Meat Processing

My friend uses UMAI and they make for an easy and consistent way to make charcuterie. Probably safer too. Most recipes you find use sodium nitrate (pink curing salt #2) to protect from bad things. There are books on charcuterie you can read, but I never bought any yet. I found a lot of good teaching info on the internet and recipes too. I usually make soppresat and chorizo. We are making lanjaeger and metworst this year after my friend made some smaller batch and it was great. @YooperDog and @banger-king are right in that using a controlled system is better to get good results. I have made a few batches hanging in my garage in the winter. That usually is fine for temperature but I the humidity is uncontrollable. Also, most recipes ferment the sausage before drying/curing. Don’t be afraid to to hang the sausage at room temperature for the period of time the recipe calls for (usually a half a day to a day). Fermenting is also tricky. To do it right people use an instrument to measure the pH to tell when the fermentation is right. Last year I made Chorizo and I over fermented. It had the consistency and sour taste of pepperoni. They were rock hard. Oh and if you decide to use casings Waltons has 2.4x12" salami casings that are pre cut and have a string on one end. They are really nice for this. Good luck!

No I think I left the meat too long in the freezer chilling it and a frozen chunk of meat clogged the stuffing tube and it finally burst loose with a bang. I also must have had a lot of air trapped in the the stuffer to blow all the casing off. I will definitely be careful not getting the meat too cold prior to stuffing when doing small diameter casings. Can’t quite figure the air out as I installed an air blender on my stuffing plate but the casing sure looks like it was Blown Off and it made a Big Bang!!

@Biscuit look for the videos on whole muscle meats or type ham in the search it has been a topic lately

@lkrfletcher Looks excellent my friend.

@PapaSop How does it all taste after vacuum sealing, freezing, and then thawing later? Does the texture suffer? I have a chamber vacuum sealer and a food saver I could use.

@Bcraft1111 I made a tube 10 inches long with a diameter of 0.430” that fit on my stuffer. Just made a batch of deer pepperoni [image: 1607726032891-bcd09978-c062-4ed7-96d7-86baf9f61d49-resized.jpeg]

Would like to know if waltons stuffing tube fits a Hakka 15lb vertical stuffer? I would also like to know if they carry a stuffing tube that will fit a 20/22 plate grinder? I am trying to stuff 21mm collagen casings and fresh SC links. Thanks David

I thought I saw where the meat mixers were going on sale but, checking the past couple of days I haven’t seen anything. The 13 days of Christmas suggested yesterday was the day for the 20# mixer sale but, nothing. So, I have the grinder and stuffer but, I want to add a 20# mixer. What are the main differences in function, quality, and, costs? Thanks! Sid

@Kevin0715 said in Waltons 12" Slicer: Looking to buy this slicer but have seen no reviews. Anyone here try it out yet? I tried searching on YouTube and there wasn’t video of it slicing. It’s great, slicing a lot of bacon really fast with no problems every week. I recommend that the meat be slightly frozen.

That’s a tough question, I use 1oz. Of dried jalapenos (hot variety) to 5lb. Batches of sticks, their coarse ground. Start off small and test fry a sample till you get what your looking for! Hope it helps

Around 90% of packaged grocery pork has an added saline solution, usually at 10% plus The only time I experienced rubbery texture was when I made a cooking error and hat a “fat out”

@flymark thanks I will give it a try.

Marks on the table or just eyeball it in my case.

What is the best cure to use for Dried Beef?

@Mr-A you need more fat with venison and beef booth of those are lean

@lkrogmann Don’t care for super spicy myself. This very tolerable. Some kick but the BBQ finishes it nicely.

@Jonathon said in Gyro meat -texture/flavor: @Ediecrna Protein extraction is what gives a snack stick or summer sausage its texture and its ability to maintain its fat and not let it render right out. Basically when you are making a cured sausage you want to mix it a lot more, until it gets sticky. Check out https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/320/the-importance-of-protein-extraction-in-snack-sticks?_=1607523297040* THANK YOU

@Jonathon Sounds good. Thank you! Merry Christmas to me Merry Christmas to… Oh sorry… My voice isn’t warmed up yet…

@RandyNight I took the #22 for a spin yesterday through some deer, pork butts and pork fat and I can happily report it did a great job!