Online Workshop: Project B2 (October 2013)

Carpster · Post by **Carpster** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 01:18

Quote:
Posted: Yesterday 22:06
Carpster, exactly which "collagen casings" did you use? If you used the crinkly mahogany ones, they are very thin and actually almost impossible to remove.

Sorry Retzed for calling you duck. I am not good at getting around on a forum.

Post by **redzed** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 05:08

No offence Carpster. Being called a Duck pales by comparison to what others have called me!

And you still have not told us which collagen casing you used. There are dozens of "collagen" casings out there, each manufactured for a specific product. Fir Kabanosy you need to buy the ones that are specifically made for smoked snack sticks. If you use the casings made for fresh sausage, you will have problems.

Igor Duńczyk · Post by **Igor Duńczyk** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 11:08

Witaj Red!
Did you try with lamb casings?

Otherwise the company DEVRO makes a series of thin and crisp collagen casing in 15 -17 mm caliber called "STIX" and they come in different hues.
I don´t know about their availability in the US but you can try DEVRO´s customer call number: 800-637-5343

el Ducko · Post by **el Ducko** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 16:21

redzed wrote:No offence Carpster. Being called a Duck pales by comparison to what others have called me!

Yer doggone right! WooHoo! WooHoo!

I use clear collagen for small diameter snack sticks, and just about always peel the collagen off before eating. I don't make many, so I haven't really researched the matter. Sheep casings are expensive and I find them hard to work with, but you might try them, if collagen is an issue.
Duk

sambal badjak · Post by **sambal badjak** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 16:57

I am going back a couple of steps:
I made up my own sausage out of lamb meat, inspired by the recipe for Merquez.
Lamb, as pork is not available at the moment (we have swine fever in the country), and I needed to try out my sausage stuffer.
It was also the first time to use sheep casings.

I used the following "recipe"
Lamb mince: 1.2 kg (lamb meat and lamb fat, roughly 30% fat, maybe a bit more)
Garlic, chopped finely: 18 gr
Salt: 12 gr
Harissa paste (store bought): 40 gr
Frozen and chopped coriander leaves/stems: 10 gr (that's what I got left in the freezer

)
Paprika powder: 5 gr
Pimento (all spice): 1 gr
Cumin, roasted and ground: 1 gr
Coriander, roasted and ground: 1 gr
Cold water: 100 ml
Sheep casings (soaked for about 1 hour before using)

I toasted 4 gram whole coriander and 4 gram whole cumin together, wait for them to cool down and ground in my coffee grinder and then weighed off 2 gram in total

All the spices & water got mixed in with the mince.
The amount of salt was a bit on the low side on purpose, as there is salt in the ready made harissa paste already.
The mince got worked till it got sticky and easily formed a ball. I took off a bit to fry and put the rest of the mixture in the fridge.
While frying I put a (cleaned) sheep casing on the small stuffer tube. Not easy, but easier once I let the water run through the casing via the tube.

Note to self: put only 1 casing per bowl as they like to get tangled up properly.

The test batch of mince tasted fine, so put the mince in the assembled stuffer and went ahead.
It is a heck of a lot easier than stuffing straight from a hand mincer! I could actually operate the machine by myself.
Stuffing was not much of a problem either, but those sheep casings get filled up very quickly. I managed to get the next ones on the stuffer with the mince still in the tube

Next note to self: put more casings on the stuffing tube before starting to fill them. Much less messy!

The sausages that came out were quite wet. I may have put too much water in the mix (it should actually have been 75 instead of 100 ml), or maybe the casings were just very wet.

When the sausages were finished I put them uncovered in the fridge for an hour or 2, after that I decided to wrap them in tea towel to dry them out a bit more, which seemed to work OK.

I fried one up to use for bar snacks and it everyone there seemed to like it.

I still got to get used to the stuffer, but it definitely is a lot easier and faster than stuffing with my hand mincer!

Carpster · Post by **Carpster** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 20:56

The brand is LEM edible collagen casings 21 mm
I would upload some pictures but I cannot figure out how.

trucktramp · Post by **trucktramp** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 01:33

Like Carpster, I'm just getting around to making the Kabanosy and I have some questions. I was not able to use my smoker to smoke or finish the sausage since it's been about -15f here and I didn't think I would be able to get enough heat to do any good. Therefore, I used the oven and mixed in some liquid smoke. They seemed to turn out good. I used a probe thermometer and cooked to an internal temp of 155 degrees on the "warm" setting. I did get some liquid fat in the sheet pan that they were on. Is this normal or was the temp too high? The lowest setting cycles on at about 160f and off about 220f. The sausages looked nice and pink on the top but the bottom side did not really change colors and still looked like it had not cooked. The consistency of the meat though, was as if it had been cooked. They weren't cooked directly on a sheet pan but on a small rack so that air could circulate around the sausages. Any ideas?

Sorry about this being so long but I'm just trying to figure this out.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 02:07

Hello Truckster! Brrrrrr.... Brrrrr.... I just saw the weather report for your area. Put on your long undies!
Some folks won`t use liquid smoke and remain "purists". Hey, if it works for you, then go for it. I like liquid smoke and use it quite often. Be sure to use a top quality product - made from real distilled smoke.
If you SLOWLY brought the temperature up to 155°F IMT, it should be fine. You may have lost a little moisture and they may still look pink because they haven`t "bloomed" yet. Keep them on a "jelly roll rack" (air circulation underneath) for a few hours. When the mahogany color starts to develop, turn them over for another few hours. Finally, put them in paper sacks in your fridge for storage. When they have lost about 35% moisture, they will be just right to sink a tooth into them. The meat will have completely changed in its texture. This will take a few days drying, so be patient. You`ll know when they are just right for eating. Keep us informed and up-to-date. Ask more questions.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

grasshopper · Post by **grasshopper** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 04:27

I have a convection electric oven and the lowest setting is 170 F. I set it on bake. If the weather is bad, I will finish them off in the oven. Maybe crack the door for the cord and use a small fan to move the air. like a convection oven. That turn off at 240 F to me is way too high and that is where the fat came from. Ben there done that. It always takes me longer to finish them off than what the book says. I do pull the kabanosy at 150 F internal temp. Be careful with the liquid smoke. I have found it to be very powerful. I only light smoke anyway and doesn't take that long. Bloom them as CW says. My 2 cents

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 06:38

Mike, your 2 cents is worth a thousand bucks! Thanks pal. You bring up some very good points and you are spot on pal. Once you get the knack of it like you have, you just can't beat kabanosy for flavor and texture. I just had to slow down or gain weight!

I swear that stuff is addictive.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Carpster · Post by **Carpster** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 19:37

βI have made Kabanosy for the second time in as many weeks. The first time I produced one 3' stick and had to give up trying to stuff the little 21 mm casings and finished in the 2 1/2" size for summer sausage My grinder just couldn't do the stuffing job. The texture was spot on and so was the flavor...I uses Stan's recipe.
This second time I bought a little 7 pound capacity stuffer and tried the 21 mm collagen casings by LEM that are edible...the natural colored ones. I tried to follow the same recipe as before but couldn't smoke outside because of weather. So I added liquid smoke. I also added a little red pepper. The stuffer worked great and I was able to produce 6 three foot lengths from a 7 lb. picnic. This time though I had trouble with the oven I was using at work, it seems I picked one with thermostat issues. The oven ramped up to 140 degrees and was stuck there...(it wouldn't go higher or lower) instead of the 100 degree temp I was after. The Kabanosy was at 134 degrees....so in a panic I put them in a different unit and set it at 190 degrees. I monitored till internal temp of 145 degrees, and then I had to go adjust a door closer (I am at work). I was shooting for 150 degrees...when I got back to the oven the Kabanosy was at 164 degrees. It looked beautiful but temp way to high.

So I gathered it up and put it in a tub of ice water. In about 10 minutes the beautiful color was gone. I screwed up again!!! Well I followed Stan's advice (in his book) and hung it for 5 days at about 60+ degree. Today was the fifth day...it is really awesome...the taste, color, and texture are awesome. Thanks to everyone who post on this site.

Wow sorry for the long post.

grasshopper · Post by **grasshopper** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 22:06

Sounds like you got it done. During the cooking time, my old saying still applies. When you are up to your BUTT in alligators it is hard to remember you were trying to drain the swamp. This stuff will make you a better sausage maker.

grasshopper · Post by **grasshopper** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 18:29

Question on blooming. It got above freezing today so I made CW's Rawhide cooked pepperoni sticks. When I fried up a test piece, to me it needed more salt and cayenne. I then used more water to dissolve the salt and cayenne. How long can I leave them outside the fridge to get them to dry faster. Maybe it doesn't make a difference. Need 30% weight loss.

Cabonaia · Post by **Cabonaia** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 17:19

Hi Grasshopper - Technically I don't know the answer to your question. But I have never refrigerated kabanosy at all. It tastes better after sitting out a couple days, though by then half the sticks have disappeared.

It loses weight quite fast because the links are so slim, and the quick weight loss probably adds to its keeping qualities. Just leave em out and see what happens.

Cheers,
Jeff

grasshopper · Post by **grasshopper** » Wed Jan 15, 2014 02:09

Thank's Cabonaia! Most of the time there is only the two of us to eat kabanosy sticks. I do let them bloom for about three days then vacuum pack and freeze. But I do like your method. I miss read the recipe for cooked pepperoni (picture above) and put double the amount of soy protein concentrate. They came out supper dry and into the trash. Live and learn as they say.