Smoking, grilling and curing foods, etc.

[Mase]

Black Angus Delmonico Steak medium-rare with a butter basted grilled lobster tail with my wife’s Home-made Hollandais sauce. Steak and Lobster cooked on the old reliable (5 year old) Weber Charcoal Grill. We call it the “Barrel Ridge Brewing Surf and Turf”. OMG am I stuffed!

 

[jeffpn]

That looks fantastic. But you should have served it on a hubcap. There’s no plate like chrome for the Hollendaise!

 

[Mase]

That looks fantastic. But you should have served it on a hubcap. There’s no plate like chrome for the Hollendaise!

Duly noted! Next time, I shall do just that.

 

[BOB357]

Finally remembered to order a new blade for my grinder. Sucks to get old and forget to remember what you wanted to remember not to forget. Nice not having to clean the connective tissue out of the worm every pound or less. Just split up a 12 1/2 lb. whole bottom round. Two 3 lb. chunks for corned beef and ground the rest for sausages. The wife is doing 3 lbs. of her fantastic andouille which leaves me with 3 1/2 lbs. or so to work with. Just the wife and I, so mostly do small batches.

Dunno what I want to do with it. Was thinking Louisiana Hot Links, but I have a bunch of them in the freezer. I've got a pork loin roast in the freezer around 4 lbs. Thought about mixing that in and doing some polish garlic sausage. Another thought was beer brats, but I can buy them for about what it costs to make them.

Someone please kick me in the a$$ with a good suggestion. I have recipes for almost every kind of sausage on Earth, just can't make up my mind.

 

[Head First]

Finally remembered to order a new blade for my grinder. Sucks to get old and forget to remember what you wanted to remember not to forget. Nice not having to clean the connective tissue out of the worm every pound or less. Just split up a 12 1/2 lb. whole bottom round. Two 3 lb. chunks for corned beef and ground the rest for sausages. The wife is doing 3 lbs. of her fantastic andouille which leaves me with 3 1/2 lbs. or so to work with. Just the wife and I, so mostly do small batches.

Dunno what I want to do with it. Was thinking Louisiana Hot Links, but I have a bunch of them in the freezer. I've got a pork loin roast in the freezer around 4 lbs. Thought about mixing that in and doing some polish garlic sausage. Another thought was beer brats, but I can buy them for about what it costs to make them.

Someone please kick me in the a$$ with a good suggestion. I have recipes for almost every kind of sausage on Earth, just can't make up my mind.

Ok, a Potato Sausage, carefully stuffed in sheep casings and boiled.

Just one other note. I get more life out of a cutter by laying some 400 grit wet sandpaper on a perfectly flat machined metal surface and just working the flat portion of the blade for a few minutes. You can also use a dremel with an abrasive wheel to touch up the leading edge if you are careful.

 

[BOB357]

Ok, a Potato Sausage, carefully stuffed in sheep casings and boiled.

Just one other note. I get more life out of a cutter by laying some 400 grit wet sandpaper on a perfectly flat machined metal surface and just working the flat portion of the blade for a few minutes. You can also use a dremel with an abrasive wheel to touch up the leading edge if you are careful.

Thanks! As much as I love it, potato sausage is out of the question with my low starch diet Good tip on keeping the blade sharp. I've used emery in the past, but this blade was warped from over tightening.

Wife now tells me that she uses only pork for her andouille, so I got all of the beef. Final answer! Polish. All that's left to do is stuff it. Taking a shot & beer break for medicinal purposes right now. Hoping the CO doesn't expect me to bone out the pork for her andouille.

 

[Head First]

Thanks! As much as I love it, potato sausage is out of the question with my low starch diet Good tip on keeping the blade sharp. I've used emery in the past, but this blade was warped from over tightening.

Wife now tells me that she uses only pork for her andouille, so I got all of the beef. Final answer! Polish. All that's left to do is stuff it. Taking a shot & beer break for medicinal purposes right now. Hoping the CO doesn't expect me to bone out the pork for her andouille.

I had to learn how to re sharpen my cutting blade on my grinder. It is a 188somthing I think a Hubbard O.V.B(our very best)came out of a mail order catalog back when. It has a large throat and works well with the electric motor now attached. BUT, the blade is odd in the respect of a rectangular mounting hole. A newer standard square mount blade won't work so its sharpen it or buy new. As much venison as we grind it has to be sharp.

 

[jeffpn]

Today I plan on branching out with my meat endeavors. I bought some casings for snack sticks a month ago, so I’m going to give that a try. Following the recipe, I’ll grind, season and stuff today, and smoke tomorrow. The smoking is a stepped temperature process, starting at 130°, and ending at 170°. When the meat hits 152°, it gets a cold water bath until it’s at 110°. Then it hangs for an hour to bloom, whatever that means. Seems like a pretty involved process

 

[jeffpn]

Well that was a nightmare. Grinding went ok. I did course and then fine. Stuffing was an issue. I used the snack stick tube for the collagen casings. Stuffing went extremely slow. The meat got too warm during the process. Next time I do snack sticks, I’ll use my hand crank stuffer. I just bought a tube for it. It didn’t come with one small enough. I should be able to do two more ten pound batches with the casings I have left. No doubt the next batch will be better.

 

[BOB357]

I don't use casings for sticks. I use a Jerky Gun which is just a food grade calking gun. Got it for around $30 at Cabelas years ago. If comes with heads that will shoot out 1 or 2 jerky strips or snack sticks(1/2")at a time . I'm getting tired of the stuffing attachment for my grinder too. Wife and I spent the better part of today stuffing Polish and Andouille. Watching out for a dedicated stuffer, preferably with a foot pedal. Getting too old for all this Manuel Labour.(TIC)

 

[jeffpn]

Do your sticks tend to break apart without casings? That’s one question I had. I have a jerky gun that’s probably as old as I am and it’s never been used. It was a Christmas gift for my uncle way back in the day. Odd choice for a gift to someone that you don’t already know is into meats.

 

[jeffpn]

What do you think about this, Bob?

https://www.cabelas.com/product/CABELAS-ELECTRONIC-JERKY-BLASTER/2531926.uts

 

[BOB357]

What do you think about this, Bob?

https://www.cabelas.com/product/CABELAS-ELECTRONIC-JERKY-BLASTER/2531926.uts

Wow! Top of the line. Mine is just a manual labor type. No problem with sticks breaking up except when shooting them from the gun, and then only if you pull too hard on them. Just need to make sure the meat is damp enough to be a little tacky. Never even thought of using casings for them. Just seems like a waste to me. Hey, if they turn out to be something you enjoy. go for it. Nice to see new blood in another great hobby. Welcome.

 

[jeffpn]

Not new blood, mate. Been doing this a few years now. I just feel like going into overdrive with jerky and sausage!

Not buying casings would certainly make for a cheaper product. The single stick tip does have length to it, though. So casing would be an option. There were 3 casings in the box that I bought. I used one of them for today’s batch. So I’ll definitely be able to decide if I like the snack sticks with or without casing. That box cost $20.

 

[BOB357]

Not new blood, mate. Been doing this a few years now. I just feel like going into overdrive with jerky and sausage!

Not buying casings would certainly make for a cheaper product. The single stick tip does have length to it, though. So casing would be an option. There were 3 casings in the box that I bought. I used one of them for today’s batch. So I’ll definitely be able to decide if I like the snack sticks with or without casing. That box cost $20.

While a casing gives a good snap to a sausage, I don't think you'd notice any sensory difference in a snack stick, but that's just me. If you see a positive aspect to using casings, please post it. I'm always open to possible improvements as I'm sure others are too.

 

[Head First]

Well that was a nightmare. Grinding went ok. I did course and then fine. Stuffing was an issue. I used the snack stick tube for the collagen casings. Stuffing went extremely slow. The meat got too warm during the process. Next time I do snack sticks, I’ll use my hand crank stuffer. I just bought a tube for it. It didn’t come with one small enough. I should be able to do two more ten pound batches with the casings I have left. No doubt the next batch will be better.

I tried snack peperoni sticks a year ago last fall with elk meat with the same results. After fighting it through about 5#s gave up. Put the rest in hog casings, smoked and slice them up as needed for snacking or pizza.
http.//www.Hicountry.com is where I get spices and casings. Good stuff too. Good variety of jerky too.

 

[jeffpn]

I’ve got a good local connection for casings. I don’t buy any spice mixes for sausage, jerky, or anything else. I mix them all by hand, including curing salt when required.

My problem with the stuffing was the meat got too warm. It’ll run right through the stuffing attachment when it’s near freezing. Cold meat is the key to sausage stuffing. Easy to know, hard to heed.

 

[Head First]

I’ve got a good local connection for casings. I don’t buy any spice mixes for sausage, jerky, or anything else. I mix them all by hand, including curing salt when required.

My problem with the stuffing was the meat got too warm. It’ll run right through the stuffing attachment when it’s near freezing. Cold meat is the key to sausage stuffing. Easy to know, hard to heed.

Exactly on the cold meat. It makes a much better product too. Hi Country makes spice mixes that we used when first started doing sausage homemade tried other and a home recipe or 2 but went back to them because we like it and the kits are handy. Kind of like kit beer recipes.

 

[jeffpn]

Here it is “blooming” for an hour. I like the taste. But the fat didn’t render right, as expected from the meat getting too warm. I’ll refrigerate this tonight, and vac seal them tomorrow, then off to a freezer.

If I didn’t use casing, I don’t think they’d support their weight to hang.

 

[BOB357]

Sounds like the old jerky shooter wins here. No problem shooting out sticks or flats with a reasonable moisture level if you don't try to stretch them too thin. And no casings. I must add if the grind is too fine it only adds to your problems. I find a single medium grind works best. Chunk up your meat, mix in the spices/salts and grind once. Mix well by hand for 2 or 3 minutes and stuff.