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  1. xfitjay

    Bratwurst recipe needed

    This is my favorite from Diggingdogfarm: https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/looking-for-a-johnsonville-style-brat-seasoning.122171/#post-813818 I highly recommend using fish sauce.
  2. xfitjay

    Sausage Link Technique

    Yep. Experienced both a back up and a blow out. A few more batches and I should start to get the feel for it. Any other tips or advice you can think of? Thanks!
  3. xfitjay

    Sausage Link Technique

    Natural casings. Also, I tried the 3/4" and 1" tubes. I couldn't tell a big difference between them except it was easier to get the casing on the 3/4" tube. Any thoughts about tubes?
  4. xfitjay

    Sausage Link Technique

    Thanks for the advice about pinching. I went back and was able to pinch and twist some of them, so I think I have a feel for how to do it now. For most of this batch I think I'll just cut them to length then grill/fry them up. We have them for breakfast with my wife's homemade sauerkraut. We...
  5. xfitjay

    Sausage Link Technique

    I wasn't sure how much meat one casing would take so I underestimated now many I would need. The first batch of casings were soaked overnight. The second batch for one hour. I think it might have been casings from the second batch which broke. I wound up using 3-4 casings for each 5# batch...
  6. xfitjay

    Sausage Link Technique

    First time stuffing sausage. I made up 15# of Bratwurst using Martin's Wisconsin (Sheboygan?) recipe. I fried up some of the leftovers. My wife and I really like it. I stuffed all the sausage and then when I went back to make the links the casings broke. Did I over stuff the casings? I left the...
  7. xfitjay

    Meat grinder and sausage stuffer at Northern tool - sale price

    I got 5# grinder on sale a couple of years ago and I've been very happy with it. I don't grind a huge amount of meat so it suits me just fine. I do about 10-15# at a time every 3 or 4 months. I also got the foot pedal from LEM. That way I don't need to keep touching the on/off switch with...
  8. xfitjay

    Sausage Newbie Question about a grinder.

    I have the Kitchener from Northern Tool. I usually do batches of 10#-15#. It works fine. I know the LEMs are great grinders. On sale at that price the LEM would be very tempting. You might want to look into a foot pedal control switch from LEM. Makes controlling the grinder very convenient. I...
  9. xfitjay

    Mold on Bacon

    Thanks guys.
  10. xfitjay

    Mold on Bacon

    This morning I pulled out a slab of some bacon I cured and smoked about a month ago which had been sitting in my basement refrigerator and it had mold on it. My search of the forum seems to indicate that mold isn't a problem and I can just cut off that part of the bacon. I wondering why I got...
  11. xfitjay

    Slicer Blade Sharpening Advice Needed

    I got an old Globe 660 slicer a couple of weeks ago. It had been in storage and someone wanted to get rid of it. Everything seems to work fine. However, I've never used a slicer like this and need advice on sharpening the blade. It has the stones and I've figured out how to move them in place...
  12. xfitjay

    Pops Breakfast Sausage! I promise I will not call anyone names when they use an Electric Meat Grind

    I got a Kitchener #12 last fall from Northern Tool, and it's been great. No problems so far. I do about 15# at a time and it handles it well. I got a 2" stuffing tube from LEM and I grind it into poly stuffing bags to put in the fridge or freezer. Got the bags from LEM as well. This way I cut...
  13. xfitjay

    Bacon first timer help!

    I did my first bellies using a nitrite free recipe and using Rulhman's recipe. While they weren't total disasters, they did require quite a bit of soaking to make them edible. I also hot smoked them because I wasn't set up for a cold smoke. Since then I've used Pop's Brine Cure and Martin's...
  14. xfitjay

    Buckboard Bacon Color

    Thanks. Makes sense - I've got two bellies and four shoulder pieces for the BBB in a 5 gal bucket. Six bellies in another container - with maple flavoring. Got to get them smoked before Christmas.
  15. xfitjay

    Buckboard Bacon Color

    I've had some buckboard bacon curing in Pop's Brine for about 8 days now and based on my first try at BBB I thought I would cold smoke it today. When I took it out of the brine I noticed more variation in the color of the meat than I remembered from my first attempt. There are some spots which...
  16. xfitjay

    price of belly

    I've been getting my bellies from an Amish market in the area. They want $3.75/lb. I talked to the guy in charge of the meat department of a local family run grocery store much closer to me and he'll charge me $3.69/lb. Since it would be a special order I'd have to buy whatever amount they get...
  17. xfitjay

    Adding a little heat to Fassett's Breakfast Sausage Seasoning

    Thanks. With no experience doing this I was thinking in the 1-2 teaspoon range. I'm going to be mixing some up tomorrow, or next weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out.
  18. xfitjay

    Adding a little heat to Fassett's Breakfast Sausage Seasoning

    Any suggestions on best way to add a little heat to the Fassett's recipe, and maybe how much? I like the basic recipe a lot, but want to try a little heat - more black pepper? more sage? some red pepper flakes? how much red pepper? I want to experiement but I like to have some parameters. My...
  19. xfitjay

    Turkey Brine Question

    I was introduced to this recipe by fpnmf. My test run bird was brined in it overnight and is in the smoker right now. While I was getting that ready I cold smoked some bacon this morning - about a 10# belly. Half cured in Pop's Brine Cure and half using the cure calculator. I know I like the...
  20. xfitjay

    Turkey Brine Question

    I began my reply before I saw your comment (Chef JimmyJ) about cure making the turkey hammy. Thanks for confirming that. On the temperature side of this, I am planning on smoking an 18#-20# bird. And I'm going to use a regular (non-cure) brine. I have an MES 30 (I'll need to do some measuring...
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