Venison Hot Dog Issue
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Thanks for sharing your experience. I had an almost identical experience a month ago. I also used the Bearded Butcher recipe except I used 10 lbs venison, 2.5 lbs fat. The other ingredients were proportionally identical. I had left a package of pork fat in the fridge for several days since I knew I was going to be using it and it was spoiled when I got it out so i ended up using 1lb pork fat and 1.5lb beef fat. I initially blamed some of it on the beef fat but from what you are describing it sounds about identical to my results. Also done on traeger with similar smoke schedule.
Mine also had an extremely strong (untasteful) smoke flavor. I would have used 2 oz of the Walton’s Hickory smoke powder in my 12.5 lbs of meat per the Bearded Butcher recipe which I later discovered is about 4 times the amount recommended on the package. I’m assuming they must have used something less potent.
This was my first attempt at hot dogs, lots of very useful info in this thread. I’m thinking of trying again, using a binder and trying to Sous Vide them since I’m using a cellulose casing and they are not benefiting from the smoke anyway. -
ToddDSheppard I think that your temp schedule is too high and rendered out all of you fat. Also, how was your emulsion? How high of a temp did it get while mixing? If it gets too high then your fat will start smearing and could not bind very well. Did you grind it all 5 times one after another? If you did then you most likely overheated your meat and the fat smeared. I would recommend putting it back in the freezer between each grind. This will keep it nice and cool. 5 grinds seem a little obsessive? I’ve done some with 2 grinds and without using a food processor and they came out great, but with more texture. Also, using some kind of binder should help. I would recommend never going above 45F during mixing. My cooking schedule these days is to use the smoker to set the wieners and for adding the smoke and then I finish them off with a sous-vide @ 160F for 45-60min. This prevents overcooking and speeds up the process. I would recommend doing small batches until you get the hang of it. I hope my ramblings help!
Pivodog Do you put the hot dogs in bags prior to the sous vide process? Then, ice bath, remove from bags, and re-bag?
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Thank you very much!! I have ordered my sous vide equipment so next week I should be trying again.
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I was feeling pretty discouraged after my first attempt but this thread got me motivated to try again. I did a 5lb test batch last weekend using 4lbs venison, 1lb pork fat. I used the Excalibur hot dog and Bologna seasoning this time along with sure gel and cheddar cheese. My XXL doesn’t go below 150 so I put them on the top shelf above the snack sticks and summer sausage I was doing. I took them to 120-130 and then dropped them into 170 degree water (Electric roaster) It took about 20 minutes to get to 160 then ice bath. I couldn’t believe it but they turned out amazing!
Best of luck to you ToddDSheppard ! -
Pivodog - Perfect. I ordered an Anova. Looking forward to it.
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slyoder That’s awesome! This is what Meatgistics is all about! Pics when you get a chance? Also, how do you like your XXL? I’m loving ours but I am trying to learn the heat patterns near the back wall. I actually burned some jerky that way.
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I was feeling pretty discouraged after my first attempt but this thread got me motivated to try again. I did a 5lb test batch last weekend using 4lbs venison, 1lb pork fat. I used the Excalibur hot dog and Bologna seasoning this time along with sure gel and cheddar cheese. My XXL doesn’t go below 150 so I put them on the top shelf above the snack sticks and summer sausage I was doing. I took them to 120-130 and then dropped them into 170 degree water (Electric roaster) It took about 20 minutes to get to 160 then ice bath. I couldn’t believe it but they turned out amazing!
Best of luck to you ToddDSheppard !slyoder your giving me hope.
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I was feeling pretty discouraged after my first attempt but this thread got me motivated to try again. I did a 5lb test batch last weekend using 4lbs venison, 1lb pork fat. I used the Excalibur hot dog and Bologna seasoning this time along with sure gel and cheddar cheese. My XXL doesn’t go below 150 so I put them on the top shelf above the snack sticks and summer sausage I was doing. I took them to 120-130 and then dropped them into 170 degree water (Electric roaster) It took about 20 minutes to get to 160 then ice bath. I couldn’t believe it but they turned out amazing!
Best of luck to you ToddDSheppard ! -
Jonathon I’m still learning on my XXL but I really like it so far. It doesn’t cook quite as even as I was hoping it would. Back wall is definitely hotter with the back left corner being the hottest on mine. The nice thing about the XXL is the racks are so easy to pull out and rotate to help even the cooking.
I don’t have very good pics of the finished products but here is what I have
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This is a good post. I am still on the fence as to a replacement for my Bradley smoker. The more you guys are using the XXL Camp Chef the more promise it is showing. I was all hot and bothered to get a Pitts and Spitts with sidebox but the sidebox is kinds small. Now I’m back to the PK 100 or maybe the XXL Camp Chef. Also still thinking about making a homemade one out of a 40s era fridge that I can get. I really want to try hotdogs now too…lol! This site may cause me to spend lots of $$$.
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The Brat Barn …very interesting, using mustard flour as a binder…how much would one use per lb/kg and does it impart an overwhelming mustard flavor or just hang out in the back of the flavor profile.
Mcjagger said in Venison Hot Dog Issue:
The Brat Barn …very interesting, using mustard flour as a binder…how much would one use per lb/kg and does it impart an overwhelming mustard flavor or just hang out in the back of the flavor profile.
Sorry, I did not realize I missed this post until now.
We use 2C of Mustard Flour in a 25# batch of Weiners.
Does add a touch of flavor which is one of the reasons we use it. It is very subtle though, if you did not tell someone it was in there they would most likely not be able to tell.
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@NDMike I was on the fence for a while with getting a horizontal (Green Mountain Grill) with a bull rack system vs the Camp Chef XXL. In the end the capacity and the price of the Camp Chef along with the updated controller ended up making my decision. I haven’t done a lot much smoking on it other than processed products. I do have a couple of pork butts on today and so far it’s working very well. I am curious how well it will work with wings. I’ve done wings on a Trager and Green Mountain and the horizontal format works very well to turn up the heat at the end and crisp them. I do believe Jonathon has done wings on his XXL and said they turned out well so we’ll see. I can always finish them on my Komodo if need be. I tell my wife you really need a couple to do everything properly
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@NDMike I was on the fence for a while with getting a horizontal (Green Mountain Grill) with a bull rack system vs the Camp Chef XXL. In the end the capacity and the price of the Camp Chef along with the updated controller ended up making my decision. I haven’t done a lot much smoking on it other than processed products. I do have a couple of pork butts on today and so far it’s working very well. I am curious how well it will work with wings. I’ve done wings on a Trager and Green Mountain and the horizontal format works very well to turn up the heat at the end and crisp them. I do believe Jonathon has done wings on his XXL and said they turned out well so we’ll see. I can always finish them on my Komodo if need be. I tell my wife you really need a couple to do everything properly
slyoder yeah it sounds like we are similar. I also have a BGE that I love smoking things on. I find for wings though I really like a Weber kettle. I crack the lid and can get it to almost 600 degrees. The wings crisp up really well. I also have a Grilla Grills Chimp pellet grill that does a great job on wings while using their jerky/wing rack.
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slyoder yeah it sounds like we are similar. I also have a BGE that I love smoking things on. I find for wings though I really like a Weber kettle. I crack the lid and can get it to almost 600 degrees. The wings crisp up really well. I also have a Grilla Grills Chimp pellet grill that does a great job on wings while using their jerky/wing rack.
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This is a good post. I am still on the fence as to a replacement for my Bradley smoker. The more you guys are using the XXL Camp Chef the more promise it is showing. I was all hot and bothered to get a Pitts and Spitts with sidebox but the sidebox is kinds small. Now I’m back to the PK 100 or maybe the XXL Camp Chef. Also still thinking about making a homemade one out of a 40s era fridge that I can get. I really want to try hotdogs now too…lol! This site may cause me to spend lots of $$$.
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@ndmike please let us in the loop on what you decide. I also want to upgrade, but can’t make up my mind because none of the units really do what I want. I guess I’m just too picky and cheap! I want the Cadillac but only want to for the beetle! LOL
Pivodog will do…I’m with you. $ is hard to part with at times!
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@NDMike If you need a grill/smoker combo then I can highly, highly recommend the Camp Chef Woodwind, I absolutely love mine at home. However, if you are doing snack sticks and summer sausage and other things you’d want to hang then the XXL or the PK100 are great. The PK is obviously much more expensive and it doesn’t have wif-fi or the ability to use pellets but it does a really really good job in both smoke flavor and color development and obviously, the insulation is great.
Anyway you go I think you will be happy!
slyoder Any reason you laid out instead of hanging? Did it make it easier to move around to avoid that back corner too much (didn’t know it was the corner, just the back so thanks!) or is this just the way you prefer?
Get more help with your processing questions and learn more about processing meat by subscribing to our waltonsinc.com youtube page at https://wltns.link/waltonstv I am a Gorilla, love yourself
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@NDMike If you need a grill/smoker combo then I can highly, highly recommend the Camp Chef Woodwind, I absolutely love mine at home. However, if you are doing snack sticks and summer sausage and other things you’d want to hang then the XXL or the PK100 are great. The PK is obviously much more expensive and it doesn’t have wif-fi or the ability to use pellets but it does a really really good job in both smoke flavor and color development and obviously, the insulation is great.
Anyway you go I think you will be happy!
slyoder Any reason you laid out instead of hanging? Did it make it easier to move around to avoid that back corner too much (didn’t know it was the corner, just the back so thanks!) or is this just the way you prefer?
Jonathon yep I have liked the Camp Chef XXL since it came out. I also have an old 40s-50s fridge that I might convert to a smoker with an electric element and PID controller. So many options out there!!!
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