we are talking Salt. How much should you be adding to your fresh sausages?

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Eric

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[ChudsBbq]

Im a 2% guy, typically I'll round down if using curing salt and go 1.6% if adding cheese or bacon. I've definitely got a higher salt tolerance than some (age 32). Funny enough during the Super Bowl I fed 4-5 people aging from 24-36 a 2% sausage and asked them if it was too salty, they all said "its perfect but don't add any more"

[henagemagill]

65 years old. I'm a 1.5% guy. Been making sausage for 6 years. Used commercial mixes at first. Most are way too salty. Been making my own mixes for over 5 years. Love your knowledge and your show. Great video.

[serjicalforce]

Welp I'm sold. I did 2% for the longest time but the fact 1.5 did good protein extraction and I often add extra seasoning and flavorings to try 1.5% next. Awesome video. Thank you

[ArielK]

I like these sausage break downs. I hope you do more videos like with other very important ingredients that goes in to the sausage.

[jcat]

Well, as a rookie sausage maker, I just made my first sausage that was of my own recipe a few days ago. My wife is very sensitive to anything with heat, to include black pepper. She also really likes chicken so I decided to challenge myself and make her an 80% chicken sausage (60 white, 20 dark with skin, 20 fatty pork). I went with a roasted garlic, green onion, rosemary spice profile and (wait for it) 2.5% salt. On the test patty my first thought was it was too salty. She said don't change a thing. After the links were made and they sat overnight we both loved it just like it was. I'm 57 and she's 60 😁 I could definitely see hovering closer to 2% with other flavor profiles though and I still have LOTS of practice/experimentation ahead.

Loving your channel!

[ahmadelchami]

I am following your recipes exactly and always comes out very good thanks

[mikerlawrence]

I found your channel from @ChudsBbq; the two of you have been a wealth of knowledge. I have been making breakfast sausage for a long time. Thanks to your two channels I have made my first batch of linked pork sausage for the Super Bowl. They were a hit; I am looking forward to learning and making more in the future. Thank you for all the information.

[martinderome]

Great video. I am amateur saussage maker for 10 years. I am 54. I prefer 2% with 10% water added. Again great channel and informative video

[karlpilx]

I'm a 2% guy, and I'm 43. My wife (same age) and kids all love that level too. We tend to eat more Paleo/Keto/low carb, and salt is needed to be increased on these diets, so out tastes for salt are typically a little higher than our friends or parents (say for salting steaks, etc), but even our friends and parents love our sausage at those levels.

[allanpennington]

So adding other spices often masks saltiness in my view, particularly if you go hotter, e.g. black pepper, white pepper, chilli. I was surprised that the no salt one cooked without actually falling apart completely. Thus a low salt/sodium sausage seems quite plausible if you are not fussed about the texture.

[ricomaruffi]

Funny never thought in percentages. The formula we use for dried sausages we use 1lb salt and 4.3 oz pink cure for 80lbs of meat amazing comes out to 1.5% 20.3 ounces divided by 1, 280 (80x16). I use the same formula for fresh Italian but omit the cure so 1 lb salt divided by 80 is 1.25%. The cured and fresh doesn’t taste salty to me and I’m 73 but been using this formula since I was 60 or a little younger. I should also say I add pepper sauce to my sausage both cured and fresh. Hot pepper sauce for hot and sweet pepper sauce for plain sausages.
Great show keep it up

[thewholewheat]

Hi Eric

I’m 55 years old and 1.7 % is right on for me. However, my wife is 50 years old and if it’s above 1.5%, it’s to salty!

I’m going to try the crispy chili sausage from season 5 next week. As I live in Japan, it’s easy to get my hands on some pretty interesting ingredients

Cheers mate

[joeyhardin]

Well done. 1.3-1.5%, but I only make breakfast sausage and freeze it, no curing salts. Smaller fat cap, more salt. I am 64. Thank you. God Bless and stay safe

[jamesdavies]

Great video Eric. I'm 75 and I knew at the start of your video I would be in the 1.5 to 1.8 % camp. Of course, if using cure adjusting for that. Thank you for your channel.

[charlesa]

Per your request: I'm 70 years old and limit my fresh sausage making to only a handful of types i.e. Italian (I use salt, parsley, red pepper flakes, grated parmesan cheese and sometimes fennel seeds), keilbasa (only salt pepper and garlic) and jalapeno-cheddar links. My personal taste runs to 2.25% for all of these sausages...I like fresh sausage on the salty side. Anything fermented is always calculated at 3%. I also feel that a binder i.e. potato starch, powdered milk, carrot binder etc, lends to the texture and juiciness of any given recipe! Hope this helps with your research! As always, great video!

[spireo]

43, and have been making sausage since age 22. 1.65% has always been right for me. I can make saltier sausage palatable, but that necessitates changing spice quantities, using sugar, and potentially adding starches. Keeping the salt at 1.65% means I can lean on experience to know how much of a given spice will affect the flavor.

[eileenfb]

First batch of sausages, age 75 years nearly. 1.5% salt and felt it was at the very maximum. May use slightly less next time. Love the quality and clarity of the information. Thank you.

[warmsteamingpile]

Great video Eric. I'm 63 and I usually start my new recipes at 1.8% salt and I adjust that if using curing salt.

[claudiobozzo]

I am 43 and I use 1.47% in fresh sausage....this video was informative...I would love this breakdown with cured cacciatore sausage....I have been making cured sausage for many year with Italian relatives and I am just about sick of hearing all the different way to measure salt. The best measurement I got was for every bread size pile of meat ....you should one handful of salt (Zio Philipo's hand). Thanks dad now its all clear.

[sanjeevbarua]

I stick to a total salt content of 1.7%. The basic salt input is 1.5% and I make my seasonings with that additional 0.2%.
Excellent video as always!