Hi-Country and Hi-Mountain Sausage Kits

[bill ace 350]

Got some Hi-Country breakfast sausage seasoning and a Hi-Mountain Polish Sausage kit.

Each makes up to 30lbs, according to the label.

Not familiar with these brands.

Anyone used them?

Thanks

 

[SmokinEdge]

Got some Hi-Country breakfast sausage seasoning and a Hi-Mountain Polish Sausage kit.

Each makes up to 30lbs, according to the label.

Not familiar with these brands.

Anyone used them?

Thanks

The Hi Mountain polish is good, I don’t like the casings that come with the kit, they are/were packed in salt and very dry and tough. The seasoning is on the mild side for me, so I used more per pound to meat than recommended, otherwise I’m sure you will like it, also it does contain MSG, if that matters to you.

Never used the Hi Country, no help there.

 

[dirtworldmike]

Haven't used their sausage seasonings. But have used their jerky seasonings/kits for years and always have good results with them..

 

[bill ace 350]

The Hi Mountain polish is good, I don’t like the casings that come with the kit, they are/were packed in salt and very dry and tough. The seasoning is on the mild side for me, so I used more per pound to meat than recommended, otherwise I’m sure you will like it, also it does contain MSG, if that matters to you.

Never used the Hi Country, no help there.

Thanks! i saw the casings and immediately thought of my pre-tubed ones.
Glad to hear the Polish is decent.

 

[thirdeye]

For the Hi Mountain seasoning, I would do a 1/2 pound test batch, then adjust from there.

 

[bill ace 350]

For the Hi Mountain seasoning, I would do a 1/2 pound test batch, then adjust from there.

yup, planned on a small batch/test fry. then go from there.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Thanks! i saw the casings and immediately thought of my pre-tubed ones.
Glad to hear the Polish is decent.

Going over my notes, that kit has a “cure” packet and a “seasoning“ packet. When the cure packet is used, it gives the sausage an unfamiliar rich taste, not bad at all just almost “creamy” that’s not the right word but first word that comes to mind. I then started tossing the cure packet and just add 0.25% cure #1. This made the flavor more familiar. I haven’t made that kit in a while, but I’d try a small batch with their cure, and one with cure #1 and see what you think. It’s good both ways, I prefer the later.

Let us know what you think.

 

[bill ace 350]

Going over my notes, that kit has a “cure” packet and a “seasoning“ packet. When the cure packet is used, it gives the sausage an unfamiliar rich taste, not bad at all just almost “creamy” that’s not the right word but first word that comes to mind. I then started tossing the cure packet and just add 0.25% cure #1. This made the flavor more familiar. I haven’t made that kit in a while, but I’d try a small batch with their cure, and one with cure #1 and see what you think. It’s good both ways, I prefer the later.

Let us know what you think.

Good tip!

 

[SmokinEdge]

Good tip!

This got me curious because it’s been a while since I’ve made that. I looked in my pantry and I had half of one of the polish kits. Their cure packet is their “maple cure” which contains salt, sugars, maple syrup and 0.85% nitrite.
The seasoning contains, 47% corn syrup solids, salt, spices, msg, garlic powder.
My notes say nothing about adding salt when I don’t use their cure packet, so the wind is blowing 45mph today and I hate wind, so I’m going to revisit this myself today. Right now in fact.

 

[thirdeye]

Going over my notes, that kit has a “cure” packet and a “seasoning“ packet. When the cure packet is used, it gives the sausage an unfamiliar rich taste, not bad at all just almost “creamy” that’s not the right word but first word that comes to mind. I then started tossing the cure packet and just add 0.25% cure #1. This made the flavor more familiar. I haven’t made that kit in a while, but I’d try a small batch with their cure, and one with cure #1 and see what you think. It’s good both ways, I prefer the later.

This got me curious because it’s been a while since I’ve made that. I looked in my pantry and I had half of one of the polish kits. Their cure packet is their “maple cure” which contains salt, sugars, maple syrup and 0.85% nitrite.
The seasoning contains, 47% corn syrup solids, salt, spices, msg, garlic powder.
My notes say nothing about adding salt when I don’t use their cure packet, so the wind is blowing 45mph today and I hate wind, so I’m going to revisit this myself today. Right now in fact.

Both the sausage kits and the jerky kits are a 2-part mix (seasoning and cure). I do like the fact that Hi Mountain takes this approach, rather than having a bag of pre-mixed seasoning/cure. But I would agree that the sausage does not have the background 'cured' flavor we get from Cure #1. Plus their cures are lower percentages of sodium nitrite. It's fine for jerky because it's mainly there for color and flavor.

I've made some 'fresh' versions of Polish sausage in bulk and stuffed for grilling where I just left out the Cure #1, but going through authentic Polish recipes and the majority use Cure #1 and various amounts of smoke. The real authentic ones call for cubing the meat and curing them for up to 3 days, then grinding and seasoning. Instructions when adding Cure #1 to ground meat call for stuffing and holding at least 24 hours before smoking.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Both the sausage kits and the jerky kits are a 2-part mix (seasoning and cure). I do like the fact that Hi Mountain takes this approach, rather than having a bag of pre-mixed seasoning/cure. But I would agree that the sausage does not have the background 'cured' flavor we get from Cure #1. Plus their cures are lower percentages of sodium nitrite. It's fine for jerky because it's mainly there for color and flavor.

I've made some 'fresh' versions of Polish sausage in bulk and stuffed for grilling where I just left out the Cure #1, but going through authentic Polish recipes and the majority use Cure #1 and various amounts of smoke. The real authentic ones call for cubing the meat and curing them for up to 3 days, then grinding and seasoning. Instructions when adding Cure #1 to ground meat call for stuffing and holding at least 24 hours before smoking.

They even state on the mixing chart that if NOT smoking the sausage to Leave Out the cure entirely. Being that the cure is their “maple” cure mix, this will make two completely different sausages flavor wise (more than just nitrite), the cured one being more salty and more sweet, I think that’s what I didn’t care for.
I just mixed up a pound of ground pork with about 19g of seasoning per the instructions, salt was light so I added 2 more grams of salt, so in total with cure #1 I added 3g salt and the flavor is good. Not traditional Polish but it’s a tasty sausage.
bill ace 350 can try it with the cure mix and without and see which he prefers, if he wants to smoke it without their cure mix, then he can add cure #1 and salt as I just did.

 

[jimmyinsd]

I had a Hi Mountain jerky kit on my shelf so for the hell of it I followed the ground meat jerky instructions, I used ground goose, added a bit more water to make the mix flow better and then stuffed into 20 collagen and then smoked. probably the best stick I have made. I will definitely do again with venison as I have found out that my guts dont like goose. but I would give the cracked pepper and garlic jerky seasoning a thumbs up.

 

[Winterrider]

Did some goose jerky with Hi Country 3 pepper, very good. I added a few jalapenos also.