kerndt I’dalmost certainly say yes the Citric Acid not being encapsulated, even in that small amount, was the cause of your issue. Acid breaks down the bonds in your meat and refuses to allow it to hold together. So, it can’t hold together to prevent rendering, but the proteins also cant hold water when their pH has been decreased, this is why we add Cold Phosphate - Sodium Phosphate to meat we want to be more juicy, because an increase in pH shifts the isoelectric point and allows the meat to bond to water. When it is low, it can’t do that, so most/all of the water wasn’t bound up in the meat.
While 20 mg does sound like a very small amount, the symptoms you are describing are exactly what I would expect to happen if someone ruptured the encapsulation on their citric acid.
Thank you all for your input !
This is a devastating mistake, a good friend of mine trusted in me with 25 pounds of elk meat for me to make him some summer sausage.
We were going to split the batch. Any recommendations on what to do with this meat?
kerndt It is too bad that this happened to you, I was wondering if you could take it out of the casing, vacuum seal it in smaller batches and put it in some type of dip for crackers or chips. Might be good mixed in with queso.
kerndt You can always use it to make chili. Chili has enough other flavors and textures that you can add unconventional ingredients and still have a pretty tasty finished product.
kerndt Use some on pizza
kerndt crumble it up fry it butter and add some eggs and cheese.
kerndt Sadly, since the proteins have already been denatured they will never properly bind again so the best use of it is to add it to other dishes. I’d use it for when you want loose sausage for something, adding it to spaghetti sauces, chili, rice dishes and the like. Hurts more that it was Elk meat I am sure!
kerndt Make a big batch of chili, quick. The chili will help mellow out the acidic tang of the acid, especially if you add a little fine ground or grated carrot. Add some other meat too. You can also make a delicious dip with the chili with cheese. Definitely do not waste it.
Jonathon
Hurts more because I did it for a friend.
Thanks for your input.
Thank you everyone!
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