Processing Week 2022...

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For me:
100# venison/beef grind
10# wild/domestic hog sage breakfast sausage
10# deer/ pork sage breakfast sausage
15# deer wild hog Cajun fresh sausage
14# 100% deer grind
plus
45# wild/domestic hog Cajun smoke sausage
_________________________
196# product

I put in 127# of wild hog meat for the breakfast and smoke sausage but shared it with everybody....
One word, WOW
 
The slice on the smoke sausage...
IMG_20220216_212117.jpg

I fried some up for supper last night so here is a cut longways...
IMG_20220216_212157.jpg

really good bind. Zero fat out.
 
Man that sausage looks great! Nice work, I'm sure you will be glad when it is all completely done and you can just pull food out of the freezer and prep to eat it :D
 
Man that sausage looks great! Nice work, I'm sure you will be glad when it is all completely done and you can just pull food out of the freezer and prep to eat it :D
Thanks tallbm. Now to package 300# of sausages!! LOL!!

I'll tell ya....the bind on this sausage is incredible-best I have ever done. Happy mistake or dumb luck I don't know. What I did different this time is dissolve the phosphate (STPP) in warm water then chill with ice. Mixed that into the coarse grind with the salt, cure #1, and seasonings. Then put the grind in totes. Let that sit 2 days, then did fine grind and mixed in the milk. I hydrated the milk powder with a blender for even distribution, then mixed it in. Stuffed the links, put them in bags and on ice for 2 days, then smoke. This might be one of the best batches I have ever made.
 
Thanks tallbm. Now to package 300# of sausages!! LOL!!

I'll tell ya....the bind on this sausage is incredible-best I have ever done. Happy mistake or dumb luck I don't know. What I did different this time is dissolve the phosphate (STPP) in warm water then chill with ice. Mixed that into the coarse grind with the salt, cure #1, and seasonings. Then put the grind in totes. Let that sit 2 days, then did fine grind and mixed in the milk. I hydrated the milk powder with a blender for even distribution, then mixed it in. Stuffed the links, put them in bags and on ice for 2 days, then smoke. This might be one of the best batches I have ever made.
My guess is the 4 days sitting with salt before stuffing. Salt will make proteins want to bind.
Think back to when you have made a burger and you mixed all the seasonings and salt into it and then after a little bit of time you form patties and grill.
The patties come out very dense. This is the result of the salt sitting in the meat and the meat being worked together (mixing).
You do the same process but you don't add the salt and you sprinkle the salt on the patties just before throwing on the grill and you get the loose great burgers you are expecting!

I read a whole article on this once and I'll be damned if they didn't nail it. Being armed with that knowledge I have never created another thick dense hockey puck of a patty on the grill.
So I'm thinking your process caused more of a dense bind.

No telling but just my little educated guess on some things I've seen before :)
 
My guess is the 4 days sitting with salt before stuffing. Salt will make proteins want to bind.
Think back to when you have made a burger and you mixed all the seasonings and salt into it and then after a little bit of time you form patties and grill.
The patties come out very dense. This is the result of the salt sitting in the meat and the meat being worked together (mixing).
You do the same process but you don't add the salt and you sprinkle the salt on the patties just before throwing on the grill and you get the loose great burgers you are expecting!

I read a whole article on this once and I'll be damned if they didn't nail it. Being armed with that knowledge I have never created another thick dense hockey puck of a patty on the grill.
So I'm thinking your process caused more of a dense bind.

No telling but just my little educated guess on some things I've seen before :)
I have let salt sit on sausage meat paste for 4 days before, but have never had a bind this good.

Oh-I also always add the fluid from the thawed bag of meat when making fresh or smoked sausages. That is part of the salt soluble proteins you need for a great bind...don't throw it away....
 
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Maybe this thought comes from one of your other recipes.
Did remixing to add the missed cure make a better bind?
I got lost a few 100# ago
 
Maybe this thought comes from one of your other recipes.
Did remixing to add the missed cure make a better bind?
I got lost a few 100# ago
That could be it Fueling Around... the salt sitting on it for a day had to pull out some proteins and when I added the cure and remixed, I developed them even more. Then that coarse grind went thru second grind thru 6mm plate denaturing the proteins even more. With the phosphates in there grabbing on to them tightly....and trapping water too. This sausage is moist and has a GREAT bind!
 
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Looking at your photos, again, I appreciate you are not over-saturating your photos like so many other’s do.
I have WAY too many things going through my head on processing day to even think about taking pictures. I'm directing traffic and trying to stay ahead of everyone with the next steps all the while stuffing sausages with my stuffer and making links. That's pretty much where I am for the whole day...staying on top of everything and making sure everything is done correctly. So I rely on the pictures the guys take and ask them to send them to me. The guys that have been doing this with me for the past 6 years pretty much know the steps...But I double check.
Oh-and I mix up spices when we add stuff on...like the wild/domestic hog sage breakfast sausage we did.
 
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