Jerk Chicken/Pork Sausage " FAIL " with Jamaican Rice and Peas

[DRKsmoking]

Jerk Chicken/Pork Sausage " FAIL " with Jamaican Rice and Peas

It was mostly a good process, followed all the steps , all the ingredients and not even any blowouts with my casings.
Did all the measurements, added the right salts , cure#1, But I used a premixed Jerk seasoning that I had to figure on the amounts as it is just a big bottle.
What I did use was already ground Meat
- 851 ml ground pork
- 1330 ml ground chicken
- Total of 2181 ml blend of ground ( 4.8 pounds )
To this I added:
- 5.44 grams of Cure#1, added to 1/4 cup of water and dissolved
- 38.52 grams of salt,
- 11 grams of Cool Runnings Jerk seasoning ,
- 3/4 cup of NFDM

Mixed all by hand , f***ing cold on the hands ,lol
Did a fry test very nice , could taste the flavour , but not strong enough for what I wanted so I added another 7 grams of Jerk seasoning
than mixed again, than into the fridge for the night







Next day pulled out the stuffer and my casings that have been soaking in the fridge for a few days . Washed rinsed many times .

Pulled out 2 casings and stuffed away.





They stuffed well but did notice they were coming out with a little more air in the casings than before ( now in saying this , this is only the second time for using the stuffer for sausages. For my potato sausages I stuffed by hand. )

So I pricked the sausages to let air escape . The little bit of meat in the horn and bottom of the stuffer was fried up again, taste is better. Let sit in fridge for an hour while I got the smoker rolling.
Removed the racks so I could hang the sausages. First hour had smoker at around 148 . using the pellet tube with Hickory.
after 2 1/2 hours layed the sausages on a rack as I noticed that they were touching and that was making areas that were not getting colour







Looking good and nice colour, It-124 deg. moved the temp up to 165 deg.
Total smoke time was about 5-6 hours

Pulled the links out when they got to 151-IT, into the ice bath for 45 minutes



once that was finished I dried them off and into the fridge to bloom. But I kept 2 out to fry and eat.
This is when I really noticed they are very tight not as juicy as I thought and the flavour was not really there anymore . There was no run off or dripping in the smoker
The texture is more like salami or pepperoni no real fat /juice .
So I fried some up in the cast pan, made some nice Jamaican Rice and Peas

The Rice and Peas with a shot of lime juice , were great , but the Jerkless sausages VERY disappointing

So my conclusion is a couple things as I had a good mix to the meat it stuck to hand nice . But I think I mixed it too much and
made it too tough. And in using the store ground meat , not enough fat content ...Too lean.
But as for the spice profile . I do not know where it went. Because with the 2 fry tests it was better by the second one.

I guess I need to cut and grind my own meat ( guess i need a power grinder , not going to use my hand grinder for this stuff )

Not mix so well and figure the spice thing out. The seasoning was the first time for me to use . Maybe next time use my own jerk paste/sauce I make . I just thought it would make it too runny

Thanks for looking, if you have any reasons please let me know , and I will try to answer any follow up questions on how I did this and what I should change .

Thanks everyone , I tried to follow the way you guys sat to do. so thinking it is the meat and the mixing. Just do not know where the spices went

David

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Sure does look good. I a big Jerk fan and think its time. I love Walkers on pork tenderloin.

 

[sawhorseray]

Boy David, not sure what to say as I've never stuffed any sausage into casings that I didn't first grind myself. When making chicken sausage the skin of the bird is always used for it's fat content, no idea what ground chicken sold at the market has in the way of fat content. I will say your links sure do look good! Having a grinder is the only way to go as you control everything that goes into and comes out of it, it pays for itself with better quality meat that's more safe to eat. RAY

 

[chopsaw]

I tried to follow the way you guys say to do.

That doesn't always work .

so thinking it is the meat and the mixing.

Could be the ground chicken .
My opinion is way to much NFDM , and a 1/4 cup of water for the 4 1/2 pounds isn't enough . That probably lead to over mixing . Like I said , my opinion .

The fry test pics show no moisture in the pan . Should be some water or grease rendered . Also my opinion .

I talk about adding NFDM and water slowly as I mix . When it comes together I stop . It just depends on the meat paste , but for a 2 1/2 pound batch of ground pork I might use 3 TBLS . of milk powder and just under 1/2 cup liquid .

If the lean to fat ratio is good , and the salt content is close , you shouldn't need much of a binder .

Plate looks good .

 

[gmc2003]

Sorry David that things didn't turn out the way you planned, but judging by that final picture. It looks great to me.

Point for sure
Chris

 

[tbern]

they look so good, too bad the flavor wasn't there for you!

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

David, at least we can eat our failures.
And, if that is what failure looks like, then sign me up.

Stu

 

[LoydB]

Sounds like it could mostly be fixed with more fat. I've had a couple of failures from that.

 

[Dave in AZ]

DRKsmoking I really enjoyed your post, no matter how it turned out, the fantastic pictures and play by play of the process was a great read that will be useful and enjoyable to many!

I would throw out a couple points for you to consider for next time, which might be useful.
1. Sausage juiciness, and even flavor, is mostly tied to fat content. Its been proven over and over, you need 20 to 30% fat for a good tasting juicy sausage. Ground chicken has about 0% fat. Assuming your pork had 20% fat, your total was just 7.8% fat, not enough to give good juice or flavor. Much of the flavor is carried by fat. I would add 260 to 300 g of pork fat to your sausage myself, an additional 12 to 14%.
2. Water or liquid. Most sausages have 10% or more water added. In long slow smoke cooks like yours, most of it will be evaporated off during cook, so often folks will go 15% or more for that style of cook. The water does play a big role in perceived dryness, though fat content is usually what folks are describing as "juiciness". I would use 220ml water as a starting point for your recipe, so there would be some left after a 6 hr evaporation cook.
3. Texture-- I would NOT say you over mixed, per se, for a slow smoked sausage. But maybe that you're not clear on the target texture? Let me explain What I mean. Fresh sausages like brats or Italian, have a lightly bound looser texture than smoked sausage like kielbasa. That is totally intentional and comes from length of mixing, binder, and fat content. Your sausage texture looks exactly like what I would expect a slow smoked sausage to look like, a uniform solid mass that isn't semi-crumbly like a brat. It's perfect for your process. However, maybe in your mind you're thinking more of a fresh sausage brat-like texture? If that is the case, then just a quick mix with lower protein extraction, no NFDM binder, more fat, and a higher temp faster cook might give you the texture in mind? I'm just guessing what you're after based on your comments, but I personally like that sliceable texture you got! ;)

4. Binder. Thats a good bit of NFDM, which is used to lock the fat and water into bond with the proteins so it doesn't run out loose. Useful for high fat or liquid sausage and slow cooks, so fat doesnt render and moisture stays high. In your case, you had so little fat or moisture, that no binder was really needed, and you get the perception of dry with no juiciness.
With chicken sausage, the trick is to get enough fat and water into it and hold it, so I would use NFDM but it needs that 25% fat and 10% water to work with. And as said bybothers, you don't really need it with pork, though it is a nice insurance if your smoker temps get above 180 a bit.

Hope those comments are helpful to achieving the target sausage in mind! But I myself like the look of your product, and your rice dish is a great usage! Thanks again for your super enjoyable post and letting us be part of your cook, and journey--I love following along, and really appreciate it!

 

[tx smoker]

Sorry it didn't work out David. The sausage looks pretty good overall.

But I think I mixed it too much and
made it too tough.

I would agree. This looks almost like it was mixed to the point of emulsification. You cannot see the individual pieces of meat in the sausage.

My opinion is way to much NFDM , and a 1/4 cup of water for the 4 1/2 pounds isn't enough

I agree on both counts. Something to consider if you're intent on using a binder. Do away with the NFDM and try using STPP. I only used the NFDM once and did not like the texture of the finished produce. The STPP made a HUGE difference. Works beautifully as a binder but does not change the texture of the sausage.

Robert

 

[DougE]

I'm thinking that there just wasn't enough fat using pre ground. For chicken, I use bone in thighs and also grind the skin for the fat, and use pork butt for the pork component. The pre ground stuff I see in the stores around here is too lean to make a good sausage. They do look great, though.

 

[Burlymanchef]

Jerk Chicken/Pork Sausage " FAIL " with Jamaican Rice and Peas

It was mostly a good process, followed all the steps , all the ingredients and not even any blowouts with my casings.
Did all the measurements, added the right salts , cure#1, But I used a premixed Jerk seasoning that I had to figure on the amounts as it is just a big bottle.
What I did use was already ground Meat
- 851 ml ground pork
- 1330 ml ground chicken
- Total of 2181 ml blend of ground ( 4.8 pounds )
To this I added:
- 5.44 grams of Cure#1, added to 1/4 cup of water and dissolved
- 38.52 grams of salt,
- 11 grams of Cool Runnings Jerk seasoning ,
- 3/4 cup of NFDM

Mixed all by hand , f***ing cold on the hands ,lol
Did a fry test very nice , could taste the flavour , but not strong enough for what I wanted so I added another 7 grams of Jerk seasoning
than mixed again, than into the fridge for the night

View attachment 650563 View attachment 650564

View attachment 650565 View attachment 650566

View attachment 650567 View attachment 650568

Next day pulled out the stuffer and my casings that have been soaking in the fridge for a few days . Washed rinsed many times .

Pulled out 2 casings and stuffed away.

View attachment 650569 View attachment 650570

View attachment 650571 View attachment 650572

They stuffed well but did notice they were coming out with a little more air in the casings than before ( now in saying this , this is only the second time for using the stuffer for sausages. For my potato sausages I stuffed by hand. )

So I pricked the sausages to let air escape . The little bit of meat in the horn and bottom of the stuffer was fried up again, taste is better. Let sit in fridge for an hour while I got the smoker rolling.
Removed the racks so I could hang the sausages. First hour had smoker at around 148 . using the pellet tube with Hickory.
after 2 1/2 hours layed the sausages on a rack as I noticed that they were touching and that was making areas that were not getting colour

View attachment 650573 View attachment 650574

View attachment 650575 View attachment 650576

View attachment 650577 View attachment 650578

Looking good and nice colour, It-124 deg. moved the temp up to 165 deg.
Total smoke time was about 5-6 hours

Pulled the links out when they got to 151-IT, into the ice bath for 45 minutes

View attachment 650579 View attachment 650580

once that was finished I dried them off and into the fridge to bloom. But I kept 2 out to fry and eat.
This is when I really noticed they are very tight not as juicy as I thought and the flavour was not really there anymore . There was no run off or dripping in the smoker
The texture is more like salami or pepperoni no real fat /juice .
So I fried some up in the cast pan, made some nice Jamaican Rice and Peas
View attachment 650581

View attachment 650582 View attachment 650583

View attachment 650584

The Rice and Peas with a shot of lime juice , were great , but the Jerkless sausages VERY disappointing

So my conclusion is a couple things as I had a good mix to the meat it stuck to hand nice . But I think I mixed it too much and
made it too tough. And in using the store ground meat , not enough fat content ...Too lean.
But as for the spice profile . I do not know where it went. Because with the 2 fry tests it was better by the second one.

I guess I need to cut and grind my own meat ( guess i need a power grinder , not going to use my hand grinder for this stuff )

Not mix so well and figure the spice thing out. The seasoning was the first time for me to use . Maybe next time use my own jerk paste/sauce I make . I just thought it would make it too runny

Thanks for looking, if you have any reasons please let me know , and I will try to answer any follow up questions on how I did this and what I should change .

Thanks everyone , I tried to follow the way you guys sat to do. so thinking it is the meat and the mixing. Just do not know where the spices went

David

 

[Burlymanchef]

It's a bummer that the flavor faded as the pictures sure made it look tasty. I do love the jerk flavor and GFS 1 gallon jerk sauce is a tasty surprise with some decent heat. I know buying a one gallon bottle at 26 bucks is a bit of an overload but I had a friend split it with me. My rating 4.8 out of 5 for jerk sauce.. Use it on thighs, wings and will keep you informed as I am thinking of adding it to make some goose jerk hot sticks with some reapers I dehydrated.

 

[Fueling Around]

Rice and peas look great.
The others have answered the questions on the sausage for the next time.
A lot of the volatile flavorings from spices are dissolved in fat not water
Don't over smoke / cook your sausage

 

[bauchjw]

I have nothing on to offer on sausage, but hats off for going at it! I’d say you made an awesome meal out of it though and I’m impressed!

 

[DRKsmoking]

Sure does look good. I a big Jerk fan and think its time. I love Walkers on pork tenderloin.

Thanks Brian for the like and the comment

I love Jerk chicken , so that is why i tried to make a good sausage, just means I will try again

David

 

[DRKsmoking]

That doesn't always work .

Could be the ground chicken .
My opinion is way to much NFDM , and a 1/4 cup of water for the 4 1/2 pounds isn't enough . That probably lead to over mixing . Like I said , my opinion .

The fry test pics show no moisture in the pan . Should be some water or grease rendered . Also my opinion .

I talk about adding NFDM and water slowly as I mix . When it comes together I stop . It just depends on the meat paste , but for a 2 1/2 pound batch of ground pork I might use 3 TBLS . of milk powder and just under 1/2 cup liquid .

If the lean to fat ratio is good , and the salt content is close , you shouldn't need much of a binder .

Plate looks good .

Thanks Rich for the comment

I take your opinion to a very high regard.
I have followed and read a lot of your builds . This is really only the second time for me to make sausages. Not counting my Potato sausage's.
The Chorizo Verde I made was all pork so I was probably just lucky on the fat content , as it had lots of flavour and and was juicy.

I think after going over everything I did , and what everyone is saying is that , way too lean because of the chicken
and not really knowing much about the NFDM with what I have in my mix , and the water. I was using Marianski's Smoked Chicken recipe for the most part and his water content for 1000g of meat he used 1oz of water. So thought I was in the ball park ,BUT he also used the chicken skin and fat , which I didnot have.

So what I need to do is keep trying and adjust to the findings . Plus get myself a grinder.
This will be a fun conversation with Mona this close to Christmas.

Thank you for reading and helping me with this , that is why I posted this , so I can get better.

David

 

[DRKsmoking]

Sorry David that things didn't turn out the way you planned, but judging by that final picture. It looks great to me.

Point for sure
Chris

Thanks Chris for the like and the comment

It all looks great and the rice and peas was good as was the sausage fried up. Just no where near what I wanted in the sausage and no flavour at all to speak of.
So I guess I will : " Forget The Mistake" and "Remember The Lesson ".

David

 

[DRKsmoking]

they look so good, too bad the flavor wasn't there for you!

Thanks tbern for the like and the comment

Yes looked great but flavour not so much, and a lot tighter bind than I wanted also

David

 

[DRKsmoking]

David, at least we can eat our failures.
And, if that is what failure looks like, then sign me up.

Stu

Thanks Stu for the like and the comment

Ha ha , yes don't get me wrong this will be eaten even if I have to cook with my Jerk sauce on top as I cook them.

" Forget The Mistake" and "Remember The Lesson ".

David