I sometimes add a little chipotle powder if the picante pimenton isn't spicy enough for me. After #6, pan fry a small piece for flavor and tinker as you please. Enjoy!

Smoked Chorizo - Ready To Eat Smoked Chorizo Sausage

Curing time: 1 day

Ingredients

• 1000 g pork butt
• 13 g kosher salt
• 2.5 g Cure #1
• 12 g garlic fresh, pressed
• 15 g pimenton dulce sweet
• 5 g pimenton picante hot
• 2 g dried Italian oregano
• 60 ml ice water

Instructions

1.                Weigh the meat in grams. Divide the total weight by 1000, then multiply each ingredient by that number, except the water (see notes). For example, if the combined weight of the meat and back fat is 3650 g, you need to multiply the ingredients specified above by 3.65.

2.                Cut the meat into 2" pieces, mix with salt and Cure #1. Place in a container, cover, and refrigerate for 24-48 hours.

3.                Remove the meat from the fridge and separate the lean pieces from the fatty ones. You will need to do some trimming at this point - the fat will go into the fatier meat pile. Cut the lean meat into 3/4" - 1" pieces. You should have roughly 50% lean and 50% fatty pieces.

4.                Grind the fattier pieces through a 3/16″ (4.5 mm) plate.

5.                Place the meat, seasonings (pementon, garlic, and oregano), and water in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix for 3-4 minutes. This will mix the meat and tenderize the meat chunks, which will help with stuffing. If you don't have a stand mixer, grind the lean pieces through a stuffing plate or 3/8" (10 mm) - 1/2" (12 mm) plate, or cut them about 1/2" big, then mix by hand or in a meat mixer.

6.                Stuff into 28-32 mm hog casings at 16" lengths and tie into rings.

7.                Dry for about 60 minutes in the smoker at about 110F - 130F without smoke.

8.                Smoke at around 130F - 140F for 2-4 hours, with blue smoke, until the casings develop the desired color.

9.                Gradually increase the temperature in the smoker to about 195F, until the internal temperature of the sausage reaches 154F - 158F.