Panamanian Chorizo Criollo

As we continue our journey into sausage making we find our self in the Banana Republic. Todays sausage is a wonderful Panamanian sausage that brings to the table delicious fresh and festive flavors.

The Panamanian Chorizo Criollo is a fresh sausage that gets it’s flavors from the sweet pepper (Aji Dulce/Aji Criollo), the culantro (cousin to cilantro), and fresh minced garlic. At local supermarkets this sausage is almost always sold as a fresh raw sausage (in a casing) allowing the patron to cook it how they want but the original method of preparation was heavy smoke for many hours.

The sweet pepper used in this sausage is a local pepper called “aji criollo” but I have found that any thin wall sweet pepper (not bell pepper) will bring a very similar flavor to this sausage.

This sausage is great by itself, over rice, in soups, or as an appetizer. It has quickly become one of my go to sausages as this charcuterie is quite delicious.

Follow basic smoked sausage preparation practices when making this sausage.

1. Clean and Sanitize all of your equipment.
2. Keep your meat and grinder parts super cold (below 34F)
3. Any liquid that is added to the mince needs to be ice cold
4. Mix your very chilled meat and seasonings till the mince becomes very tacky
5. Stuff the mince into sausage casings and prick out any air pockets
6. Refrigerate your sausage overnight to allow the cure to work
7. The next day follow this smoking schedule (Optional)
   -Start at 110F – 120 for 1.5 hours, with your baffles opened (this dries the sausage)
   -Increase the temp to 125F for 1 hour and begin to add your favorite smoke
   -Increase to 135F for 1 hour
   -Increase to 155F for 1.5 hours
   -Increase to 175F till the internal temp reaches 145F

Here are a few things you might find useful when making sausage

• High Quality Natural Casings (AA Grade)
• Iodophor Sanitizer
• MK4 Thermapen (Accurate Thermometer)
• Chef Knife – KOTAI
• Boning Knife
• Sausage Pricker
• Iwatani Professional Chef Torch
• Insta Cure #1
• Non Fat Dry Milk Powder
• Meat Grinders
• Meat Mixers
• Sausage Stuffers
• Smokers
• Bella’s Cold Smoke Generator

Enjoy the video and the recipe. If you have any questions feel free to ask away. If you make this at home I’d love to hear about how it came out!!

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Print Recipe

4 from 1 vote

Panamanian Chorizo Criollo

A flavorful sausage from the Republic of Panama

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time5 hours hrs

How much do you want to make? 1000 grams

Ingredients

Metric – US Customary

• 700 g lean pork
• 300 g pork back fat
• 18 g kosher salt
• 4 g black pepper
• 80 g criollo pepper small sweet peppers
• 20 g cilantro chopped finely
• 80 g minced garlic
• 2.5 g insta cure #1
• 20 g non fat dry milk powder
• 1/4 cup ice cold water
• annatto liquid optional
• hog casings

Instructions

• Clean your meat of any silver skin, sinew, arteries and cut into small strips or cubes. Add all of the rest of the ingredients (except the nonfat dry milk powder and the ice cold water) to your meat and mix well. Refrigerate covered overnight.
• The next day place the meat and fat in the freezer for an hour or until the temp reaches 32f – 34F.
• rehydrate and clean your casings
• Grind your very chilled meat mixture on a 6mm plate
• Add the nonfat dry milk powder and the ice cold water to your chilled ground meat. If you want a slightly reddish/orange color add a tsp of annatto liquid to your meat and mix till it becomes very tacky. If you grab a small handful it will stick to your hand if you hold your hand upside down.
• Stuff your mince meat into the casings, link, and prick out any air pockets and let your sausage rest in the refrigerator overnight.

Smoking Schedule (optional)

• Start at 110F – 120 for 1.5 hours, with your baffles opened (this dries the sausage)

  increase the temp to 125F for 1 hour and begin to add your favorite smoke, then

  135F for 1 hour, 155F for 1.5 hours, 175F till the internal temp reaches 145F
• Cool down in ice water and allow to bloom at room temperature for several hours. Enjoy

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