Re-visting footlongs

[chopsaw]

Gordon's food service started selling the 3 packs of whole spare ribs again . I love to cook up whole spares , but in this day and age I'm all about bang for the buck . So awhile back I started buying the ribs , and trimming them into St. Louis style , then grinding the trim for sausage . takes a bit of work to get them " deboned " , but for the most part the brisket flap is clean .
So this is from the last time I did it . Everything on the plate was ground for sausage .

This time I trimmed them all , but only ground up 2 pounds of the trim . Saved the rest to do as rib tips .
No pics here . Gets to messy .
I started with a 3 days pre grind cure using Tender quick . Mixed the bag around daily .
When grinding day came , I went no rinse , because the TQ will be the salt component in the sausage .
Seasoning was
White pepper
Corriander
Nutmeg
Mustard powder
Ginger

With the 3 day pre cure , I didn't need any starch or NFDM . Makes a big difference in the process and quality of the end product .

Used the food processor to emulsify the grind . Adding ice water a bit at a time , I spin it up until it reaches a temp of 55 to 58 degrees , keeping it under 60 . This allows the lean and fat to mix as one .
I've had some 28mm cellulose casing I bought for this .
Got them stuffed up and hanging to dry .

MES 30 gets the nod . Don't use it much anymore , but it never fails to do a great
controlled job .
Used B&B championship pellets in the mail box .
I had some beech , but it's to easy to walk over the the hopper on the SmokeFire for a fill up .
Taking some nice color .

I would normally smoke for color , then poach at 175 for 30 minutes .
Didn't have a pot big enough , so I took them to 150 and pulled .
Hanging to cool down , no ice bath .

Next morning out of the fridge , you can see the shrink .

Really needs to be simmered for a few minutes , But again nothing big enough .
So I used a roasting pan lid and dumped some almost boiling water on them .
Casings on for this .

Brings them back . A simmer is better , but this was good enough .
Casing removed .

The food processor works good for me . Had to take a look .
This is cold . That tells the story . Solid fat would show up .


Tossed one on the gas grill for supper .

Last time I made the buns , This time I was happy to find out GFS stocks them .
You have to ask because they keep them in the freezer .
Grilled and in the bun .

Went with Stadium mustard ( if you know you know )
Chili man chili
white cheddar
and some chopped onion . Love those Utz dark russet tater chips .

I had to tap out before I got to the other end .


These are pretty good . Not something I would do a lot . I buy an Angus beef No. 5 frank from Gordons that we really like .
So those are the go to for us , but this is fun .
I think a skinless white brat will be next .
Thanks for looking .

 

[kilo charlie]

Gordon's food service started selling the 3 packs of whole spare ribs again . I love to cook up whole spares , but in this day and age I'm all about bang for the buck . So awhile back I started buying the ribs , and trimming them into St. Louis style , then grinding the trim for sausage . takes a bit of work to get them " deboned " , but for the most part the brisket flap is clean .
So this is from the last time I did it . Everything on the plate was ground for sausage .
View attachment 736632
This time I trimmed them all , but only ground up 2 pounds of the trim . Saved the rest to do as rib tips .
No pics here . Gets to messy .
I started with a 3 days pre grind cure using Tender quick . Mixed the bag around daily .
When grinding day came , I went no rinse , because the TQ will be the salt component in the sausage .
Seasoning was
White pepper
Corriander
Nutmeg
Mustard powder
Ginger

With the 3 day pre cure , I didn't need any starch or NFDM . Makes a big difference in the process and quality of the end product .

Used the food processor to emulsify the grind . Adding ice water a bit at a time , I spin it up until it reaches a temp of 55 to 58 degrees , keeping it under 60 . This allows the lean and fat to mix as one .
I've had some 28mm cellulose casing I bought for this .
Got them stuffed up and hanging to dry .
View attachment 736633
MES 30 gets the nod . Don't use it much anymore , but it never fails to do a great
controlled job .
Used B&B championship pellets in the mail box .
I had some beech , but it's to easy to walk over the the hopper on the SmokeFire for a fill up .
Taking some nice color .
View attachment 736634
I would normally smoke for color , then poach at 175 for 30 minutes .
Didn't have a pot big enough , so I took them to 150 and pulled .
Hanging to cool down , no ice bath .
View attachment 736635
Next morning out of the fridge , you can see the shrink .
View attachment 736636
Really needs to be simmered for a few minutes , But again nothing big enough .
So I used a roasting pan lid and dumped some almost boiling water on them .
Casings on for this .
View attachment 736637
Brings them back . A simmer is better , but this was good enough .
Casing removed .
View attachment 736638
The food processor works good for me . Had to take a look .
This is cold . That tells the story . Solid fat would show up .
View attachment 736639

Tossed one on the gas grill for supper .
View attachment 736640
Last time I made the buns , This time I was happy to find out GFS stocks them .
You have to ask because they keep them in the freezer .
Grilled and in the bun .
View attachment 736641
Went with Stadium mustard ( if you know you know )
Chili man chili
white cheddar
and some chopped onion . Love those Utz dark russet tater chips .
View attachment 736642
I had to tap out before I got to the other end .

View attachment 736643
These are pretty good . Not something I would do a lot . I buy an Angus beef No. 5 frank from Gordons that we really like .
So those are the go to for use , but this is fun .
I think a skinless white brat will be next .
Thanks for looking .

Dang! That looks really good!

 

[chopsaw]

Dang! That looks really good!

Thanks bud . Yeah , it was a good result . The pre curing of the meat chunks makes a difference in the flavor and binding of the sausage .
Appreciate the comment .

 

[normanaj]

Damn that looks good.

 

[chopsaw]

Damn that looks good.

I'm thinking why not a footlong chili dog for breakfast ?
Thanks for the comment .

 

[kilo charlie]

I'm thinking why not a footlong chili dog for breakfast ?
Thanks for the comment .

No one is stopping you but you! HAHA

 

[motolife313-2]

Thats a dog!! I thought about doing what you’re doing. To save and grind the meat. You save a buck a pound over st Louis cut but that trim is still a little more expensive the boneless pork shoulder tho. Spares are 2.69$ a pound for me and boneless shoulder just went from 2$ to 2.49$ a pound

 

[kilo charlie]

I'm thinking why not a footlong chili dog for breakfast ?
Thanks for the comment .

What about a breakfast footlong? Ya know with some scrambled eggs and whatever else you fancy.. could be a new trend!

 

[sandyut]

Sounds like a fair amount of work, but that footlong looks killer Rich!

 

[mike243]

Looks great, I ain’t wasting no meat and love any type of sausage.

 

[voyager 663rd]

A man after my own heart

A large supermarket that used to sell whole loin ribs (roast and tenderloin still attached) at a super price. Since retired and store shut down.

You're paying extra for them to do the separation (ribs from roast/loin from ribs/tenderloin still attached) so I learned how to do it. Had them cut the rib from the chine and then package it all up.

They even asked if i still wanted the tenderloin? Well, duh. Yes thank you.

Them were the days.

 

[chopsaw]

That a dog!!

No doubt about that . In the realm of sizing hot dogs , those would each be a No. 2 . So 2 make a pound .
You better be hungry to finish one .

I thought about doing what you’re doing. To save and grind the meat. You save a buck a pound over st Louis cut but that trim is still a little more expensive the boneless pork shoulder tho. Spares are 2.69$ a pound for me and boneless shoulder just went from 2$ to 2.49$ a pound

Yeah , but remember . The sausage is a by product of trimming the ribs . So in my mind , I get ribs one night and sausage for another night . Plus these are full untrimmed spares . They need to be cleaned up just to cook as spares . Trim into St. Louis and theres a bunch of pork grind there .
Normally I would do all three , and get Italian and breakfast sausage .
This is what comes out of the 3 pack . Needs cleaned up just to be a spare rib .

What's on the plate came from one rack , so doing all 3 gives me roughly triple that amount .
That would normally go in the trash if you didn't have an option to grind .
Trimming to St . Louis gives me more clean meat .
Small stuff is trim . The brisket flap removed . Gives a better yeild for the money I think .

 

[chopsaw]

Sounds like a fair amount of work, but that footlong looks killer

Thanks for the comment . I'm set up for it , and do so much of it , it's second nature really .
I do it in stages and clean in between . Keeps it enjoyable .
This is a must have for me . I saw Rick posted it once , and I've been buying it ever since .
Food grade , no rinse .

 

[JLinza]

Looks darn good to me

 

[Winterrider]

Good looking foot-long, nice work ! I also use the Purell cleaner

 

[chopsaw]

Looks great, I ain’t wasting no meat and love any type of sausage.

Thanks Mike . Yup , me either . Plus it gives you something different .

You're paying extra for them to do the separation (ribs from roast/loin from ribs/tenderloin still attached) so I learned how to do it. Had them cut the rib from the chine and then package it all up.

That's a fact . Back when Covid hit I started buying and breaking down beef primals . Some are straight forward , but others you have options on the cuts you end up with .

whole loin ribs (roast and tenderloin still attached)

That's what I had as a kid , but cut into chops . Way different than the cheap ( easy to process ) boneless loin chops of today .
I remember when you bought a rack of " ribs " they would package the flap and the squared off end along with the rack .

You're talking about the pork version of prime rib in my opinion . Center cut , has the light and dark meat on it . Also back when country style ribs were a real cut , not anything cut into strips .
Don't see much of that stuff today , and if you ask for it , most won't know what it is .
Thanks for lookin'

 

[jcam222]

I love a good dog Rich! Those look fantastic to me. I may have to try it sometime.

 

[smokerjim]

Nice job Rich! Looks good

 

[Brokenhandle]

Nice job Rich! Now you have me craving a footlong chili dog... well at least a chili dog!

Ryan

 

[zwiller]

NICE!!! Oh man that cut shot! One of my all time breakfast snacks is a really charred up cheap dog. I bet that's gotta be a 1/2lb or more dog right? Talk to me on trimming. I remember the flap but just how hard to trim out the rib tips? Have not trimmed in ages but not seeing SL cut rib these days. I do remember years ago freaking out how much meat I threw away but was not into sausage back then.