Homemade Beef Pepperoni
I found the original recipe online, but changed a few ingredients to suit what i had on hand and to eliminate ingredients i did not want to use. For example, the recipe called for 2 heaping teaspoons of Morton's Tender Quick curing salt, but i'm not into adding sodium nitrates and nitrites to my food. Additionally, other recipes included saltpeter (potassium nitrate), but i'm not into gunpowder and firework ingredients in my food either. This is my first go and it makes a great summer sausage type snack, though i'm going to use it for Friday night pizza. I plan to tweak it a bit by using 70/30 burger rather than our usual lean 90/10 burger, but maybe too much fat will cause it to fall apart - who knows - if you try it, let me know!
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 lbs lean ground beef
- 2 teaspoons liquid smoke (i used Colgin brand)
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons mustard seed (used ground mustard )
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure sea salt
DIRECTIONS:
- Combine seasons and meat and mix thoroughly, using hands. Cover and refrigerate 48-72 hours.
- Form meat into two long logs or rolls and place on a rack over a drip pan. Bake at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 hours, rotating logs every 2 hours.
- When finished cooking, logs should be fairly dry and firm. Wipe off excess grease and allow meat to cool. Chill and then slice thinly.
