Smoked Black Belt Pepperoni Recipe

Mild and spicy pepperoni sticks at a fraction of the cost from store bought. The name came to me from the photo of them drying, with my sons black belt certificate hanging in the background. I used Cherry bisquettes to smoke them on my Bradley for six hours at low temperature. Then, let them air dry for three days.

Ingredients

Five pounds of freshly ground meat, approximately half pork and beef

2 Tbsp toasted fennel

2 Tbsp toasted anise

1 Tbsp ground anise

3 Tbsp kosher salt

2 Tsp cure salt

1 Tbsp paprika

2 Tbsp sugar

½ Tsp black pepper

1 Tsp red pepper flakes

For spicy, add:

2 Tbsp red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp scotch bonnet pepper chopped

Preparation

Chill meat to near frozen

Cut in strips and run through a meat grinder

(Do not trim the fat. Add some bacon if the meat is very lean.)

Mix in spices.

Let sit a few hours or overnight in the fridge.

Soak and rinse breakfast size casings.

Stuff in ~3-5 ft lengths.

Twist into ~5-inch pepperoni’s.

Smoke on hooks at the lowest temperature possible for 3-6 hours, depending on how smoky you like them.

Hang to dry for a couple of days until they reach the firmness you like.

Chances are there will be few left after the drying process, due to having to constantly sample for texture!