Homemade Sausage Making

Thanks for the information! I shall certainly follow it up...
Jan L

Resistbody,Thanks for posting the pix, I love seeing/reading all the great ideas on this website !

More pics
Controllers, lights and switches

Some wires

The racks

First products inside

Both filled up..

Wow! What a nice unit and the stuff inside makes me salivate! When can I come over? (will bring the wine). If you find the time, can you describe your products and post recipes? I am sure that I am not the only one here that would love to see them.

That looks real good resistbody!

Will post it later these days... I can give traditional recepies, diferent of them is, that I dont use Nitrates, but a Combo from Spain, its called Lukanka MN2. It is consisted of: Skimmed dry milk, lactose, emulgators, conservants, salt, antioxidants and colorant E-120. As I'm small scale producer and make them for the market, need to ensure shelf life and good appearance. Since I've made the first chamber, i'Have dried more than a 1 ton of raw products.
Don't use any fibers and soy in dry sausage products, as most on the market.
Will post recepies very soon. The traditional recepie for Sudzuk(Суджук) is posted on 1 or 2 page.
And again apologize for my bad english.

Nice job on the machines and the sausage sir, your English is fine !

We can understand your English and you are very able to teach us about sausage making.

I've tried to translate the guideline of producing of Panagiurska lukanka.
Recipe for 100 kg Lukanka Panagiurska "Луканка Панагюрска":
MEAT
Fresh beef - up to 10 % fat - 60 kg
Fresh pork meat - up to 5 % fat - 20 kg
Fresh pork - up to 50% fat (ribs ot belly) - 20 kg
SPICES
Black or White pepper natural - 300 gr
Cummin natural- 300 gr
ADDITIVES
Sugar - 300 gr
Salt - 2,3 kg
Potassium nitrate - 100 г OR Sodium nitrate- 85 gr (NOT BOTH)
Ascorbic acid (Е 300) - 50 gr

Could be used starter cultures...
Casings: natural (salted beef gut, blind sheep gut) or artificial - φ 50 mm.
Production
рН of meat 5,6 to 6,2. Deboned, meat is cutted to pieces by hand or machine.
Meat is grinded on grinder or cutter.
During mixing all additives are added in one time.
The mixed meat is filled using stuffer in casings.
Sausages are hanged on metal or wood rods. For 2-3 days sausages are kept at 8 to 24 °С and relative humidity 65-90 %, after that they are moved to drying chambers. Drying of sausages is at temperature of 12-17 °С and relative humidity 70-85 %. During drying sausages are pressed 2 to 3 times. Pressing duration is 12-24 hours. First pressing is when you touch them bottom end of sausage is feeling dried and fat particles are jutting out at casings.
Process lasts 20-30 days, to 35 % water content, and product is not more than 60 % of meat.

Thanks for that recipe. I have been planning to make a lukanka for some time now, and hopefully I will have time to make it in the next month or so. I have a question about the grind. What size of plate would work the best and are all meats ground the same?

I plan on making a version of lukanka, but want to cold smoke it. Is that acceptable in Bulgarian lukanka?

No, Tipical Bulgarian dry sausages are not smoked.
Only semi-dry european types of sausages sold here are smoked. There is no reason to try, but you wont have genue lukanka, but something else

resistbody wrote:No, Tipical Bulgarian dry sausages are not smoked.
Only semi-dry european types of sausages sold here are smoked. There is no reason to try, but you wont have genue lukanka, but something else

Hmm, I already made and cold smoked the sausage. I cold smoked it to keep mould away, since everything else that is now in my curing chamber is covered with it.

I guess I will have to give it another name.

Lukanka, and other tipical bulgarian types of dry sausages are Mould covered. But most of peoples do not like it (as they think it is spoiled) so I have to clean it before selling it.
Last month I has dispute with my ex uiversity teachers about market requerments of mold on sausages... However one of my distributors want it covered with mold, because he sold it in mountain area....
Going to make walk in chamber, because these 2 fridge-cambers couldnt handlle... maybe next year