Meat Processing

@parksider Thanks for the help. I am learning a lot from everyone. I threw the extra in when I did not have the flavor I thought I should. The when splitting decimals in oz should be minimal. I agree oz is the way to go.

@gerygaub That’s great, I am glad you tried it! What was the loin before you injected it? It is possible that you injected too much into it? Did you rinse it after holding it overnight? As for Celery Juice Powder, clumping is absolutely an issue with it, which is one of the reasons I am not a huge fan of it. All natural seasonings are good for what they are but they do bring a host of problems with them! As for the precise slice I have used it a few times and my only complaint would be that it has a tendency to cut thinner as you get towards the tip of the support. The blade is nice and sharp though and it is easy to adjust. As you know it is designed for use by right-handed people. Anyone else have thoughts?

@pinkfreud All of our 3 mil bags EVOH. For 4 and 5 Mil bags some, like the Jerky Bags are EVOH bu the majority of them are not. Are there some specific sizes you are interested in?

Consensus…No pain, no gain! A few minutes of discomfort is worth the reward!

Hello All, I’m planning on using a 50/50 mixture of raw pork and raw turkey in a batch of Pepper Snack Sticks. I have this mixture left over from my last batch of egg rolls. Which turned out awesome. I’ve never used turkey with the pork. I normally use beef or venison with the pork. Has anyone used turkey before? Am I wasting my mixture? Any advise would be much appreciated, kinda worried about the raw turkey getting cured properly. DO NOT want anyone getting sick because of my experimenting. Thank You in advance Congo

@bacon-acres-farm thanks!

@chrisf I’ve made a lot of brats from just chicken breast and the best results I had were when I used a combination of Cold Phosphate and Carrot Fiber or Super Bind. The Phosphate increases the water holding capacity of the meat and will super bind you get additional water holding capacity form the Carrot Fiber and the potato starch will gel up at about the same temperature that the meat will start to sweat at, so it will absorb it as the meat sweats it out. Now, nothing is going to work as well as pork fat, at least not in my mind. Here are a couple of videos/articles we did on this in the past: https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/415/how-to-make-a-juicy-homemade-turkey-bratwurst/ https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/264/how-to-make-homemade-chicken-brats-recipe/ https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/393/how-to-make-juicier-chicken-brats-recipe

@Jim-Bob We don’t do much with naturally fermented products but no, I would think this would be a bad thing to add to that type of product as it is going to raise the pH.

@charlie That sounds like a great combination. You will be fine without ECA, carrot fiber and sure gel. These products help to create a moister product with a better mouth feel but I have made plenty of snack sticks without additives that were great for friends and family. They might have a shorter shelf life but I am sure if you follow the directions you will be happy with the finished product. Remember without encapsulated citric acid you will need to hold them in the refrigerator overnight before going to the smoker. Good luck and most of all enjoy making your own snack sticks!

If you have a vacuum sealer you can vacuum seal a few of them (dont pull a complete vacuum or youll smash them) and then put them in the back of your fridge or somewhere out of the way in your fridge where your wife wont yell at you. They will be fine like that for well over a year. And like jonathan said you can cut open the package and leave it in the fridge overnight to help rehydrate. Even placing a bowl of water next to them in the fridge will help increase humidity a bit. If no vacuum sealer use a ziplock bag just make sure and get a good seal and majority of air out.

@megajunk I wouldn’t let the stories about ECA stop you from trying Encapsulated Citric Acid. Lowering the pH is what I think makes a summer sausage a summer sausage, and that is most often done with ECA. When used properly, it is extremely effective and reliable at achieving a predictable pH drop. The lower pH also inhibits microbial growth as well. I’d argue that a true summer sausage cannot be made without using something like ECA to drop the pH.

@jonathon thanks for the info I used what was recommend on the seasoning package. With the carrot fiber it seemed dry so I add a little more and it mixed better.

@jim-blais I dont think it would hurt really, turning into “goup” gave me good results. It would probably give you about the same result as grinding it again through a 1/8" plate. For brats I like the 30mm fresh collagen. It stuffs easily and it fits nicely into a bun should you choose to eat it with a bun. 26mm will work as well but the 26mm collagen we sell is a clear collagen and for brats fresh collagen will work better. Hope this helped!

@jim-blais Thanks for the info & comment. Going to try a batch if the weather here in Minnesota ever gives me a warm stretch.

@jboz51 5 lbs of cheese to 25 lb of meat! You do like it cheesy! That is @austin level of cheese madness, I like going with 2 lb per 25 lb batch, so you more than doubled what I would do. I wonder what that would be like with the ghost pepper cheese?

Thanks, thats what I thought but I wanted a second opinion, like a Doctor of Meat!

Next time, i will use my meat mixer. This time i used the kitchen aid since it was only a 5lb test batch. I mixed for 8min and the meat was extremely sticky so i thought i had the pe right. I know the meat mixer does a better job and im sure the juicer would have made a difference. Its a work in progress. It took me a lot of years to perfect my venison trail bologna. I will eventually get it. Hopefully before i run out of meat! Really wishing Ohio had moose! Thanks for the reply

@cuddless More meat isn’t exactly a ‘filler’ and you get more product without sacrificing quality!

@Parksider That’s looking good man, I love the fact that you guys go with labels even though you arent selling it, takes it from the serious hobby to lowkey obsession!

@jonathon Some folks have a genetic disposition that make cilantro taste like soap. Kind of like rolling your tongue, you’ve either got it or you don’t and you can’t change it.