Beginner, so pardon if this has been discussed. I could not find on my search here.
This is only my second batch. First batch was dry and crumbly. (There were other issues, but keeping is simple here.) Fat was 15 - 20%, but I forgot to add water, and I blamed dryness on that. That is, until the second batch had the same issue.
For whatever reason, the pork merchant had trimmed all the fat from the shoulders, and I was having issues finding pork fat this time. Then, I noticed someone had chicken skins in the local market (they flour & fry strips of skin to make street snacks, here. Very tasty.) Skins looked to be about 10 - 15% meat, so I took a gamble.
I used 500g of skins, and 1000g of the lean(ish) shoulder, 14g binder (soy protein isolate), 140g water, and of course, the salt & spices....
Problem #1 - Despite being 'near' freezing, the skins would clog the grinder plate, and wrap around the blades. Twice during the grind I had to stop and clear a mess the size of a golf ball.
(no idea how it gets 'under' the blades. I suspect the blades are not pressed firmly enough to the plates. To that I have purchased a nylon gasket to help the retaining ring to hold more firmly against the plate. Hopefully, pressing against the blade better. If that doesn't work then I wonder if the auger is a bit short. Possibly a nylon spacer between the blade and the auger?)
(In future, I will chop skins, & lay out on parchment paper/cookie sheet and 'freeze solid'. Then feed bits at a time to the grinder. If the bits are small enough it shouldn't hurt, but goodness at the time consumed...)
Other than these two corrections can anyone offer advice on this skin grinding issue?
Problem #2 - Despite 'not' forgetting to add the water to this grind, the sausage was still dry. Not as crumbly, but still dry. (Some improvement, at least.)
I didn't notice any excess rendering during smoking. Not more than a few drops, at most. Is chicken skin not very fatty ? I had assumed it would be a suitable replacement for pork fat back.
Flavor - Wife and I enjoyed the flavor of the pork/chicken skin blend and we will try again. I'm working on the spice recipe (which we do not care for overmuch), and despite being dry, the meat flavors were excellent. Chicken Skin seemed, in my opinion, to add an umami quality that was not in the first batch.
Do I need to up the chicken skin ratio, or is there a better way to juice this up?
-sterling
This is only my second batch. First batch was dry and crumbly. (There were other issues, but keeping is simple here.) Fat was 15 - 20%, but I forgot to add water, and I blamed dryness on that. That is, until the second batch had the same issue.
For whatever reason, the pork merchant had trimmed all the fat from the shoulders, and I was having issues finding pork fat this time. Then, I noticed someone had chicken skins in the local market (they flour & fry strips of skin to make street snacks, here. Very tasty.) Skins looked to be about 10 - 15% meat, so I took a gamble.
I used 500g of skins, and 1000g of the lean(ish) shoulder, 14g binder (soy protein isolate), 140g water, and of course, the salt & spices....
Problem #1 - Despite being 'near' freezing, the skins would clog the grinder plate, and wrap around the blades. Twice during the grind I had to stop and clear a mess the size of a golf ball.
(no idea how it gets 'under' the blades. I suspect the blades are not pressed firmly enough to the plates. To that I have purchased a nylon gasket to help the retaining ring to hold more firmly against the plate. Hopefully, pressing against the blade better. If that doesn't work then I wonder if the auger is a bit short. Possibly a nylon spacer between the blade and the auger?)
(In future, I will chop skins, & lay out on parchment paper/cookie sheet and 'freeze solid'. Then feed bits at a time to the grinder. If the bits are small enough it shouldn't hurt, but goodness at the time consumed...)
Other than these two corrections can anyone offer advice on this skin grinding issue?
Problem #2 - Despite 'not' forgetting to add the water to this grind, the sausage was still dry. Not as crumbly, but still dry. (Some improvement, at least.)
I didn't notice any excess rendering during smoking. Not more than a few drops, at most. Is chicken skin not very fatty ? I had assumed it would be a suitable replacement for pork fat back.
Flavor - Wife and I enjoyed the flavor of the pork/chicken skin blend and we will try again. I'm working on the spice recipe (which we do not care for overmuch), and despite being dry, the meat flavors were excellent. Chicken Skin seemed, in my opinion, to add an umami quality that was not in the first batch.
Do I need to up the chicken skin ratio, or is there a better way to juice this up?
-sterling