Smoker Upgrade!
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Ok everyone if you were wondering, yes; I actually did make my first batch of Summer Sausage yesterday! It was a long day. I started at 6:30am and had the SS in the refrigerator for its ‘over-nighter’ at about 9:30pm. Guess I won’t get that ‘speed’ award.
Here’s what I can tell everyone… you were right! Everything that I did at the suggesting of many of you worked out as expected. Yes, I am very pleased with what I was able to get done yesterday. By the way, my smoker upgrade worked CRAZY GOOD!
I got up this morning and decided to ‘sacrifice’ my little ‘chub’ (is that what a stick of SS is known as?). It tastes great! My first go at this appears to have been a success! Thanks for everyones’ help… and especially John for getting me that ‘binder’!
Ok… here are some pics from my day yesterday and up to this morning. I cut all the ‘chubs’ in half now and when I am done with this message, I will go out and seal my SS for freezing.
One last thing before the pics… what you guys FAILED to tell me was that when it comes to the mixing process and getting to ‘High Protein Extraction’, a guy better be ready for a ‘Work Out’! Holy Cow… My arms looked like Popeye’s when I was done.
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/Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/2/24027EE9-B67A-4E6D-98DD-04580A8F7822_1_102_o.jpegRetired157
You did well!
Hand mixing is not for the faint of heart or those who fear cold hands, but it looks like you got good protein extraction and it all begins there. -
Retired157 Sometimes it’s hard to be a one man band when it comes to making sausage. Most of the time I am that band as well. Hand mixing does take time and strength, I’m glad I only do 5 lbs. at a time, but I use a bowl. The meat lug might make it easier, but the S/S bowl is faster to clean up.
Meat Lug… ? Send me a pic please. Yeah, I can’t imagine doing much more than 10 lbs by hand! Guess I’ll be running around town to our local ‘thrift’ stores and see if I can come up with a nice big S/S bowl.
My wife just got home and had a piece of my SS… it passed! She likes it. I really like the consistency of how the sticks turned out… solid. I think that ECA gives it a ‘tangy’ flavor… like store-bought. I like it.
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Retired157
You did well!
Hand mixing is not for the faint of heart or those who fear cold hands, but it looks like you got good protein extraction and it all begins there.After reading all the comments about things going ‘wrong’ and seeing that a common theme was not mixing well enough to get HIGH protein extraction, I was determined not to repeat that error. So I basically just kept on mixing… and mixing… and mixing. Having no experience to tell me what ‘high protein extraction’ actually looks and feels, I just kept going. Some of the Meatgistics videos where they ‘showed’ this was my saving grace. I just kept going until I thought I was there… and then about another 5 minutes. I think I was into the mixing pretty close to 40 minutes before I ‘tapped out’.
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That little stick was the very last of what I could get out of the stuffer… to include hand pushing the meat out of the filling tube. Have to admit, getting that little guy ‘packed’ without the aid of the stuffer was a challenge.
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First run with the new smoker… So far all running great temp at 140 degrees now almost done!!WOW! Watch your back, those guys at ‘Jimmy Deans’ will be looking silence you!
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Jump’n… that’s a ‘Walk In’ smoker!
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Show Off!
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That little stick was the very last of what I could get out of the stuffer… to include hand pushing the meat out of the filling tube. Have to admit, getting that little guy ‘packed’ without the aid of the stuffer was a challenge.
Retired157 congrats
. I knew you had it all the way. Looks great 
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First run with the new smoker… So far all running great temp at 140 degrees now almost done!!
mfrievalt that is one impressive smoker. Congrats
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Retired157 congrats on your accomplishment. It looks great and I am sure it tastes the same.
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First run with the new smoker… So far all running great temp at 140 degrees now almost done!!
mfrievalt Impressive smoker, looks like an old warming cart.
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Ok everyone if you were wondering, yes; I actually did make my first batch of Summer Sausage yesterday! It was a long day. I started at 6:30am and had the SS in the refrigerator for its ‘over-nighter’ at about 9:30pm. Guess I won’t get that ‘speed’ award.
Here’s what I can tell everyone… you were right! Everything that I did at the suggesting of many of you worked out as expected. Yes, I am very pleased with what I was able to get done yesterday. By the way, my smoker upgrade worked CRAZY GOOD!
I got up this morning and decided to ‘sacrifice’ my little ‘chub’ (is that what a stick of SS is known as?). It tastes great! My first go at this appears to have been a success! Thanks for everyones’ help… and especially John for getting me that ‘binder’!
Ok… here are some pics from my day yesterday and up to this morning. I cut all the ‘chubs’ in half now and when I am done with this message, I will go out and seal my SS for freezing.
One last thing before the pics… what you guys FAILED to tell me was that when it comes to the mixing process and getting to ‘High Protein Extraction’, a guy better be ready for a ‘Work Out’! Holy Cow… My arms looked like Popeye’s when I was done.
/Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/B/BA7A1CE5-5C91-43B7-8047-D9FB5867ABEE_1_102_o.jpeg /Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/4/475C268E-26EE-4B8E-9AD6-C3FEE444007A_1_102_o.jpeg /Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/C/C57FE9BF-5082-4112-8395-F803C39F7DFA_1_102_o.jpeg /Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/7/7B1AA31D-C669-45A7-8AF0-696AC7E0BD53_1_102_o.jpeg /Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/1/1DDCBCFF-64EB-449F-8F34-A37644FAE57A_1_102_o.jpeg /Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/0/0EB96B5D-0B2C-4018-BAB2-DC4E83162EE8_1_102_o.jpeg /Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/1/18D2C532-B9CF-4F08-A2B8-7D5742FDD8B3_1_102_o.jpeg /Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/A/A531E0C3-6714-4DDC-8567-DC594711230E_1_102_o.jpeg /Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/D/D92799F1-DF5F-420B-99FB-49BD126BAB53_1_102_o.jpeg /Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/A/AD058297-362C-4B63-80E5-E920EEADB53A_1_102_o.jpeg /Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/A/A8647C18-B6D3-4908-A99C-6A9B56EC0055_1_102_o.jpeg /Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/2/26A61DFD-8221-484A-9253-3352352FAD83_1_102_o.jpeg /Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/E/E0774DCB-B9C1-45FC-A982-61355F77233C_1_102_o.jpeg /Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/2/24027EE9-B67A-4E6D-98DD-04580A8F7822_1_102_o.jpegRetired157 the SS looks wonderful, great job.
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Meat Lug… ? Send me a pic please. Yeah, I can’t imagine doing much more than 10 lbs by hand! Guess I’ll be running around town to our local ‘thrift’ stores and see if I can come up with a nice big S/S bowl.
My wife just got home and had a piece of my SS… it passed! She likes it. I really like the consistency of how the sticks turned out… solid. I think that ECA gives it a ‘tangy’ flavor… like store-bought. I like it.
Retired157 I use a mortar mixing tub, they are food grade and come it two sizes. I use the smaller of the two, clean up isn’t too bad as they are smooth and the ends are sloped so not much for corners.
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Hey everyone, it has been just a little since I’ve been here. The last time I was here I received LOTS of good information from everyone with respect to me beginning my Summer Sausage ‘making’. One of the pieces of advice that I received was a piece of equipment… a PID. Now, I knew nothing about a PID and am no electrician but I began doing a bit of internet research and am happy to report… I learned something. So, I jumped into this ‘Smoker Upgrade’ full bore! I now have my Smoker fully equipped with all the bells & whistles. Additionally, I, after reading all the comments about the benefits of using a Sous Vide cooker, I also followed that lead. Here are some pics of what I have been up to and how I actually got to this point… the point where I should simply get to making some Summer Sausage!
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/Users/Ron/Pictures/Ron’s Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/2/2FA45809-9B76-4D4A-A557-C828858044FB_1_105_c.jpegRetired157 Thanks for posting this. I have been looking to build one but was a little intimidated. I have my parts on order. How has it been working for you?
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Very nice. Well done!
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Retired157 Thanks for posting this. I have been looking to build one but was a little intimidated. I have my parts on order. How has it been working for you?
I can’t have been pleased with ‘how’ my smoker upgrade(s) worked! I would strongly encourage anyone thinking about doing something like I did to just… ‘Do It’. I worked through a few issues and learned a lot… I think. I don’t know exactly how this site works but I did include my phone number within my ‘profile’. If you ever want to ‘pick my brain’ for any crumbs that might help you with your upgrade, just call. I promise you this; I too was very ‘intimidated’ with doing this but after diving into it, I found out that ‘with a little help’, it was way easier than I was imagining.
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… I couldn’t have been MORE pleased with how my smoker upgrade(s) worked. That’s what I was trying to ‘write’
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