Figured it was time to try something a little more... interesting. This time around, it was time for a batch of Jagdwurst, which is German Hunter Sausage. It should be a moderate summer sausage surrounding chunks of ham. I'm not using a particular recipe, but using Rytek's for the sausage, but Len Poli's concept for preparing the ham chunks.
In order to pull this batch off, I had to start a couple of days ago by preparing some pork sirloin into small chunks (1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes) and brining them.
Here's a shot of the 6.5 pounds of ham chunks after a couple of days in the brine:
My butcher is running a crazy sale right now, with fresh-ground pork butt at $1.29/lb. Great meat, minimally processed (which means none of that "up to 10% solution added" crap. Ground up less than an hour before I picked it up. You bet, I'll be running a sausage-making marathon this next couple of weeks. Battle plans have been drawn, and this is the first skirmish.
These were thoroughly rinsed off, dried with paper towels, and put on cookie sheets to dry in the fridge for an hour or so while the rest of the meat was prepared for mixing.
Since the goal is 15 lbs, and I wanted to run 3 batches of 5 lbs (easy to mix and ensure pretty even distribution of ingredients), I used 3 pounds of ground pork butts, mixed the seasonings and cure, then added 2 pounds of cured fresh ham cubes (cured, but not cooked/smoked). What I can say for absolute certain is that the smell of the seasonings when they "popped" while being mixed in was unbelievable. I think this stuff is going to be PHENOMENAL.
Here's a shot of the mixed up sausage (15 lbs on the right, the other 15 lbs on the left is Goteborg summer sausage, also done today):
Here's a close-up of the mixed up sausage. Note the chunks of ham in there...
Now, the meat is resting in the fridge overnight, where the magic of curing and a melding of flavors will happen. We'll stuff both batches when I get back home, and then get to smoking! This will be stuffed into 2 1/2" x 20" fibrous casings, and smoked with either hickory, whiskey barrel oak, or a mixture.
In order to pull this batch off, I had to start a couple of days ago by preparing some pork sirloin into small chunks (1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes) and brining them.
Here's a shot of the 6.5 pounds of ham chunks after a couple of days in the brine:
My butcher is running a crazy sale right now, with fresh-ground pork butt at $1.29/lb. Great meat, minimally processed (which means none of that "up to 10% solution added" crap. Ground up less than an hour before I picked it up. You bet, I'll be running a sausage-making marathon this next couple of weeks. Battle plans have been drawn, and this is the first skirmish.
These were thoroughly rinsed off, dried with paper towels, and put on cookie sheets to dry in the fridge for an hour or so while the rest of the meat was prepared for mixing.
Since the goal is 15 lbs, and I wanted to run 3 batches of 5 lbs (easy to mix and ensure pretty even distribution of ingredients), I used 3 pounds of ground pork butts, mixed the seasonings and cure, then added 2 pounds of cured fresh ham cubes (cured, but not cooked/smoked). What I can say for absolute certain is that the smell of the seasonings when they "popped" while being mixed in was unbelievable. I think this stuff is going to be PHENOMENAL.
Here's a shot of the mixed up sausage (15 lbs on the right, the other 15 lbs on the left is Goteborg summer sausage, also done today):
Here's a close-up of the mixed up sausage. Note the chunks of ham in there...
Now, the meat is resting in the fridge overnight, where the magic of curing and a melding of flavors will happen. We'll stuff both batches when I get back home, and then get to smoking! This will be stuffed into 2 1/2" x 20" fibrous casings, and smoked with either hickory, whiskey barrel oak, or a mixture.