Kabanosy w/qview Finished Qview added

[atcnick]

Cured some butt and fresh ham. Ground it up and stuffed it last night. About 13lbs. Going to smoke it today. Will have more qview to follow. Here's a quick cellphone pic I took of it hanging in the fridge last night to dry.

 

[atcnick]

This was my first time using sheep casings, and contrary to what I've read, they were easier to handle and just as strong as hog casings. One problem I did run into was lots of airpockets as I was stuffing. I guess stuffing is just a skill that needs practice.

 

[roller]

It looks great....

 

[squirrel]

Nice going Nick. That's good to know about the casings. I'm just getting started in stuffing myself. What do you have the sausages hanging on? Is that just a regular fridge that you modified for the sausages?

 

[atcnick]

Its a 1" wooden dowel rod that I bought from Home Depot and cut it to fit.   I used a mini fridge in a spare room and just took out the racks.

 

[chefrob]

can't wait to see them all smoked!

 

[DanMcG]

Lookin good Nick, and looking forward to the smokey Q-view

 

[shoneyboy]

Good looking sausage....and that's a great ideal using the mini fridge  .....I never seem to have enough room to do what I want in mine....someone is always poking at what ever I'm working on or trying to eat it before it's cooked.....Kids, what are you going to do with them???? Shoneyboy

 

[atcnick]

Well I smoked it this afternoon.  Used hickory.  The flavor and smoke intensity is great, but the casings turned out tough.  So Im a little dissapointed.  Stuffing casings and making them look pretty isnt easy.  

Im going to stick most of these in a mini fridge to dry for a few days, up to a week.  I have the temp in the fridge around 55-60F and humidity at around 75%.  Im going to dry a few at room temperature of about 72F.  The ones at room temp I covered with cheese cloth to keep flys off.  Here are the pictures I have:

 

[chefrob]

nice color on those stix..........

 

[marknb]

Hey Nick, sorry your skins were tough.  I've heard (and tried it a couple of times) that a couple tablespoons vinegar in your soaking water will keep your casings from being tough.  I've never noticed mine being particularly tough in the first place, but I'm still on my first hank of hog casings, though I've noticed some texture differences within the same bunch - some are 'bitier' than others.  For snack sticks I've had great success with the 19mm pre-smoked (or smoke ready or whatever) colligen casings. Easy to stuff, consistent texture, no pre soaking, etc, pretty legit all the way round.

Nice looking Kabanosy, got to make me some before the holidays fully kick in! 

 

[ak1]

Looks great Nick!

 

[Bearcarver]

Great looking stuff there Nick !

I could handle a few of those real easy!

Nice Qview too!

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

Nice going Nick. That's good to know about the casings. I'm just getting started in stuffing myself. What do you have the sausages hanging on? Is that just a regular fridge that you modified for the sausages?

Squirrel,

I like the way you put that!

"You're just getting started in stuffing yourself."

Some of us have been stuffing ourselves for most of our lives! 

Be careful, it's hard to stop, once you get good at it!  

Bear

 

[ak1]

I'll have to try that. I usually pickle myself!

 

[atcnick]

Here are the Kabanosy one day after smoking.  The first two pictures are of the ones drying at room temp.  I believe the humidity is around 40-50%.  The last picture is in the mini fridge at 50*F and 80% humidity.   Looks like the room temp ones will be ready tomorrow morning.  Since the thickness was so uneven some of the thicker parts are still too "rubbery".  I tried a piece of the room temp Kabanosy and the skin doesnt seem as tough today.  And the texture in the middle is getting to what it should be.  Im not as dissapointed today as I was yesterday. :)

Im letting the ones in the fridge air out a couple times a day by leaving the fridge door open a few minutes at a time.

 

[DanMcG]

Those look real good Nick, thanks for sharing the Qview

Dan

 

[tjohnson]

Nice going Nick. That's good to know about the casings. I'm just getting started in stuffing myself. What do you have the sausages hanging on? Is that just a regular fridge that you modified for the sausages?

I'm leaving that one alone!

Nick,

Great Job!

How about posting the recipe?

Is Kabanosy a form of dried snack stick?

Todd

 

[atcnick]

Hey TJ,  Yup.  Kabanosy is a Polish meat stick.  Here's the recipe:  http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-recipes/kabanosy

Thanks for the comments guys.  Ok. I think the ones drying at room temperature are done. That's 1.5 days of drying. The flavor is awesome. The casings are still a little tougher than Im use to on Kabanosy but not as bad as when they first came out of the smoker. One thing I noticed, and you can see in the pictures, is that the drying was a little uneven due to the low humidity in the house. It looks like the outside dried faster than the inside. Overall Im satisified with the results. I will have to work on making a more uniformly sized sausage next time Im stuffing. The ones in the fridge are still drying, coming along nicely. I will continue to post pictures.

Here are the pictures of the ones that just finished drying:

 

 

[old poi dog]

Those are great Nick.  Thanks for giving us great Q-view updates.