Thread: Sausage and Smoke Cooking

Had to google molcajete. But they sure look similar. Maybe a smaller handle on it but the same premise,..
Cool tools.

Originally Posted by cudarunner

A "Molcajete" won't work? After a good work out to get one broke in, mine seems to work pretty well.

You’ll have to let me know if it works. I just say you need a serious one because most often they sell you these little ones that you can’t get enough leverage on or have enough room in to really purée things. But if what you have works, go for it.

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

You’ll have to let me know if it works. I just say you need a serious one because most often they sell you these little ones that you can’t get enough leverage on or have enough room in to really purée things. But if what you have works, go for it.

I see what you say. Should I ust get a blender?

Originally Posted by 32t

I see what you say. Should I ust get a blender?

Yeah, sure. Use what you have.

Well I've tried something new, well new to me. They are called Pig Shots as they are supposed to look a little like shot glasses.

Now it's raining here and I "WAS" going to use my Traeger but it showed an error code so I made them in the oven.

Now I've found many, many different recipes but most seem to use some Jalapenos in them. Now I don't mind a little Jalapeno but it just didn't strike me as something that I'd like. But I did find one that used crushed Pineapple in it and no Jalapenos.

To make it you mix 2 half pounds of cream cheese with a cup of crushed pineapple, along with a little brown sugar once mixed you slice some cooked sausage into 1/2" rounds, then wrap the sausage with 1/2 of the bacon and secure it with a toothpick. Then you fill the hole with the cream cheese and top it with a little more of the crushed pineapple then your supposed to use some of their "Special Spices" and sprinkle it on top. I checked and the ingredients aren't that much different than the one that I make so I used my own.

I used my homemade smoked sausage as a base, I tried my homemade bacon but it was too thick and I don't think it's pliable enough since it was dry cured. Anyway I purchased some local bacon, the cream cheese and crushed pineapple, let the cream cheese warm up and mixed in some of the pineapple, brown sugar and made the pigs.

Here's some of the pics along the way.

Here's the pigs with the sausage on the bottom, the pineapple cream cheese in the middle.



The pigs with the pineapple as a topping.



A light sprinkle of my spice.



Now the original posted didn't put any BBQ Sauce on but I did. After the pigs had cooked for around an hour and the bacon was crisp, I put some Sweet Baby Rays Hickory and Brown Sugar on it and then let it sit for about 5 minutes to get sticky.

Here's the results.



Yea, there's some missing, I gave 3 to my neighbors to try and I had one. Not Bad, not bad at all!

I do hope that all with enjoy this.

If anyone interested in the recipe, here it is.

Pig Shots
1 package smoked pork sausage or kielbasa
2 8 oz packages cream cheese (softened)
1 cup crushed pineapple
½ cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons Pork Rub
1 pound bacon (cut in half width wise )

Instructions:

Preheat your smoker to 300 degrees F. This method is also adaptable for the oven if you don't own a smoker. Simply preheat to the same temperature.

Make the pig "shot glasses.

Slice the sausage into 1/2 inch thick rounds. Wrap each slice of sausage with a half of a slice of bacon so it forms a little "shot glass" of meat.

Season the shots with the sweet rub.

Make the pineapple cream cheese filling.

In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese, brown sugar, and most of the pineapple chunks, reserving a couple of tablespoons of the pineapple to top the shots with later.

Fill the pig shots.

Transfer the cream cheese mixture to a quart sized zip top bag and snip off the bottom corner. Fill each shot glass with some of the mixture, leaving just a little room at the top. Spoon the remaining crushed pineapple into the top of each shot and season them all again with a little sweet rub.

Smoke the pig shots.

Carefully transfer the shots to the grill grates (or a foil lined pan if using your oven) and cook for 75-90 minutes at 300 degs, or until the bacon gets crisp.

Serve warm. Serve the pineapple cream cheese pig shots warm with plenty of napkins. Enjoy!

looks pretty damn good to me.
Will give those a go.
Thx Roy..

Originally Posted by MikeB52

looks pretty damn good to me.
Will give those a go.
Thx Roy..

Mike, I used two cans of crushed pineapple, I measured out 1 cup and saved the rest for topping. I also drained the pineapple well, just a note.

I also have some left over, I'm thinking of using it in some sliced ham roll ups-----

IF you, or anyone else would like my spice rub, here it is:

Rub for Pork Ribs and Pulled Pork

1 cup paprika
2/3 cup granulated garlic
1/4 cup granulated onion
1/4 cup chili powder
1/8 cup fresh ground black pepper
3 teaspoons dried oregano
3 teaspoons white pepper
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 cup pickling salt or non-iodized table salt or kosher salt
1-2 tablespoons cayenne pepper (Optional but recommended)
Grind All in a Food Processor.

Transfer to mixer and mix in;

1 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup white sugar

Mix Very Well.
After mixing sample to see if more cayenne pepper is needed (If using)

Store tightly.

If the mixture clumps during storage--return to the food processor and give it a few buzzes. However don't run it long as the heat of processing can melt the sugars and mess things up.

Have you ever did something or used something that was such a hassle that you swore that you'd never do it or use it again?? Well I swore that I was done using sheep guts to make breakfast sausage----BUT----Once again I used sheep casings to make breakfast sausage.

Yes it's a pain in the arse but they have a very tender skin so I I used them. Here's the end result--I had already accounted for the tare.





I hope all will enjoy! I know that my kids will--

Those look perfect and delicious.

I made some droewors a while back with sheep casings, I did cuss more than a little. Those breakfast links make me hungry. Lucky kids.

Probably around 25-30 years ago I was in Spokane WA and went to one of the local sausage supply shops (Michlitch) to buy some supplies while I was in town.

A couple of young guys came in with their father's grinder plates and knife wanting to know if Michlitch could sharpen them and they said they could. I can't remember what they told these two guys it would cost but it was astronomical! They looked really down and said thank you but no thank you and went to get back in their car.

I followed them out and wanted to know how bad they wanted to have the plates and knife sharpened. It seems that their dad had recently passed away and had left them with the grinder and some recipes and they just wanted everything sharp when they started.

I told them to go to the local glass shop and get a piece of 1/4" glass about 1 foot square. Then go to the local wood working store and get some 80 grit and some 220 grit Wet and Dry. Then dip the 80 grit in some water and place it on the glass and apply some more water. Then place the plate or the knife and rub it around holding down on it until it had cleaned up, then use the 220 the same way. That I told them should true up the surfaces.

Well lo and behold, this guy have come up with a video that's a better recommendation than I had given the two sons all those years ago.

I used his method to sharpen my 8 grinder dies on both and my 3 knives and it worked great.

I hope that this will help anyone who might need their equipment sharpened.