New Sausage Adventure Now Here!!! --Coming Soon--

[tallbm]

It looks like I'm about to try something I have not attempted before. Here's the story!

So the grocery store got a ton of 80/20 beef in what looks to be restaurant style package where they slapped their own barcode label on to sell.
It appears the sell by date was fairly short so they had it marked down to $1.49/lb so I obviously bought 40 pounds to make into sausage hahahha.

Well I thought I had a hank of natural sausage casings but it turns out I have none at all
This weekend is the only time I'm going to have to make all of this into beef sausage and I had to get on ordering supplies to get here in that time frame. Well I could not get any natural or cellulose casings delivered in time so I settled on 24 inch long 1.5 inch round fibrous casings. I also got AC Leggs smoked cracked black pepper, and plain smoked sausage seasonings ordered to be delivered here in time.

What I wanted was something like a Texas Hot Gut sausage or something like a Polish/Kielbasa sausage in a natural casing.
I don't know what is about to be created but I'm pretty sure the flavor will be great.

Do you guys think I can manage something like a skinless version of a Polish/Kielbasa style sausage, or do you think this is going to come out like a smaller diameter summer sausage consistency?

My plan is to tie them in 3 "links" per casing, smoke for a little bit, drop into 2 gallon bags (squeeze the air out) and Sous Vide them to 153-155F IT. I'll ice water bath them after to cool them too.

At that point I would like to peel them out of the casing and hope to have something like a skinless version of the sausage I initially wanted.

Let me know what your experiences are with anything like this or just plain throw out a guess to what I'm gonna end up with and we'll all see what the mystery reveals in the end hahaha!

Thanks!

 

[jcam222]

In for the ride to see what you do. Man after my own heart buying up that deal. I’d have likely plugged in my spare freezer and loaded it for sure. Amazing deal.

 

[HalfSmoked]

Wow what a challenge I'm in for the ride.

Warren

 

[chopsaw]

Are you thinking the casing is going to change the end result , or the SV cooking ?
I just did a batch of kielbasa , smoked then sv finished . All pork / natural casings .

Is you plan to knife and fork these , or on a bun ?

Do you guys think I can manage something like a skinless version of a Polish/Kielbasa style sausage, or do you think this is going to come out like a smaller diameter summer sausage consistency?

Yes I think you can get a skinless version . Did you use all the cellulose casings ? I know you want to peel off the 1 1/2 " . I've done that myself . Works fine .
Served cold might be like summer sausage . Mine are more to the emulsified side anyway , but served warm it has a smoked sausage texture .
I've done alot of sausage SV , most are lunch meat type . Started finishing the polish in SV so it don't hang so long in the smoker .
I use the chart / diameter of the sausage for time and temp . I don't use a temp probe in the sausage . I do the time / temp shown for the size , then add some time to be safe . When I started doing this , Dave helped me understand the how and why of the chart . It's a good way to do some types of sausage .

A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking

 

[zwiller]

I have the casings but have not run any yet. I know people here might frown on skinless but I am trying to convert the family and last thing I want them to see a hank. In for the ride and although I have not done them yet, I have researched this extensively and I believe most commercial stuff is done this way.

 

[chopsaw]

last thing I want them to see a hank.

Not to mention smell one .
Mine eat the heck out of natural cased fresh sausage . I got a " the sausage is really good " on some Marianski Italian last night .
Smoked in natural casings , they won't eat it . They don't like the snap .

 

[zwiller]

OK now I asked some people here about the smell and told me there isn't much... Dang liars.

 

[chopsaw]

There's not if stored right .

 

[tallbm]

Are you thinking the casing is going to change the end result , or the SV cooking ?
I just did a batch of kielbasa , smoked then sv finished . All pork / natural casings .

Is you plan to knife and fork these , or on a bun ?


Yes I think you can get a skinless version . Did you use all the cellulose casings ? I know you want to peel off the 1 1/2 " . I've done that myself . Works fine .
Served cold might be like summer sausage . Mine are more to the emulsified side anyway , but served warm it has a smoked sausage texture .
I've done alot of sausage SV , most are lunch meat type . Started finishing the polish in SV so it don't hang so long in the smoker .
I use the chart / diameter of the sausage for time and temp . I don't use a temp probe in the sausage . I do the time / temp shown for the size , then add some time to be safe . When I started doing this , Dave helped me understand the how and why of the chart . It's a good way to do some types of sausage .

A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking

I didn't know if the case was going to change the end result because its not flexible like a natural or cellulose case. I think I just wont stuff them super tight.
I have an issue though.... they sent 3 inch fibrous not 1.5 inch
Sooooo looks like I'll just make a wanna-be summer sausage hahahaha
I wanted 1.5 inch so I could put in a bun and fork and knife em but that aint happening now.
[Edit- I'm an idiot and measured them flat rather than rounded... though they are still over 1.5 inches lol]

I still have 25mm cellulose casings but not nearly enough to do 40 pounds of meat so I ruled em out. I may just use em up now though that I have these 3 inch fibrous or just use up the 3 inch fibrous... i'll mull on it but I think I'll use up the 3 inch cause it is actually easier for 1 person to do a 3 inch case than a 25mm casing all alone.

Thanks for the link i will definitely need it now that I will likely be working with 3 inch casings.

I have the casings but have not run any yet. I know people here might frown on skinless but I am trying to convert the family and last thing I want them to see a hank. In for the ride and although I have not done them yet, I have researched this extensively and I believe most commercial stuff is done this way.

I have no issues with skinless, i think they have their place. I really liked how fast and easy the cellulose casings are to work with so I'll likely be doing many more skinless suasagaes. When I'm processing 10+ animals and doing 100+ pounds of sausage all in a 4-5 day period every minute saved is precious hahaha. My issue atm was I needed cases quickly and didn't have enough to soak natural casings and this is going to be a 1 man operation so I need to be way more functional and efficient as 1 man stuffing and feeding the links off the horn.

[Edit- I'm an idiot and measured them flat rather than rounded... though they are still over 1.5 inches lol]
Well the adventure will continue with this new casing wrinkle thrown my way hahahaha. Lets see how the AC Leggs Smoked Sausage seasoning does in summer sausage form or maybe now I can pickup some cheese crumbles and or jalapeno and make something I wasn't planning on making but is goooood! :)

 

[chopsaw]

I'm an idiot

No your're not .
I've had some concerns about casing size in the past . I tie off one end and fill with water to get an idea of the stuffed size .

 

[tallbm]

Well i got all the stuffing done today.

So far I think the AC leggs 105 smoked sausage is beating the crap out of the 210 Cracked Pepper smokes sausage seasoning though the cracked pepper is really good.

The 105 is described as their "southern blend" and before I read that I tasted a fry sample and was like NOW THAT IS SAUSAGE and it made me think of the good kinds of sausage I come across in TX. Then when the "Southern Blend" note came to light I was like ahhhh they are making this somewhat like I get or used to get down here.

Tomorrow is smoking and SV day. I'll report back on the final product :)

 

[tallbm]

So yesterday I finished the 40 pounds sausages they went for about 21hrs in the smoker. After seeing how large they were coming out I knew it would be more of a hassle to try and SV them so I just let em go in the smoker until done at 153-155F depending on here the sausage was located in the smoker.
I applied a full tray of AMNPS 50% cherry and 50% hickory and they had great smoke flavor and if anything could have taken more or stronger concentrations but I was happy with how they came out. Next time I'll do my 70% Apple/ 30% Hickory combo but didn't know what to expect so went with a safer combo that I was confident would be a good mix.

Again these are 80/20 beef that I bought on deep discount from the store so no grinding for me (yay)!
I made 25 lbs of AC Leggs Cracked Pepper Smoked Sausage #210 which tastes good and to me is closer to a summer sausage type seasoning than a link sausage. Its a touch salty but eaten with mustard or on a sandwich with mustard won't be an issue.

I made 15 lbs of AC Leggs Smoked Sausage Seasoning #105 and man that is the kind of sausage flavor I'm looking for when it comes to link sausage. Its plays in the realm of an old fashioned Texas Hot Link but is not as potent with the spices. The flavor is great and not too salty for me but could be approaching that area for others. This is not a summer sausage type flavor and is definitely going to be on my list for making some more link sausage.


Here's the pics. Put in the MES40, on the plate and then stacked up in the fridge after the ice bath.

Lessons Learned:

• With my 10L manual stuffer I had no problem stuffing these 1.5" fibrous casings by myself using the biggest horn that comes with my stuffer (like 1 1/8th inch is my guess.).
• The fibrus casing peels off to leave a skinless texture once they are all cooled down. You just nick the paper and then peel it like a wrapping paper haha
• This is really not a skinless sausage solution and I wouldn't recommend it as one. This was one of my main things to figure out and I have. In the future I will just buy the largest cellulose castings for skinless sausage.
• The MES can hold 40lbs of sausage this way and I bet I could have fit 50lbs. I rigged up a wooden dowel setup a long while back but don't often use it and had not used it for anything to this scale so I'm glad it worked like a charm at this scale.

I still need to cut them up and vac seal em but so far I'm pleased with having some "summer sausage" and a giant hot link type sausage hahaha.

I'm not sure I learned anything too ground breaking to share but it was good to have some success and though I didn't know what I was really going to get I'm glad it all cam out well.

Thanks for coming along for the ride and let me know if you have any questions. :D

 

[chopsaw]

Nice work . You fit a lot of sausage in that 40 . I bet the different casings would make them that much better .
I bought a Chorizo seasoning from AC Leggs . Really like the way it comes out . Good stuff , not to spicy , but has what I would call Tex - Mex flavor to it .

Nice work on all that .

 

[tallbm]

Nice work . You fit a lot of sausage in that 40 . I bet the different casings would make them that much better .
I bought a Chorizo seasoning from AC Leggs . Really like the way it comes out . Good stuff , not to spicy , but has what I would call Tex - Mex flavor to it .

Nice work on all that .

Yeah i was surprised that the MES40 handled 40 pounds so well. I agree different casing would have made me much better but oh well. The main thing is I got the sausage all made in time and it is now vac sealed and in the freezer so thats nice.
I've read a lot of good things about AC Leggs seasoning and I won't mind trying other flavors like the italian options they offer and if i need breakfast sausage I will try them as well.

 

[HalfSmoked]

Nice work looks great.

warren