Homemade Sausage Making

Our pig "problem" came from pay hunting businesses. I don't know if you are familiar with Hogzilla or not but that hog was killed just up the road from me. These pay places charge so much for a pig and some even charge $100 per inch of tusk. People doing this have brought in the Russian strains for tusk growth. Stocking pigs is illegal but its pretty hard to police. Once stocked, they multiply like rabbits.

Speaking of Hogzilla. This pig wasn't nearly the size it was claimed. I think they claimed it was 1000 lbs but it wasn't. I know this because the hog belonged to a friend of mine's daughter. It was her pet. It was a Durac cross. I think it weighed 600 lbs. I had gotten my hands on a semi-truck load of peanut butter thinking it would be a good protein supplement for cattle. It was not so I had to find a home for it and Billy took it off my hands and fed it to his daughter's pig. He was tame as could be but he began to worry that since he was a boar and he was so big he might hurt his daughter unintentionally so he tried to sell him at a sale and no one would buy him because he was to big so he sold him to Ken who ended up bringing a lot of fame to his hunting preserve.

Down here, the preserves bring them in for hunters, tree falls breaking the enclosure fence and that's how some of them get out, Yeah saw Hogzilla. It became quite the TV star.

hi just wondering if a dry fermented goes wrong will the whole sausage be bad or just part of it what i mean is i am having 1 thin slice of every 1 i make and waiting till the next day to see if i get sick before i give to any one else as i think 1 thin slice wouldn,t kill you paraniod???????????? :

Why do you think your sausage is not safe? If it was cured, fermented to a Ph<5.3, and dried properly, it should be safe. If it smells or looks bad (off color) then dispose of it.

have not had a bad 1 yet but have not got a ph meter what 1 would u recommend

Well you will have to see what is available in OZ but Hanna and Milwaukee are a good choice. I use this one : http://www.wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=7737

Got a package today. Will be excperimenting with the next few batches of salami and dry cured solid meat cuts.

Going back to basics is a good thing I think.

What's the color? Is it pretty white or is it pinkish brown?

Just a quick question from a post above from Bob.

Bob K wrote:If it was cured, fermented to a Ph<5.3,

What if the PH is >5.3? in the old days they didn't have PH meters I'm assuming or RH meters. If the PH is higher than 5.3 is that an issue?

Ph is only one of the safety hurdles. It keeps the pathogens in check until a sausage is dried, at which time they become microbiologically stable.

If you don't ferment to a Ph of <5.3 , there is a greater risk of the sausage spoiling before it has a chance to dry.

Butterbean wrote:Going back to basics is a good thing I think.

What's the color? Is it pretty white or is it pinkish brown?

Pure nitrate. White. And in Canada #1 and #2 are also white.

I've have some that is snowy white and some that is a pinkish brown. Just priced some today and its running $350/ton in bulk.

Wonder how many pounds of meat you could cure with that one bag. I'd think you are set for many years.

Butterbean wrote:I've have some that is snowy white and some that is a pinkish brown. Just priced some today and its running $350/ton in bulk.

Wonder how many pounds of meat you could cure with that one bag. I'd think you are set for many years.

Or just think of the profit you could make selling it for $12 bucks a pound!

Right enough. Though I know you would need some pure nitrite as well but think of the profit of making Cure 2.

You know, it still just amazes me how mankind figured out how to use the nitrogen cycle to make meats safe. I know the nitrates have caught a lot of bad press over the years but its truly amazing to me how we can work with nature and this cycle to preserve meat.

Did you see the recent article about the 5300 year old ice man and how they found a form of cured prosciutto in his stomach? That is amazing to me.

Butterbean wrote:Did you see the recent article about the 5300 year old ice man and how they found a form of cured prosciutto in his stomach? That is amazing to me.

Yup, he was way ahead of us. Probably could have offered Lou a few tips on the prosciutto!

http://gizmodo.com/otzi-the-iceman-was- ... 1791425108