My Second Sausage Attempt!

[KonaRich]

I graduated from my 10mm caseless meat gun experiment...which was a success...to my 16mm caseless meat gun production. I attempted a cured, smoked slim jim clone, but the resulting flavor left much to be desired. I'm sure I'll get it dialed in over time, using small batches for experiments.

The size and texture were prefect, however! I got 10 12-inch sticks from 1 lb of meat. If I had known this before, I wouldn't have bought 19mm collagen casings. My sausage sticks were close enough to actual slim jim size that the diff doesn't matter. No snap, of course, but great bite and chew, even though I overcooked them (a lot) being diverted with a computer problem.

One more 1 lb pack of ground pork to go in my "training wheels" work before I must grind up my first pork butt! I have decided, though, to experiment with flavor profiles in small 1 lb or less batches before I commit a lot of meat to something that we may not totally love.

 

[sandyut]

Rich, where are the pics man?

 

[forktender]

You're going about it the smart way, Rich.

Now me, LOL!!!
I'll grind up 40 lbs and go for it all in one shot.
Maybe, 20 at a time, but most likely not, as I'm going to make it all hot Sicilian fennel sausage.
I'll most likely leave 10 lbs. out for a Jimmy Dean style breakfast sausage for biscuits, and gravy, one of my favorite winter meals for either breakfast or supper.

I just need to figure out a safe method to defrost 40 lbs of meat at the same time.

I have butts, belly and rib scrap saved in the deep freezer, not a frost free freezer, they suck for long term meat storage.
Defrosting the deep freezer twice a year is totally worth it to me, instead of loosing meat to freezer burn.

Keep at it, you'll have it dialed in in no time at all.
Dan.

 

[KonaRich]

Rich, where are the pics man?

Here day is!!

Pic 3 compares the 16mm stick to the 10mm stick from earlier. Pic 4 are sausage rolls my wife made with a half piece of 16mm stick with a piece of home-smoked cheddar wrapped in puff pastery. Good eatin'!!! They'll be so much better once the recipe is dialed in. Practice makes perfect!

 

[JckDanls 07]

YUP.. Your hooked now... Looking good...

And you will get your profile dialed in... Best thing about it is... No matter what your still going to eat them...

Carry On...

 

[Compulsive Smoker]

Lookin good!

 

[sandyut]

Nice! That rack looks like a Breville airfry rack?

 

[KonaRich]

Nice! That rack looks like a Breville airfry rack?

2 of them came with the toaster oven we bought last year or so on amazon. It airfries too. I've never personally used it. My wife does almost all the cooking around here, and that's a good thing. :D

 

[sandyut]

2 of them came with the toaster oven we bought last year or so on amazon. It airfries too. I've never personally used it. My wife does almost all the cooking around here, and that's a good thing. :D

We bought a toaster oven, airfryer when out oven died. We use it all the time.

 

[KonaRich]

We bought a toaster oven, airfryer when out oven died. We use it all the time.

My wife uses it all the time. I recognize what it is on the kitchen counter. I don't know how to work it.

I just do grilling and smoking with her assistance, and participate 50/50 with her in our new sausage hobby.

 

[Fueling Around]

Looks good. Processed on the MES?

 

[KonaRich]

Looks good. Processed on the MES?

Yes. It did a good job, in spite of its ingrained temp swings. My new sausage hobby has, so far, not inclined me to get a PID.

 

[JckDanls 07]

My new sausage hobby has, so far, not inclined me to get a PID.

It will... And then you'll want a smokehouse so you can hang your sticks to do more and have longer straight sticks...

 

[KonaRich]

It will... And then you'll want a smokehouse so you can hang your sticks to do more and have longer straight sticks...

 

[KonaRich]

There must be a 12-step program or something for me to avoid this addiction....

 

[indaswamp]

2guysandacooler on youtube has a Slim Jim clone stick as well as a lot of other stick recipes. You can use them as is and them make adjustments. His recipes can be adjusted down to 454g. (1#) so you can make 1 pound at a time. Word of advice- get a scale and weigh in grams. it makes the ratios easy because it is on a 10 count system. You can use percentages and make 1 kilogram or 1000 Kg and it is as easy as multiplication.

 

[Fueling Around]

There must be a 12-step program or something for me to avoid this addiction....

Did someone mention this when you started the beer making venture?
My brother delved very deeply in the beer making venture himself. Unfortunately he passed away before I got to sample his products.

 

[KonaRich]

Did someone mention this when you started the beer making venture?
My brother delved very deeply in the beer making venture himself. Unfortunately he passed away before I got to sample his products.

I thought of that myself, but who takes advice from someone who drinks so much beer all the time!!

 

[KonaRich]

2guysandacooler on youtube has a Slim Jim clone stick as well as a lot of other stick recipes. You can use them as is and them make adjustments. His recipes can be adjusted down to 454g. (1#) so you can make 1 pound at a time. Word of advice- get a scale and weigh in grams. it makes the ratios easy because it is on a 10 count system. You can use percentages and make 1 kilogram or 1000 Kg and it is as easy as multiplication.

We have a digital scale reading out in grams, but not fractions of grams. I bought another one that goes out 2 decimal places in grams. No guesswork on cure!