First time brat maker

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MNsmoker87

Newbie
Original poster
May 19, 2020
4
0
I’ve been researching and looking at the threads here. But I am left with two questions.

1) do you just add cheese and other things like peppers to the mix while grinding?

2) when do I need to use cure? These will be all pork brats as I just had two 300lbs pigs butchers. I ended up with 35lbs of sausage. My plane is to smoke some, grill some, and maybe slow cook/crock pot some.
 
1) do you just add cheese and other things like peppers to the mix while grinding? No. add diced cheese and diced peppers after grinding

2) when do I need to use cure? Use cure if you are slow cooking or slow smoking over a long period of time. Cured sausage will be like a hot link or hillshire farms sausage. No cure will be like a johnsonville brat (fresh sausage)

cure is a preservative. use 1 level teaspoon of cure #1 per 5 lbs of meat


These will be all pork brats as I just had two 300lbs pigs butchers. I ended up with 35lbs of sausage. My plane is to smoke some, grill some, and maybe slow cook/crock pot some.
 
1) do you just add cheese and other things like peppers to the mix while grinding? No. add diced cheese and diced peppers after grinding

2) when do I need to use cure? Use cure if you are slow cooking or slow smoking over a long period of time. Cured sausage will be like a hot link or hillshire farms sausage. No cure will be like a johnsonville brat (fresh sausage)

cure is a preservative. use 1 level teaspoon of cure #1 per 5 lbs of meat


These will be all pork brats as I just had two 300lbs pigs butchers. I ended up with 35lbs of sausage. My plane is to smoke some, grill some, and maybe slow cook/crock pot some.

Ok so when stuffing then put in the ingredients.

andI should make a small batch for the slow cooker with the cure!
 
v8f84.jpg

There are special high temp cheeses, that come in small cubes, and are available in many flavors. They perform like chocolate chips in that they do get soft and melty, but they don't get runny and spurt out the end of the links. These are handy to have around as they can be used in meatballs, meatloaf etc.

In addition to using cure as protection from bacteria during long and low smoking times.... cure can be added to fresh sausage to give your sausage the nice pink color, and to allow you to finish it at a lower internal temperature. Cure also changes the texture slightly.
 
View attachment 446067

There are special high temp cheeses, that come in small cubes, and are available in many flavors. They perform like chocolate chips in that they do get soft and melty, but they don't get runny and spurt out the end of the links. These are handy to have around as they can be used in meatballs, meatloaf etc.

In addition to using cure as protection from bacteria during long and low smoking times.... cure can be added to fresh sausage to give your sausage the nice pink color, and to allow you to finish it at a lower internal temperature. Cure also changes the texture slightly.

Thank you!
I guess another question I have is, how many times should I send my pork through the grinder? The butcher has don’t it once already.
 
I suggest you take your sausage temp to 160 degrees. There is a pasteurization chart for lower temps but usda also says to take all ground meat to 160. Was your pigs butchered in a usda inspected facility.

Boykjo
 
Thank you!
I guess another question I have is, how many times should I send my pork through the grinder? The butcher has don’t it once already.

Totally up to you being mindful of the application. The sausage in the photo above with the high temp cheese was double ground. I single grind much of my bulk sausage, like Italian or Farm through the 1/4" plate and it looks like this.
smRcgE6.jpg
 
I suggest you take your sausage temp to 160 degrees. There is a pasteurization chart for lower temps but usda also says to take all ground meat to 160. Was your pigs butchered in a usda inspected facility.

Boykjo


what does this have anything to do with my question???
 
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