I’ve been registered on here for a while but just found roll call. I live on the Texas Gulf Coast and grew up in the country where my family processed most of our domestic meat and wild game. I enjoy processing because I know that the product was handled correctly from beginning to end and I can season to my families liking and it is satisfying to make a great tasting product. I have two kids, now all grown up, and have taught them how to process assorted cuts of meat and make smoked sausage, snack sticks, summer sausage, jerky, bacon, etc… There are some great folks on this site and are very knowledgeable on all aspects of processing. I have learned several new ways to do things and found out ways to correct some problems that I have had by reading and searching here on Meatgistics, not to mention the great recipes that get posted on here.

pepperettes Thanks for the reply. I decided to use it and it appears that the cure worked as I cooked a small patty and it turned nice and red.

I ran short on my sheep casings and I found some in my freezer in a salt brine that were from 2018. They looked and worked as good as good as the newly purchased.

Here is a recipe my family really likes

Catfish Supreme

2 lbs Catfish fillets
Cajun Blackening seasoning (Paul Prudhomes)
Hellman’s mayo
Butter
1 Cup Sliced fresh Mushrooms
Cup chopped Parsley
1 Cup sliced Green Onions
1 pounds peeled and deveined medium Shrimp
2 cans Campbell’s Cream of Shrimp soup
Cayenne pepper and Louisiana Hot Sauce to taste

1. Season catfish well on both sides with blackened seasoning then spread a thin layer of mayo on both sides of each fillet. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. In a large skillet heat 2 Tbsp butter until it starts to sizzle. Sear the fish fillets on both sides (don’t cook all the way through) and remove to a large baking dish.

3. In the same skillet add 2 more Tbsp butter and then add the mushrooms, parsley and green onions. When this cooks down some add the shrimp. When the shrimp start turning a little pink reduce the heat to low and add the 2 cans of shrimp soup (the shrimp will finish cooking in the oven). Season to taste with Cayenne pepper & Hot sauce. Stir well to combine and ladle this mixture over the fish fillets.

4. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve over rice.

This post brought back some childhood memories. My dad made a sausage very similar to this but called it head sausage. My mom would fry it for breakfast and we would eat with syrup. I have not had it in many years and never had a recipe. I am going to have to try this soon!! Thanks for posting the recipe.

I told my son in law about this recipe and he was all on board to make some right away as his family used to have Jaternice made at a processor they used. I was unable to find any pork snouts for sale in my area so I went with Pork butt. The recipe has great flavor! The only thing I am changing is I think I am going to go a little lighter on the salt as my family thought it was a little salty. The other spices and pepper were spot on though. We only made a 10 lb. batch and split it evenly but I may have to lock my freezer to keep my son in law from taking all my Jaternice as he has eaten most of his already, LOL!!!

peterb said in Summer sausage hold and smoke:

When I want my summer sausage a little dryer (always do a few), I dry after processing. Works fairly well in the fridge.

I do the same thing peterb does as I like mine a little dryer as well.

Your Processing building looks awesome. I like the cutting table. One of these days I am going to build a building dedicated to butchering and processing as my wife is getting tired of me doing my processing in her kitchen, lol

Don’t know the process your using for stuffing, but I used my grinder to stuff for a long time. I recently bought a sausage stuffer and my family all say that the sausage I am now making is more “tender”. I use a course grind, 10 mm plate and grind twice through it for my snack sticks. I use the cooking schedule listed on here.

Those butts look mouth watering!

I use 11 grams (about a tablespoon) of whole mustard seeds per five pounds of meat

I use it in my summer sausage recipe. I use 1 tablespoon of Morton Tender Quick per pound of meat with no other salt added to my recipe and it turns out great.

gwlove said in Storing grinder plates and knives:

I put rice in a zip lock bag and put my knives and plates in the center of the rice so no moisture will get to them . I have been doing this for years and have never had a problem with the humidty.

This is the same thing that I do with my grinder plates and knives.

johnsbrewhouse That trough idea looks great. I love the idea of not having to bend over to weed or harvest.

I make it a point to remove as much venison fat from the meat as possible. It tends to get a rancid taste much quicker than pork or beef fat.

Nice Stuff! Congrats!

Cant wait to see the updates. On my bucket list also.

Looks great! You will definitely appreciate the stuffer. That charcuterie plate image looks like it belongs in a magazine. I used my grinder for years and decided to get a stuffer after my grinder smeared the cheese I added to my sausage. The meat had a lot better consistency using the stuffer and went much quicker.

Prague powder #1 is the same as Insta Cure #1, or pink curing salt #1. Walton’s sell it as Pink Sure Cure. It is salt with sodium nitrite and is used when curing or smoking meats. Cold Phosphate is not a substitute.

Everything looks great! I am going to have to try sous vide as it appears to shorten the cook time. I seem to always get a stall on my sticks in the smoker and it turns into a long cook.