Processing order????
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smokinbubba said in Processing order???:
Start water at 125deg, bump 10deg at a time every 1.5hr until water is 175deg. Cook to 160it.
I’m just curious, but why use a complex sous vide schedule? Why not just set the sous vide to 160 F and let it do its thing?
Are you worried about fat out? I haven’t seen any in the sausages I’ve cooked solely by sous vide. Granted, I haven’t cooked anything as large, but I don’t know why it would make much difference.
TexLaw Fat out is exactly why I step it up slow. I had a bad fat out in a batch of bambi dogs once and been shy ever since. I took 9 hrs to do the last batch of bambi 4" bologna and had no problems. At hr 7 now and should be about done. I know the two major reasons for fat out is cooking too fast and protein extraction. Since I was using my hobart for the first time, wasnt sure how good the protein extraction was. (used to the mixer, easy to tell) so I didnt want to chance it on a 40lb batch. Plus this batch was WET. crossing my fingers.
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TexLaw Fat out is exactly why I step it up slow. I had a bad fat out in a batch of bambi dogs once and been shy ever since. I took 9 hrs to do the last batch of bambi 4" bologna and had no problems. At hr 7 now and should be about done. I know the two major reasons for fat out is cooking too fast and protein extraction. Since I was using my hobart for the first time, wasnt sure how good the protein extraction was. (used to the mixer, easy to tell) so I didnt want to chance it on a 40lb batch. Plus this batch was WET. crossing my fingers.
smokinbubba cannot wait to see the pics of the finished product! I may have to try this next time I make some dogs, some people don’t like any bite to them like you said with the smoker putting that small rind on there that gives even a skinless a slight bite… do you run 2 units on your cooler or just 1? I would think just 1 in a cooler would not be rated for enough water heating
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Fat-out is a concern and that is why everyone tries to limit the max temperature the meat is exposed to 175-180. The good thing about sous vide is you usually have good control over the heat and can keep it under the limit. Much easier than most smokers can do it.
I would not hesitate running the temperature at 160. I think in most cases with sausage, once you have finished smoking, there is no real advantage to extending the cook cycle longer than necessary. You are aren’t going to be drying the product while its in a water bath. -
smokinbubba cannot wait to see the pics of the finished product! I may have to try this next time I make some dogs, some people don’t like any bite to them like you said with the smoker putting that small rind on there that gives even a skinless a slight bite… do you run 2 units on your cooler or just 1? I would think just 1 in a cooler would not be rated for enough water heating
RJ Adventures I run a elcheapo yissvic unit from the Amazon.com. I think it was under $70 1000w I think. With such a large load of meat, there isnt really that much water to heat. Using a cooler keeps the heat in.
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RJ Adventures I run a elcheapo yissvic unit from the Amazon.com. I think it was under $70 1000w I think. With such a large load of meat, there isnt really that much water to heat. Using a cooler keeps the heat in.
smokinbubba sounds good! I have the anova, but looking at waltons sous vide circulators as I’m in need for more space to do it!! Need another smoker or 2 as well for those days where I need to make 100 lbs of sticks or summer sausage!
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Well, results are OK at best. The bambi bologna came out spongy not firm. Very moist and squishy. Flavor is spot on but the texture is troublesome. What I learned using the buffalo chopper is that 5lb is too much meat per batch. You need to add too much water to keep the motors thermal overload switch from tripping. With 4 lbs meat and 2.5c water, the mix is too soupy. Need to fine tune my process with the hobart and should be fine. I used suregel and it definitly did its job. Retained way too much water. Bologna should be firm and rubbery, not wet and spongy. I packaged everything in vac bags after an air dry. I may try to throw a single log in the sous vide for a few hours to see if it tightens it up.
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Sorry it did not turn out as expected. You can always slice and pan fry it for sandwiches. That may improve the texture a bit?
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Yeah, that’s a shame. Still wondering if dry thermal processing would have helped with the excess moisture vs. in the sous vide?
If you had to add that much moisture to keep from over-loading the chopper, your emulsion might not have been able to bind up all the extra water.Maybe next time try a mix with less water and split the batch in two separate runs through the chopper.
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Yeah I’m wondering if maybe 2-3lbs each run would be better and at that point, is it even worth having the chopper…? For what they cost…or are there emulsifiers that would work better?
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Well, results are OK at best. The bambi bologna came out spongy not firm. Very moist and squishy. Flavor is spot on but the texture is troublesome. What I learned using the buffalo chopper is that 5lb is too much meat per batch. You need to add too much water to keep the motors thermal overload switch from tripping. With 4 lbs meat and 2.5c water, the mix is too soupy. Need to fine tune my process with the hobart and should be fine. I used suregel and it definitly did its job. Retained way too much water. Bologna should be firm and rubbery, not wet and spongy. I packaged everything in vac bags after an air dry. I may try to throw a single log in the sous vide for a few hours to see if it tightens it up.
smokinbubba said in Processing order???:
With 4 lbs meat and 2.5c water, the mix is too soupy.
Wow. There’s your problem, alright. Looking back, you also added 2 cups of ice for each run, too. That’s a highly excessive amount of water to add to that much meat–more water than meat, even. You pretty much want to keep your water to no more than 1 cup per 5 pounds of meat. That’s the way Kutas does it, and that man knows a thing or two about sausage.
Besides adding water, all that ice also adds a lot of strain on your chopper. Try just adding ice cold water and no ice. I’d like to think you could get by with far less water and, hopefully, no more than that the 1 cup per 5 pounds. Otherwise, you might want to get your chopper looked at.
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Yeah, that’s a shame. Still wondering if dry thermal processing would have helped with the excess moisture vs. in the sous vide?
If you had to add that much moisture to keep from over-loading the chopper, your emulsion might not have been able to bind up all the extra water.Maybe next time try a mix with less water and split the batch in two separate runs through the chopper.
processhead that’s exactly what I plan to do. Maybe cut the sure gel some too. It a learning curve.
40lbs of fried bologna is a lot… -
smokinbubba said in Processing order???:
With 4 lbs meat and 2.5c water, the mix is too soupy.
Wow. There’s your problem, alright. Looking back, you also added 2 cups of ice for each run, too. That’s a highly excessive amount of water to add to that much meat–more water than meat, even. You pretty much want to keep your water to no more than 1 cup per 5 pounds of meat. That’s the way Kutas does it, and that man knows a thing or two about sausage.
Besides adding water, all that ice also adds a lot of strain on your chopper. Try just adding ice cold water and no ice. I’d like to think you could get by with far less water and, hopefully, no more than that the 1 cup per 5 pounds. Otherwise, you might want to get your chopper looked at.
TexLaw yep, knew there was too much water when I went to stuff it. Too late at that point. Live and learn I guess. Hope I can salvage it. If not I see lots of fried bologna in my future!
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smokinbubba if the flavor is good, it’ll be enjoyable atleast!
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smokinbubba if the flavor is good, it’ll be enjoyable atleast!

After chilled, I think it will be ok -

After chilled, I think it will be oksmokinbubba it looks good enough to eat to me. Enjoy

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Well, results are OK at best. The bambi bologna came out spongy not firm. Very moist and squishy. Flavor is spot on but the texture is troublesome. What I learned using the buffalo chopper is that 5lb is too much meat per batch. You need to add too much water to keep the motors thermal overload switch from tripping. With 4 lbs meat and 2.5c water, the mix is too soupy. Need to fine tune my process with the hobart and should be fine. I used suregel and it definitly did its job. Retained way too much water. Bologna should be firm and rubbery, not wet and spongy. I packaged everything in vac bags after an air dry. I may try to throw a single log in the sous vide for a few hours to see if it tightens it up.
smokinbubba said in Processing order???:
I used suregel and it definitly did its job. Retained way too much water.
I’ve been thinking about this, too. Sure Gel shouldn’t be a problem, but I also don’t know how much you used. I use 6.8 g/lb of meat in my both my Summer and smoked sausages, and that works very well–excellent texture (even when I experimented and cooked a couple of raw links from the a recent “smoked” sausage batch by sous vide).
I believe that 6.8 g/lb meat is at the maximum recommended.
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Well, results are OK at best. The bambi bologna came out spongy not firm. Very moist and squishy. Flavor is spot on but the texture is troublesome. What I learned using the buffalo chopper is that 5lb is too much meat per batch. You need to add too much water to keep the motors thermal overload switch from tripping. With 4 lbs meat and 2.5c water, the mix is too soupy. Need to fine tune my process with the hobart and should be fine. I used suregel and it definitly did its job. Retained way too much water. Bologna should be firm and rubbery, not wet and spongy. I packaged everything in vac bags after an air dry. I may try to throw a single log in the sous vide for a few hours to see if it tightens it up.
smokinbubba you can always bbq on the grill with your favorite sauce, it will help dry it a bit while providing a tasty meal

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smokinbubba said in Processing order???:
I used suregel and it definitly did its job. Retained way too much water.
I’ve been thinking about this, too. Sure Gel shouldn’t be a problem, but I also don’t know how much you used. I use 6.8 g/lb of meat in my both my Summer and smoked sausages, and that works very well–excellent texture (even when I experimented and cooked a couple of raw links from the a recent “smoked” sausage batch by sous vide).
I believe that 6.8 g/lb meat is at the maximum recommended.
TexLaw I used 6.7g per lb. Per the conversion chart.
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