Meat Processing

@cdavis You are welcomed but I am not a wealth of information, just an information regurgitator LOL!!

@tex_77 Yup I finally read the thread name, LOL

@jamieson22 Well, the amount of green chlie I put in the smoked sausage is a mystery, some how it didn’t make the log book. However, in a 10 lb meat block I added 1 1/2 cups of jalapenos in smoked sausage and in a 16 lb meat block for summer susage I added 1 lb of green chlies. I do use the 505, I think the lable is balck and blue (mild I think), and I always rinse them with water. The summer sausage was good, but could have almost doubled the green chile and it would have been better I think. Hope that helps a little.

I use textile casings for Lebanon Bologna rather than the plastic or fibrous casings. I get a little better smoke flavor with the textile casings. If you are preparing the Lebanon Bologna using the seasoning from Walton’s, prepare the same as you would do summer sausage. If you are using traditional methods using a fermenting culture and a 48-60 hour low temperature smoke, then you won’t need to finish in a water bath. The traditional method requires the use of a bacterial culture, and also a GOOD pH meter to measure the level to ensure it will be safe to eat. If you don’t have these items or the right equipment to ferment the Lebanon Bologna, stick with the Walton’s seasoning method.

I like fresh jalapeno in snack sticks.

Thanks for input

@craigrice said in Cooking stall in my smoker HELP: never heard of it can you tell us more ? I actually posted the recipe. Hard to describe the taste and texture but I have always referred to it as poor man patee. It definitely has more texture. @YooperDog mentioned it is a little bit like potted meat but less strong in flavor and a lot more textured

@dr_pain Mine are usually to soft as well so I leave them on the racks and let them air dry a day or 2. Because they’re for customers I check them with an activity meter to make sure.

@dr_pain said in Grinding Chicken for Sausage: @DennyO, Sir you win the joke of the day!! Tanks, snicker snicker, snort snort. LOL

@herbcofood said in Costco shoulder butt for Sausage?: @tex_77 I agree with @Tex_77 I agree with those 2 as well. If it has a small fat cap you should have a good 70/30 mix which will make a nice sausage. If it was a little over trimmed I would cube it and separate the merat and fat and would weight everything and try to get it at 70/30 (roughly). You can dip to 60/40 since fat is more flavor but make sure to have good protein extraction

@mrobisr You are so on point!! Love my aging chamber. Can’t wait to move into the new house so I can restart making charcuterie and cheeses

I agree with protein extraction and also not stuffing them tight enough. About the stuffing If I see that I made the mistake I just twist at different lengths just to pack them tighter

@iveryan You machine could have been used in the movie Saw!!! One day I may own one

I now need to make some summer sausage!!!

@garry-tarpley we haven’t cooked any links yet, but we sampled the meat left in the stuffer and the single blowout. I would say the flavor is more like a breakfast sausage than what I would consider a brat.

@craigrice said in New to waltons some advice would be appreciated: if you dont want the tang of ECA then you can use smoked meat stabilizer as a cure accelaretor then smoke the same day with out the tang or Sodium Erythorbate and stop the browning too.

@lance said in Got another load going in.: @cdavis Thanks. I get to work on my taxidermy stuff from around March through September. Then the cycle starts all over again.

Yes, everything was cold. Most of the deer meat was partially frozen as I had precut the pieces before freezin, and the pork while not frozen was cold with some of it approaching solid (1/2 hour in the freezer after cutting it in strips that my grinder can tear through). Didn’t see any schmere of the fat. As I mentioned, I only coarse grind my pork for summer sausage so that I get small pieces of fat in the final product. I like it to have a typical salami look rather than looking like a homogeneous mass like bologna. Something else I will watch for as well, but I do understand the need for it all to be cold. Thanks Peter

@processhead said in First Attempt At Snack Sticks: Agree with every ones comments and great looking sticks. Did the ECA release? You should be able to taste it when you take the first bite as a tangy flavor. I don’t think you would otherwise taste unreleased ECA unless you chewed it very thoroughly. Thanks! Yes there was a definite tang, so I think I was good to go! I’m going to try a batch without it and let it cure overnight to see what i think of those.

@dr_pain said in Heat Control While Grinding Meat: @processhead said in Heat Control While Grinding Meat: @dr_pain said in Heat Control While Grinding Meat: @processhead said in Heat Control While Grinding Meat: Are the plates and knives sharp? Dull knives will grind slow and cause things to warm up. Does the drive end of the auger (back end) have a fiber washer where it contacts the grinder housing? That was going to be my suggestion. He could start by buying a sharpening stone and resharpening the plates and cutter. If that does not work then that may be a good opportunity to UPGRADE LOL!!! I don’t mean to derail the main topic, but what you want to sharpen your own grinder knives and plates is an absolutely flat surface abrasive. Unless unusually large, a sharpening stone will not have the size and flatness you need. What works well for grinder plates and knives is a flat counter top with a sheet of wet/dry silicon carbide abrasive paper, about 400 grit. Lay the sheet of abrasive paper down flat on the counter and just work the grinder plate in a circular pattern on the paper till you get a uniform smooth polish on the plate and have removed all knife wear patterns from it. Use the same process for the grinder knife. This works for plates/knives with light to moderate wear. It won’t work that well for stainless or disposable knives and plates. I have never used the grinding stones that the sausage maker sells but I thought it was a good concept. Eric at 2 Guys and a Cooler seems to advocate for them (but let’s face it he is sponsored by them) but I believe I have seen another video where he did what you mentioned with the sandpaper. I looked that the stones sold by TSM and watched the video. For those not familiar with them, the stones are round and fit inside your grinder head with the plate or the knife, depending which you want to sharpen. When the auger turns it rotates the knife against the stone and puts a fresh edge on the knife. The second stone rotates the stone against the stationary grinder plate. I have not used this product but I would have some reservations. Using them in an electric grinder looks like it would be easy to break the stones if you were not extremely careful adjusting the grinder head nut. Over time, the stone for the plate is also going to cut a groove in your grinder plates because it is smaller than the plate is.