Fresh Keilbasa [Homemade/problem]

Ive run into a problem with making some fresh keilbasa. My family has been making it 2ce a year or more for generations. This is no new practice to me. However, the last few times I have made it with my father, within a few hours spots begin to form against the casings. This only gets worse as time passes. We are using the same casings, the same grinder, and the same meat provider that we always have. The only thing that we have come up with as a posibility is that we put less salt in it now, to make it more "healthy". What bothers me is that it has happened spanned over acouple of years now. Unsure of exactly what is causing it, we are forced to throw the rest away when it gets too bad. It happens when it is still raw, not cooked. If anyone knows what might be causing this or perhaps a resorce that I could call or email please let me know. Thank you

Daniel Mezewski

UnclePogo wrote:within a few hours spots begin to form against the casings. This only gets worse as time passes.

Spots as in air bubbles or spots as in bacteria/mold/fungus/nasty? You might need to take apart all the equipment and clean with a 5% bleach solution, including any sausage specific knives, boards, grinders, holding tubs etc.

Salt is certainly part of the perservative process. How long do you have these before the spots appear?

We are unsure what they are.. they are not bubbles. They are a discoloring. My guess is somesort of bacteria. And they apear with in a few hours of making it.

Hi,

Are your sausages being refrigerated after processing?

Regards,

When you say that it gets worse over time, do you mean that the spots get larger over time or that more spots appear? Under perfect conditions the doubling time for bacteria is about 20 minutes, if these are bacterial colonies you are seeing then you must have a serious contamination point somewhere. Probably the grinder. If the spots are staying the same size then it may be a chemical reaction between some of the ingredients or possibly fats that melted during grinding pooling up and resolidifying.

UnclePogo wrote:Ive run into a problem with making some fresh keilbasa. My family has been making it 2ce a year or more for generations. This is no new practice to me. However, the last few times I have made it with my father, within a few hours spots begin to form against the casings. This only gets worse as time passes. We are using the same casings, the same grinder, and the same meat provider that we always have. The only thing that we have come up with as a posibility is that we put less salt in it now, to make it more "healthy". What bothers me is that it has happened spanned over acouple of years now. Unsure of exactly what is causing it, we are forced to throw the rest away when it gets too bad. It happens when it is still raw, not cooked. If anyone knows what might be causing this or perhaps a resorce that I could call or email please let me know. Thank you

Daniel Mezewski

Since this is a fresh sausage product the amount of salt is very important to inhibit the growth of creepy-crawlies. Your attempt at making your sausage "healthier" by cutting back on the salt could get you seriously dead. It's SAUSAGE! It ain't designed to be healthy!

UnclePogo wrote: My guess is somesort of bacteria. And they apear with in a few hours of making it.

I think that is a good guess.

If I go to the supermarket and buy some ground pork (unsalted), I would not expect spots to appear on it in a few hours....

If no spots occur on just your empty casings after handling them the same as your finished product, it seems to me that the problem is introduced somewhere between your purchased pork and finished product.

I would clean & sanitize anything and everything your meat comes in contact with. Bleach and compounds used by home brewers and the dairy industry work well.

Ron