Online Workshop: Project B2 (October 2013)

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grasshopper
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Post by grasshopper » Sun Feb 16, 2014 00:43

To me it matters if the tube is tapered. I use straight stainless, a lot easier.
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Post by Carpster » Sun Feb 16, 2014 03:37

22mm casing would not fit on the smallest plastic one that came with my stuffer....I had to use the stainless.
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Post by two_MN_kids » Mon Feb 17, 2014 03:46

redzed wrote:Jim, drying Krakowska is strictly optional. I like to hang mine for 3 to five days in a temp of around 6o°F with a bit of humidity. The traditional recipe for Dry Krakowska calls for poaching the sausage and then drying at that temp for a couple of weeks until a weight loss of 33%. It is then given a few hours of warm smoke and stored.

And you certainly did the right thing with curing the chunks before stuffing. Nitrite needs time to penetrate whole muscle and release gases. Most of the time I salt and cure meat for a couple of days for all types of sausage. The meat is firmer, absorbs all the good exudate, grinds better and seems to have better colour (based on my own empirical evidence).
Thanks for the information, Chris. I have a fermentation chamber with a Johnson controller. With these cold temperatures, some wet towels, and such a short drying time, I think it should work well.

Any suggestions on adding some additional flavors to the mix?

Jim
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Post by sambal badjak » Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:12

I like all those sausages! Looking good.
I am back in action as well. I was going to wait for the wet season to end, so there wouldn't be any problems lighting my cold smoke generator, but I can' t (won't) wait.
I ground 3.4 kg pork & fat this morning and am going to use 1 kg for kabanosy (marianski's book page 259), 1 kg for Longanisa (marianski p 245) and 1 kg for smoked longanisa (if I am allowed to call it that). The last one will obviously have cure 1 added and I intend to hang it in the smoker together with the kabanosy, but just smoke it a bit longer, then bake, shower and refrigerate or freeeze.
The remaining mince will be used as dumpling filler :-)

I like spices and I am a bit worried about the kabanosy. It looks like the amount of spice is quite low.
Does anyone increase the spices dramatically?
Yes, I know, it won't really be kabanosy that way, but I am more after flavour than anything (and I am sure I can come up with a different name, not many Poles here anyway).
I have more or less decided to stick with the original for my first attempt, but would like to know your opinions.
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Post by sambal badjak » Tue Feb 18, 2014 14:36

The kabanosy are in the fridge.
I ran into a couple of problems.
First of all, it seemed much more difficult than the previous time to get the sheep casing on the stuffer. I treated the the aame as usual, so no clue as to why this happened.
A number of the tore while filling. I used a slightly coarser mince. Could that have been the problem?
Kept them overnight in the fridge, wrapped in tea towel. They were not as dry as I wanted them before smoking, so hung them in an old fridge and pointed the fan at them. This seemed to work ok.
Then smoked for about 2 hours at 32 oC. My smoker produces a light smoke, that's why I increased the time (and I like a smoky flavour).
The temperature is decided by the ambiient temperature. I was scared to use a hot plate inside the smoker as it has been very eet here and I did not want my extension lead to lie out in the (potential) rain. I got to find a solution for this.
I finished the sausages in the oven (gas oven).
Took them out at 69 oC, but had forgotten to turn them over, so one side is quite pale.
Cooled them down in a water-ice bath and then decided to quickly brown the other side by pushing them under the grill. I don't know, if that was a clever idea. The oven temp stayed below 90 oC though.
Cooled them again and they are now in the fridge, wrapped in a tea towel.
Or should they be uncovered? Or put in grease proof paper?

The load of experimental smoked lomganisa is hanging in the smoker now...
The "normal" longanisa is resdy for consumption.
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Post by Carpster » Fri Mar 14, 2014 01:30

sambal,
How did the "Kabanosy" taste?

I have found reheating to fix a dislike, usually affects the quality of the product a bit. I hope yours was tasty!!! Got any pics?
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Post by el Ducko » Fri Mar 14, 2014 02:04

sambal badjak wrote:The kabanosy are in the fridge.
I ran into a couple of problems.
First of all, it seemed much more difficult than the previous time to get the sheep casing on the stuffer. I treated the the aame as usual, so no clue as to why this happened.
A number of the tore while filling. I used a slightly coarser mince. Could that have been the problem?
I suspect that you need to soak the casings in water longer. Say, overnight. Some casing is more forgiving that others, but it depends on the supplier. I've had a few problems with locally-supplied casing, whereas the national brands (LEM, for example) seem to work without problem. I'm guessing that yours are locally supplied, so try soaking them longer.
Kept them overnight in the fridge, wrapped in tea towel. They were not as dry as I wanted them before smoking, so hung them in an old fridge and pointed the fan at them. This seemed to work ok.
Then smoked for about 2 hours at 32 oC. My smoker produces a light smoke, that's why I increased the time (and I like a smoky flavour).
The temperature is decided by the ambiient temperature. I was scared to use a hot plate inside the smoker as it has been very eet here and I did not want my extension lead to lie out in the (potential) rain. I got to find a solution for this.
I finished the sausages in the oven (gas oven).
Took them out at 69 oC, but had forgotten to turn them over, so one side is quite pale.
Cooled them down in a water-ice bath and then decided to quickly brown the other side by pushing them under the grill. I don't know, if that was a clever idea. The oven temp stayed below 90 oC though.
90°C is pretty hot, so you probably got some grease evolution. ...cooked them, though, so I hope you went ahead and tried them. ...good?
Cooled them again and they are now in the fridge, wrapped in a tea towel.
Or should they be uncovered? Or put in grease proof paper?
Might as well wrap them in grease-proof butcher paper.

The load of experimental smoked lomganisa is hanging in the smoker now...
The "normal" longanisa is resdy for consumption.
Good effort, despite some formidable challenges. Keep up the good work!
:mrgreen:
Experience - the ability to instantly recognize a mistake when you make it again.
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Post by sambal badjak » Fri Mar 14, 2014 12:27

Thanks guys :)

The kabanosy eventually turned out fine.
It took a good 2 1/2 weeks to dry them in my fridge and I actually took them out of the grease proof paper and hung them.
They started feeling oily at one point in time, but that actually disappeared once they had dried long enough. At that point in time you also couldn't spot the difference in colour from the oven period anymore.

I started smoking on 18 February
Drying out the kabanosy before smoking
Image

inside the smoker
Image

Hanging inside the fridge after smoking (picture was taken 13 days after smoking)
I had them lying down at first, but hanging definitely seems a lot better

Image

And a bit more in detail
Image

and this was at 19 days after smoking

Image

Image
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Finally Decent Links

Post by Shuswap » Sun Mar 16, 2014 04:34

This is a brats I made. This is the first time I've been happy with the appearance of the links.

Image

As for the flavor, I'm still trying to find a recipe that pleases as I'm not one for a lot of spice.
But I'm getting there. DW likes this batch though.

3 lbs pork
2 lbs veal
2 tsp mace
2 tsp white pepper
1 cup milk
1 tsp nutmeg (recipe called for 2 tsp)
2 Tblsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger
3 eggs
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Post by redzed » Mon Mar 17, 2014 07:13

Nice looking brats Shushwap! But I can't get why the colour is such a deep red? And you even used veal, making them quite traditional. I just use beef in my brats, just can't bring myself to grinding that expensive stuff. :cry:

And Sambal, I am completely at a loss for words, a mental impasse that rarely afflicts me. :shock:
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Post by Chuckwagon » Mon Mar 17, 2014 08:17

Jim n' Jean wrote:
Up here at the south end of the Arctic Circle, smokers just can't hold a good cooking temperature. After three hours of drying, smoking, and baking it, I moved it to our convection oven in the house. I had preheated the oven, with a cake pan of hot water to provide humidity, and it was finished in another two hours.
Wow kids! Someone told me the other day that Spring was right around the corner. Now, if we can just find the corner. :roll:
Jim, your Krakowska looks amazing. Nice job pal!
And I'd say that ol' Shuswap has just about mastered the linking process. They look very professional.
Hey, does anyone want to make Duck sausage? :lol: I'll supply the ".12 gauge Duck! :twisted:
Hunting that goofy Texan screwball is easy... I just have to find the trail of hot air! :cool:

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! :D
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Post by two_MN_kids » Wed Mar 19, 2014 22:40

Chuckwagon wrote:
Jim, your Krakowska looks amazing. Nice job pal!
Thanks Chuckwagon! That first one was just a Kilo in size. We made it again a week latter; we took the leaner meat from two shoulders and two picnics, and still only got enough meat for 4.5 kg. Maybe we were being too fussy on the lean meat, but I wanted to keep it lean. We used a stuffer this time, and packed it tightly into 61mm fibrous casings. Still had a few air bubbles, but better than the first time.

Jim
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Post by Shuswap » Thu Mar 20, 2014 00:22

redzed wrote:Nice looking brats Shushwap! But I can't get why the colour is such a deep red? And you even used veal, making them quite traditional. I just use beef in my brats, just can't bring myself to grinding that expensive stuff.
Chris I think the veal caused the colour - it was the same colour and packaging in three different butcher shops I went to. Do you use chuck for your brats and do you use back fat or stay with the beef fat? Phil

Oh, it snowed here today - getting our of hand :sad:
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Post by redzed » Thu Mar 20, 2014 02:52

I know that some may disagree, but beef fat is just not the ingredient to put into any sausage, unless you have religious reasons not to use pork. A small amount is OK, but you certainly don't want to throw in large cubes of beef fat as a substitute for pork. I use what ever beef I have when I need to use beef in sausage.

Currently, well, for one more day anyway, Superstore has boneless blade roasts for 2.68lb. With the price of beef these days, (and remember it always goes up during the summer grilling season) that is a bargain. The meat from the front quarter is always more flavourful for burgers, stewing meat and pot roasts than that from the hind. I bought several large roasts and processed them into hamburger meat, stewing beef, sausage designated and left a couple of small roasts. These days I always grind my own hamburger meat. This way I know what is in it. I know that it will be better something that has been ground and then sits on display shelves for 3 to 5 days, and it does not contain any head meat, vertebrae matter or floor scrapings. Commercially ground beef and beef patties usually contain a certain amount of water in the form of crushed ice, so you are often paying 4 bucks a pound for it.
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Post by Cabonaia » Sat Mar 22, 2014 04:46

Hey Red - I grind my own hamburger too. We buy beef from a friend who raises cattle in the Sierra foothills, near Merced. After he takes it to the butcher, I call the guy and give him directions he probably doesn't get very often - give me the trim instead of grinding it, and I want the heart, tail, liver, tongue, and the fat. I render the fat and use the tallow for frying - it's great for fish and chips. I grind the trim, but get a lot of good stew meat out of it too. Also some especially good pieces for the occasional steak tartare. If you stop to think about it, you realize that the trim contains some real substandard stuff, like the plate, but also bits of the very best cuts, too. It's not hard to recognize those pieces. Maybe people who like to grind their own but don't buy in bulk can go to (real) butchers and ask to buy beef trim. It's a well kept secret, I guess. A friend on this forum, Doug, has gotten pork trim for free.

Cheers,
Jeff
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