It did end up taking 4 hours to reach 155F IT via SV (but, as I stated earlier, I chilled it after smoking...I'd read so many recipes/methods and that got stuck in my mind I guess!).
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The TASTE is good...tastes like beef bologna (but needs a snitch more salt and garlic if you ask me).
I think the new FP handled the emulsification nicely, but I did grind it twice (once through the 1/4" plate and then through the 1/8").
The texture, however, is "spongy" (literally, it's like a sponge...when I fried a slice, it absorbed ALL of the oil in the skillet and when I pressed the fried slice with the fork, the oil would squeeze out)...but I "think" I know why (will get to that after the recipe).
So, here's the recipe:
Meats | Metric | US |
---|
Beef trimmings | 750 g | 1.55 lb |
Pork trimmings | 200 g | 0.44 lb |
Pork back fat or hard fat trimmings | 50 g | 0.11 lb |
Ingredients per 1000g (1 kg) of meat
Salt | 18 g | 3 tsp |
Cure #1 | 2.5 g | 1/2 tsp |
White pepper | 2.0 g | 1 tsp |
Coriander | 1.0 g | 1 tsp |
Paprika, sweet | 1.0 g | 1 tsp |
Nutmeg | 0.5 g | 1/4 tsp |
Garlic | 3.0 g | 1 clove |
Potato flour | 50 g | 1.7 oz |
Cold water | 240 ml | 1 cup |
Instructions
- Grind beef through 3/8” (10 mm) plate.
- Grind pork through 3/8” (10 mm) plate.
- Grind fat through 3/8” (10 mm) plate.
- Using food processor emulsify beef with half of water. Then add as follows: pork plus salt, cure #1 and spices-fat -flour. Keep on slowly adding the remaining water as emulsifying process continues.
- Stuff into beef bungs, beef middles or large diameter cellulose or fibrous casings.
- Hang in 4º C (38º F) overnight or for 2-3 hours at room temperature.
- Apply smoke at 46º C (115º F) for 3 hours.
- Cook in water at around 72° C (160° F) for 60-90 min according to thickness until sausages reach 68-70° C (154-158° F) inside.
- After cooking place sausages for about 10 min in cold water, cool them in air and refrigerate.
END OF RECIPE
So, self-diagnosis:
These instructions do NOT say to chill after smoking/before SV. As I said above, that was me getting in my own way after having read WAY too many recipes/methods in a short period of time and I guess it was a step that got "stuck" in my head.
That it needs more salt/garlic is simply a taste preference.
Now, for that "spongy" texture...note the recipe calls for "potato flour". As I didn't HAVE potato flour, I looked online for a substitution as it pertains to sausage making and found a couple of sources that said I could run instant potato flakes through my spice grinder and voila...potato flour.
Obviously, that was wrong...in my eagerness to make bologna, I failed to account for how instant potatoes SWELL when re-hydrated. In essence, I think THAT'S what caused the spongy texture.
Takeaways:
1) FOLLOW THE RECIPE, but if you must make substitutions, THINK about what you already know about the ingredient BEFORE you jump the gun due to your enthusiasm.
2) Use smaller casings for bologna...it is NOT necessary that it be the same size as commercial bologna (and I did NOT enjoy dealing with that big, HONKIN' casing...at ALL). I have a couple dozen 2.5" clear fibrous...2.5" bologna tastes the same as 4.5" bologna.
3) Did I mention "enthusiasm above? Yes I did...and I need to CURB it!
4) I have a LOT more to learn about making sausage than I thought I did.
Whatcha think?