Question regarding the best ingredients to use.

Durthic said:

Hi everyone!

As the subject suggests, I need your help with some food related questions.

My father has recently been diagnosed with T2 diabetes, and after looking through foods that he can and can't have, I decided to see if there was anything that I can do to help him out.

I am a butcher by trade, and as such, I want to see if there's a way that I can put my trade skills to use in order to help him continue to enjoy some of the foods that he has enjoyed prior to being diagnosed.

From what I have read up on diabetes and safe foods (and it is an information overload for me, so I doff my cap to each and every one of you!), I have decided to start out by trying to formulate a sausage recipe that has the best possible taste, yet made using only natural, safe ingredients with the lowest possible glycemic index, and also with attributes that best lend themselves to keeping a handle on everything diabetes related.

Now, we tend to live on a low sodium diet anyway, so I'll be trying to keep salt down to a minimum, as well as fat content. the thing I have been struggling with is what to replace the rusk with. Since rusk is not the best thing for diabetes, I was considering things like oatmeal (from what I've read it's high in protein, and has a very low GI, and also helps to stabilise blood sugar levels.), or even pea protein. I've managed to establish that whole grain breads are good for diabetes, so there is that, although talking with yourselves will help me get confirmation on that.

From there, I'll be planning things outside of sausages, things like burgers (which we don't eat often at all, but thought a diabetes friendly burger would be good for an occasional reward for doing well with diet, etc.), meatballs, and so on, but I thought it best to start small and build from there.

I know there will be the inevitable "Just leave them out", however, the purpose of the rusk in a sausage is to retain moisture to give the sausage a succulent taste, and also give it a good mouth feel texture. This is why I am trying to find an alternative to rusk.

Thanks in advance for your help, and I hope you understand what I'm getting at!

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Durthic said:

Tigerkitty1950 said:

Durthic said:

Hi everyone!

As the subject suggests, I need your help with some food related questions.

My father has recently been diagnosed with T2 diabetes, and after looking through foods that he can and can't have, I decided to see if there was anything that I can do to help him out.

I am a butcher by trade, and as such, I want to see if there's a way that I can put my trade skills to use in order to help him continue to enjoy some of the foods that he has enjoyed prior to being diagnosed.

From what I have read up on diabetes and safe foods (and it is an information overload for me, so I doff my cap to each and every one of you!), I have decided to start out by trying to formulate a sausage recipe that has the best possible taste, yet made using only natural, safe ingredients with the lowest possible glycemic index, and also with attributes that best lend themselves to keeping a handle on everything diabetes related.

Now, we tend to live on a low sodium diet anyway, so I'll be trying to keep salt down to a minimum, as well as fat content. the thing I have been struggling with is what to replace the rusk with. Since rusk is not the best thing for diabetes, I was considering things like oatmeal (from what I've read it's high in protein, and has a very low GI, and also helps to stabilise blood sugar levels.), or even pea protein. I've managed to establish that whole grain breads are good for diabetes, so there is that, although talking with yourselves will help me get confirmation on that.

From there, I'll be planning things outside of sausages, things like burgers (which we don't eat often at all, but thought a diabetes friendly burger would be good for an occasional reward for doing well with diet, etc.), meatballs, and so on, but I thought it best to start small and build from there.

I know there will be the inevitable "Just leave them out", however, the purpose of the rusk in a sausage is to retain moisture to give the sausage a succulent taste, and also give it a good mouth feel texture. This is why I am trying to find an alternative to rusk.

Thanks in advance for your help, and I hope you understand what I'm getting at!

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, , , , , ,
Did it occur to you that red meat might be better if avoided , just eaten occasionally , chicken, fish especially salmon , salads, not too many potatoes, and bread

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If you mean in relation to the widely publicised case of "red meat increases the risk of diabetes", then yes, red meat CAN be an increased risk in diabetes, however, these are only primarily in reference to processed meats and deli meats.

Now, one could argue that a sausage is a processed food, you would be correct in principle. However (again), this is a view taken from modern industry production levels where chemical additives are added in order to increase the shelf life and the appearance of food to make it more attractive to the customers.

To give you a good example of what I mean, here is the ingredients list of Richmond's pork sausages:

Pork (42%)
Water
Pork Fat (10%)
Rusk (Wheat)
Potato Starch
Soya Protein Concentrate.
Ingredients less than 2%: Salt, Flavourings, Stabilisers: Diphosphates, Guar Gum; Antioxidants: E300 & E307; Preservative: Sodium Metabisulphate, Colour: Cochineal.

Now, let's analyze what is really in there.

Potato Starch (flour), is typically used as a rusk replacement by some sausage makers. So they have put both rusk AND flour in there to smooth out the texture of the sausage, nothing wrong with that, but it is also being used as I mentioned earlier to trap water, which as you can see is the second highest quantity in use, which isn't so good as I'm sure you want quality meat being the key ingredient at a value of higher than 42%.

Soya Protein concentrate: Used in Smoked or Cooked Sausages. Binds the fat and meat for a smoother consistency. Cuts shrinkage in the smokehouse by improving moisture retention. Contains 7 times more protein than meat does. If you're going to make smoked or cooked sausage or lunchmeats, this item is a must.

Now for the sub 2% ingredients as they are really known:

● E450 – You wouldn’t expect sausages to contain added water but these low-meat (42%) sausages are practically dripping with it. The water is held in place by E450, a chemical which ‘solidifies’ the mixture

● E412 – an emulsifier which helps to hold fat and water together (the meat in these sausages is almost half fat); ● E300 and E307 - antioxidant vitamins which stop the fat content turning rancid. This gives the product a long shelf life before it becomes unpalatable;

● E223 – a sulphite preservative which keeps the sausages safe to eat and prolongs their shelf life. Some people find that sulphites provoke shortness of breath and asthma;

● E128 – to disguise the low meat content these sausages have
been coloured with a synthetic chemical Azo Dye called Red 2G.

Now, let's compare this to one of my recipes for a pork breakfast sausage I'm in the process of adapting to work for a diabetic (not yet complete, so please if you use this recipe, you do so at your own risk for now!):

700g Pork Shoulder
300g Pork Belly
1/4 teaspoon Sage
1 teaspoon Rosemary
1/2 teaspoon White Pepper
4g Salt
51ml Iced Water

As you can see, no extra additives, no extra preservatives, just a plain simple, honest sausage recipe that is focused on flavour over shelf life (they can be frozen after all).

Even then, you could actually substitute the pork for a mixture of turkey breast meat and turkey leg meat, tweak the seasonings to taste, possibly add in about 50-80g of oatmeal to work on the texture, and hey presto!

So overall, Yes, there are concerns with red meat causing an increased risk of diabetes, and also significant effects for people who do suffer diabetes, but learning exactly what goes into your food will help you go a long way as you no doubt already know yourself. In essence though, the way I work as a butcher is this: If you can't pronounce or know exactly what is in the food you are going to buy, It shouldn't really be in your food unless there is a very good reason (i.e. it is used in the curing process for the likes of bacon for example).

In response to your other meat choices, I fully intend to develop a full range of foods from Beef, Pork, Lamb, Turkey, Chicken, and as many other types of food I can think of, however as a butcher, I will be starting where I already know and working out from there, but in complete honesty, they are all great alternatives that you suggested too! Also, my intention is to simply make these available for people to make themselves, and as such it would be down to them to regulate their dietary requirements. They know themselves best, so I don't intend to say "You must eat what I have made because I say so!" I simply want to develop something to benefit my father first, but in the same vein, benefit anyone who is interested in what I am doing as a good way to break away from the mass produced foods you get in supermarkets these days. It's to give them more control and more say on what goes into the food they eat, rather than what they are forced to eat.

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