Summer Sausage Nightmare
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Jonathan:
Thanks. The instructions for the Kirby bucket mixer recommend no more than 2 minutes of mix time when making a product where protein extraction is required. Also, the Kirby instructions recommend reversing the blade (there is a blunt side used for normal mixing and a sharpened side used for emulsification). I used the sharp side of the blade and about 1min. and 45 seconds of mix time. It is a fast mixer. So, maybe it’s no surprise that the texture came out like an emusified product (hot dogs), but dry due to fat loss.
Last night I ordered your 20 lb mixer and it’s on its way. I also have a package of your SS H seasoning and cure, carrot fiber, and encapsulated citric acid so as soon as the new mixer arrives I’ll do another test batch. I’ll let you know how it goes.
One final issue: John at Parksider, above, said that I kept the sausage in the smoker too long and that my extended cook time caused my fat-out problem. I agree that after about 3 hours of active smoking the sausage doesn’t need and won’t take on more smoke flavor. My smoker has a side-mounted smoke generator and I turned it off after three hours of smoking, leaving the thermostat-controlled heat element in the main body of the smoker on, set to maintain 175 degrees.
I think Parksider may be right, because at the end of my drying and smoking cycle (4 hours total) the casings looked full and there was very little fat loss in the water basin directly below the hanging sausages. However, I tried to follow the time and temp schedule from your Summer Sausage video exactly. It took almost 6 more hours of cooking time (after the smoke was turned off) for the internal temp of the meat to get up to 160. This was a total cook time of about 10 hours. Is this too long a cook?
How do I get the internal temp up to the safe temp. (156-160 degrees) without exceeding your maximum temp. guideline of 175-180 degrees?
What do you think of Parksider’s suggestion of simmering the sausages in water at about 180 degrees to finish the cook? If the fat isn’t properly bound to the protein it seems to me a water poaching method would still cause the fat to cook out.
Your thoughts?
Thanks,
Greggadahl
I have had issues with the 73MM casings and here are some of the things I have done to my smoker to help. I put a oven convection fan in to try and keep a constant temp thru out the smoker. I added a shelf over my burner to put a pan of water on during the final cooking stages of smoking when the temp is turned up to 150-180degree to add moisture for better heat transfer. I have found even with all this it still takes 10-12 hours to get to 156 degrees internal meat temp, but I have a good looking product and the fat does not separate. As for making sausage I use 2 1/2 lbs of beef fat and 10 lbs of lean meat (venison, elk, moose, or caribou. I try and keep the meat and fat just above freezing when grinding and grind the meat 3/8" the first grind. I then grind the fat 1/8" and then combine the two mixing well. I then regrind the mixture thru the 1/8" plate twice stopping in between to rechill the meat so it will grind properly. Meats Grinds Best when it is cold especially 1/8". You can put it in a thin layer in a pan in your freezer and it chills very quickly. I always use a binder 1/2 Lb per batch. I then hand mix in all spices, cure, water and binder. I just tried to make ring trail bologna for the first time with great results and found out that the smaller 43mm casings finish cooking in half the time of the 73mm casings I make my other sausage recipes in and am considering them all in 43mm casings, faster, quicker and great presentation. One problem with the 43 mm ring cases is my that my hog ring crimper does not close tight enough and I have to recrimp the ring with players to get it to hold tightDave
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Jonathan:
Sorry, the seasoning mix on this batch was my own recipe, not one of yours. I’ve received a shipment of your Summer Sausage H seasoning & cure for the next batch, will probably add some mustard seed, too.
In this batch I did use a pink salt cure #1 in appropriate amount and added 2.4 oz of carrot fiber to 15 lb of meat. I did not use Encapsulated Citric Acid.The meat was refrigerator chilled prior to mixing, to about 36 degrees. I added about 16 - 18 oz. of ice water.
Since I did not use Encapsulated Citric Acid, I put the stuffed casings in the refrigerator over night to let them cure. The next morning I let the stuffed casings come up to near room temp, probably about 60 degrees, before hanging them in the smoker. I followed Walton’s recommended time and temp schedule, applying smoke only in the 2nd through 4th hours.The more I think about this the more I am convinced my problem is in the mixing process. My first failed batch was hand mixed, but not mixed long enough to develop good protein extraction so the sausage fatted-out and was dry with loose, wrinkled casings. My second batch was mixed in a new powered bucket type mixer and perhaps I over-mixed. The product, after smoking and heating to 156 degrees, was the consistency of an emulsified product, like a hot dog. None of the meat/fat particles were retained. In normal Summer Sausage you can distinguish the texture of the ground meat. Mine was emulsified, very uniform but with the fatting-out also very dry. Not a good mouth feel at all. Maybe I need to try a hand powered mechanical meat mixer, mixing at a slower speed to retain the texture of the product. A mechanical mixer operated by hand at 35 - 40 RPM would make 280 - 320 revolutions in the recommended 8 minutes of mixing. The mixing blade in my bucket mixer, powered by a 1/2 inch drill motor, is turning at 800 to 1000 RPM. Maybe it’s just too fast for summer sausage. Should make great hot dogs though, if I can just retain the fat in the product.
What do you experts at Walton’s think?
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I think using gloves and hand mixing is a very effective way to mix, I divide a 25 lb batch into 2 pans , split the spices and water and mix each thoroughly and then combine in one pan and mix some more and have had excellent results.
Dave
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akdave If you get the chance can you post a few pictures of your set up? It sounds interesting, I really like the idea of the fan going over the surface of the water. Check out this video https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/1099/cured-sausage-205-advanced-thermal-processing for an idea to raise your relative humidity, even more, I think the sponges, in combination of the fan, could make a huge difference.
I might do some testing here with a fan now, what make and model fan did you use?
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