My first sausage using ground beef----no name, just a mutt

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chef willie

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Dec 31, 2010
3,201
376
Willamette Valley, Oregon
Title pretty much sez it all. Scored a 10 pound chub of burger for 2 bucks a pound and knew some here used it for sausage & Summer Sausage, so figured...what the hell. I also wanted to do a heavy smoked sausage in my newer Char Griller Pellet Smoker. Did a 5 pound sausage mix and froze the rest for SS. Off we go...since no grinding I mixed all together and rested the blob 4 hours for cure to work in. Stuffed into hog casings and overnight in the fridge, uncovered, to dry out. My first gripe about GB is they add water, which I forgot, for more yield. So, when stuffing I had water/wine juicing out my tube everywhere. The towel in my pan worked well to collect excess moisture. Fired up the CG on smoke mode P6 for more smoke than heat. Got about 150 for 4 hours, then bumped to 180 (lowest heat) to finish. They were starting to shrivel at about 6 hours in...IT of 125'ish. Decided it was enough smoke and got the poaching water ready. Into the water bath and pulled at 155 IT. Truthfully, I was very disappointed with the taste test. The casings were hard and inedible and the meat kinda boring. I normally poach my sausage to fully cooked and never have problems. Threw them into a open gallon zip-lock and into the fridge overnight to bloom (?) or be disposed of. Just tried them again and good enough to slather mustard on & have with a cold beer but nothing I would serve to real people. The casing must be removed much like a SS. So, I didn't toss out....I'll take most down to the boys at the Vets bar, they'll eat anything. Onward with the next batch...doubt I will ever use GB again for sausage, time will tell with the SS

ratio was 73/27


all ingredients whizzed up in blender







 
Hey Willie..... They look good...... As I get older, (not suggesting you are getting old or anything close to that), I find my food, sausages especially, don't live up to my expectations.... Could be because I remember my last batch as being better than they really were...
The Vets probably really appreciated your kindness.... maybe even covered a round or 2 ......
 
We all have problems at times with our batches.  Never heard of water being added to ground beef.  Maybe some processed products but not fresh ground beef.  I dont think it's legal to use water in fresh ground beef for sale.  I have used ground beef for small batches of summer sausage and never had a problem Chef.  Chef, I know that you know your stuff when it comes to sausage making. Dont know what happen'd to your batch.  Nothing wrong with using ground beef for sausage.  I usually use 80/20 ground chuck and nothing with more fat content.  Fat is allowed to change the percentage of ground beef.  Also cow meat is added to certain mixtures of ground beef to lean it up to get to certain lean standards [percentages].  Cow meat is high in natural water content.  Reinhard
 
I totally agree on the water in ground beef now..(not actually being added in) .Going back before the "mad cow" that we had in Canada most of the ground beef was all from steers.The export market closed down so the cow meat was added into the steer beef trimming as a place to get rid of it.With steer there was a bit of internal marbling and firm white external fat so you could actually fry up burger...now with packer chubs it steams and when it gets fried up and is even tough because of the cow meat.

 (in Canada)The cases of chubs we get in at work have a triangle  with a 3 inside it stamped on the end of the box indicating that cow meat has been added to the product but there is nothing on the packaging or price label for the consumer to know this. Ground beef is ground beef ..be it cow or Angus trimmings,

A couple of months back there was a break down at the BIG Alberta packers and they brought in some of their USA lean gr. chubs.to fill the orders.. I did not see any indication of cow mixed in on the cases so i purchase a chub for home use..Definately better eating quality than the same company is producing and selling in Canada....Just my humble opinion...
 
A 20% addition of pork back fat would have helped the consistency of your sausage but wouldn't have helped the flavor. Experimenting is part of the fun of sausagemaking.
icon_biggrin.gif
 

I am editing this as I erred ,an addition of 2 lbs of pork(20%) would of helped your consistency plus  it seems your temps were too high as the fat was leaving the casing.If your casing stay shriveled after a cold water bath it means they were cooked at too high of a temp . CM
 
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We all have problems at times with our batches.  Never heard of water being added to ground beef.  Maybe some processed products but not fresh ground beef.  I dont think it's legal to use water in fresh ground beef for sale.  I have used ground beef for small batches of summer sausage and never had a problem Chef.  Chef, I know that you know your stuff when it comes to sausage making. Dont know what happen'd to your batch.  Nothing wrong with using ground beef for sausage.  I usually use 80/20 ground chuck and nothing with more fat content.  Fat is allowed to change the percentage of ground beef.  Also cow meat is added to certain mixtures of ground beef to lean it up to get to certain lean standards [percentages].  Cow meat is high in natural water content.  Reinhard
Well, could be any number of things.....but I like your idea of 80/20 chuck. I skimped for a few bucks and wasn't happy with the results..lol..I should & do know better. I'll see how the SS turns out. I usually don't smoke my sausages that long...perhaps that caused the casing to become tough. I can pull it off like a skin and then the sausage is better, like a skinless snack stick. I've found poaching works well for me and then grilling or a pan fry for crisping up and some color. Best to stick with what works for me BUT I will try a small batch of the 80/20 for sausage but thinking I'll stick with piggy for most of my undertakings.....Thanks to all for the constructive comments...Willie
 
Chef, I also base most of my sausage on pork, with pork butt being my choice.  Almost every batch I make regardless of what it is has some beef or ground beef in it.  Why?, Because I dont always have the pork I need for the full weight of the batch.  It may be just a couple of pounds added to the 25 pound batch or it could be up to a third of it by planning to use it with pork butt.  I have been using straight 80/20 ground chuck for my 5 pound and 10 pound batches of summer sausage.  I add my seasonings, liquid, and powdered milk and have been very happy with it.  Hopefully this season I will be blessed with some venison.  Then venison and pork butt will be on the agenda.  I've been using beef since I started making sausage to add to pork or just ground beef for the summer for example.  My grandfather who had a meat market in Germany for many years used to tell me what he made and what he used for meat and beef was always in the mix.  This was many years ago and it stuck with me.  My choice of beef is beef chuck.  I buy the whole chuck roll when I can get a buy, just as I buy pork butts by the case.  I used to get butts by the case for 1.33 lb.  Now they are 183 per pound by the case here at Sams.  80/20 ground chuck is on sale for 2.99 this week so I buy that also when on sale ect.  Reinhard
 
 
Chef, I also base most of my sausage on pork, with pork butt being my choice.  Almost every batch I make regardless of what it is has some beef or ground beef in it.  Why?, Because I dont always have the pork I need for the full weight of the batch.  It may be just a couple of pounds added to the 25 pound batch or it could be up to a third of it by planning to use it with pork butt.  I have been using straight 80/20 ground chuck for my 5 pound and 10 pound batches of summer sausage.  I add my seasonings, liquid, and powdered milk and have been very happy with it.  Hopefully this season I will be blessed with some venison.  Then venison and pork butt will be on the agenda.  I've been using beef since I started making sausage to add to pork or just ground beef for the summer for example.  My grandfather who had a meat market in Germany for many years used to tell me what he made and what he used for meat and beef was always in the mix.  This was many years ago and it stuck with me.  My choice of beef is beef chuck.  I buy the whole chuck roll when I can get a buy, just as I buy pork butts by the case.  I used to get butts by the case for 1.33 lb.  Now they are 183 per pound by the case here at Sams.  80/20 ground chuck is on sale for 2.99 this week so I buy that also when on sale ect.  Reinhard
Well, that's good info there. If it was good enough for a Grandfathers meat market, in Germany no less, sausage mecca, it's gonna be good enough for me. And, like I mentioned I'll stick with 80/20 and use the ground chuck which I can get very locally here at Wal-Mart in a tube or perhaps even grind my own if a deal appears. I'll make up one SS with that crap I got left for experience sake. Let the good sausage roll.....Thanks for the intel......Willie
 
Hey willie, Did you get the meat at 2 bucks a pound due to it was getting ready to expire. I have had the same results using meat getting ready to expire especially when I froze and thawed the meat and used it at a later date. All that liquid didnt help either..... Just another thing to think about. If your interested in a good SS.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/115702/my-salami-kickoff-to-the-new-year-finished
 
Hey willie, Did you get the meat at 2 bucks a pound due to it was getting ready to expire. I have had the same results using meat getting ready to expire especially when I froze and thawed the meat and used it at a later date. All that liquid didnt help either..... Just another thing to think about. If your interested in a good SS.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/115702/my-salami-kickoff-to-the-new-year-finished
Yes, I did as a matter of fact. Had about a week left before the sale date. I did not freeze before the sausage making but I have frozen the remainder for the SS to be made when my casings get here. Ay Caramba!! another fly in the ointment.....never again....LMAO at myself....Willie
 
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