What did I do wrong?

[cooker613]

I think this is the right place for this question, if not just move as apporiate. Thanks

Made some scotch eggs (actually prefer bourbon, but that’s another story). Put on the smoker @ 230 degrees for about 1 1/4 hr.

But while smelling great, the sausage wrappings split on all but one. Any thoughts as to what I did wrong?

Thanks

 

[zippy12]

They Hatched!

 

[cooker613]

They Hatched!

Oy!

 

[dcecil]

How did they taste

 

[cooker613]

How did they taste

Not bad, not bad at all.

 

[dcecil]

From the pics its appears the meat just pulled back. I have never cooked that so thats just a guess. If it taste good then its a success with room to improve on presentation LOL. Hell Ive made some ugly food that tasted outstanding.

 

[one eyed jack]

At the risk of sounding borderline nuts I'll put this out.

Back in time farmers and butchers and most all people, tended to live by the moon phases, to a far greater extent than we do.

Butchering animals was done by the moon because butchering in the wrong phase could lead to excessive shrinkage.

I have cooked sausage, (store bought), that shrank to an extreme for no reason that i could come up with. The same product bought the following week might cook up in a very normal way.

To my eye; Your sausage looks overcooked. That might just be trouble in viewing the pictures on my monitor. How hot was your cooker and how long did you cook?
(Or maybe he hog was butchered under the wrong moon phase).

I have made Scotch Eggs, once. Really wasn't too carried away with them and so haven't pursued them further.

I wrapped the egg / sausage package in bacon which would help shield the sausage. I don't remember if I followed a specific recipe for these or not. Most likely I googled them and did follow a recipe. I remember that they were best when hydrated with Maple syrup and or sour cream. As I recall they were drier than I liked without some help. As you can tell by the date stamp on these photos; It's been quite a while since I made these. Sorry that my memory is not clearer as to the recipe and process.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

I haven't made these on my smoker, but I have done them in the oven and at my buddy's for cook outs on his grill etc. I think there is a few culprits..

I'm willing to guess your Sausage likely wasn't very fatty; not sure if you did it at home or not. Your smoker might be running hot if electric, or you simply had them close to the heart source..<I'm just offering that as a reason>

Did you use Cold hard boiled eggs? You want them to be -very- cold when they get packed actually, it helps keep the sausage from getting done to quickly and you definitely didn't put enough sausage on them. You want about 1/3 to 1/2 inch of sausage around the egg. This is A: to make sure there is enough Sausage. B: Protect egg from drying out. C: Finished product should have about 1/4 or more sausage around it. You also coat the Sausage in bread crumbs once it's wrapped around the egg.

I'm not really sure I'd do scotch eggs on a smoker, they work much better when deep fried, but thats the culprits I can think of.

 

[one eyed jack]

I haven't made these on my smoker, but I have done them in the oven and at my buddy's for cook outs on his grill etc. I think there is a few culprits..

I'm willing to guess your Sausage likely wasn't very fatty; not sure if you did it at home or not. Your smoker might be running hot if electric, or you simply had them close to the heart source..<I'm just offering that as a reason>

Did you use Cold hard boiled eggs? You want them to be -very- cold when they get packed actually, it helps keep the sausage from getting done to quickly and you definitely didn't put enough sausage on them. You want about 1/3 to 1/2 inch of sausage around the egg. This is A: to make sure there is enough Sausage. B: Protect egg from drying out. C: Finished product should have about 1/4 or more sausage around it. You also coat the Sausage in bread crumbs once it's wrapped around the egg.

I'm not really sure I'd do scotch eggs on a smoker, they work much better when deep fried, but thats the culprits I can think of.

"Deep fried" may convince me to try this again. That's got to help them.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

"Deep fried" may convince me to try this again. That's got to help them.

They were originally Deep fried. Fish and Chip vendors made them for the Upper Class. They aren't bad baked but you don't get the crunch like if they were fried. I'm not sure if they'd work in an air fryer or not. Mileage may vary, but these were never some thing meant for a smoker I'm afraid to say. I'll try to get some bulk fatty pork sausage and maybe make heavily buttered bread crumbs and try. Sorry ya'all for spoiling it..oh and there's nothing Scottish about them ;)

 

[gmc2003]

Your smoker temp sounds fine, how much sausage did you use. You need about a 1/4 lb. per egg. Once you've formed the eggs put them back into the refrigerator for an hour or so to chill before smoking. When you smoke them keep the eggs away from the heat source(as indirect as you can).

Chris

 

[cooker613]

Thanks guys, appreciate the input. The sausage was actually homemade lamb sausage, cooked it about 230 degrees, each egg had about 3+ oz of meat, actually let rest in fridge overnight. I’m thinking I over cooked them and needed more meat per egg. I will try again because I’m too stubborn not to.
But...with all the said and done with a little “precision” slicing in half and served with a homemade mustard horseradish sauce, it was a hit of the shabbas table.
PS, main course was smoked brisket and chicken schnitzel. My wife IS the queen of schnitzel!
PPS, thanks for the helpful input. I knew I could get the help I needed here.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Is Lamb a super lean sausage? I'll admit that I've had lamb a handful of times in my life and it was always in a nice establishment, and schnitzels or some thing.

 

[KrisUpInSmoke]

Since you made the sausage, what was the ratio of fat to meat? Fat helps maintain moisture as it melts into the meat, and the meat would shrink as the fat drips away. Maybe you could use less fat in the mixture or cook for less time to keep it from rendering out, or maybe just more sausage around the outside like others suggested would work. The fat content is the first thing I'd wonder about, but I also haven't made sausage from scratch before so I'm not speaking from specific experience.

They look like they were still good though, and the homemade mustard sounds delicious.

 

[zippy12]

Kris: Fat will cause the sausage to shrink. Sausage from the store I cook will fill the entire pan and when done you just have enough to eat.

my sausage runs about 15-20% fat and I dont see it shrink as much.

 

[cooker613]

The sausage was approximately 80 - 20.
And while not the most beautiful, was very tasty.
Again, thanks for the input. Lots to think about and ways to experiment with.

 

[DanMcG]

Did you have a good bind to your mince before you wrapped the eggs? a poor bind with cause it to fall apart.