Meat Processing

@Deepwoodsbutcher There’s always a workaround to make others scowl at your ingenuity.

@maurermeat said in Salt outside of snack sticks: @Jonathon Felt comfortable eating them because they were immediately vacuumed pack and were less than 3 weeks old. Plus I really like snack sticks so I would hate to see them go to waste! Totally agree. You have a cosmetic issue, not a food safety issue.

@pepperettes Thanks for the reply. I decided to use it and it appears that the cure worked as I cooked a small patty and it turned nice and red.

@rugerbear There you go! Winner, Winner!

@departing-contestant I agree, I always add a little even to fresh sausage to help with the mixing process. I don’t add as much as I do when going to stuff it.

@zbigjeff those look great. What a great pairing; Weller 107 and a perfect burger.

@jonathon There is the simplistic answer I was looking for!

@Denny-O No need to be sorry, the hot pepper cheese is basically a Monterey jack, which never had enough flavor for me. I use |High-Temp-Cheddar-Cheese for a few snack sticks like |Willie-s-Snack-Stick-Seasoning and |Habanero-BBQ-Snack-Stick-or-Summer-Sausage and then I use |High-Temp-Ghost-Pepper-Cheese for anything I want to add heat too and |High-Temp-Mozzarella-Cheese for most everything else. |High-Temp-Swiss-Cheese Only comes into play with a few seasonings, usually the ones that I want the creaminess of some extra cheese but no strong cheese flavor.

@dave-in-az sounds like you recovered well. Thanks for sharing .

Update, the dried beef has been sitting in the fridge in the same bag since the OP and I just tried a piece and the flavor, color, or texture has not changed at all. My worry was rancidity, but so far there is not even a hint of off taste, so time permitting hopefully I will do some sos this week and go from there.

@jonathon I’m specifically looking at the imitation or restructured bacon. That package only is 1# but it looks like you have blocked off shipping to AK for everything. Strange since we have USPS, UPS, and Fedex all deliver. USPS is typically the most economical. But maybe someone has a good homemade recipe!

@jamieson22 thats beautiful. It just about brought a tear to my eye, but it definitely made my stomach growl. Great work.

Welcome, for really shelf stable meat products jerky is not the answer. Dried beef and canned meats are more shelf stable than traditional jerky, but for the real deal pemmican would be a better solution. MRE’s do not hold up really well unless kept in perfect conditions thus when you see the inspection date on the MRE package that is under ideal conditions. Yes I have tested them under real world conditions and while still sorta eatable the color, taste, and texture was severely degraded outside of those perfect storage conditions. As processhead stated mold can also be a problem so look into potassium sorbate to inhibit that growth for long term storage and oxygen absorbers.

Mix’s do seem to vary a lot, some are loaded with salt and others no salt so your idea of small test batches is your best bet for sure. Actually the variable of salt is what made me start making my own, I wanted a consistent product that would produce a good product every time.

@tex_77 Thanks Tex, I know that the farmers markets here in TX are doing well selling locally raised meats, thanks for the article.

super, super, super, Thanks! Willy from Dakota

I’ll let you know if I ever decide to offload, but now that I’ve mated it with the PID controller, it’s doing everything I want.

@processhead I have had that book for a long time and still love pulling it out and reading it and looking at recipes.

@cindy-bushar said in Smoked Boudin Recipe?: @grimpuppy Your recipe is Absolutely the best. Several people have tasted it and said it is some of the best They have ever eaten you can’t go wrong using this recipe. Glad you liked it!

Onestopjerkyshop carries them. It fits on your grinder to stuff snack sticks. They are about $20.