Bouncy fresh sausage

[franko]

I just made 10 pounds of fresh sausage from ground Boston butts. It is delicious but is chewy ( I think I used the term bouncy, lol). I kept the meat icy cold and used a medium plate. Flashfroze the patties and vacuum sealed them. Anyone had this problem?

 

[Saline_Smoker]

Could be it's a bit too lean. In my short experience (I've only owned a grinder for about a year), the fat on a butt itself is often just not enough to get that nice soft texture. I'd try adding some extra fat next time and see if that doesn't clear up your issues. Maybe some of the older bucks on the forums will know for sure though.

 

[boykjo]

Its time for a new set of teeth.....:D

Nice crappie in your avatar......Yum

Boykjo

 

[bmudd14474]

Did you do a single or double grind and what plate did you use

 

[franko]

Did you do a single or double grind and what plate did you use

Used the medium plate supplied with a kitchenaid mixer attachment (looks like about 1/4 inch). Only ran it through once.

 

[boykjo]

I just made 10 pounds of fresh sausage from ground Boston butts. It is delicious but is chewy ( I think I used the term bouncy, lol). I kept the meat icy cold and used a medium plate. Flashfroze the patties and vacuum sealed them. Anyone had this problem?

I've never heard of ground pork being chewy unless making ground pork jerky and dehydrate it. Did you case the sausage and the casings are chewy?

 

[franko]

I've never heard of ground pork being chewy unless making ground pork jerky and dehydrate it. Did you case the sausage and the casings are chewy?

Nope. I just ground and seasoned and made into patties. No casings used. I'm wondering if I added enough ice water. I think I added about a cup.

 

[DanMcG]

. I'm wondering if I added enough ice water. I think I added about a cup.

You could have gone with 2 cups without any issue. Is the anything unusual in the ingredients, Like a binder?

 

[franko]

Used a commercial sausage seasoning (Brookshire Brothers). I'm sure it had some kind of binder in it.

 

[boykjo]

My guess, it had to come from the seasoning.... next time make a small batch and try pops recipe.
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/country-style-breakfast-sausage.73350/

Boykjo

 

[Polka]

Did you happen to go from the freezer to skillet? Oftentimes, cooking frozen patties can make for some texture issues in ground meat products. I live north of Longview, and I know the seasoning product well. It is a good product, and it is not part of the problem. It doesn't have a binder in it. It is formulated for breakfast patty / bulk sausage. However, did you add a binder of some sort?

How clean of a cut is your knives making against your plate?
Maybe a finer grind?
Maybe too lean?

Just thinking...............
Rex

 

[dward51]

I'm thinking too lean.

How much fat came out as it fried up in the pan? If it was less than you see with a good quality store bought sausage, that tends to confirm too lean (add more quality fat to the grind). Since you said "patties" in your original post, I presume it was a fresh breakfast sausage. Those can be upwards of 35-40% fat. But you want a quality hard type fat like the fat cap in a pork butt. You can usually find "Fat Back" in the grocery store, but ask if they have any in the butcher section as they often throw it out after trimming from the premium cuts before display and may give it to you. If you buy packaged "fat back" look for some that is not salted. You can use the salted, but you need to adjust the overall salt in your recipe which is hard to do with a pre-packaged spice mix.

I made some breakfast sausage a while back with AC Legg #10 mix. They had pork loins on sale dirt cheap but that a a super lean cut. I was also out of saved pork butt fat caps (yes save them if you are going to trim them off before smoking - that works for sausage), so I came up with the idea of using bacon trimmings in the finished product grind to add fat. Also added that slight hint of a bacon flavor, but it still was not enough overall fat. Those sausage were a little "bouncy" as you called it. Still ate just fine. There was very little fat that came out of those patties when fried which was sort of a surprise (and like I said, and indicator of being too lean a mix).

 

[franko]

I'm thinking too lean.

How much fat came out as it fried up in the pan? If it was less than you see with a good quality store bought sausage, that tends to confirm too lean (add more quality fat to the grind). Since you said "patties" in your original post, I presume it was a fresh breakfast sausage. Those can be upwards of 35-40% fat. But you want a quality hard type fat like the fat cap in a pork butt. You can usually find "Fat Back" in the grocery store, but ask if they have any in the butcher section as they often throw it out after trimming from the premium cuts before display and may give it to you. If you buy packaged "fat back" look for some that is not salted. You can use the salted, but you need to adjust the overall salt in your recipe which is hard to do with a pre-packaged spice mix.

I made some breakfast sausage a while back with AC Legg #10 mix. They had pork loins on sale dirt cheap but that a a super lean cut. I was also out of saved pork butt fat caps (yes save them if you are going to trim them off before smoking - that works for sausage), so I came up with the idea of using bacon trimmings in the finished product grind to add fat. Also added that slight hint of a bacon flavor, but it still was not enough overall fat. Those sausage were a little "bouncy" as you called it. Still ate just fine. There was very little fat that came out of those patties when fried which was sort of a surprise (and like I said, and indicator of being too lean a mix).[/QUO

I'm thinking too lean.

How much fat came out as it fried up in the pan? If it was less than you see with a good quality store bought sausage, that tends to confirm too lean (add more quality fat to the grind). Since you said "patties" in your original post, I presume it was a fresh breakfast sausage. Those can be upwards of 35-40% fat. But you want a quality hard type fat like the fat cap in a pork butt. You can usually find "Fat Back" in the grocery store, but ask if they have any in the butcher section as they often throw it out after trimming from the premium cuts before display and may give it to you. If you buy packaged "fat back" look for some that is not salted. You can use the salted, but you need to adjust the overall salt in your recipe which is hard to do with a pre-packaged spice mix.

I made some breakfast sausage a while back with AC Legg #10 mix. They had pork loins on sale dirt cheap but that a a super lean cut. I was also out of saved pork butt fat caps (yes save them if you are going to trim them off before smoking - that works for sausage), so I came up with the idea of using bacon trimmings in the finished product grind to add fat. Also added that slight hint of a bacon flavor, but it still was not enough overall fat. Those sausage were a little "bouncy" as you called it. Still ate just fine. There was very little fat that came out of those patties when fried which was sort of a surprise (and like I said, and indicator of being too lean a mix).

i think you are right there is very little fat rendered when fried. I used a couple of 5 pound butts which didn't have a very thick fat cap. Being too lean was probably my only problem. Fixing to make some more so I will try adding a little more fat this time. Thanks.