Mushy Kielbasa

[hondabbq]

I made Kielbasa recently and had a small failure. Its ok but its a texture thing.

I have made lots of kielbasa in the past. I use a Hi Mountain mix and add a bit extra spices for flavor. I use their cure.
I had no cure left and used their spices, and my additions, and just instacure.
The meat was cooked the exact same as I always do, but the only difference was the different cures.

On their site it says there is salt, cure and caramel color in their mix. Can it actually be that different from instacure?

 

[pushok2018]

I doubt that instacure has anything to do with the texture of your sausage. Are you sure your temp didn't went to high? When temp raised too high, this is what in sausage making is called "fat out" when the fat renders out. This results in the sausage get crumbly and dry. My only guess....

 

[tropics]

What instacure do you have? Apic of mushy would help.
Richie

 

[hondabbq]

I doubt that instacure has anything to do with the texture of your sausage. Are you sure your temp didn't went to high? When temp raised too high, this is what in sausage making is called "fat out" when the fat renders out. This results in the sausage get crumbly and dry. My only guess....

I had zero dripping in the bottom of the smoker. the temp never went over 160-170

 

[hondabbq]

What instacure do you have? Apic of mushy would help.
Richie

Hoosier Hill cure.

It looks normal really but it just doenst have the right texture. It holds up when sliced but its soft like not firm.

It went up to 156 IT like normal so its not an issue of uncooked.

 

[pushok2018]

the temp never went over 160-170

Hmmm.... Perfect temperature for cooking sausages.... Another thing: cold you over mix your meat or meat get little warmer during the mixing? I am sure someone will step in with the right suggestion....

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Fat smear can cause mushy meat, That means to much time in the feed screw getting to hot. Grinding too many times can cause mushy meat, freezing the meat can get mushy.

IE: The "mush" is occurring because the meat is staying in the cylinder too long; allowing the feedscrew to pulverize the meat. The meat stays in the cylinder too long because the small opening of the stuffing horn, creates a bottleneck slowing down the meat delivery out of the cylinder. With the feedscrew turning but the meat movement slowing or stalling, slipping between the feedscrew edge and the cylinder wall occurs. This is called bypass.

Hope this helps some.

 

[chef jimmyj]

How coarse was the grind? We just had a local grocery stores, house made, Italian Sausage. It was a Super fine grind, almost like Hot Dogs. The meat was mushy. I like to use the largest plate for Kielbasa. I mix heavily for a good bind. The texture is firm like eating little chunks of Ham bound together....JJ

 

[hondabbq]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I dont grind my own meat so these issues aren’t possible.
The only other thing I can attest this to as mentioned above is that it was mixed too long. I didn’t think I did but I guess it’s possible. It wasn’t getting sticky like normal so I kept mixing until it did. Maybe that was the issue.

 

[hondabbq]

@ chefjimmyj

I just had a thought.
When I was finished mixing the meat ( i use and old Hobart mixer with a dough hook), I now recall that there was layer of fat in the lower part of the bowl where the meat was touching the bowl when mixing. There was also a small fat clump i found as well.

I just assumed that the meat, which was very cold, was just reacting with the room temp bowl.
What would have caused the fat to be left on the sides of the bowl?

 

[chef jimmyj]

This is Fat Smear as described in post #7 by Rick. Freeze the bowl to keep this to a minimum...JJ

 

[DanMcG]

Just my two cent here.
When I hear mushy, I think undercooked sausage. I'd check you thermometer's just for the heck of it.
Fat smear tends to give you a crumbly, dry sausage, and some fat pockets under the casing after cooking. but by the description of the fat in the bottom of the mixing bowl it sure sounds like you smeared it.

 

[tom987]

I did the same thing last year making SS. Tried to run back fat through the grinder and it turned into what looked like bacon grease. I was in a rush and decided to use it anyways and ruined my batch. I would call the consistency of that batch as mushy and greasy inside and out.

What doesn’t match up though is I would think you would have visible liquid fat either under the skin or dripped all through your smoker.

Mushy with no visible liquid fat may just be under cooked or maybe too much liquid in the mix? Im a novice at this stuff so take that for what it’s worth.

 

[boykjo]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I dont grind my own meat so these issues aren’t possible.
The only other thing I can attest this to as mentioned above is that it was mixed too long. I didn’t think I did but I guess it’s possible. It wasn’t getting sticky like normal so I kept mixing until it did. Maybe that was the issue.

IMHO What you described here I would say the meat is the culprit. When buying meat that's already ground you never know what your going to get. You want the freshest meat possible.
Even though the meat is still within selling date doesn't mean its fresh or how additives have reacted with the meat. I just made 2 batches of jerky and used the same purchased meat. I made the first batch on the day I purchased the meat and it came out perfect. I made the second batch 4 days later with the expiration on that day.
It came out horrible and had to pitch it.....
If you want to take it to another level I suggest you invest in a meat grinder and stuffer. Freshly ground pork is key to great sausage and you know whats in the meat.

Boykjo

 

[hondabbq]

Well, to follow up on this, I made another batch last weekend and prior to mixing I put my bowl and hook into the fridge for an hour while I got all my other stuff ready to make kielbasa.
I made a second batch and did the same thing the weekend prior. Both turned out great.
Like I said I have had very successful batches in the past with this being the second time I had the "mushy" issue. Whether it was the cold bowl and hook that resolved it, or as mentioned it was the bought ground meat those 2 unsuccessful times, I dont know but I will continue to chill my bowl and hook prior to mixing going forward. It cant hurt the process so no harm no foul.
If it happens again then it was the meat. Im sitting on about 20 rings of kielbasa so it will be a while before I get to make more.