Doctor's sausage

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pushok2018

Master of the Pit
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Oct 12, 2017
2,517
1,202
San Francisco East Bay area, CA
Doctor's sausage used to exist in Soviet Union starting 1938 if I am not mistaken. This is bologna-kind of sausage which includes salt, cure 1, sugar and cardamon in it's recipe. BTW, I used beef only in spite this sausage has to be made of 85% of pork and 15 of beef. Some of my family members don't eat pork.... I was lucky to find a book with all the recipes for a lot of sausages which were made on a territory of Soviet Union using GOST (Single Government Standard). It was normal to find this and other sausages on shelves in the stores till beginning of 80-s but then this all gone all of a sudden... People liked Doctor's sausage very much (so did I) and it was very popular in my former country.
I have done several emulsified sausages and hot dogs in past and because of that I didn't really wanted to go through emulsification process. I just hade the emulsification process: long and messy. Also, I don't like air packets in emulsified sausage.... I know, there is no way you can avoid this but.... Commercially, this kind of sausage made using vacuum stuffers that's why there is not air packets in the sausage .... Heck, my wife even offered to wash all my staff (grinder parts, stuffer, bowls I had to use, etc.) if I just go through 3x grinding and without the emulsification.... I kind of agreed but next morning I just felt like I have more energy and decided to go through the process...
Here are steps:
1. I bought 6 kg of Tri-Tip - family pack. Trimmed it and and got 4300 g of lean meat and 1100 g of fat. Ratio of lean meat to fat is 25%. Then I grinded the meat using 10 mm plate.
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Placed the meat in the freezer for 3 hours.
Grinded it again using 3 mm plate.
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Placed it back in the freezer for two hours then added salt, cure 1, sugar and cardamon and mixed well then all goes to the fridge overnight.
Next morning, at 5 a.m. I placed meat in the freezer for 3 hours. At 8 a.m. - fun part - I prepared my Cuisinart 14 cup food processor and started meat emulsification adding 10% of ice cold water to each portion of meat, Meat was divided into 2# portions. Food processor was able to handle 2# of meat perfectly... Done and ready for staffing!
I used 61 mm clear collagen casing wich I cut in half because I wanted smaller size sausages....

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Stuffing is complete. 14 chubs total...
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Went in the fridge overnight to set. Picture shows only 8 chubs - rest of them in second fridge...

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Next morning I pre-heat my smoker to 165F and dried sausages for one hour. Added smoke (oak) for another hour and stopped smoking. Everything by book.... with exception of smoke. Smoke wasn't included in the original process.. this is my personals addition.
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Vackpacked sausages and they went to SV bath with temp set to 153F for 1 hour 45 min till IM reached 153F

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Out of water bath and on the rack to bloom for one and a half hour....

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... and then into the fridge overnight. I was eager to slice some to taste but decided that I survive till next morning...
Here is a slice and as expected a lot of air packets BUT: it tasted so good - I ate half of a chub right away.... It was even juice in spite I used beef only. I can imagine how would it taste if I used pork.... I like this sausage a lot!
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Thank you for watching!
 

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Looks pretty good to me. As for the air pockets, load less batter at a time while filling the stuffer and push the air out. I take a little more time filling the stuffer with emulsified sausage, and go slower filling the casing. While I still have bubbles, I’m happy with the results. You should be happy with yours too. I’m sure it tastes fantastic.
 
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NICE JOB.

I am huge weisswurst fan and it's an emulsified sausage. On a whim one time, I tried a triple grind and was so impressed with my results I'll never go back to the food processor. If you are really into emulsified stuff, look for a used Champion juicer. Lots of guys use them for emulsified sausages.
 
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Never heard of that sausage. Wonder why it's called "doctor's"? It must have been a favorite of the intelligentsia.
In any case, seems delicious and it looks great.

Приятного аппетита
 
Fine post and nice looking sausage! It's good to see someone not afraid to tinker with a recipe.
I haven't tried emulsifying yet. It just seems like a huge hassle. One of these days......
 
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Looks pretty good to me. As for the air pockets, load less batter at a time while filling the stuffer and push the air out. I take a little more time filling the stuffer with emulsified sausage, and go slower filling the casing. While I still have bubbles, I’m happy with the results. You should be happy with yours too. I’m sure it tastes fantastic.
Thank you for your advice! Actually, I was trying to push air out after loading every small portion of the butter in stuffer. time I try to load just maybe third of a stuffer. This was the reason I used my 5# stuffer instead of motorized 20 #... I decided to go slow with smaller stuffer but it didn't help....
 
Never heard of that sausage. Wonder why it's called "doctor's"? It must have been a favorite of the intelligentsia.
In any case, seems delicious and it looks great.
Thank you, Sir! I have no idea why it was called doctor's sausage (this sausage still produced in all former soviet republics). I can dig in and find this info....
 
That looks great. I used to do the emulsification step for hot dogs and bologna and now do a double grind, stepping down a plate size.... but I do keep the meat icy cold like you do. I also have begun using the sous vide finish, and really like it. No matter how I pack the barrel, I still get some air pockets but the best technique for me is making balls, then sort of packing them in the barrel with my fist.
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I'm curious how you arrived at the 1 hour 45 minute time at 154°? Were you going for fully cooked or pasteurized? I use the same sized casings and use 150° for 3 hours although I think 2.5 hours is the pasteurization time for that diameter and water temp.
 
Excellent looking sausage!
Nice work!
Thank you, Al! I appreciate your like!
I gotta agree with SmokinAl SmokinAl SmokinAl SmokinAl , and the others!!
That's some Beautiful looking Sausage!!
Nice Job!
Thank you, Bear! Yes, very tasty with nice texture but.... air packets drive me crazy! :emoji_frowning2: Oh, well... there is nothing we can do about it... I guess... Thank you for the like!
 
Oh wow! Love this post al lot! Big BIG Like!

I hate double grinding so much I refuse to do it...I can't imagine doing emulsified!
Maybe one day when I buy a better grinder I might change my mind.
 
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I am huge weisswurst fan and it's an emulsified sausage. On a whim one time, I tried a triple grind and was so impressed with my results I'll never go back to the food processor. If you are really into emulsified stuff, look for a used Champion juicer. Lots of guys use them for emulsified sausages.
Thank you for the advice.... I am aware of Champion juicer and am still looking it on craigslist and Facebook marketplace but $100 for used juicer which doesn't look good easer - no way. I would pay $50 so if get brakes right away - be it.... I am still thinking to buy new one but $360 is kind of unreasonable price for random sausage making... These juicers are never on sale either.... Even on Black Friday... BTW, I am wondering if using juicer eliminate air packets in the sausage.... Honestly, I don't think so. Just easier, cleaner process.... Never used one - this is my assumption only... I appreciate y our like!
 
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Oh wow! Love this post al lot! Big BIG Like!

I hate double grinding so much I refuse to do it...I can't imagine doing emulsified!
Maybe one day when I buy a better grinder I might change my mind.
Thank you! Double grinding is not a big deal for me (anyway I had to grind it twice using 10 mm & 3 mm plates). It's getting worse when you need to grind it three times though 3 mm plate in order to avoid a food processor). Next time I will be either grinding it three times or I had to buy a Champion juicer for emulsification process.... I appreciate y our like!
 
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