Chapter 14
Spices for Meat Products
The
tongue is divided into four general regions of taste:
Sweetness – Tip of tongue
Saltiness – Front side of tongue
Sour – Rear side of tongue
Bitterness – Across rear of tongue
You will absolutely taste these four
sensations. Spices and other flavors in
meat products DO REQUIRE TRAINING to recognize these tastes. Some spices taste sweet, some taste bitter,
some are pungent (strong, sharp flavor), and some are aromatic (distinctive,
savory smell).
Most spices that are sweet are also aromatic,
such as cinnamon and coriander. A few
are sweet and pungent, such as nutmeg and mace. Many of the herbs are bitter, such as sage.
The baker's dozen of spices for the meat
industry is described as follows:
1) Coriander
has a sweet, aromatic, rose-like flavor.
2) Mustard
has a slightly bitter flavor, though oriental mustard has a very pungent
flavor. Allyl isothiocyanate is the
component that gives oriental mustard its pungency, sharp odor and acrid
flavor.
3) Fennel
has a sweet licorice-like flavor.
4) Garlic
has a strongly odored, pungent flavor.
5)
Cumin has a
strong, musty flavor–sometimes described as a "dirty socks" smell.
6) Sage
has a bitter, aromatic flavor described by an old boss as the flavor like Vicks
Vaporub.
6) Paprika has a sweet flavor. As used in the meat industry, paprika offers no flavor to meat products.
8) Chili pepper has a sweet, pungent, slightly burnt flavor.
9) Nutmeg
has a sweet, pungent flavor.
10) Mace
has a sweet, pungent flavor, which is sweeter than nutmeg.
11) Red
pepper has a pungent, biting hot flavor, which is not detected in front of the
mouth.
12) Black
pepper has a hot, pungent flavor.
13) White pepper has a less pungent flavor than
black pepper.
by:
Bruce Armstrong Alferi Laboratories, Little
Chute, Wisconsin
As you eat different meat products, take time to
recognize the various spice flavors:
Coriander:
The sweeter, flower-like flavor is used as an
alternative to nutmeg in some franks and bologna.
Mustard:
The number-one spice in the meat industry. It is grown in Montana, North Dakota, and
the adjoining Canadian provinces.
Mustard has no flavor, but is 29% protein. A 1% usage of mustard in a frank or bologna emulsion saves the
meat processor 3/4 to 1 cent per pound of finished product, because of the
additional water which can be added to the product.
Fennel:
The licorice flavor in Italian sausage,
pepperoni, and other Italian-flavored meats.
Garlic:
The hearty flavor in beef franks and Polish
sausage.
Cumin:
A heavy and possibly objectionable flavor
associated with Tex-Mex meat products, chili powder, and curry powder.
Sage:
The strong, somewhat bitter flavor in fresh pork
sausage.
Paprika:
Used for its red color. It has no flavor, except at very high levels.
Chili pepper:
Chili pepper is cooked to darken it and give it
a cooked (burnt) flavor associated with Tex-Mex products.
Nutmeg/Mace:
Both come from same tree. Mace is a thin, lacy, bright red
"aril" which surrounds the nutmeg.
They are the flavor most associated with franks and bologna. Mace has a stronger flavor and lighter color
than nutmeg, and is used where these features are an advantage. Typical spice flavor in most hot dogs and
bologna.
Red pepper:
Used for its throat sensation (heat). A small
amount will make a seasoned product seem to have more flavor. Commonly used in crushed form to aid visual
appearance.
Black pepper:
Used for its mouth sensation (heat) and pungent
flavor.
White pepper:
Same reason as for black pepper, but it does not
have black specks of the black pepper.
This baker's dozen minus two other spices
accounts for the flavor of 99% of meat products in the United States. Remember, white pepper and black pepper are
interchangeable flavors, as are nutmeg and mace.
Other spices are used in meat products such as
cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, anise, and allspice. Their use is only to round out or heighten
the flavor of the predominant spices.
What Are the Main Flavors Found in
Meat Products?
Hot dogs:
The flavor of most hot dogs is black pepper and
nutmeg. Other hot dogs have a coriander
flavor. Beef hot dogs typically have a
garlic flavor as a secondary flavor.
Many chicken hot dogs have onion as a secondary flavor. Mustard is heavily used in most hot
dogs. Other spices may be used for a
particular regional flavor. They are
secondary flavors and are not identifiable as individual spices by most
people. Hot dogs are eaten warm and therefore
require less flavor (spices) than bologna.
Smoke is another important flavor of hot
dogs. It is not a spice, but it can
confuse people tasting two products for flavor comparison.
Bologna:
Most bolognas have the same flavor as hot
dogs. The most consistent difference is
bologna usually has garlic to give more flavor since bologna is most often
eaten cold. Mustard is heavily used in
most bolognas. Bologna is not smoked,
and again, smoke is not a spice, but it is a major flavor in processed meat
products.
Smoked sausage:
Smoked sausage is a "simple" seasoned
product. Black pepper is the major
spice flavor in smoked sausage. Red
pepper is used at very low levels.
Coriander is used sometimes.
Smoke and the sweet burnt flavor of dextrose are the major flavors of
smoked sausage.
Polish sausage (Kielbasa):
The same rules as smoked sausage, except garlic
is added for the typical flavor.
Fresh pork sausage:
Black pepper and sage are dominate flavors, with
red pepper used for "hot" varieties. Dextrose is added for surface browning.
Italian sausage:
Black pepper and fennel (licorice flavor) are
the flavors in Italian sausage. Red
pepper is added for hot Italian sausage.
Liverwurst (braunschweiger):
Onion and nutmeg provide spice flavor for this
product. Smoked bacon provides
additional flavor, particularly to braunschweiger. This is one product where the sweet flavor of nonfat dry milk
improves liver flavor.
Salami (cotto):
Black pepper, particularly in the form of whole
pepper corns, creates flavor of cotto (cooked) salami. Nutmeg is used at low levels. Mustard is heavily used in cotto salami.
Pepperoni:
Paprika, red pepper, black pepper, garlic, and
fennel are spices used for pepperoni or sausage for pizza.
Summer sausage (beef stick):
Black pepper is usually the only spice used for
flavor. Mustard seed is heavily used in
most summer sausages.
Dry sausage:
Most other dry sausages use black pepper for
major flavor, and may include garlic, coriander, and nutmeg for other spice
flavors.
Tex-Mex products
These products are providing new areas for
increased spice usage in meat products.
These products use red pepper, chili pepper, cumin, and garlic at
greater usage levels than traditional products.
Cured products (ham, bacon, Canadian bacon):
Some processors use California ham spice,
Western ham spice, or Virginia ham spice.
All these are a mixture of cinnamon and cloves and are a soluble
seasoning. Corned beef uses garlic.
In review, meat products use mustard (which does
not contribute to flavor), black pepper, nutmeg, coriander, red pepper, garlic,
and paprika as major spices. Minor
spices include onion, fennel, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and cumin.
All traditional meat products use the seasonings
listed or modified forms.
Meat Spice Limits
min. max.
per 100# per 100#
salt 1% 2.5% (weight
basis)
black pepper 2
oz. 8–16
oz.
nutmeg 1/4
oz. 2
oz.
coriander 1
oz. 6
oz.
paprika 8
oz. 12
oz.
garlic 3/4
oz. 2
oz.
sage 1/2
oz. 2
oz.
chili pepper 8
oz. 16
oz.
cumin 4
oz. 8
oz.
fennel 3
oz. 12
oz.
mustard 1/2
oz. 1%
(weight basis)
ginger 1/16
oz. 1/2
oz.
red pepper 1/2
oz. 4–6
oz.
sugar none 1% (with
2.5% salt)
most secondary spices 1/16 oz. 1/2 oz.
Conversion examples:
Salt 2% of 100 g. meat = 0.02 X 100 g. = 2.0 g./100 g.
**********************
Black pepper 8 oz/100 lbs. meat =
28.4 g./ oz. X 8 =227g/8 oz.
= 227 g./100 lbs. meat
227 g./100 lbs. ÷ 100 = 2.27 g./1.0 lb.
2.27 g./1.0 lb. ÷ 4.54 =
0.5g/100g.
X oz/100 lbs. X 0.0626 = X g. spice / 100 g. meat
X oz/100 lbs. X 0.1252 = X g. spice / 200 g. meat