Emulsifying?

[makeme]

When should you emulsify fat before adding to the mix or what kinds of sausage will benefit the most and for what reason.

I am guessing Italian or breakfast sausage does not need this process.

 

[marknb]

Hey,

I'm far from being an expert on the subject, but I believe emulsifying is what's needed for making balogna, wieners/frankfurters, and other 'smoother' textured meats. And, you emulsify fat and lean together to make something more or less like a paste.

You're right, Italian and breakfast sausage are regularly made without emulsifying. Now, I've read recipes where the fat and lean are ground to different sizes - that's far more managable. Apparently emulsifying (for the hobbyist) can be quite hard on the motor of your food processor.

Unless someone knows of a 'hobby sized' meat emulsifier.... anyone?

MB

 

[werdwolf]

what MarkNB said. If you fine grind and then use the grinder to stuff with you can get a near emulsified product. That's actually why I bought a stuffer for better texture of the sausage.

 

[beer-b-q]

What kind of sausage are you planning to make? Most sausages you just grind your meat and fat together.

 

[meat hunter]

This is from Ryteks book.
Meat should be ground first thru a small grind plate and all ingredients, except the water, should be mixed very thoroughly until evenly distributed. Then the meat is place in a food processor, a little at a time, adding a bit of ICE COLD water as you go. This helps to mix things up and take the strain off the motor of the food processor. The end result should be a product that is close to store bought, (wieners, bologna).

I have a small grind plate and there is no way to get the consistancy of near store bought by simply grinding. I use our KitchenAid food processor and add one cup at a time and it makes it into a paste like consistancy. I then dump each batch onto a piece of wax paper and into the freezer so it all stays cold. Do not do the fat sepeately, as you will have one heck of a time with it in the food processor, it will stick to the sides. Best to have it all together.

Your breakfast patties and Italina sausages do not need this process. Like mentioned below, wieners, balogna and brautwurst are good canidates for this method.

 

[makeme]

Thanks for clearing that up. Yes I will be making Italian and breakfast sausage to start. Guess I am going to have to pick up this book by Ritek.


Can someone tell me which one of his books would be best for a new to sausage making person?

 

[ronp]

Here you go. Get the fourth edition.

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Sausage-...f=pd_rhf_p_t_1

 

[kingudaroad]

I have had some success emulsifying without a food processor by grinding partially frozen meat through medium die, refreeze and grind through small die, refreeze and grind through small die again. Mix in ice cold water a little at a time very aggressively by hand squeezing the water into the meat paste at a rate of about 1 1/2 cups per 5 lbs of meat. Be prepared for very cold fingers though.

 

[beer-b-q]

You can get the Rytek Kutas book "Great Sausage Recipe Book & Sausage Making DVD" here at The Sausage Maker.
http://www.sausagemaker.com/71200gre...ytekkutas.aspx

 

[erain]

when i make hotdogs or bologna i will just run material thru grinder several times until the texture looks good to me. usually 3 or 4 passes thru grinder with plate with smaller holes is all that it takes.

 

[marknb]

Keith and erain, what are you guys using for grinders? I use a kitchenaid food grinder, and I find trying to put previously ground meat through it to be a very frustrating experience. A lot of meat squeezing its way around the plunger. Maybe that's where the additional freezing comes in?

 

[que-ball]

I've used a #8 LEM, a #12 Rand, and currently a #12 PARS grinder. That second grind is a pain with all of them unless you nearly refreeze the meat in between grinds. The stomper is slightly undersized compared to the grinder throat, and you have to use the stomper to scrape meat off the throat. If it wasn't undersized though, you would be pulling the stomper out of the throat against a partial vaccuum.

I've heard of people putting their grinder head in the freezer between grinds, to keep the meat cold while they're working it. It's usually like -20 degrees when I make my sausage, so I can just set one lug of first grind outside for a few minutes while I do the first grind on another batch. Keeping the meat cold enough isn't usually a problem.

 

[meat hunter]

I used our KitchenAid for years. And it got me thru, but if you really want to crank out the meat, get a bigger unit. Something with a heavy motor of at least 3/4 horse. I to had about as much meat squeezing by as was going thru the tube LOL. In either case, the colder your meat, in a semi frozen state is what you want. You want it to cut when going thru the plates, not squish. My first batch of Kielbasy when I joined this site, I ran thru our KitchenAid. 25# batch took me I think 2 hours. When I bought my bigger unit, I ran the same size batch in about 5 minutes.

Like I tell the wife, anything that I buy that makes this hobby easier and quicker is justified

 

[erain]

i have an old #32 enterprise and it takes the meat well being it has such a large feed area. i upgraded to a cabelas grinder last year , got on sale and havent used yet. but i also got it in #32 size.

 

[kingudaroad]

The refreeze is the hot tip. No pun intended.

 

[oneshot]

I'm just getting started making sausage to and just ordered "Great Sausage Recipe Book & Sausage Making DVD".

The people at The Sausage Maker were very nice and helpful!!!!