Roll Call (Start Here First)
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Good day to all…
I have always loved to cook and entertain and in 1994 I started my own BBQ catering business in Olympia, WA. It was an immediate success and we grew to running 5 mobile wood-fired pits for 18 years until I was forced to sell to move to Texas to care for my wife’s mom who came down with lung cancer.
I was able to sell my business before I left (2012) and they are still operating under my name today. (Marv’s Marvlus Pit Bar-B-Q)
Today I have 3 ceramic smokers, a UDS (ugly drum smoker) that I built myself, a Louisiana Grill Pro pellet smoker, a FEC-100 (Fast Eddy) by Cookshack commercial pellet smoker that I kept from my catering business and this summer I bought a Santa Marie grill by Lonestar Grillz of Texas (built not far from where I live)…I think I am well covered in the BBQ area and today I cook for just my wife and I…Welcome @marvs!!! I trust you’ll enjoy hanging out with, learning from and contributing to the knowledge of to this bunch of
misfits and the fabulous team Orange. 
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Welcome @marvs!!! I trust you’ll enjoy hanging out with, learning from and contributing to the knowledge of to this bunch of
misfits and the fabulous team Orange. badfire2625 Awesome!
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Just checking in from NW Washington. Go Blue
AaronSilves welcome to the site. Dive on in and increase that learning curve. Go Team Orange
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Good day to all…
I have always loved to cook and entertain and in 1994 I started my own BBQ catering business in Olympia, WA. It was an immediate success and we grew to running 5 mobile wood-fired pits for 18 years until I was forced to sell to move to Texas to care for my wife’s mom who came down with lung cancer.
I was able to sell my business before I left (2012) and they are still operating under my name today. (Marv’s Marvlus Pit Bar-B-Q)
Today I have 3 ceramic smokers, a UDS (ugly drum smoker) that I built myself, a Louisiana Grill Pro pellet smoker, a FEC-100 (Fast Eddy) by Cookshack commercial pellet smoker that I kept from my catering business and this summer I bought a Santa Marie grill by Lonestar Grillz of Texas (built not far from where I live)…I think I am well covered in the BBQ area and today I cook for just my wife and I…marvsBBQ Welcome! I’m recently new to the group as well. I appreciate your hobby of owning bbq pits, I always aspire to do that too. I’ve been looking at the Lonestar Santa Maria unit as well. Someday I’ll have to pull the trigger on that!
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BeerAndSausage You came to the right place. A real good bunch of folks here that’s always ready to help if you need…but your hat is the wrong color.
I grew up in your neck of the woods, (Fairbury). Haven’t been there in 50 years so that tells you something. LOLFat_Bob Haven’t spent a lot of time in Fairbury myself but I get your meaning. Not sure how to change that hat color.
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Fat_Bob Haven’t spent a lot of time in Fairbury myself but I get your meaning. Not sure how to change that hat color.
BeerAndSausage you surely won’t regret any pit built by Lone Star Grills. Really their prices are great and they offer a ton of options/accessories.
My Santa Marie (36”X36”) base price was around $800 and after my options it boosted the price up to $2600 and change but well worth the $$ IMO. -
Hi from the Extremely Rural southern mountains of Landgraff, West Virginia!
Although I have followed Walton’s for years (and entered many of their sweepstakes…), and my husband is a chef (we have an inn here- the Elkhorn inn & Theatre), and he is truly GREAT at the smoker, we are Totally New to sausage making! We are both hunters (hubs being a very experienced hunter), and we currently have a cow elk in our freezer, cut up into about 5 huge pieces, which we just brought back from Colorado! Help please! (The elk is from a farm, not wild; our recent hunt in Colorado was a total fail - we literally did not see an elk the entire time
- but we were NOT driving all the way back to West Virginia without a freezer full of elk! LOL)
We are open to suggestion!
We love very lean sausage, and want the flavor of the elk meat to shine, and not be overshadowed by very strong spices, peppers, or seasonings.
I have No Clue where to start, so recipes, ideas, and suggestions would be Deeply Appreciated!
As we have an Inn & hubs is a chef, we have a Lot of kitchen appliances, and several grills, including a Big Green Egg, and a huge gas grill, but my husband usually winds up using our 20 year old “Old Faithful” Wally World covered charcoal grill as a smoker, with pretty fabulous results… As he is US Army Ret., he also has a penchant for using power tools in the kitchen… LOL His specialties include his Italian herb-crusted smoked baby back ribs, herb-rubbed smoked racks of lambchops, smoked salmon, smoked turkey, etc. (He usually herb-rubs or marinates them overnight, and then slow-smokes, periodically mopping them with his “secret” mops, which often contain apple juice and/or coffee, as well as s variety of herbs and spices…)
Can’t wait to make us some Elk Sausage!
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Hi from the Extremely Rural southern mountains of Landgraff, West Virginia!
Although I have followed Walton’s for years (and entered many of their sweepstakes…), and my husband is a chef (we have an inn here- the Elkhorn inn & Theatre), and he is truly GREAT at the smoker, we are Totally New to sausage making! We are both hunters (hubs being a very experienced hunter), and we currently have a cow elk in our freezer, cut up into about 5 huge pieces, which we just brought back from Colorado! Help please! (The elk is from a farm, not wild; our recent hunt in Colorado was a total fail - we literally did not see an elk the entire time - but we were NOT driving all the way back to West Virginia without a freezer full of elk! LOL)
We are open to suggestion!
We love very lean sausage, and want the flavor of the elk meat to shine, and not be overshadowed by very strong spices, peppers, or seasonings.
I have No Clue where to start, so recipes, ideas, and suggestions would be Deeply Appreciated!
As we have an Inn & hubs is a chef, we have a Lot of kitchen appliances, and several grills, including a Big Green Egg, and a huge gas grill, but my husband usually winds up using our 20 year old “Old Faithful” Wally World covered charcoal grill as a smoker, with pretty fabulous results… As he is US Army Ret., he also has a penchant for using power tools in the kitchen… LOL His specialties include his Italian herb-crusted smoked baby back ribs, herb-rubbed smoked racks of lambchops, smoked salmon, smoked turkey, etc. (He usually herb-rubs or marinates them overnight, and then slow-smokes, periodically mopping them with his “secret” mops, which often contain apple juice and/or coffee, as well as s variety of herbs and spices…)
Can’t wait to make us some Elk Sausage!elisse German Sausage seasoning would be a pretty mild place to start.
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Hi from the Extremely Rural southern mountains of Landgraff, West Virginia!
Although I have followed Walton’s for years (and entered many of their sweepstakes…), and my husband is a chef (we have an inn here- the Elkhorn inn & Theatre), and he is truly GREAT at the smoker, we are Totally New to sausage making! We are both hunters (hubs being a very experienced hunter), and we currently have a cow elk in our freezer, cut up into about 5 huge pieces, which we just brought back from Colorado! Help please! (The elk is from a farm, not wild; our recent hunt in Colorado was a total fail - we literally did not see an elk the entire time - but we were NOT driving all the way back to West Virginia without a freezer full of elk! LOL)
We are open to suggestion!
We love very lean sausage, and want the flavor of the elk meat to shine, and not be overshadowed by very strong spices, peppers, or seasonings.
I have No Clue where to start, so recipes, ideas, and suggestions would be Deeply Appreciated!
As we have an Inn & hubs is a chef, we have a Lot of kitchen appliances, and several grills, including a Big Green Egg, and a huge gas grill, but my husband usually winds up using our 20 year old “Old Faithful” Wally World covered charcoal grill as a smoker, with pretty fabulous results… As he is US Army Ret., he also has a penchant for using power tools in the kitchen… LOL His specialties include his Italian herb-crusted smoked baby back ribs, herb-rubbed smoked racks of lambchops, smoked salmon, smoked turkey, etc. (He usually herb-rubs or marinates them overnight, and then slow-smokes, periodically mopping them with his “secret” mops, which often contain apple juice and/or coffee, as well as s variety of herbs and spices…)
Can’t wait to make us some Elk Sausage!elisse Glad you ar onboard. As a Chef, you both will be surprised at the carryover of shill sets that will have him making sausage in no time. He also has the experience of balancing flavors. There is no end to the help on this site.
Both of you just have one important thing to know about this site. Join the BLUE team.
Welcome to the crew.
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Any links to recipes, techniques, and what supplies I may need to buy would be REALLY appreciated! As there is no processor near us, I have a feeling hubs is going to wind up cutting up Ms. Frozen Elk himself, using our saw… He did that with moose, when he was stationed up in Alaska, but that was decades ago- and elk isn’t moose. LOL
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Any links to recipes, techniques, and what supplies I may need to buy would be REALLY appreciated! As there is no processor near us, I have a feeling hubs is going to wind up cutting up Ms. Frozen Elk himself, using our saw… He did that with moose, when he was stationed up in Alaska, but that was decades ago- and elk isn’t moose. LOL
elisse use the search function, and also explore Meatgistics University, there are many how to videos there. I’d start with Fresh Sausage 101.
Isaiah 5:22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks
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elisse use the search function, and also explore Meatgistics University, there are many how to videos there. I’d start with Fresh Sausage 101.
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Any links to recipes, techniques, and what supplies I may need to buy would be REALLY appreciated! As there is no processor near us, I have a feeling hubs is going to wind up cutting up Ms. Frozen Elk himself, using our saw… He did that with moose, when he was stationed up in Alaska, but that was decades ago- and elk isn’t moose. LOL
elisse My first two sausages were breakfast and Italian. Both simple. The breakfast Excalibur Holly Regular Pork Sausage is a fantastic formula. I do make two version with one just adding a bit of red pepper flake. The italian sausage seasoning is good as well.
I do not like collagen casing, but that’s me personally. I use 22 - 24 mm sheep casing for breakfast and 32-35 mm hog for italian.
With these two as a start, you really only need a grinder and a stuffer. I have never liked stuffing with a grinder. You have to decide the volume you are looking at making, will you sell it commercially? I think a #22 grinder would be a good place to start. As far as stuffers go, don’t go cheap. It takes a lot of work to stuff sausage, especially smaller link like breakfast of snack sticks. A good stuffer makes it effortless and it can hold up against the excessive forces placed on a stuffer. Again, size would depend on the volume you plan on producing. There are many other ‘nice to have’ but with his experience he likely has a lot of things he would need. The goodies will come with time.
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I also would add if you are looking to purchase equipment as in a grinder, get the most HP you can afford but bear in mind, the more HP the more it costs
As stuffers go, I had the water stuffer that worked great but takes a bit of planning ahead as you have to hook a hose up to it.
I purchased my grinder (3/4 HP) for a little under $500 from Cabelas and the stuffer I ordered on line.
I gave all of my sausage making equipment to my son in WA state when I moved to Texas because it was going to just be my wife and I and she is not a big sausage fan.
I must say though there is no shortage of sausage varieties available anywhere you go in Texas -
Hi,
Australian living in HCMC Vietnam, had a electric cheap mincer/stuffer for a couple of months, made a couple of below average batches of pork sausages just bought a 3kg/7lb 2 speed stuffer.I made some more pork sausages and I have a leaking problem with the meat when I stuff, I was using the 15mm tube and 20mm casings it blows out on the right hand side.
I live in a smallish apartment so limited in equipment storage and usage, would love to make snack sticks but no way I could use a smoker in the apartment, I do have a 50l benchtop oven is there anyway I could use this to make more than just breakfast sausage?
Could anyone point me in the right direction to head next to learn info on the above points?
Thank you.
New to sausage making, love snack sticks, breakfast sausage, jerky.
Equipment: cheap mixer/stuffer, 3L/7lb 2 speed stuffer.
Live in an apartment so limited room and only have a benchtop 50L convection oven & kitchen aid mixer. -
Hi,
Australian living in HCMC Vietnam, had a electric cheap mincer/stuffer for a couple of months, made a couple of below average batches of pork sausages just bought a 3kg/7lb 2 speed stuffer.I made some more pork sausages and I have a leaking problem with the meat when I stuff, I was using the 15mm tube and 20mm casings it blows out on the right hand side.
I live in a smallish apartment so limited in equipment storage and usage, would love to make snack sticks but no way I could use a smoker in the apartment, I do have a 50l benchtop oven is there anyway I could use this to make more than just breakfast sausage?
Could anyone point me in the right direction to head next to learn info on the above points?
Thank you.
AndyHCMC Ahoa there, Welcome aboard. That must be quite an experience. What brought you to Saigon? I have cheated in years past when smoking in the cold winter by using a smoke box in the oven. It really was not that bad & my wife had no issue with it, so it could not be so bad. Could you indeed try using your oven at a lower heat setting than even 225/250 & use the smoke box or even a smoke pan? I hope the idea helps. & don’t forget, Go BLUE. Have a much better new year.
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AndyHCMC Ahoa there, Welcome aboard. That must be quite an experience. What brought you to Saigon? I have cheated in years past when smoking in the cold winter by using a smoke box in the oven. It really was not that bad & my wife had no issue with it, so it could not be so bad. Could you indeed try using your oven at a lower heat setting than even 225/250 & use the smoke box or even a smoke pan? I hope the idea helps. & don’t forget, Go BLUE. Have a much better new year.
calldoctoday said in Roll Call (Start Here First):
& don’t forget, Go BLUE
Being new here I don’t get the Go Blue reference?
New to sausage making, love snack sticks, breakfast sausage, jerky.
Equipment: cheap mixer/stuffer, 3L/7lb 2 speed stuffer.
Live in an apartment so limited room and only have a benchtop 50L convection oven & kitchen aid mixer.
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