Did another batch of dry garlic sausage, and this one aged 35 days in the UMAi bags in my basement refrigerator, after a 3 day fermentation period hanging in the oven. Here's what they looked like just before I seal wrapped them for the freezer. This is typical; mostly they are loose in their UMAi bags, but sometimes the bag is shrunk pretty close like the third chub from the end. No difference in the taste or texture of the sausage. The tags show their weight going into the refrigerator for aging, which I use to track progress.
Here is what the chubs look like dried to a 40% weight loss, which is my usual target.
I did one grind with the large plate, 50/50 pork venison. I used to cut in chopped pork fat back, but using a fatty butt for the mix works just as well and is easier. This stuff is darn good; I open a chub and it hardly ever lasts a day. I always warm to room temp, and just leave it on the counter through the day. At night I'll wrap and put back in fridge to keep from drying out totally, not that that would hurt it. The nice thing about this method is how easy it is and how consistent the results have been, without using special equipment. Need to get a couple more recipes in the hopped so they will be ready for the summer fishing and camping season!
Here is what the chubs look like dried to a 40% weight loss, which is my usual target.
I did one grind with the large plate, 50/50 pork venison. I used to cut in chopped pork fat back, but using a fatty butt for the mix works just as well and is easier. This stuff is darn good; I open a chub and it hardly ever lasts a day. I always warm to room temp, and just leave it on the counter through the day. At night I'll wrap and put back in fridge to keep from drying out totally, not that that would hurt it. The nice thing about this method is how easy it is and how consistent the results have been, without using special equipment. Need to get a couple more recipes in the hopped so they will be ready for the summer fishing and camping season!
