Need Help with Summer Sausage

[shortend]

I'm going to try my hand at summer sausage. I purchased the A. C. Leggs Summer Sausage Seasoning. It comes in an 18oz pkg to season 25lbs of meat. I only want to try 5 lbs at a time, so I'll weigh it out into 5 equal amounts. The procedure off of the A.C. Leggs website calls for 25lbs 70% lean beef. I purchased a 5.85 lb pkg of chuck roast from Sam's Club, thinking that after I get it cut up, some sinew and other undesirable tissue removed, I'll still have enough left to get the 5 lbs that I want. My best guess, just eyeballing the roasts is, they look to be about 80/20 beef to fat ratio. Would it be advisable to trim them all up, separating the lean from the fat and then weighing each to see what the actual ratio is? I don't want to end up with summer sausage that it too dry, and I have enough pork butt fat in the freezer that I could add to get a 70/30 meat to fat ratio to the total 5 lbs, if necessary. Am I over complicating this thing, or am I on the right track?

It also has a footnote about a reduced pH product using a starter culture or encapsulated acid and adjust as needed. I do have some encapsulated acid powder, but I have no idea how to use it yet. What ratios or weights to use for 5 lbs of summer sausage is over my head right now. Should I just forget about trying to use that for the time being, since this will be my first run and I don't have much of a clue what I'm doing just yet?

I just don't want to end up with really crappy summer sausage, if I can help it, even though the veteran sausage guys would probably tell me to live and learn. I do understand that, as that has always been my story too.

Let me know what ya think. Am I on the right track, or am I all wet, which wouldn't be all that uncommon for me.

Thanks,

ShortEnd

 

[bobdog46]

I have been making venison summer sausage for about a year now on a regular basis.  Your 80/20 ratio should be fine. That is about the same ratio i use on the venison sausage (80 deer 20 pork).  I have always used the HI-Mountain kits.  You can kick it up a notch by adding chopped jalapenos. I have also added chunked up cheddar cheese to some of my batches. I dont know anything about the encapsulated acid powder. I just follow the directions on the sausage kits.  Have not had a bad batch yet.

 

[pantherfan83]

Butcher Packer's website says to use 1.5 oz of their Encapsulated Citric Acid (ECA) per 25 pounds of meat.  Other websites give different ratios, so you should check with where you purchased it from.  The important thing to remember with ECA is you cannot grind or machine mix the meat after the ECA is added (grind, hand-mix in ECA, stuff, and cook).  You want to avoid grinding or machine-mixing the meat, because the tiny capsules could burst prematurely which would cause the meat to have an off taste/texture.  The capsules are designed to release the Citric Acid during the smoking/cooking process when the meat reaches 150F. 

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Use 6-7 Tbs of the AC mixed with 1 cup of water and 1 tsp cure #1

The ECA is not powder form, its very small dissolvable caplets which should be mixed in by hand at 1 tsp per every lb of meat.

Regular powdered CA which you see in small cans in the store should not be used unless you know EXACTLY how much as it will start to work as soon as added to the meat thus making it turn white and very mushy and/or dry and crumbly.

Your AC is far more superior then the HM.

The 80/20 grind is perfect

 

[shortend]

Thanks, for the feedback. I checked with A.C. Leggs today, on a recommendation for how much ECA to add. They recommended 3 ozs. for 25 lbs of meat. That seems like a lot. The Hunters Tangy Flavoring (ECA) that I got from Butcher Packer calls for 1.5 ozs. per 25lbs. which comes out to slightly less than 2 teaspoons for 5 lbs. Thanks, PantherFan, for reminding me NOT to grind the meat after adding the ECA. I've read that somewhere too, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded.

I think I'm going to try Nepas recommendation for making this stuff. Those 3 guys seem to know a little bit about making sausage.

I feel a bit guilty about never having taken pictures and posting any Qview yet. I'm a bit of a technophobe and a little apprehensive about trying to do stuff like that. I think there's a tutorial about that somewhere on the site, so I'll check that out a give it a whirl, if I can get up the guts. Don't laugh if they turn out s#%*ty.

Thanks for the help,

ShortEnd

 

[couger78]

I feel a bit guilty about never having taken pictures and posting any Qview yet. I'm a bit of a technophobe and a little apprehensive about trying to do stuff like that. I think there's a tutorial about that somewhere on the site, so I'll check that out a give it a whirl, if I can get up the guts. Don't laugh if they turn out s#%*ty

Having s#%*ty photos & good sausage is much better than the alternative—(good photos & s#%*ty-tasting sausage)—something I've been experiencing as of late.

 

 

[fpnmf]

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/82034/how-to-post-qview-to-smf

  Craig
 

 

[bluejay5863]

I plan on using legg summer sausage mix but it dosent ay how much what to add.

on the bag it says add water 3Lbs . how much water should i add ? using a 80/20 mix of venison and pork and  one pack of Leggs Summer sausage mix

for 25 lbs of meat.

Bluejay5863

 

[bluejay5863]

How much water to add for 25lbs of meat to leggs summer sausage mix

 

[diggingdogfarm]

I plan on using legg summer sausage mix but it dosent ay how much what to add.
on the bag it says add water 3Lbs . how much water should i add ? using a 80/20 mix of venison and pork and  one pack of Leggs Summer sausage mix
for 25 lbs of meat.

Bluejay5863

If it says to add 3 lbs. of water.
3 lbs. of water equals ~3 pints.
3 pints equals 6 cups.



~Martin