Knoblauchwurst (Beef Garlic Sausage)

[SmokyMose]

Good afternoon!
Ok, so I cut up my first beef knuckle a few weeks ago and saved some to grind. I just had to find a recipe for this nice lean meat. I found a sausage on Len Poli's site that looked interesting. Note the photo of the sausage for later....
A bit complicated but I have time to kill. I had some questions about the "additives" and some of you offered insight. Thank you. I went with these;
NFDM not pictured...
I followed the recipe except for a very few things.
4# lean beef & 1# beef fat ground through a 1/4" plate and then through a 3/16" plate;
Mixed all ingredients except the NFDM and Soy Protein Blend and rested in the fridge overnight. (Instead of 4tsp salt I used 3tsp salt and 1tsp MSG). A very stiff mix.
Next day I mixed in the binders, emulsified and stuffed. 1/2c of ice water is unrealistic....

After drying a bit I smoked at 120F using an Amazn tube with "Pitmasters Choice" pellets for a couple of hours. By then they had some nice color so I moved them to the S.V. set at 160F and took them to around 153F. A matter of minutes. Tossed them in cold water and let them dry.


Cut shot;
It seemed like too much work but turned out well worth it! Tender and juicy and the casing not tough at all (I ate most of the cut link after taking the pic)! Even with all the Garlic (Brandy soaked) it's a very mild sausage.
Finally dinnertime;
Hot German Potato Salad, Sweet Red Kraut and a little Horseradish sauce for dipping. Nice. I'll do this again next time I get a Beef knuckle, no matter what a PITA it is.

A big shout out to @chopsaw for advice and encouragement!
Thanks for looking and keep learning new things.

Dan

 

[SmokinEdge]

Looks excellent

 

[chopsaw]

Those came out great Dan . The cut shot looks perfect for an all beef sausage .
That's my kind of plate too .

casing not tough at all

Yup . That's why I go by color then finish in a water bath . No more long hang times in the smoker .

Nice work bud .

 

[SmokyMose]

Those came out great Dan . The cut shot looks perfect for an all beef sausage .
That's my kind of plate too .

Yup . That's why I go by color then finish in a water bath . No more long hang times in the smoker .

Nice work bud .

I've only recently tried the water bath thing a couple of times. I'm a believer now....

 

[jcam222]

Love everything about that plate!

 

[indaswamp]

Awesome looking sausages, and a great step by step too! Congrats on making the Carousel.

 

[bill ace 350]

Looks really good!

 

[Brokenhandle]

Nice job, looks delicious!

Ryan

 

[DRKsmoking]

Great looking sausage , and congrats on the carousal.

David

 

[zwiller]

First off, those look FANTASTIC!!! Congrats on a well deserved ride. Second off, the recipe is _REALLY_ over the top. This one is much more to my liking. https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/cooked/knoblauchwurst

 

[gmc2003]

Fantastic

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Wow! Going to have to look into this… very nice and thanks for sharing! And Congrats on a well deserved carousel ride!

 

[Fueling Around]

Very nice
I need to try some Len Poli recipes
Congrats on the feature

 

[chopsaw]

I need to try some Len Poli recipes

I always compare his recipes to Marianski's for the same sausage . Poli is more involved , Marianski is more simple in my opinion .
I tend to combine the 2 for my tastes .
I've made several of Poli's recipes . The brat formula's are really good .

 

[Fueling Around]

I always compare his recipes to Marianski's for the same sausage . Poli is more involved , Marianski is more simple in my opinion .
I tend to combine the 2 for my tastes .
I've made several of Poli's recipes . The brat formula's are really good .

Agree
That's why I want to try or at least check out Len Poli.
I've started with a few Marianski recipes and learned to fry test and adjust before finishing.

 

[SmokyMose]

First off, those look FANTASTIC!!! Congrats on a well deserved ride. Second off, the recipe is _REALLY_ over the top. This one is much more to my liking. https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/cooked/knoblauchwurst

Thank you. I checked out your link. I like the way it uses nutmeg and coriander. I'm saving it.
Other than cure, it doesn't use any "additives". Hmmm...

 

[chopsaw]

doesn't use any "additives". Hmmm...

That was some of my point above . For the most part he doesn't use NFDM , Phosphates or soy in his sausage . Where as Poli does .
I personally never make a cured smoked sausage sausage without it , but I add it in the amount needed . Which is usually way less than the amount listed in the recipe .

 

[crazymoon]

SM, Good post and your sausage looks excellent !

 

[realdocBBQ]

Those look amazing! Question - I'm really interested in this process of smoking and sous vide...

Looks like you just threw them in, not bagged. Temp 160ºF and you said, "a few minutes" to cook? So... any idea what they were when they went in? Like, they hung for a couple hours in the smoker... what was ambient temp, and did you measure the sausage temps when you pulled them?

And what is a few minutes? 5-8 minutes, or like 20-30 minutes?

This sounds like a great option for me in the future, I'm really interested. If I can cut down my time in the smoker and achieve a great product, I'm all about it. I've got several sous vide circulators and some big containers, so I could conceivably circulate out a few batches in a short period of time.

Thanks for sharing, these look awesome and sound super tasty! I think I want to try them.

Additionally, any thoughts on NOT using a binder? My buddy is highly against any kind of vegetable or carbohydrate based product at all, so even milk powder probably would have more sugar in it than he would want. We've generally still had great results with most of our sausages using no binders at all...

 

[SmokyMose]

Those look amazing! Question - I'm really interested in this process of smoking and sous vide...

Looks like you just threw them in, not bagged. Temp 160ºF and you said, "a few minutes" to cook? So... any idea what they were when they went in? Like, they hung for a couple hours in the smoker... what was ambient temp, and did you measure the sausage temps when you pulled them?

And what is a few minutes? 5-8 minutes, or like 20-30 minutes?

This sounds like a great option for me in the future, I'm really interested. If I can cut down my time in the smoker and achieve a great product, I'm all about it. I've got several sous vide circulators and some big containers, so I could conceivably circulate out a few batches in a short period of time.

Thanks for sharing, these look awesome and sound super tasty! I think I want to try them.

Additionally, any thoughts on NOT using a binder? My buddy is highly against any kind of vegetable or carbohydrate based product at all, so even milk powder probably would have more sugar in it than he would want. We've generally still had great results with most of our sausages using no binders at all...

Thank you!
I'm afraid I can't be really specific about temps and times. I assumed a lot. After a couple of hours in the smoker at 120 I "assume" they were over 100 IT. I didn't check. I just liked the color.
After I took them into the house and cut them apart I'm sure they cooled some. I put them in the S.V. in batches of 4 or 5. I started checking with an instant read after 10 minutes and they were ready in about 15 minutes. The final batch took a little longer because they had cooled longer but were still ready in 20 minutes or so. I think the water bath softens the casings so they aren't "tough". This is only the 2nd time I've used this method but I'll probably do it for all my sausages from now on.

I made Weissworst a couple of months ago (Rytek Kutas) and just used the same water temp he called for but I took these just above the 151 he called for. Just because.

As far as binders, I have no idea why Poli called for nfdm AND Soy protein. I think a lot of that recipe was overkill. I normally use Soy Protein OR nfdm but I'm wondering if it's necessary at all with emulsifying......
It sounds like you're already experienced, but I guess any sort of information helps :)

Dan