Andouille Preferances

[mabrandt]

A lot of folks on here, along with myself, use the NOLA andouille recipe. It calls for 2lbs of hand cut meat to be mixed with your ground pork. I recently saw a video someone posted here, and they use a 3/4in grinder blade to get their chunks, but they use it for the whole batch. I was thinking of getting this blade just for the 2lbs, instead of the hand cutting, or use it for the whole batch. What do you folks think?

 

[darwin101]

I am going to order the 3/4" plate in the near future.  My knife skills are very good, but I would rather do a course grind for my sausages. I would hand dice the meats if I was making the traditional andouille in the large casings.

 

[foamheart]

I did 100% chopped meat, it didn't take long and I highly prefer the texture. I didn't get the casing I ordered so made Andouille sausage instead.

Heres my Thread.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/156295/andouille-foamheart

The only thing I would have done differently was, I think it needed some more cracked black in it.

I have had such a demand upon it from friends and family, I mentioned this last weekend that it was about time for some more, this time with the right casings. I see no need to grind any meat. It stuffed easily and compacted nicely. Cooks perfectly, and you never had such tender Andouille in your life. Completely amazing Andouille!

Whatever you do, good luck.

 

[mickey jay]

Frankly, I've been quite satisfied using a 3/8 plate on the whole batch. Will admit, I haven't tried to hand cut the 2lb portion, but if you're thinking you need another plate or all that extra work to make awesome andouille, it's really not necessary.

 

[daveomak]

I do a single grind of the frozen fat with the fine blade and a single grind of the almost frozen meat with the 3/8 blade.... good fat intermingling in the sausage and good texture with the 3/8 on the meat.....

 

[mabrandt]

Frankly, I've been quite satisfied using a 3/8 plate on the whole batch. Will admit, I haven't tried to hand cut the 2lb portion, but if you're thinking you need another plate or all that extra work to make awesome andouille, it's really not necessary.

I tried that and while it was still quite good, I really liked the chunks in there. It gives it a whole different texture. I just hated doing the hand cuts.  I went ahead and purchased the blade and thought I would give it a try. I'll try the first time doing the whole batch with it and see how it comes out and then try it with just the 2lbs. Watching that video looks like doing the whole batch with it will be fine. The texture he was getting looks similar to what I get when I hand cut it. 

 

[foamheart]

I am sure that a hundred, two hundred, three hundred years ago that no one ever said when making Andouille it needed large grind or cut or even small grind. I am sure it was what the grinder was set up to do. Andouille is all about the spice and the cure. Then probably about the time of my youth people decided to categorize what they believed was the "true Andouille". And that "real andouille" was really more localized to that geographic region. LOL.... you can bet that when a Cajun family butchered they didn't say, "Simone, cha we'll have none of that good andouillle sausage this year, we don't have any the right sized casing, or the right sized blades". 

Make what you like, the flavor will still be there. The last I made everyone hollered cause I didn't cook it. That was because I don't remember when the old-timers made it, them cooking it (BTW its been totally awesome andouille too!).

Basically what I am saying is, as in smoking there is no definitive way, only the way you'd most like yours.

I am still thinking on doing a cure #2 andouille. That has got to be the closest to what was originally done anyway.

Hey Mabrandt, where do you sleep at night? Just wondering, its not in your profile. Andouille is making this huge explosion across the world since the popularity of TV cooking shows, so was just wondering.

 

[mabrandt]

Quote:

 
Basically what I am saying is, as in smoking there is no definitive way, only the way you'd most like yours.
 
Hey Mabrandt, where do you sleep at night? Just wondering, its not in your profile. Andouille is making this huge explosion across the world since the popularity of TV cooking shows, so was just wondering.

I feel the same way, not just about andouille, but the rest of the sausage I have grown to love to make. The wife too. I admit, after watching me fiddle with casings and the smell of raw pork, it took her a while. 

I am in the Indianapolis Indiana area. Originally from Chicago.

 

[alblancher]

Personally the texture of Andouille is important to me and the only way I know of to get the correct texture is to cut a large percentage of the meat into 1/4 - 1/2 inch cubes.   I agree that any additional fat  should be ground through a small plate and then maybe 30 % of the meat should be ground with a 3/8 plate for a smoother fill of the casing.  It is a rough/lumpy , country style, heavily smoked sausage. 

 

[foamheart]

Mmmmmmm...... Butts are on sale, not buying a case like some folks around here but thinking its perfect timing for some andouille and Cajun sausage. I only make small amounts so its not work, I do it myself. Also, in small batches I get to make it more often and tweak the recipe more. I can't wait to add more cracked black to this one!

In my mind, that is how andouille should look......  Just needs a couple a more Tablespoons of cracked black. Andouille is NOT a meat, its supposedly like Tasso a seasoning like salt and pepper.

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• foamheart
• Mar 21, 2014

Oh and there is no grind in it. I had actually thought maybe this time to try a small percentage of grind, maybe 10 to 15%. But mine is uncooked, raw, not like you get at the grocery store.

I can't stand it, It came out pretty when smoked!

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• foamheart
• Mar 21, 2014

I also changed to doing 1/2 link size sausages. Which is much more inline with how much I use when cooking with it. The regular is for a big pot, but most of mine these days are just not big enough to warrant that size and I had 1/2 pieces filling up my andouille bag. My next will be with large casing like I remember as a kid so even 1/2 links will be twice as much. I think the large casing were used for the long term curing of the meat. I don't know that though.