Thread: Sausage and Smoke Cooking

Well there s some nostalgia chewing it off the bone, I started doing it for presentation at competitions, symmetrical and it fits on bread really good, think Mc Rib but with great ribs, now most championship ribs don’t have sauce unless you dip them while eating. Salt Pepper, and of course Rendevous. I spray with my ACV also thru the cooking time, but I still put a 6x3 by 2” deep aluminum pan full of ACV and water, in a cutout in my drain tray in the traeger. The steam it creates, really helps tenderize and flavor the meat.

No ACV isn’t the only thing you can use, pork likes sweet so apple juice works very well, and using the sweet woods for smoking help, with beef just stick to vinegar, and oak, hickory, mesquite.

So far ve not found anything I’ve grilled , smoked , that doesn’t do well with vinegar though, but being a pit master means trying it all out and find what works for the majority, you can please everyone, I’ve heard there’s strange people who don’t even eat meat

Yup! The dry cured sausage is almost there!

Original Weights (In Grams):

163--Done to 35% lost weight but too wet in the middle
685--
738--
923--

03/15--143
03/15-- 634
03/15--689
03/15--835

03/22--126
03/22--581
03/22--641
03/22--756

03/29-- 112
03/29-- 532
03/29-- 591
03/29-- 691

04/06--473
04/06--537
04/06--637

04/12--458
04/12--505
04/12--608

04/21--428
04/21--473
04/21--573

04/26--415
04/26--456
04/26--558

So if the original weight in grams were reduced by 40% the following would be what the chubs would weigh;

411

433

554

So the top and bottom are almost there, I'll check tomorrow afternoon or evening.

I always hate to post back to back at a thread but I need to today.

As I've mentioned I'd like to try my hand at some luncheon meats. So my first attempt is a 4inch OD chicken roll.

Yesterday I picked up a 10 lb bag of (fresh) chicken hind quarters from WalMart for $6. They were still partially frozen but by this morning they were pretty well thawed.

The recipe in Rytek Kutas's 1984 Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing book is what I used as a guide.

The recipe was for a 10 lb batch but I only wanted to make a 5 lb batch. The recipe called for using semolina flour or regular flour which didn't sound right to me. So I decided that I'd use the same amount of chicken broth but omit the flour and instead use about 1/3rd of the total meat along with the spices and cure to make a emulsification. The recipe also called for all of the meat to be finely ground but I wanted some meat chunks.

I started boning and de-skinning the thighs but found that I was shy of the required 3.5 lbs of meat that I'd need so I used some of the larger legs and made sure they were set aside since they would have the tendons and I thought they would work well in the emulsion.

The recipe was a bit confusing about the fat and skin so I decided to remove all fat I could and use the skin which ended up being about 1/2 lb. I cut the skin into small strips and placed them on plastic wrap on a tray and froze them solid.

I cut the leg chunks into 1/2 inch pieces and froze them until almost frozen. I then used my Kitchen Aid stand mixer with the small plate that I'd placed in the freezer and ground the skin first and then the legs. The KA did struggle but it managed.

I then added them to my food processor along with the spices and cure and ground them into a mass and then slowly added the broth and processed the mixture until it was fully incorporated. It was on the watery side. I would call it a slurry.

I'd cut the remaining thigh's and a couple of legs into 1 inch or so chunks and had them very cold. I then added 1/2 of the thigh/leg chunks to the bowl of my KA and 1/2 of the slurry and mixed each batch until they were Very Sticky.

I combined both batches in a large bowl and hand mixed them until they looked well blended.

Into the stuffer with the 1 inch ID Stainless Steel tube that Joel (Benz) made for me and into a 4" Fiborous Casings that had been soaking in some warm water.

Here's what 1/2 of the batch looked like before being combined with the other.



After stuffing I hung the chub in the smoker just to be able to take a decent picture.



Normally I'd have ground all of the meat and the cure would start protecting against Botulism but since I had some bigger pieces in the batch I decided to let it cure overnight under refrigeration. BUT I didn't want a D shaped casing so here's my solution since I can't hang the chub. Only time will tell how well it works.



I'd formed the towel into a round to cradle the chub.

The project will continue tomorrow with the smoking, water bath cooking, cooling and hopefully some slicing.

It must have been leg quarters day:-) I bought a bag also and cured and smoked them. The brine had a lot of red pepper flakes and garlic in it, along with the insta cure and other stuff. . Coated with SlapYoMama and smoked.

I want to try a luncheon type meat in a big casing someday. I have never used the food processor to emulsify. Bologna and turkey loaf are on my list of things to try.

Ok, so here's the finished product.

I set the inkbird to 160 degs and preheated the smoker, then I hung the chub. I used the smoke tube and filled it full and once it was going good I placed it in the smoker.

The smoke lasted for not quite 4 hours and here's what the chub looked like;



I cut the strings off and place the chub in a vacuum bag;



Then into the water bath. I set the inkbird to 200 degs and used a plate to keep the meat submerged;



After two hours I lowered the inkbird to 185 degs and held it there for about 4 hours. Then I pulled it from the bath and checked the internal temp and it was 184.7. I put a Gorilla Duct Tape band aid on the hole left by the probe, cut a corner out of the vacuum bag and drained most of the liquid into a bowl and set it in the frig. The red circle just shows where I resealed the corner;



I placed the chub in a large plastic tub and covered it with an old towel then put it in the bathtub and started the cold water running. Once it was full and the towel completely wet I turn the water way down and left it for about 3 hours and then pulled it and rechecked the internal temp and found it to be about 80 degs so I placed the chub in the frig and headed to bed.

To be continued---

So this morning I found the liquid that I'd drained to be completely gelled. I figured that was a good sign.

So I broke out the slicer to have a go.


I sliced a couple off and gave the second slice a go since it had less smoke and by God, it was good! Very nice flavor, not salty, quite tender.

However Houston we had a problem---- The first few slices held together well, but the further into the chub I went the more they didn't hold together. Starting in the middle it was pretty much like this.



I finished slicing and took about pound and a half to my oldest daughters for her and the family to try. She loved the flavor and said she'd just mix it in a bowl with the mayo, mustard etc just like making a tuna sandwich. I thought that was good thinking

I think next time, I'll use less liquid, add powdered milk, grind 100% of the meat and emulsify the entire batch using the food processor. I'll also ask for some help as I'm sure that I can pack the meat in tighter if I could use both hands instead of needing to use one to hold the casing tightly and one to turn the crank for the stuffer.

So I've torn the slicer down and the removable parts are in the dishwasher, the non removable parts are washed down and sanitized. Once the removable parts are dried and cooled I'll put the slicer together and do another slicing project. I'll post the results and some pics later.

Originally Posted by cudarunner

The recipe was for a 10 lb batch but I only wanted to make a 5 lb batch. The recipe called for using semolina flour or regular flour which didn't sound right to me. So I decided that I'd use the same amount of chicken broth but omit the flour and instead use about 1/3rd of the total meat along with the spices and cure to make a emulsification. The recipe also called for all of the meat to be finely ground but I wanted some meat chunks.
.

And why didn't the recipe turn out like the book?

I argue with my wife many times about this.

I say follow the recipe at least once maybe twice......

And then once you learn how it works then make your adaptations.

Originally Posted by 32t

And why didn't the recipe turn out like the book?

I argue with my wife many times about this.

I say follow the recipe at least once maybe twice......

And then once you learn how it works then make your adaptations.

This is one of the very few times I didn't try a recipe exactly as written. I also don't try new recipes for special suppers.

The flour just didn't sound like it would be tasty. I've found that even when making gravy or a cream sauce the flour needs cooked really well at a temp that will pretty much boil so that the 'floury' taste isn't there.

That sure looks hammy, very cool! I have never thought of vacuum bagging before the water bath, that is a great idea. The mix between the emulsified meat and big chunks looks right on.

Here's some pics from the Dry Cured Soppressata Sausage/I followed the ingredient list with the exception of the chili powder/I also followed the grinder die size. The small chub was at 411 grams which was 40% weight loss.



The texture was right on when compared to store bought salamis. However so far the general opinion is that there is too much fat and the fat pieces are too large.

This salami has a 'different' taste. I've ordered a spice mixture from Umai to try next time. It's a Geno Salami spice mix. I will make sure that the fat ratio is less and that it's ground separately and,much finer.

Charlie, about the chicken roll looking 'hamy' you're spot on. I've found that any poultry dark meat that's cured and smoked does come out not only looking like but tasting like smoked ham. I think duck is so very close it would be hard to tell the difference with a blind taste test. The texture is different so that might be the give away.