Boo-Yah! Butt sale...... Andouille!!

[JLinza]

That all looks great. Great work, as always

 

[Couyon Cajun]

Hit a meat sale so I backed up the truck. Bought 110# of pork butts to make a big run of andouille....
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I used some of those 52mm x-large hog casings from the Craft Butcher's Pantry. This was my first time using them. I like 'em! Andouille is traditionally pulled through beef middles, but beef middles can get very chewy when cooked down in a gumbo. Not so with hog casings! So this is the best of both worlds! I get the traditional size andouille with an easier to chew casing! Win-win!
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6" boning knife for reference:
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After trimming, I had 55# lean class 1 pork. I pulled aside 15# of the trim and 15# of the back fat. figure 20-22# fat and 8-10# lean trim. 85# of andouille roughly 22-25% fat. I ground the trim and back fat through a #8 plate, then second grind thru a 3mm plate for even distribution throughout the link. Note- for better incorporation, it is best to mix in the phosphates and cure in the 10% water, then add the water to the meat and fat just before mixing for protein extraction. The fluid will help separate the fat particles instead of having them clump together. I ground, then mixed one day, stuffed the next, let sit for 36 hours then smoked...
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Used about 40% cherry chunks and 60% Hickory chinks; along with some Brown sugar on the fire for that signature sweet smoke taste on Andouille...

The cut shot...
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And I had to sample it!!
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How much salt you use for 85 pounds of andouille

 

[indaswamp]

How much salt you use for 85 pounds of andouille

I like 1.4%; which is 540 grams for 85# andouille.

 

[creolesote]

New here so checking out some older posts. In one of your posts on this topic you said “ I ground the trim and back fat through a #8 plate, then second grind thru a 3mm plate for even distribution throughout the link.”

Iam curious as to what plate you used to grind the Lean pork for the andouille? And if you used one grind or two on the lean pork? Thank you kindly.

 

[indaswamp]

New here so checking out some older posts. In one of your posts on this topic you said “ I ground the trim and back fat through a #8 plate, then second grind thru a 3mm plate for even distribution throughout the link.”

Iam curious as to what plate you used to grind the Lean pork for the andouille? And if you used one grind or two on the lean pork? Thank you kindly.

I use a plate with 3/4" holes for the lean in the Andouille, but I use large 52mm hog casings from The Craft Butcher's Pantry. If you use smaller casings, you can down size to a 1/2" plate, but I would not go any smaller as large chunks of lean is a signature of Louisiana Andouille.

 

[creolesote]

I use a plate with 3/4" holes for the lean in the Andouille, but I use large 52mm hog casings from The Craft Butcher's Pantry. If you use smaller casings, you can down size to a 1/2" plate, but I would not go any smaller as large chunks of lean is a signature of Louisiana Andouille.

Yes sir. You that is what I’ve been told but nobody told me what plate. I was about to use the stuffed plate!!

 

[creolesote]

Yes sir. You that is what I’ve been told but nobody told me what plate. I was about to use the stuffed plate!!

As a hunter, assuming deer included, what do you find is the best use of venison for sausage?

 

[indaswamp]

As a hunter, assuming deer included, what do you find is the best use of venison for sausage?

I like breakfast sausage and fresh sausage made with venison. Can make smoke sausage, but I rather use the wild hogs we get and mix in some domestic pork.

 

[creolesote]

I like breakfast sausage and fresh sausage made with venison. Can make smoke sausage, but I rather use the wild hogs we get and mix in some domestic pork.

I find that my venison sausage is still too gamey at 50-50 mix. Despite good kill-casing handling. I think I underestimate the fat content of trimmed pork butt and should add more back fat. But everyone says 80-20 or 60-40 or 50-50 venison to pork and doesn’t distinguish if is that is trimmed pork butt or untrimmed. Your andouille recipe seems to be 40% lean,40% fat and 20% pork trim. I wonder what the fat Percentage is on that?

 

[indaswamp]

You want minimum 30% fat when making venison sausage. Pork butt is 20-25% fat, and if you mix that 50/50 with lean venison, now you are at 10-12.5% fat. This is not enough and the mix is way too lean. I recommend weighing the lean venison, multiply by .3 and that is how much additional fat you need to add, in addition to the pork butt (fat and lean) I can source back fat just about any small town grocery store here that has an in store butcher. Ask around and see if you can get some.

 

[creolesote]

You want minimum 30% fat when making venison sausage. Pork butt is 20-25% fat, and if you mix that 50/50 with lean venison, now you are at 10-12.5% fat. This is not enough and the mix is way too lean. I recommend weighing the lean venison, multiply by .3 and that is how much additional fat you need to add, in addition to the pork butt (fat and lean) I can source back fat just about any small town grocery store here that has an in store butcher. Ask around and see if you can get some.

So are you saying that fatback is not what you get from trimming a pork butt and is a separate purchase? Or just that I need to buy more of it to add what I get from a pork butt?

 

[indaswamp]

So are you saying that fatback is not what you get from trimming a pork butt and is a separate purchase? Or just that I need to buy more of it to add what I get from a pork butt?

Fatback is what is on one side of a pork butt...yes. And all that fat is enough to make sausage with just the pork butt. When you add in more 100% lean meat (venison) to the sausage, you need to add more fat. 30% of what the venison weighs. You can either buy more Boston butts and trim the fat caps off (I do this when I smoke pork butts. Trim the fat caps off and save them in the freezer to add in when making venison sausage) or, you need to source a supplier or butcher shop that will sell you pork back fat by the pound. Either way, you need more fat.