Manual sausage stuffing issues

[howea]

We were stuffing some 2" salamis (with a F1 funnel), and finding it really hard to crank a manual sausage stuffer (a generic 3kg horizontal model ... photo given below)
To the point the ground meat was breaching the o-ring.

We lubricated the inside of the housing/o-ring but noticed there was a lot of fatty residue stuck to the side of the housing.
Which I think may have exacerbated the issue.

The meat is ground to a medium grade and it just using the fat content of the rump we originally grounded.

The stuffer is a basic model, but is built sturdy. The piston is acrylic and has an air bleeder valve. The o-ring also seems well built, with a silicone H profile.

Anyone got any ideas how to help with this?

 

[cal1956]

i have never made salamis, but i would bet a water stuffer would solve your problem , we got tired of fighting with those hard to crank stuffers and switched to a water stuffer a couple of years ago and were glad we did

 

[SmokinEdge]

Was the meat mince pre ground or did you grind the meat yourself?

 

[howea]

We ground it from whole rumps

 

[SmokinEdge]

Beef, or pork? Either way this is all class I meat. Very dry with minimal fat. This is fine, but you need to add 30% fat also. If these are salami to be aged and dried, the fat is your friend. Fat contains 10% moisture, where meat alone is about 70% moisture. The added fat reduces the moisture content and speeds the drying. You can add a little bit of ice water to make the mixture move through the stuffer easier. It’s a consistency thing by feel. Don’t add any more than necessary but enough to allow flow through the stuffer. This will help.

We ground it from whole rumps

 

[cal1956]

i have always been amazed at how much power a water stuffer has

 

[DougE]

A tiny bit of water goes a long way in making sausage batter move easily through the stuffer. I'd also ask how much time between grinding, mixing, and stuffing? If you rest the batter in the fridge awhile after mixing, it's going to stiffen up and need some water mixed in before stuffing.

 

[howea]

Beef rump and they have quite a thick fat cap.
Not sure if it's 30%, but I'm actually making sujuk, which is normally a little less fatty than salami.

We did this all in one sitting (grind/mix/stuff) and the mixture wasn't hard, nor soft.
We will try adding water next time.

 

[DanMcG]

What is a F1 funnel?

 

[howea]

Sorry it's F1" ... supposed that means one inch.
(as there is also F0.6’’, F0.7’’ and F0.9’’ funnels that came with the stuffer)

 

[boykjo]

IMO I'm not digging that stuffer... There's no gear reduction to reduce speed and increase torque and the press arm looks like it can skew from its axis when pressure is applied.

My 2 cents

 

[oberst]

If the mix is really cold it doesn’t flow well in my stuffer. After mixing in all the spices I’ll let it sit there for a while until the near frozen mix warms up. Makes a BIG difference for my stuffer. I then put the sticks or logs in the fridge overnight to dry before smoking. I don’t “warm” the mix, just get it from being intensely cold and thick.