What does Willies taste like?

[Jonathon]

tarp Using a different protein is going to change the flavor for sure. Using deer with pork fat (in my mind) is the best way to get the venison taste with good fat content. If you add the lean muscle from pork as well then that has a tendency to come through more than the deer and it tastes like a pork stick with something else in it.

[tarp]

tarp
That’s what was bothering me about doing that. And yes it is pork fat. Thanks for the reply. Well back to plan A. Lots pepperoni which everyone around here like.

[Denny O]

Jonathon If using Willie’s Snack Stick Seasoning with out MSG, wow much msg would you add to “X” pounds of meat to achieve the same flavor boost of “Willie’s” that had msg in the seasoning mix?

[TimC 0]

You can try comparing seasonings by adding 1/4 teaspoon of seasoning to a 2 oz bathroom cup of warm (not hot) water, maybe 90-100F. Stir well and then taste a small amount of the tea from a spoon with lots of air across the tongue. Not exact, but will give you an idea of flavor, especially between two different seasonings. Pepperoni seasoning typically uses paprika for color with anise and fennel as the seasoning highlights. Historically it’s made from pork. If you want to try a recipe for 5 lbs of meat, 62g salt, 34g sugar, 22.7g ground mustard, 8.5g fennel seed, 4.3g ground fennel, 3.5g ground anise, 2.1g ground red pepper, 8.5g paprika. I don’t know the strength of Walton’s cure, so that would be used at whatever is recommended. Pepperoni is normally fermented, so add some encapsulated acid for tang. Commercial pepperoni is not cooked high enough to set the proteins, so there is a nutlike savoriness to rare meat that disappears when it’s fully cooked and flavor is more bland,. So a higher level of seasoning is needed to get full flavor in a fully cooked sausage. Pepperoni is dried to around 30-36% moisture. If you start with 72% pork, that is a weight loss around 35%. If you don’t take the weight loss, your yield will be higher and the seasoning flavor is diluted as a result. So if you have a higher yield you want to use more seasoning to get full flavor. You can make a nice full-flavored fully cooked pepperoni flavor refrigerated snack stick or brat, but would need a high enough seasoning level for full flavor.

[Jonathon]

TimC 0 We are going to be trying that on the podcast to see if it works!

[salmonmaster]

TimC 0 just got up and already learned something new! Very well written, thanks for info.

[cdavis]

TimC 0 good to know. Thanks

[Dave in AZ]

TimC 0 great reply, thx!

[GWG8541]

Jonathon TimC 0 you may be on to a new addition to the “Drink of Choice” thread. Especially if you add bourbon.

[Dave in AZ]

I just re-read the thread title, and laughed and laughed…

[dawg]

Dave in AZ
LOL .

[Denny O]

Dave in AZ said in What does Willies taste like?:

I just re-read the thread title, and laughed and laughed…

Dave I think an “A” has been edited out of the title to clean it up a bit.