Meat Processing

We use the cotto salami mix also and found the best meat mix is 50% venison, 25% pork shoulder, 25% ground beef (85/15) when making venison sausage. We do not use ECA or suregel. We hang overnight at 40-50 degrees to cure and allow some of the excess moisture to escape. You’ll want your final finish temp to be at least 145 degrees and to end with an ice bath. Smoker times are all variable, the size of your sausage stick makes the biggest difference. We typically go to the smoker in three stages. First is about 120 to remove the chill and do additional drying. Then raise temp to about 150 and apply smoke. Finally raise temp to 175 to finish. Adding a high-temp cheese is a nice touch. Cheddar or pepper jack are our favorites.

As long as the packing house bag is vac sealed I have been taking whole beef ribeye to at least 60 days after I bring it home, if I see a packaged date I may go longer. Just recently I tried a Umai rib roast . Wet aged for 35 gays and dry aged for 30, last Christmas days dinner for the 2 of us.

@jesser said in Tough hog casings: @mrobisr to get to 200f before consumption what method do you like best to use water boil, oven, grill etc for Walton’s hot links. Thanks I have never used any pre-packaged seasoning I make my own and as far as method it depends on what I’m doing. For kraut it will be fried, if in beans water boiled, and my actual favorite is on the grill.

Definitely the smaller diameter stuffer if geared the same. I broke my small stuffer last spring and finished using my 26lb stuffer and that was miserable. I may have to invest in an electric stuffer next fall!

Similar to ham flavor, smoked Buckboard bacon is good. Is it the front leg or rear leg? There is a little more fat in the meat off the front leg vs the ham off the back. If you use bacon cure just don’t get the meat block too thick.

@bocephus If it gets to that point no one is going to be able to stop us from doing what we need to do to feed ourselves and our family.

Either will work, just be sure to remove the skin.

@jonathon Yes it is beef! I was kind of disappointed it didn’t have more of a horseradish bite and taste however when I slapped it on a bun and dressed it up using habanero pepper jack cheese it made it snap. With that being said I think it could use more horseradish flavor. All in all another great brat!

Yes I will definitely save 12oz of drippings to amp it up! The wife and I loved the flavors with the kraut and swizzle cheese added in but the carrot fibber didn’t put a dent on all the liquid that came from the kraut and added water! But they are amazing!

@papasop Those sausages looks terrific and I use the canning and pickling salt for everything in the house except for finishing.

@glen thank you!

If they are consistently splitting while cooking, you might want to try pricking them right before putting them on the grill. Pricking will let a little of the juice out while they are cooking so the internal pressure doesn’t get too high. This shouldn’t be routine fix, but more of a way to salvage the batch in the mean time.

@BRYARRR_80 I’d echo what @processhead says and I’d also say between 3-6% once rehydrated is pretty standard. However, jalapeno flakes were one of those odd things that got REAL hard to get for a while there and the price went crazy, I don’t know that sourcing them is going to be a lot cheaper…now, it could be, but it might now be. Since you work in large amount, we can special order in bags that do 100 lb each from Excalibur of the patty mix. Probably have to buy a case, which would be 5 of those bags but if you are interested reach out to cs at either cs@waltons.com or 800-835-2832 and give them SKU 4550521182 and see what they can do for ordering.

More fantastic info. Thank you so much!

@grimpuppy looks great

@dave-in-az very useful information. Thanks for sharing.

Try a spray bottle with water. Spray the paper a little bit before pressing.

@papasop twice through a 3/8 plate. I like a little courser texture on brats.

@mhighland69 I am on board as well. Pre-sliced, pre-ground processed meat is convenient, but at the cost of quality and poorer shelf life. Whole cuts stay fresher and maintain their color much better than sliced product.