We had a number of goose breasts in the freezer after hunting season, so I started looking at new ways to use it. I decided to make summer sausage. I read all the posts on here and other sources and put together a plan. My son got us a new grinder for Christmas which included the stuffer plate and tube, so wanted to put it to work also. It is an STX-4000-TB2.
I got a bunch of new crowns this last year and was worried about chomping down on steel shot. More research told me the Little Wizard II metal detector, used by wood craftsmen to find nails, bullets, staples, etc. in wood they are re-purposing, would help.
I ordered a summer sausage kit from Owens BBQ, enough to make 25 pounds, then bought 11 pounds of "country style" ribs to make up 10 lbs of pork. The butts were too lean, the ribs have a good mix of fat, and there is less bone. Then thawed out 15 pounds of goose breasts. We had cleaned these up pretty well, but with steel shot you never know. The metal detector wasn't consistent on meat over about an inch thick, so I took the filet knife and fileted and cut strips for grinding, then scanned. I found eight (8!) shot!! Most would have been found with a little more chasing holes like I usually do before cooking, but not all. And two of them must have been from prior injury, because they were inside with no wound channel! Happy to have the detector, for sure.
Much of the grinding advice emphasizes using nearly frozen meat. I cut up the goose while semi-frosty, the pork had been in the fridge. Ground it through the 3/8" plate, mixing it up as I went, no problem. Followed the kit directions, mixed up the cure and spice, and poured and mixed it into the meat, using a couple big wooden spoons. Went ahead and ground it through the smaller plate, 5/32" holes. Took a little more pushing, but it went OK. Would have been better if I had put it in the freezer for a while, but no room.
----- Note: The plastic tamper and the tube you put the meat down are tapered. The tamper is sort of a sloppy fit, also. When the meat isn't frosty, it squishes up alongside the tamper, creates suction, and makes feeding a two-handed process. The bulk tray at the top is just a push down friction fit, and comes loose. I have since made a tighter fitting tamper, and drilled and tapped the tray for a clamping knob: It is shown in this pic:
I put the batch in the fridge to cool down and let the cure and spice permeate for a couple hours. I had purchased 25 of the smaller fibrous casings from LEM and put them in water to soak for 1/2 hour. Rounded up some hog rings and pliers to close casings with. Assembled the stuffing equipment and got started. This is not a two-handed operation for a rookie!! Holding the casing up straight while holding it on the tube was a challenge - ended up with an upside-down saucepan to do that. Wasn't sure about what I was doing at all....remember, the meat could have been colder, the finer ground batch was squishing up and grabbing the tamper, the tray was flopping around, and the operator had never done this before. I got the first one full, maybe a hair too full, fingers were slick, and holding onto the casing end, folding and twisting, trying to hold in place and use the hog ring pliers with greasy hands was just a joke. When I finally got it done, the size ring I used on these little one pound casings wouldn't close up enough to suit me. Ugh!
This routine evolved quickly by necessity: 1) Wash and dry hands 2)Keep a towel handy 3) Feed the hopper with those big wooden spoons, not my hands, 4) Squeeze the meat into the starting end like milking a cow 5) Stop stuffing when the casing is just full enough - an experience thing 6) Pull off tube, hold vertically, fold end to 1/2" width and clamp with Vice-grips!! 7) Twist a couple times, lay tube and Vice-grips on counter with tube propped where it can't roll and un-twist. 8) Use pre-cut length of butcher's string, go around casing twice and tie down with square not, pulling on one end of the string with pliers. Nothing I read or saw on videos prepared me for this!!
By now, the kitchen looks like a war zone, but I've got 25 1 lb. sausages made up. Well, 24 and 1/2.
Some people emphasize taking time to let the cure do it's thing. Others say nonsense, it is in there by grinding and mixing, you only have to wait on ham and bacon because it needs to work it's way in. My day was whipped, I just let them sit in the fridge. Started up the MES 30 in the morning low as it would go. Pulled all the racks except the top one, and hung the sausages from the top rack. Remember those worthless hog rings? Perfect little hooks for hanging sausage! I had to hang the majority from the short string loop that LEM conveniently left on the casings, in order to clear the chip box. Let them sit in there, no smoke, for an hour with the door cracked in order to dry out the casings per instructions. Then fired up the maze with apple pellets.
TWO hours at about 120 smoker temp
THREE hours at about 140 smoker temp Internal temp about 125
ONE and ONE HALF hours at about 180 (no smoke) to internal temp of 152 F.
Pull and dump in the big sink with cold water and lots of ice.
Cooled to 100 F. internal. Just poke the probe in the end by the twist.
Put on outside table to dry for an hour.
Sample!!!!!
It came out amazingly good. Even the test crew says so! I will do it again, and I hope all this detail helps others.
Wallypedal
I got a bunch of new crowns this last year and was worried about chomping down on steel shot. More research told me the Little Wizard II metal detector, used by wood craftsmen to find nails, bullets, staples, etc. in wood they are re-purposing, would help.
I ordered a summer sausage kit from Owens BBQ, enough to make 25 pounds, then bought 11 pounds of "country style" ribs to make up 10 lbs of pork. The butts were too lean, the ribs have a good mix of fat, and there is less bone. Then thawed out 15 pounds of goose breasts. We had cleaned these up pretty well, but with steel shot you never know. The metal detector wasn't consistent on meat over about an inch thick, so I took the filet knife and fileted and cut strips for grinding, then scanned. I found eight (8!) shot!! Most would have been found with a little more chasing holes like I usually do before cooking, but not all. And two of them must have been from prior injury, because they were inside with no wound channel! Happy to have the detector, for sure.
Much of the grinding advice emphasizes using nearly frozen meat. I cut up the goose while semi-frosty, the pork had been in the fridge. Ground it through the 3/8" plate, mixing it up as I went, no problem. Followed the kit directions, mixed up the cure and spice, and poured and mixed it into the meat, using a couple big wooden spoons. Went ahead and ground it through the smaller plate, 5/32" holes. Took a little more pushing, but it went OK. Would have been better if I had put it in the freezer for a while, but no room.
----- Note: The plastic tamper and the tube you put the meat down are tapered. The tamper is sort of a sloppy fit, also. When the meat isn't frosty, it squishes up alongside the tamper, creates suction, and makes feeding a two-handed process. The bulk tray at the top is just a push down friction fit, and comes loose. I have since made a tighter fitting tamper, and drilled and tapped the tray for a clamping knob: It is shown in this pic:
I put the batch in the fridge to cool down and let the cure and spice permeate for a couple hours. I had purchased 25 of the smaller fibrous casings from LEM and put them in water to soak for 1/2 hour. Rounded up some hog rings and pliers to close casings with. Assembled the stuffing equipment and got started. This is not a two-handed operation for a rookie!! Holding the casing up straight while holding it on the tube was a challenge - ended up with an upside-down saucepan to do that. Wasn't sure about what I was doing at all....remember, the meat could have been colder, the finer ground batch was squishing up and grabbing the tamper, the tray was flopping around, and the operator had never done this before. I got the first one full, maybe a hair too full, fingers were slick, and holding onto the casing end, folding and twisting, trying to hold in place and use the hog ring pliers with greasy hands was just a joke. When I finally got it done, the size ring I used on these little one pound casings wouldn't close up enough to suit me. Ugh!
This routine evolved quickly by necessity: 1) Wash and dry hands 2)Keep a towel handy 3) Feed the hopper with those big wooden spoons, not my hands, 4) Squeeze the meat into the starting end like milking a cow 5) Stop stuffing when the casing is just full enough - an experience thing 6) Pull off tube, hold vertically, fold end to 1/2" width and clamp with Vice-grips!! 7) Twist a couple times, lay tube and Vice-grips on counter with tube propped where it can't roll and un-twist. 8) Use pre-cut length of butcher's string, go around casing twice and tie down with square not, pulling on one end of the string with pliers. Nothing I read or saw on videos prepared me for this!!
By now, the kitchen looks like a war zone, but I've got 25 1 lb. sausages made up. Well, 24 and 1/2.
Some people emphasize taking time to let the cure do it's thing. Others say nonsense, it is in there by grinding and mixing, you only have to wait on ham and bacon because it needs to work it's way in. My day was whipped, I just let them sit in the fridge. Started up the MES 30 in the morning low as it would go. Pulled all the racks except the top one, and hung the sausages from the top rack. Remember those worthless hog rings? Perfect little hooks for hanging sausage! I had to hang the majority from the short string loop that LEM conveniently left on the casings, in order to clear the chip box. Let them sit in there, no smoke, for an hour with the door cracked in order to dry out the casings per instructions. Then fired up the maze with apple pellets.
TWO hours at about 120 smoker temp
THREE hours at about 140 smoker temp Internal temp about 125
ONE and ONE HALF hours at about 180 (no smoke) to internal temp of 152 F.
Pull and dump in the big sink with cold water and lots of ice.
Cooled to 100 F. internal. Just poke the probe in the end by the twist.
Put on outside table to dry for an hour.
Sample!!!!!
It came out amazingly good. Even the test crew says so! I will do it again, and I hope all this detail helps others.
Wallypedal
