First, let me apologize to everyone on the forums. I have not been able to follow the posts, smoke much or do my own posts for awhile. Life and events just got the better of me.
A kind and generous friend gave me some ground Moose! Thanks, Marj! I decided to make some sausage and split it with her.
I made German Bologna and Mettwurst but I have split the posts to not confuse the recipes. I will do the Mettwurst post as soon as I can.
I started by soaking a 20 inch long 2 1/2 inch FB casing.
I had just over 700 grams (1 1/2 pounds) of ground moose. I cubed the same amount of pork shoulder to make 1.4 kg (3 pounds) of meat.
I put the meat in the freezer for 20 minutes. I ground the pork through the small plate of my stand mixer.
I ran the moose and pork through the small plate for a second grind.
I put the meat in the freezer for 20 minutes.
I made a slurry of:
15 ml (1 tablespoon) kosher salt
10 ml (2 teaspoons) fine grind black pepper
1 ml (1/4 teaspoon) dry mustard
2 ml (1/2 teaspoon) ground celery seed
1 ml (1/4 teaspoon) garlic powder
1/2 ml (1/8 teaspoon) coriander
1/2 ml (1/8 teaspoon) nutmeg
15 ml (1 tablespoon) light corn syrup
125 ml (1/2 cup) water
150 ml (1/3 cups) dry skim milk powder
4.4 grams (3/5 teaspoon) Prague powder #1
2 ml (1/2 teaspoon) mace
3 ml (1/2 teaspoon) onion powder
17 ml (1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon) paprika
I added 1/2 the meat and 1/2 the slurry to the bowl of my stand mixer with the paddle attached.
I slowly mixed until it was starting to combine and then turned the mixture on medium for 3 minutes.
I took the mixture out and repeated with the second half of the meat and slurry.
I mixed the two halves together well by hand.
I stuffed the sausage into the casing with my LEM stuffer.
I let it sit in the fridge overnight.
I cold smoked with my A-Maze-N pellet smoker with hickory pellets for 4 hours.
I find I get better results when I use my oven to cook the sausage. It goes down to 145 F and gives me better control and more consistent results.
I put it in the oven for 1 hour at 145 F. Then, every 1/2 hour I increase the temperature by 5 F until I get to 180 F. The total cook took about 8 hours to get to my target internal temperature of 155 F.
I plunged the sausage into ice water and then let it hang for 2 hours.
The next day, I sliced it up.
The Verdict
I wish bologna tasted this good when I was growing up! This has a great fine texture without being rubbery. The colour with the moose meat was wonderful. I have made this recipe before with beef. The moose added a stronger flavour that was great. I really like this sausage.
Disco
A kind and generous friend gave me some ground Moose! Thanks, Marj! I decided to make some sausage and split it with her.
I made German Bologna and Mettwurst but I have split the posts to not confuse the recipes. I will do the Mettwurst post as soon as I can.
I started by soaking a 20 inch long 2 1/2 inch FB casing.
I had just over 700 grams (1 1/2 pounds) of ground moose. I cubed the same amount of pork shoulder to make 1.4 kg (3 pounds) of meat.
I put the meat in the freezer for 20 minutes. I ground the pork through the small plate of my stand mixer.
I ran the moose and pork through the small plate for a second grind.
I put the meat in the freezer for 20 minutes.
I made a slurry of:
15 ml (1 tablespoon) kosher salt
10 ml (2 teaspoons) fine grind black pepper
1 ml (1/4 teaspoon) dry mustard
2 ml (1/2 teaspoon) ground celery seed
1 ml (1/4 teaspoon) garlic powder
1/2 ml (1/8 teaspoon) coriander
1/2 ml (1/8 teaspoon) nutmeg
15 ml (1 tablespoon) light corn syrup
125 ml (1/2 cup) water
150 ml (1/3 cups) dry skim milk powder
4.4 grams (3/5 teaspoon) Prague powder #1
2 ml (1/2 teaspoon) mace
3 ml (1/2 teaspoon) onion powder
17 ml (1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon) paprika
I added 1/2 the meat and 1/2 the slurry to the bowl of my stand mixer with the paddle attached.
I slowly mixed until it was starting to combine and then turned the mixture on medium for 3 minutes.
I took the mixture out and repeated with the second half of the meat and slurry.
I mixed the two halves together well by hand.
I stuffed the sausage into the casing with my LEM stuffer.
I let it sit in the fridge overnight.
I cold smoked with my A-Maze-N pellet smoker with hickory pellets for 4 hours.
I find I get better results when I use my oven to cook the sausage. It goes down to 145 F and gives me better control and more consistent results.
I put it in the oven for 1 hour at 145 F. Then, every 1/2 hour I increase the temperature by 5 F until I get to 180 F. The total cook took about 8 hours to get to my target internal temperature of 155 F.
I plunged the sausage into ice water and then let it hang for 2 hours.
The next day, I sliced it up.
The Verdict
I wish bologna tasted this good when I was growing up! This has a great fine texture without being rubbery. The colour with the moose meat was wonderful. I have made this recipe before with beef. The moose added a stronger flavour that was great. I really like this sausage.
Disco
