Jalapeños-Fresh or dehydrated for snack stick/summer sausages

[metlman501]

I’m curious what most people prefer when adding jalapeños to a snack stick or summer sausage product, fresh or rehydrated and why? Thanks for your input.

[s.a.m]

I used dehydrated for some snack sticks, think that’s the way because of moisture content in fresh chopped peppers, the dehydrated peppers do pickup moisture from the meat but think not as much as fresh peppers have. Hope that makes sense?

[metlman501]

s.a.m
Thanks for the reply; I recently used the dehydrated version as well and am rather happy with the flavor. The only thing I wish was better is the color of the rehydrates jalapeños. They were well short of vibrant and some were somewhat brownish. While doing some online browsing i noticed most jal/cheddar summer sausage recipes were calling for fresh.

[tarp]

I’ve only used fresh,from the garden. During winter months I also have some already ground and frozen to use. If I add a few Tabasco it keeps the heat up better.

[shane102]

Fresh for me. Better texture flavor and appearance. Sometimes I will sear them first which gives a twist on the flavor. You can sear them with fresh garlic cloves also (good added flavor). I let them cool before adding to mix.

[Capnbubb]

I use dehydrated for my cheddar/jalapeno brats. Soak in water for awhile and use that water in the mix as well. Ones I use have nice color. Very happy with them.

[Jonathon]

I use dehydrated but plenty of people use fresh that they have blanched. THe advantage of a dehydrated/rehydrated is that it is usually a better size, chopping jalapenos usually gets you a larger size than the flakes.

[tarp]

tarp That’s fresh Tabasco peppers( not sauce) to clarify.

[treybone4x4]

I tried the dehydrated peppers recently to cut cost on the process. I was not happy with the flavor. I use pickled jalapeños( nacho slices). I do a coarse chop on them. Absolutely love the end product. Maybe it’s just what I’m used to. Lol. Fresh peppers used to be a no no, what happened?

[Cabelas90]

treybone4x4 I have never had an issue with Fresh Peppers. But Pickled is a whole Different story! Ive seen 200+lb batches ruined from not draining the pickling juice It will denature the protein and ruin a batch real quick. But if you drain the juice it works great!

[dsbrc2014]

I use fresh and freeze them. Run them through a food processor and add them frozen to the mix. Adds great color and flavor.