Goose/Pork Jalapeno & Chedder Smoke Sausage snack links

[indaswamp]

Another arctic cold front rolling through so I got to get it while the gettin is good! My smokehouse runs so much better in the cold when smoking sausages.

15# of goose meat almost thawed. Just picked up 17.5# of boston butt from the grocer that I need to debone and cube. Also picked up 5# of pork fat cap and it's ready to go, already cut into 1" strips.

I'll be busy mixing up seasoning, cubing cheese, and de-seeding jalapenos. Pics. as I go...
Will hit the smokehouse tomorrow afternoon.

 

[crazymoon]

IDS, Sounds good!

 

[motocrash]

 

[Bearcarver]

That Sounds Tasty!!

Be Back for Pics!

Bear

 

[indaswamp]

Just got a call from my cousin. Some friends are in town from over seas and we're having a get together tonight @ 6pm. I'll have to postpone mixing and stuffing till later tonight. See you guys then.

 

[indaswamp]

Alright, I'm back. I left the get together early because winter mix started coming down on top of the rain wet roads we already have. Lots of small bridges for me to cross on the way home and they will freeze over at some point.
Got the cheese diced, jalapenos de-seeded and cut (will grind chunks through 6mm plate with meat), and seasoning measured out. I'll subtract out seasoning mix for 5# and only use enough for 20#. I went with my own creation. I tweeked my recipe. I subbed red pepper flake for the cayenne powder but reduced the volume significantly since I'm adding jalapenos; will still have some heat and a bite, added mustard and more sugar. Also will be adding apple cider vinegar to the meat paste for a little tartness. Will be smoking with pecan and apple wood. Should be good.

I found some diver duck breasts in the freezer so I'm adding those to the mix. I'm adjusting the volume of jalapeno & cheddar links to 20# of meat instead of 15#.

Using 2# of Kraft Sharp Cheddar

1/4~3/8 inch dice, most of it is 3/8.

Ready to go, just waiting on the meat to re-chill again so I can grind.

I'm also making ~15# of my regular smoke sausage with the remainder of the grind.

 

[indaswamp]

I'm going with real cheese instead of high temp. because I'm keeping the smokehouse temp. low. I will not go above 170*.

 

[motocrash]

These are gonna be good! I'm not the only one that has a camera that plays tricks with light.You can use a french fry cutter to cube the cheese.They normally have 1/4" and 3/8" cutters.

 

[indaswamp]

These are gonna be good! I'm not the only one that has a camera that plays tricks with light.You can use a french fry cutter to cube the cheese.They normally have 1/4" and 3/8" cutters.

Great idea on the fry cutter....

 

[motocrash]

These work pretty good too.
http://www.agrisupply.com/vegetable-chopper/p/66545/

 

[indaswamp]

First coarse grind done...

Here is the meat chilled ready to go to the grinder. Cubed pork fat on the right which I ground through with the goose and duck meat.

Duck and pork fat coarse grind:

Then the pork shoulder...

Mixed it up and ready for the seasoning slurry...

Done...

Back in the deep freeze to chill while I measure out the cure, NFDM, apple cider vinegar, and water, and change out the plates to 6mm.

 

[indaswamp]

Second grind through the 6mm plate...

Got everything ready to go, but I forgot to grind the jalapenos with the meat! DOH! So, I improvise and break out the food processor. Since the peppers were chilled and hard, the chopper did a good job on them. Chopped to ~1/4". Round robin, jalapenos, diced cheddar cheese, cure water, NFDM powder.

Add the cure dissolved in ice cold water and the NFDM powder and mix in...

I used my grill gloves to mix, and that works way better for stopping to snap pics. to post. I just pull my hands out of the gloves and the tacky meat grabs them! HA! Only downside is each glove will have 1/2lb. of meat stuck to it once you finish mixing and the meat gets tacky. No problem, I used a rubber spatula to scrape the meat off the gloves.

Add the diced cheddar, jalapenos and 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar (not shown). Mixed up and ready to stuff!

I did a taster patty in a skillet, forgot to snap a pic. I was so anxious to sample it! LOL!

I haven't done a whole lot of jalapeno and cheddar sausages, thus the reason I almost forgot to add the jalapenos. I made this batch on the request of a friend, but after the sample patty, I will be making more of this! When the links take on the apple wood and pecan smoke, it's gonna take it to the next level! These will not sit around in the freezer for long! Gonna be perfect for snacks onda boat or running around at the camp on the go. <thumbs up>!

 

[indaswamp]

Another tip: I keep bread ends in the freezer specifically for running through the grinder to clean out the last of the meat paste. Frozen bread works a whole lot better than either fresh or stale. you recover 80~90% of the grind. Shoulda snapped pics, but forgot.....

 

[indaswamp]

Thought to take a pic. of the patty made from what was left in the stuffer, my late night snack/early breakfast.

Pink is there so the cure is workin. The jalapeno flavor has deepened since my test patty, heat should be spot on once it melds together. Not to hot, just right. Sweetness is there in the background, not overpowering. Tart is there in the background, not overpowering; might could go 3/8 cup cider. Cheese flavor is there, might could go a little more cheese, but with the sharp cheddar the flavor profile is there and I wanted a bold cheese to stand up to the wild taste of the goose; perfect fit. We'll see how it changes once the smoke hits it, but I'm satisfied with the flavor.

Sitting in my chair relaxing, then I'll crash. It's 14* outside right now here in south Louisiana and there is 1/4" of ice on the drive way. Won't be going anywhere anytime soon... Plan on cranking up the smokehouse sometime around 4pm later today. See y'all then.

 

[SmokinAl]

That test patty looks delicious!
Al

 

[indaswamp]

Thanks Al!

 

[indaswamp]

Got the links on the poles hanging in the smoker to for a pellicle.

While stuffing the sausage, I made the first coil and made sure to not over stuff it so I could twist into 6" links. When I started making the links, I had two blowouts back to back. The meat paste was too cold and did not want to slide in the casing easily. I got frustrated and decided to just do loops. Towards the end of stuffing, the meat paste had warmed slightly and was much more pliable. I had a short piece of casing left on the horn and filled it accidentally instead of pulling the tag end off and reloading. Well, that link ended up being about 12" long and it hit me-why not just twist this one into (2) 6" links and THEN tie the ends together?

Bingo.

I finished stuffing the links this way. I wanted links so I would not have to cut the sausages for packaging. Cut links with cheese, the cheese will run out on the cut end when warmed on the grill. I did not want this. Now I know what to do for the next batch.
Been fun dialing in my new smokehouse and figuring out the best way to fill it to max. capacity. Now I know how I will do my cheese sausages from now on. Doing 2 links, I can get 6~7# - maybe 8# - of links on one pole, about 28~30# per rack. Can load top two racks and still get 60# in the smoke house.

 

[Bearcarver]

Looks Great Inda!!!:)
60# ought to hold you for a few days!!!:D
Like.

Bear

 

[indaswamp]

Naw, I made 60# of wild hog sausage. This batch is only 25# of jalapeno and cheddar. I also made 7.5# using my regular smoke sausage just to see how that recipe works with the goose meat.

But now I know how I can get 60# of cheese sausages in the smokehouse! Been fun figuring it all out.

 

[motocrash]

But now I know how I can get 60# of cheese sausages in the smokehouse! Been fun figuring it all out.

I think you got it figured out;)