Meat Processing

@johnsbrewhouse thank you sir

@craigrice holding it over night is how I have been doing it for the last 20 years, but after learning new things after finding Waltons how to videos, thought I would try something different. I find half the amount of ECA adds a small amount of tang, but seems to enhance other flavors as well. I actually prefer to hold over night as the flavors seem to be more even in the meat, but I know I cant with ECA.

@YooperDog ok, thank you

@wess I’m with twilliams on this too much fat

No, it won’t ruin it. It will be fine. It may cause it to not have as long of a shelf life. Just make sure you smoke it or cook it to a minimum of 145 degrees internal temperature. I usually take my wild game to 165 then immediately cold ice bath for 15 minutes. I sometimes dont use cure in wild game sausage snack sticks, etc because its a waste of money, within 2 days it will be devoured.

@Labradorbob I haven’t seen the videos, but I understand that ECA needs 1 hour at temperatures above 135F. I suppose what you mentioned is close enough? That said, I like a longer cook with Summer sausage and snack sticks because I prefer that semi-dried texture that you get from a longer cook. I suggest you don’t try to rush it. You can always let them hang in the smoker for an hour (or even just 30 minutes), and then finish in water.

@JohninPa Ok, Just wanted to make sure. An overnight hold with ECA could cause the lack of snap with a mushy product.

@Chef @Tex_77 thank you

Had the same problem with the summer sausage and bloody mary mix. The summer sausage was edible but it was very bland, the bloody mary sticks went to the trash. The Italian sausage, Polish sausage, Mex sticks and Holly have all been pretty good products. I add extra pepper to them and fresh garlic to the Polish

Thanks for all the help I appreciate it!!

I just made 10 lbs jalepeno/cheddar summer sausage. 65% deer, 35% pork with high temp cheeze. I added 2.4 oz Sure Gel and 1-2/3 cups water. Followed Walton’s smoking schedule. Sausage turned out very juicy and tasty, but the texture was “spongy” when chewing. Also, the juiciness of the meat caused the cheese to be slightly “gooey”. Should I back off on the Sure Gel or water or both? Should I not use Sure Gel if I have cheese? Looking for advice.

@folsomwest I brine my hams for close to two weeks without accelerator. Then I use Waltons smoke and cook schedule and cook them to 135 degrees. After that we cool them and sometimes cut and a half or cut some slices out . When you want to eat them finish cooking them to 165 degrees. Have not been disappointed yet

Yeah, I dont always foil. I do if I’m having company over and it looks like it wont be ready on time or I need to get past the plateau. I’m indifferent when it comes to bark. I can have it crunchy or not. What i do a lot is not foil until its done. Foil to cooler and open all my vents up to increase the temperature and throw some spatchcocked chickens on and pull the butt out of the cooler when teh chickens are done and serve pulled pork and pulled chicken.

I only use pork fatback. I have old hunting buddies who have been using deer and elk fat in their grinds for 50+ years and never had a problem, but I don’t take the risk that it could go rancid. I killed a black bear 2 years ago and it had tons of back fat, which I chucked. I am always reading that bear back fat can be fantastic for cooking, when it is rendered. If I am lucky enough to get another bear this season, I am going to try that.

I would like to make sausage like the picture on page 5 of the Walton’s 2020 Home Processors Catalog. I am not concerned about the flavor or recipe. I am very interested in the exact process to achieve the results and look. [image: 1608391511325-waltons-pg5-resized.jpg]

Those look mighty good. It’s about time I made another batch of Summer sausage, but something keeps getting in the way of my plans. I let my last batch go pretty slowly. It was something like a 12-14 hour cook, slowly raising the temperature. Since it’s supposed to be a semi-dried product, I was happy to give it a try. In the end, I popped it in sous vide once it hit around 150 or 152. It took all of a half hour to get up to 160. I very much liked the texture and flavor of the final product!

shelf stability is a matter of the ph. level along with the proper cure and processing not something that a home processor can easily do with out a big investment in a meter and the knowledge to adjust your process to accomplish it

@kyle Amen to that. Having a bit of Maker’s right now.

@YooperDog I probably over stuffed mine causing my problems.