Preferred Grind Size

[WstTxSmokes]

I've noticed that many of the well known BBQ joints (leroy and lewis, Franklin, Goldees, Blacks) use a course grind (10 mm) when prepping their sausage. Is this a Texas thing? Most of Marianski's smoked sausage call for a finer grind, I'm just curious if anyone knows why bbq went to the course grind. On that note, what is your preferred grind for a typical smoked sausage?

 

[SmokinEdge]

IMO, 3/8 grind is very practical, is easy to season and has a meaty bite. Not sure if any of that applies to TX or not.

I use all of my grinder plates for various sausages because texture does matter. That said probably my favorite grind is 2/3 of the leaner meat through 3/8 plate and 1/3 of the fat and fattier cuts through the 1/8 plate.

 

[PolishDeli]

I find that sorting and grinding the meat according to fat content helps the final texture a lot, but this dependson the sausage. Sometimes I divide meat into into class 1 (lean), 2 (fatty) and 3 (very fatty with connectivetissue) . Other times class 2 and 3 go into a single pile.

Here’s a picture detailing this:

I use differnt combinations in different types of sausages for example:

White (biała) Polish sausage: 50% (A) and 50% (B)
Regular (zwyczajna) sausage: 50% (A), 25% (B) 25% (C)
Kabanosy: 75% (A) 25% (B)
Bratwurst, 100% of the meat is emulsifued.

 

[WstTxSmokes]

Excellent info thanks PolishDeli and SmokinEdge. I plan on grinding the fattier through smaller dye next go around. Did it the opposite my first time.

 

[chef k-dude]

Not an expert here but it depends on the type of sausage. Sure, it IS a regional thing too. I love the super coarse grind of some of the real Louisiana smoked sausage and even their andouille has real texture to it. Buy the stuff called "andouille" from the large companies like Hillshire farm and its virtually the texture of baloney in comparison.

 

[DougE]

I mostly cut up and grind whole bone in Boston butts for my sausage and run it all through a 4.5mm plate for most sausage.

I will sometimes go with an 8mm plate for Italian sausage or fresh bratwurst for a coarser texture.

 

[thirdeye]

And with some recipes, having around 15% of your mix with a finer grind helps with the finished product, especially if some will be packaged in bulk.

 

[hoity toit]

I've noticed that many of the well known BBQ joints (leroy and lewis, Franklin, Goldees, Blacks) use a course grind (10 mm) when prepping their sausage. Is this a Texas thing? Most of Marianski's smoked sausage call for a finer grind, I'm just curious if anyone knows why bbq went to the course grind. On that note, what is your preferred grind for a typical smoked sausage?

I do 3/8 grind on the pork and 1/8 on my venison. I prefer the finer grind for the most part...it takes care of any sinew or tough stuff that you might have missed when boning out and keeps it from getting between your teeth.

HT

 

[DougE]

.it takes care of any sinew or tough stuff that you might have missed when boning out and keeps it from getting between your teeth.

Consider it flossing and eating at the same time lol.