blowouts

[Hijack73]

I am using a unit of casings that I bought back in early March right before my kitchen had to be replaced. This last run, I had a casing that I loaded onto the horn and it blew out about every 8-12 inches. It was ridiculous. I assumed it was just a bad casing, so I cleaned it all out, loaded on a new one, and had minor problems with the rest of the batch (used about 1.5 lengths, had I think 3 blowouts). Just about the time I got everything cleaned up, my back said "that's enough, go lay down" - so I did. Then early the next morning I got a call. Life intervened. I had coiled it up on a pair of sheet pans and left it uncovered in the fridge to dry, which is not what I usually do. I usually link it before I put it in the fridge. I ended up having to pack a bag and be gone for 2 days. I covered the pans with plastic wrap, figured that would be ok. Last night I finally got around to trying to link it. Almost every link blew out on the twist. I was a bit heartbroken, as I had scored some hatch peppers (not a lot) and I really tried with this stuff to get it right looks AND texture wise. I am not there yet, but I'm giving it hell lol. I was so tempted to gut it all and start over, but by now I'd had it working for 6 total days and I was pretty eager to eat some..... Process as follows, but I am wondering if it might be my casings (storing them in a saturated salt brine, pulling out what I need for a cold water soak for 2 days - changing the water once, then a bit before I stuff, I toss in a quarter tsp or so of baking soda) or was it the fact that I had tried to link them 2.5 days after stuffing. They taste fine, not tough, not chewy- they just busted at almost every twist.

process and ingredients

Ingredients - 2700g cubed beef (small brisket flat with thin cap and a 85/15ish chuck roast) 930g pork belly (extra fat, one of the scrawny Aldi ones that was probably 50/50 fat to lean), sausage seasonings I like, 1.5lb Tillamook farmhouse sharp cheddar shreds, about 8-9 6" roasted skinned and seeded hatch chili (I bought 25, used 1/3, very glad I saved some as it needs WAY more) and eyeballed in some NFDM. I only had about 1/2 a pouch, which is about 45g, and crushed ice and water to get to paste consistency and keep cold while I mix. I had decided that my 2 prior runs of beef weren't mixed enough, so I went shell on this, breaking out my hand mixer after my hands just couldn't take any more - which worked fine in 2 batches. Mixed in cheese and chili when i was happy with the tack on the paste

day 1 - cubed meat and added salt/cure (thanks chopsaw - wanted optimal texture ) keeping the beef and pork separate as I wanted to grind the beef 2x and the pork 1x
day 2 - let it ride, stir meat
day 3 - stir meat
day 4 - grind, mix, stuff.
days 4.5, 5 and 6 - sits in fridge while I deal with life. It was about 65 hours in the fridge covered in plastic wrap.
late day 6 - twist and smoke.

I will admit, this stuff is excellent in flavor, just needs more hatch - spice level is pretty mild but tasty -my test patty in the air fryer must have been heavy hatched because it was more towards 'medium'. It took good color and great smoke. Texture is my my best predominately beef yet. I have struggled with texture on 2 prior batches of beef, one all beef and one I did add some pork fat, not as much as this time. But it's ugly as sin.

First time using Tillamook shreds, 100% will use from now on. No more cubing cheese (pita) and letting it dry for 2-3 days. Thanks SmokinEdge - just open bag and pour in.

 

[chopsaw]

I never have blowouts anymore . When I did the Bratwurst over the weekend , I had several . When I loaded the first casing , I could tell it was going to be a struggle but tried anyway . Didn't want to load , then didn't want to peel off . Ended up cutting what I did get stuffed off the length , and getting rid of the rest and started over . Happens sometimes .

Your blowout on twisting was probably because it had been in the fridge .

I like the pre cure , just have to plan for it timewise .
I just did some hatch chili chorizo , but I left it fresh . Came out good .

 

[Hijack73]

TOOK SOME PICS! I always forget.... You can see where they tore on the twist. Doesn't hurt the flavor at least.

 

[halleoneagain]

Those are some really nice-looking links! Good job!

 

[SmokinEdge]

Those are nice links for sure. Keep after it. 2 things, first is getting the meat mixture to feel right or to be free flowing in texture, this helps going through the stuffer but is a huge help in moving the mixture in the casing for linking, you don’t want it dry or sticky.

Second important thing is not stuffing to tight. It’s a feel thing but you want the stuffed rope to feel soft rather than plump, also go easy in linking don’t just twisted it off, squeeze easy and give the meat a moment to move. You will get there but all of this is a by feel process and hard to describe but once you feel it with your hands and it works right you know what to look for.

Nice work.

 

[Hijack73]

Those are nice links for sure. Keep after it. 2 things, first is getting the meat mixture to feel right or to be free flowing in texture, this helps going through the stuffer but is a huge help in moving the mixture in the casing for linking, you don’t want it dry or sticky.

Second important thing is not stuffing to tight. It’s a feel thing but you want the stuffed rope to feel soft rather than plump, also go easy in linking don’t just twisted it off, squeeze easy and give the meat a moment to move. You will get there but all of this is a by feel process and hard to describe but once you feel it with your hands and it works right you know what to look for.

Nice work.

Thank you. I've found that beef needs to be mixed to a more tacky texture than pork and also needs to be a bit looser/runny to flow right. I am really thinking these tore on the twist just because they had been stuffed and in the fridge for so long. They were soft the night I stuffed, definitely stiffer 2.5 days later. I had to really press to get the sausage to move inside the casing before the twist. Froze the rest of my hatch, looking forward to enjoying all of this over the next few weeks.

Before I started this new endeavor, I ate maybe 5-6lb of smoked sausage a year, with most of it being in gumbo and the rest when I'd smoke some beef. The last 6 weeks, I've gone through probably 20+ lbs lol. SO GOOD! I'm turning into Tony Soprano ova heah. Eating sausage by the carload..... I'll put it this way, I have bought mustard twice in the last few weeks, when a jar of mustard would normally last me about a year.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Thank you. I've found that beef needs to be mixed to a more tacky texture than pork and also needs to be a bit looser/runny to flow right. I am really thinking these tore on the twist just because they had been stuffed and in the fridge for so long. They were soft the night I stuffed, definitely stiffer 2.5 days later. I had to really press to get the sausage to move inside the casing before the twist. Froze the rest of my hatch, looking forward to enjoying all of this over the next few weeks.

Before I started this new endeavor, I ate maybe 5-6lb of smoked sausage a year, with most of it being in gumbo and the rest when I'd smoke some beef. The last 6 weeks, I've gone through probably 20+ lbs lol. SO GOOD! I'm turning into Tony Soprano ova heah. Eating sausage by the carload..... I'll put it this way, I have bought mustard twice in the last few weeks, when a jar of mustard would normally last me about a year.

Yup, you are on the right mind set. Just keep after it and remember to always link before fridging. You can try my dual link option, look it up or I’ll post you a link. Super fast and easy linking.

 

[DougE]

Blowouts happen to the best of us. I just tie them off and keep going. Top quality casings, and having the "feel" for how full your casings need to be to allow room for linking goes a long way in avoiding them in the first place.

 

[slavikborisov]

my best guess is not linking after stuffing as it dries out a bit and i find it easier to twist when everything is moist inside the casing and outside and/or you were overstuffing from the beginning regardless keep at it and follow boykjo casing storage guidelines https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/how-to-handle-natural-casings.159729/

 

[chopsaw]

TOOK SOME PICS!

Those look good , nice work . If you fridge before linking again , just tie them with some butchers twine .
I have cellulose that I do that with because they don't twist .

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Those are nice links for sure. Keep after it. 2 things, first is getting the meat mixture to feel right or to be free flowing in texture, this helps going through the stuffer but is a huge help in moving the mixture in the casing for linking, you don’t want it dry or sticky.

Second important thing is not stuffing to tight. It’s a feel thing but you want the stuffed rope to feel soft rather than plump, also go easy in linking don’t just twisted it off, squeeze easy and give the meat a moment to move. You will get there but all of this is a by feel process and hard to describe but once you feel it with your hands and it works right you know what to look for.

Nice work.

Hopefully one of these days I will get there!

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Those look good , nice work . If you fridge before linking again , just tie them with some butchers twine .
I have cellulose that I do that with because they don't twist .
View attachment 704855

How do you cut them up with that twine on there?

 

[slavikborisov]

Those look good , nice work . If you fridge before linking again , just tie them with some butchers twine .
I have cellulose that I do that with because they don't twist .
View attachment 704855

Cellulose will twist if you English braid them see picture below. BrianGSDTexoma cellulose casing peel right off after cooking as they are non edible.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Cellulose will twist if you English braid them see picture below.

What about hog casings if you tie. Was wondering you can separate them without cooking them?

 

[Dave in AZ]

What about hog casings if you tie. Was wondering you can separate them without cooking them?

Yes, after you leave them in fridge overnight, the twists dry and become permanent with hog casing, and you can snip them the next day. HOWEVER, I actually find it best to leave sausages all together, and sous-vide fresh ones or smoke cured ones, then separate after cooking, icebath, and vacpack after cooked. I think I get better storage, hygiene, and easier reheat, on fresh this way.

 

[Hijack73]

Hopefully one of these days I will get there!

You sure will. So far, my biggest problems have been with "making it pretty"

Flavor is easy -
Texture - that can be tricky. The trick is to mix for a few more minutes after you think it's good enough. I mentioned above that I broke out my hand mixer for this batch. Not the best tool, but it was a godsend to my cold cramping hands. A stand mixer would solve my problems, but if the hand mixer continues to work out, I'll just keep using it. It takes up very little room and my kitchen is not large. The stuffer and my grinder already takes up significant cabinet space....

Making it pretty and getting shapely links is where I'm struggling. As SE pointed out, the meat paste/batter consistency seems to be key here. I'm just figuring that part out. My best has been a batch of pork that I made with a very loose batter. I've only done it half a dozen or 8 times now - and every batch has been tasty, even if it looked like a 7 year old was rolling out play-dough logs.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Making it pretty and getting shapely links is where I'm struggling. As SE pointed out, the meat paste/batter consistency seems to be key here. I'm just figuring that part out. My best has been a batch of pork that I made with a very loose batter. I've only done it half a dozen or 8 times now - and every batch has been tasty, even if it looked like a 7 year old was rolling out play-dough logs.

One thing that may help with the pretty part is to leave the ends untied with a 3-4” tail. This will let you massage out a tight sausage or tighten up a loose sausage, then tie the ends and trim.

Another trick is to stuff a rope about 6’ long then use the two braid link method this keeps all the links the same length. Link every 6-7” works out even on a 6’ rope. Here is a link to a thread I posted on the two braid method.

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/the-2-braid-link-for-sausage.325140/

 

[Hijack73]

One thing that may help with the pretty part is to leave the ends untied with a 3-4” tail. This will let you massage out a tight sausage or tighten up a loose sausage, then tie the ends and trim.

Another trick is to stuff a rope about 6’ long then use the two braid link method this keeps all the links the same length. Link every 6-7” works out even on a 6’ rope. Here is a link to a thread I posted on the two braid method.

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/the-2-braid-link-for-sausage.325140

Nice, I like that and I will refer back to it when I do another batch.