Meat Processing

@kgramke Once you are done with the stuffing process, you will want to proceed directly into your cooking and smoking process. You do not want to intentionally hold the product and delay cooking when using encapsulated citric acid. As soon as you can after you’re done stuffing, begin getting them ready to start cooking/smoking.

@shelby my wife and I make boudin, we don’t use liver or blood. I found a recipe online and modified it to out taste. We use Boston butt for the meat. It’s a fairly easy process. Cook pork, spices etc until rhe pork falls apart. Drain and grind everything you cooked (shallots, onions etc). Mix in cooked rice, raw chopped onion and chopped green onion). If you’re going to stuff use hog casings. You want the boudin moist but not dripping wet. I can share my recipe with you if you like, when I get time to get on my computer at home.

@Austin I’m ready to get moving forward on the ez slider. Can you email me directly to discuss? Thanks

I smoke my sticks, but as a regular step in my process I hang the sticks with no smoke until the are dry then add smoke. It seems the drier the sticks are before i smoke they have more of a snap. I would try a couple things if you are using an oven: crack the door of the oven, stick a wooden spoon or something in there in the beginning to let the humidity out. I agree with Austin, i spray mine with a hose to drop the temp, then into a refrigerator-they are designed to remove moisture. Make sure they are completely cool before vacuum sealing.

@AlanAlyea The soy listed in the ingredients and what we call for in the recipe, as Soy Protein Blend, are two different things. Using a meat binder like Soy Protein Blend or Sure Gel Meat Binder is our recommendation for any cured sausage, but it is not required. A meat binder will help, but sausage can still be made without an additional binder.

@mcherbies If the ECA was too tangy, you can just use less, if you are happy with the results of your sausage else wise. The amount we typically recommend (4 oz per 25 lb meat) is at a level to try and lower the pH enough to get as close to reaching more of a shelf stable product as we can. But, it doesn’t have to be used at that high of a usage level. I can’t recommend to use buttermilk, because I’ve never used it. The concept kind of makes sense though. You are adding something with a lower pH than the meat, to get the meat pH just a bit lower and add some tangy flavor. The biggest problem I see though with using something like buttermilk and immediately lowering the pH is this… A lower pH will reduce water holding capacity, and can make a sausage dry and crumbly after cooking. This is one reason why encapsulated citric acid is coated, and that coating doesn’t melt until 135 F +. If you add buttermilk and lower that pH immediately, I am not sure that the results will be quite the same, and you could end up with a dryer or crumbly sausage. I’ve never used buttermilk though, so I can’t say for sure, but that’s my thoughts anyways.

That is to do a 12.5lb batch that is…

@MatthewHolzer @Parksider I cannot speak for the quality or abilities on a Mainca or other brands, but… We sell and recommend Talsa Stuffers. We have one here in our test kitchen as well. They do not have a problem running snack sticks on a 12mm horn. 10mm can get to be a little more difficult but can work fine still. A 12mm horn works fine for us and stuffing then into 19mm collagen casings. Even on the smallest Talsa we offer, at a 26lb capacity and 1.75HP, they will stuff snack sticks fine. I think a lot of the capability just relies on what brand and quality of motor is in the hydraulic stuffer. If you are doing half deer and half pork, the deer is going to be very lean so just make sure the pork used has a high enough fat content. You can safely use up to about 40% of the total product weight in fat and water (approximately 2 quarts water and meat at 75/25 lean to fat ratio), but that’s the limit I’d suggest. If you still struggle to stuff snack sticks at that point, it may just be a limitation on the stuffer you are using.

@BrianB I use a wet marinade and let it sit over night. I do not rinse it but i put it between double layers of paper towels and let it dry while I get the smoker ready. Then put it on the racks and let it start warming and drying in the smoker before adding the smoke.

@NDKoze I don’t have any pictures or videos, but here is what I would suggest… After stuffing, twist the end of the open casing and use a hog ring to close it. While clipping on the hog ring, pull the two ends of the casing together and wrap the string from the already closed end around the end you are twisting and clipping. Clamp the hog ring on both the twisted end and the string. Then the string can be used to hang on smoke sticks. Or, just twist and clip the casing with a hog ring, then loop and tie the string around both casing ends, then making a loop of string to hang on smoke sticks at that point. Many times the string on the ring bologna casing can be placed under the hog ring used to close the other end, and then use the string to hang on smoke sticks. In one fashion or another, that string is typically used to hold the two ends together and hang on smoke sticks. Let me know if we can help further. I will try to add ring bologna to my to-do list for the future and get a video made to help visually demonstrate things better.

Made the sticks on sunday and they came out great. I made Willies, Pepper Stick, and the Jalapeno. They are all good. I did add 1lb of hi temp chedder cheese to my 10lb batch of the Jalapeno. That is my favorite one, highly recommend it to all.

Even with the heaviest HD Freezer Wrap, you are going to start to get some freezer burn if you do not eat it all up within 1 year. I have found that after meat is stored for a year or more, the quality will go down. This year, I just bought a new Chamber Vacuum Sealer for which the bags are way cheaper than Suction Style sealers. So, starting next year, I am going to start sealing my sausages in chamber sealer bags.

@hendo I’d recommend using about 1 quart (32oz or 2lb) of water per 25 lb of meat for something like snack sticks or summer sausage. If you don’t use a meat binder additive like sure gel, just make sure you mix really good to get a good protein extraction (where the meat gets really sticky). Let us know if we can help with anything else!

Thank you for the information Austin!

@High_Flyer Here is our recipe for Ring Bologna! Hope this helps! Let us know if we can help answer any other questions! Ring Bologna Meat Block 7.5 lb 85/15 Lean Beef 8.75 lb 80/20 Lean Pork 8.75 lb 50/50 Pork Trim Additives 1-bag Ring Bologna Seasoning Unit #4550333550 1oz Sure Cure (packet included with the seasoning) 2oz Smoked Meat Stabilizer 6oz Sure Gel Meat Binder 1 Quart Ice Cold Water Process Grind pork trim through 3/16in grinder plate, twice Grind lean beef and pork through 1/8in grinder plate Mix Begin mixing lean meats first. While mixing add Seasoning, Sure Gel Meat Binder (or Soy Protein Blend), Sure Cure, and Ice Cold Water. Mix for 5 minutes. Add ground pork trim and mix for an additional 3 minutes, for a total of 8 minutes of mixing time Stuff Stuff into Collagen Ring Bologna Casings Note (If you do not use a cure accelerator like Smoked Meat Stabilizer, then hold in a refrigerator for approximately 12 hours or overnight) Smokehouse Schedule 120F for 30 minutes 130F for 30 minutes (start adding smoke now and throughout entire cook cycle) 140F for 30 minutes 150F for 30 minutes 160F for 30 minutes 170F until internal meat temperature of 160F Shower final product or place in a ice water bath for 10-20 minutes to set the casings and cool the product Other Notes Place a small pan of water in the bottom of smokehouse during entire cooking cycle to help increase humidity If your smokehouse cannot reach temperatures as low as 120F, just start as low as possible and slowing increase the temperature over time ENJOY!

@Austin thank you for your quick and informative reply I have not heard about the hickory smoke powder sounds awsome. Next time I place an order I will add it to my list thank you.

@NDKoze Glad I could help! Let us know how it turns out!!

@pignout I’m going to guess that your smokehouse has no humidity. Do you add a water pan to try and help keep the humidity up? With a low humidity in the smokehouse, the casings may be drying out too much. And, coupled with what I might guess could be a slightly inadequate meat bind, the meat is not sticking and binding to the casing properly. So lastly, what is your mixing cycle like, hand mix or meat mixer, and how long do you mix?

Used some ground deer burger with the 19mm casing and the jalepeno stick seasoning and high temp cheddar cheese. Made them on a treager set for smoke for about 2 hours then turned up the heat to 225 to finish them and brought the internal temp to around 163. Immediately chilled the sticks and then let them rest for about an hour before packaging. I was impressed with myself with the result and the quality of the casings and seasonings. Can’t wait to try doing some more. Thanks for your help and suggestions.

@Austin I have a Dehydrator that needs trays, and these look like the same ones.