Sausage texture

[noxwaste]

So this last weekend, I smoked some sausage again. I've done it a couple times now, and this time, the texture was a bit...hot-dog-like. Don't get me wrong, I love a good hot dog from time to time, but I don't want my sausage to be of hot dog consistency (hard, yet, easy to mush with your fingers, know what I mean?). The first couple batches I'm pretty sure I did the same thing as this one. I mixed and mixed and mixed my meat until it felt super sticky, then I mixed a little bit more, adding about 8 oz of water to 10 lb of sausage total. (8 lb of meat, 2 lb of fat, and about 8 oz of water, not to mention the 90g of seasoning).

I realize there could be millions of things that could cause different textures, etc., but can anyone point me in the right direction of understanding how this batch came out with such a firm texture? I like my smoked sausage to have a bit of "crumble" to it... You bit in, and the bite looks a bit jagged-ish, or you can break it in half and it doesn't look perfectly uniform. This sausage, when you bite into it, it leaves a trail of your teeth down the meat. Hard to explain without pictures, but hopefully you get what I'm saying haha..

 

[daveomak]

Use larger holed plates on your grinder...    That will give the sausage "tooth"....  Some recipes call for grinding the partially frozen fat through a fine plate, so it will get uniform distribution throughout the sausage...  Grind some meat  on the med/fine side, grind the rest of the meat coarse, for the "toothiness" you desire...  The 3 levels of grind will give a uniform filling to the casing...   After that, make adjustments to the grind you think will make improvements to the texture.... 

GRINDER PLATES 3-4 1-2.JPG

• daveomak
• Jan 30, 2017

 

[BGKYSmoker]

You answered your own question.

I mixed and mixed and mixed my meat until it felt super sticky, then I mixed a little bit more.

 

[mr ray ray]

 
Use larger holed plates on your grinder...    That will give the sausage "tooth"....  Some recipes call for grinding the partially frozen fat through a fine plate, so it will get uniform distribution throughout the sausage...  Grind some meat  on the med/fine side, grind the rest of the meat coarse, for the "toothiness" you desire...  The 3 levels of grind will give a uniform filling to the casing...   After that, make adjustments to the grind you think will make improvements to the texture.... 

GRINDER PLATES 3-4 1-2.JPG

• daveomak
• Jan 30, 2017

Like Dave side here work with your meat when its COLD you want it cold it helps to keep your fat becoming soft and mushy..

 

[noxwaste]

 
Use larger holed plates on your grinder...    That will give the sausage "tooth"....  Some recipes call for grinding the partially frozen fat through a fine plate, so it will get uniform distribution throughout the sausage...  Grind some meat  on the med/fine side, grind the rest of the meat coarse, for the "toothiness" you desire...  The 3 levels of grind will give a uniform filling to the casing...   After that, make adjustments to the grind you think will make improvements to the texture.... 

GRINDER PLATES 3-4 1-2.JPG

• daveomak
• Jan 30, 2017

Thanks Dave! So, when people tell you to mix the hell out of the sausage until it emulsifies, why are they saying to do that? Is that so that you can get that "hot dog" texture?

I want my sausage to be sausage, and not just cooked pork meat inside of a casing, y'know what I mean? I thought I had to "emulsify" the mixture so that you get sausage in the end, and not just cooked bits of pork chops inside a casing.

 

[noxwaste]

 
Like Dave side here work with your meat when its COLD you want it cold it helps to keep your fat becoming soft and mushy..

I try and work with it straight from the refrigerator until I can feel it getting dangerously warm. Then I return it to the refrigerator for about an hour, and continue. Just by working it for a few minutes, my hands tend to warm up the fat, just not enough that it "mushes". I'm not sure I have a fat problem, as opposed to a texture problem, but I'll be sure to keep in mind that it needs to be as cold as possible while working. Thanks Ray!

 

[pc farmer]

I would say you over mixed.

I just mix enough to get the seasoning mixed in and get the meat sticky.  Then stop.

 

[dward51]

x2 on over mixed (or is it x3 now).  That "hot dog" texture comes from emulsification of the meat.  Also if the recipe you used had any binders such as NFDM, etc....  that contributes to emulsification as well.

 

[noxwaste]

I'm already planning my next batch of sausage, even though this batch was still amazing... Is that what all you sausage bros do? Plan the next batch long before the current batch is even gone? I'm starting to get that addicted feeling I hear everyone talk about! :P

 

[noxwaste]

 
x2 on over mixed (or is it x3 now).  That "hot dog" texture comes from emulsification of the meat.  Also if the recipe you used had any binders such as NFDM, etc....  that contributes to emulsification as well.

Luckily, no binders. The only thing I used was the meat, fat, and seasoning. I looked into using a binder, but considering I'm on a low carb diet, I'm trying to keep it to as few ingredients as possible to make the carb calculation easier.

 

[crazymoon]

NW, x4 on the overmixing . 

 

[myownidaho]

Ditto what the others said. I hand mix for two minutes. It gets me just the texture I'm looking for. My hands are aching from the cold by the time I'm done. And if you want that slightly crumbly texture, avoid the fine plate.

 

[noxwaste]

Nice! Thank you all very much for the tips. I'll be sure to keep the plate in the medium range and to only mix long enough to incorporate my seasonings.

 

[indaswamp]

 
You answered your own question.

I mixed and mixed and mixed my meat until it felt super sticky, then I mixed a little bit more.

^^^this.

You over mixed the meat paste.