Any tips for easiest way to use regular (non-high temp) cheese in sausage?

[DougE]

The Tillamook farm cut shred works fine and may save you extra work. Just mix it in and stuff as usual.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

I was making sausages and at the last minute decided to add cheese. Cheese is going in the freezer now, meat in the fridge.

 

[chopsaw]

found that contraption

worked perfectly.

Good to hear . They really do a great job . I buy the smaller 8 oz. blocks . They fit the width , so I make the cross cut fit the length , then take the slice . Gives you a nice cube of cheese .
I've used Cabot , Hautly and some store bought . You just need to know who makes the store branded cheese . All have worked great and the chopper makes fast work of it .

 

[Bigtank]

I have not tried it but I read to dehydrate your cheese after you dice it.

 

[kevin james]

Good to hear . They really do a great job . I buy the smaller 8 oz. blocks . They fit the width , so I make the cross cut fit the length , then take the slice . Gives you a nice cube of cheese .
I've used Cabot , Hautly and some store bought . You just need to know who makes the store branded cheese . All have worked great and the chopper makes fast work of it .

Quck question for you. On yours, what is the size of the square dicing blade area? Mine is exaqctly 2.5" x 2.5", while the slices I take off the 32 oz blocks I am using are 2.75" x 2.75". If yours is a little bigger then screw it, I'll just order that one.

I want to process my cheese in large batches of say 10lbs at a time, then vac seal and freeze. That said, this one would be more than worth it to me at $22 if it saves the extra work of adjusting the size of each slice. I know it's not a lot more work, but every little thing makes the process take longer.

 

[chopsaw]

Mines 3 1/4 square . Has a 1/2 die and a 1/4 inch die . Not sure what it comes with , so if you order one pay attention to that . I use the smaller one for link sausage and the larger one for SS .

 

[chopsaw]

kevin james I just noticed the link I posted says unavailable . I really try to watch that before I link something , but missed it this time .
So it looks like they have a new model . Just can't find a number on the cutting plates to know if they are the same size . I watched a video of a review , and was able to count the number of squares on the large plate . It has 7 and mine has the same , 7 . So should measure the same 3 1/4 . Just don't want to lead you in the wrong direction .
It's a bit more money , but comes with another plate .

 

[jimmyinsd]

I have just cubed up blocks of cheese from our local cheese plant and chucked them into the food processor and pulsed it until I liked the average size of the pieces, they arent all perfect little cubes, but I dont really care. This opens up a lot more options for cheese as well vs the standard few options that come in high temp.

 

[kevin james]

kevin james I just noticed the link I posted says unavailable . I really try to watch that before I link something , but missed it this time .
So it looks like they have a new model . Just can't find a number on the cutting plates to know if they are the same size . I watched a video of a review , and was able to count the number of squares on the large plate . It has 7 and mine has the same , 7 . So should measure the same 3 1/4 . Just don't want to lead you in the wrong direction .
It's a bit more money , but comes with another plate .

Yeah, I was about to order it and realized the same thing lol. I also saw there was a new one and there was a larger picture available that allowed me to count the squares as well and yes, saw there was 7 squares on the larger blade and 14 on the smaller blade. Assuming they are half inch and quarter inch it should be 3.5" x 3.5" or there abouts, which would be more than enough. So I put in an order and it should be here today.

This will make processing the cheese SO must faster and easier. Thinking I will use it to process my jalapeno's and other peppers as well to have perfectly uniform chunks of cheese and jalapenos in my jalapeno cheese sausage. I'm really focusing on making things as consistent as I can. Always trying to improve and hone things.

 

[gmc2003]

We have a shoe-string blade for our french fry cutter that would work. I'll try to get a pic later, as it's packed away somewhere.

Chris

 

[SmokinEdge]

We have a shoe-string blade for our french fry cutter that would work. I'll try to get a pic later, as it's packed away somewhere.

Chris

I was thinking about my fry cutter this morning. Plates measure 3” square. One is 1/2” and one is about 3/8” cut.

 

[gmc2003]

We have a fairly heavy fry cutter, and cutting plates from shoe-string to wedges.

Chris

 

[Asmokerguy]

As the title suggests, I'm looking to see if anyone here has any tips on the easiest way to process regular cheese, as in not the high temp cheese, for use in sausage.

I don't really like the flavor or the texture of the high temp cheese, and it's also just so expensive it's laughable in my opinion. The one and only thing i like about it is that it comes diced to the perfect size little cubes, and dicing cheese by hand to that size is a huge pain in the you know what.

So, I'm wondering if anyone here has a process they use that works well for them to get it to the right size little chunks when using regular cheese.

I was watching this video and this guy uses a commercial processor called a Robo Coupe R2, but it's extremely expensive.

Robot Coupe R2N Combination Food Processor with 3 Qt. / 3 Liter Gray Bowl, Continuous Feed & 2 Discs - 1 hp

Producing large quantities of processed foods is a breeze with the Robot Coupe R2N continuous feed combination food processor! Able to produce up to 850 servings in three hours or less, this multipurpose machine is ideal for an array of tasks thanks to its powerful, 1 hp fan-cooled motor. Use...

www.webstaurantstore.com

I'm wondering if something like this Cuisinart would work, it's much more affordable, but this is really the main thing I would use it for so I wouldn't want to waste the money if it's not going to work for this use.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AXM4WV2/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1

Hello, Kevin.
I have the perfect answer for you. I have been making sausage for 25 years and have struggled with cubed cheddar for years, I feel your pain. I just recently purchased a salad shredder called a Sharp Shooter made by Presto. It has a shredding cone and a slicing cone, I use the shredding cone. Works perfect. It has a handle so you can add your cheese over top of the mixer as the mixer is turning to give great distribution. I only use aged cheddar which is more difficult to cube as it is drier and tends to crumble. With the shredder all those problems are gone. The finished product has just the right amount of visible small bits of cheese and the right amount of non-visible cheese melted into the meat. We actually reduced the amount of cheese we added and it seems like there is more cheese flavour. The end result is reduced costs, reduced labour and better end product. Win, Win, Win. We add 1.67 lb of cheese to 15 lb of meat. Please see attachments. Good luck.

 

[kevin james]

Hello, Kevin.
I have the perfect answer for you. I have been making sausage for 25 years and have struggled with cubed cheddar for years, I feel your pain. I just recently purchased a salad shredder called a Sharp Shooter made by Presto. It has a shredding cone and a slicing cone, I use the shredding cone. Works perfect. It has a handle so you can add your cheese over top of the mixer as the mixer is turning to give great distribution. I only use aged cheddar which is more difficult to cube as it is drier and tends to crumble. With the shredder all those problems are gone. The finished product has just the right amount of visible small bits of cheese and the right amount of non-visible cheese melted into the meat. We actually reduced the amount of cheese we added and it seems like there is more cheese flavour. The end result is reduced costs, reduced labour and better end product. Win, Win, Win. We add 1.67 lb of cheese to 15 lb of meat. Please see attachments. Good luck.

Thanks for the info. I tried using coarsely shredded cheese and while not perfect, I am happy with the results. I do not use a mixer though, so I am just adding a little bit at a time until everything is evenly mixed and incorporated. I found that you can definitely taste the cheese, no problem there, and it gives some good contrast with some shreds of cheese retaining their structure and some totally melting into the mix which just adds to the juiciness. This is dependent on precise temperature control though. I pull my sausages when they hit 150 and do not let them get any higher. This is how I will continue to process my cheese for now unless/until I find a better method that works with minimal effort.

 

[nlife]

I picked up a pack of Sunspun Ribbon Slices processed cheese based on the recommendation of Duncan Henry's video (it was posted earlier). I believe he also just runs it through his meat processor, though I'd have to watch the video again to be sure. The processed cheese doesn't melt away and leave pockets, instead it melts and creates creamy pockets of cheese. Not only does it provide a velvety mouth feel, it's not as sharp as Old/Sharp/Aged cheddar.

It doesn't really make the process easier, as you still have to cut into cubes, then break into smaller pieces. I found that freezing it on a cookie sheet seems to help with getting it distributed in the meat a bit easier. Same with stuffing.