Hmong Sausage

[SmokinEdge]

That's an interesting looking sausage. I'm always leary of 5 spice. Every recipe I've made using it I reduce it by about 75%, and even then I tell myself it's still too much.

5 spice was not in the original recipe, I added it, I have very little experience with the spice but I can say the sausage would be fine without it.

How did you like the Nooch?

 

[crazymoon]

SE, Great chicken and an interesting recipe on your sausage !

 

[HushyQ]

Looks like a great Mothers Day meal. Stuffing looks like egg roll mixture. Curious what you mean by "blanched in oil" for your cabbage mixture. Also, how did you cook the sausages?

 

[mr_whipple]

5 spice was not in the original recipe, I added it, I have very little experience with the spice but I can say the sausage would be fine without it.

How did you like the Nooch?

I have an aversion to 5 spice... I love it but only in very small quantities. The Nooch flavor was great, next time I'm going to go a little heavier on the garlic just because.... Now I didn't get a cut shot, but it was very juicy and at the same time not very well bound. Good snap on the case but again.. kinda loose. I had great protein extraction so not sure if it had anything to do with the potato starch. That was my first foray into binders so maybe we're about to have a learning moment? I did grind, stuff and eat a few on the same day so maybe a little down time in the fridge after stuffing may have helped? I have one link that I set aside after vac sealing the rest that I'm going to eat along with supper tonight just to see.

 

[gmc2003]

Looooooking Gooooood Eric. A ton of work but the payoff is well worth it.

Point for sure
Chris

 

[SmokinEdge]

I have an aversion to 5 spice... I love it but only in very small quantities. The Nooch flavor was great, next time I'm going to go a little heavier on the garlic just because.... Now I didn't get a cut shot, but it was very juicy and at the same time not very well bound. Good snap on the case but again.. kinda loose. I had great protein extraction so not sure if it had anything to do with the potato starch. That was my first foray into binders so maybe we're about to have a learning moment? I did grind, stuff and eat a few on the same day so maybe a little down time in the fridge after stuffing may have helped? I have one link that I set aside after vac sealing the rest that I'm going to eat along with supper tonight just to see.

The loose texture didn’t come from the potato starch. That starch will transform into gel at about 140F so think of it as a thickener in a way. I rarely use binders generally but most often when I do it’s potato starch specifically for its gel qualities.

If it’s still loose tonight when you eat, post up a cut shot. I’m thinking it’s probably because you didn’t stuff them tight enough but I don’t know that and a picture would help a lot. Glad you are enjoying the flavor though.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Looooooking Gooooood Eric. A ton of work but the payoff is well worth it.

Point for sure
Chris

Thank you Chris. Strange flavor waters for me to wade into but it was delicious and I like trying new stuff now and then.

 

[mr_whipple]

The loose texture didn’t come from the potato starch. That starch will transform into gel at about 140F so think of it as a thickener in a way. I rarely use binders generally but most often when I do it’s potato starch specifically for its gel qualities.

If it’s still loose tonight when you eat, post up a cut shot. I’m thinking it’s probably because you didn’t stuff them tight enough but I don’t know that and a picture would help a lot. Glad you are enjoying the flavor though.

Ok... here's the cut shot. I ground it on the 7mm plate. I stuffed them tight but not about to burst tight. I think I have the feel down for that but hey... I've been wrong before. Not my best picture but in my defense I had a few before supper.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Ok... here's the cut shot. I ground it on the 7mm plate. I stuffed them tight but not about to burst tight. I think I have the feel down for that but hey... I've been wrong before. Not my best picture but in my defense I had a few before supper.

View attachment 696849

If I had to guess the cause after seeing the cut, I would say fat smear might be the cause. I’m not sure the temp of meat while grinding and mixing in this case, but if fat smears it won’t allow the meat proteins to bond well, even though the farce is sticky it still doesn’t solidify and once cooked can look much like the pic. Just a guess though.
Btw, even if meat and fat were in the low 30’s while grinding, a dull plate and/or knife will cause fat smear.

Cut shot from the same recipe.

 

[indaswamp]

high acid in the mix will cause the same issues...

 

[mr_whipple]

If I had to guess the cause after seeing the cut, I would say fat smear might be the cause. I’m not sure the temp of meat while grinding and mixing in this case, but if fat smears it won’t allow the meat proteins to bond well, even though the farce is sticky it still doesn’t solidify and once cooked can look much like the pic. Just a guess though.
Btw, even if meat and fat were in the low 30’s while grinding, a dull plate and/or knife will cause fat smear.

View attachment 696875
Cut shot from the same recipe.

Temps were good, but I'm starting to wonder if I mixed it well enough. It felt good and sticky, but It's hard to say at this point. The times I have added water to sausage mixing I've made sure it's icy cold, but this time I used beer straight from the fridge. As to the knife / plate I have yet to sharpen them on this new grinder. It certainly looked nice and pebbly coming out so again.. I just can't be sure. It was a long day doing bacon and sausage so maybe I need to throttle back. I really like the flavor so I'm going to do another small batch and double check everything in the process. Thanks for your input / thoughts. I do appreciate it.
And that cut shot looks perfect.

high acid in the mix will cause the same issues...

I can't think of any component in that recipe that would be high in acidity, but I think I basically understand the premise.