Project KB (For Beginners)
Welcome back CW. YeeHaw
Now before i get the tellin what i have learned...
Hot Dog, I got excited when you started talkin about Psychedelic; maybe some loco weed or magic mushrooms but then I realized I read the word wrong, Psychrophilic. Well darnit, I guess I have to stop lookin on the side of the road for herbs to dry. I digress.
What have I learned: I have learned applying to much heat or cooking at too hot of a temp will break the sausage; All the math that I want to know, thanks Duc (if only my kids would understand that the math they are learning in school is useful); That patience is still a virtue and you can't rush the process; All additives are not bad and are used for a reason. These lessons are reinforcing what I know or have been doing and I am now understanding why.
I joined this project to refine my skills and learn to create and make different types of sausage and cured meats but also because my wifes grandfather was a food scientist. I never met him but was given his formula books by her uncle. He worked for Armour and created many of their spice mixtures or curing solutions. He had his own spice company and worked with different packing and canning plants. After reading many of his recipes, I am trying to figure out the missing pieces, I am hoping some of what I learn here will help fill in the blanks. Also, there are some intelligent people who are part of this group and I am hoping that I may be able to ask questions of you.
Sal
Now before i get the tellin what i have learned...
Hot Dog, I got excited when you started talkin about Psychedelic; maybe some loco weed or magic mushrooms but then I realized I read the word wrong, Psychrophilic. Well darnit, I guess I have to stop lookin on the side of the road for herbs to dry. I digress.
What have I learned: I have learned applying to much heat or cooking at too hot of a temp will break the sausage; All the math that I want to know, thanks Duc (if only my kids would understand that the math they are learning in school is useful); That patience is still a virtue and you can't rush the process; All additives are not bad and are used for a reason. These lessons are reinforcing what I know or have been doing and I am now understanding why.
I joined this project to refine my skills and learn to create and make different types of sausage and cured meats but also because my wifes grandfather was a food scientist. I never met him but was given his formula books by her uncle. He worked for Armour and created many of their spice mixtures or curing solutions. He had his own spice company and worked with different packing and canning plants. After reading many of his recipes, I am trying to figure out the missing pieces, I am hoping some of what I learn here will help fill in the blanks. Also, there are some intelligent people who are part of this group and I am hoping that I may be able to ask questions of you.
Sal
- Chuckwagon
- Veteran
- Posts: 4494
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 04:51
- Location: Rocky Mountains
Making Your Own Sausage
We have learned many important factors in making a good non-cured "fresh sausage". The next step involves casing a fresh sausage for immediate cooking without smoking. Fresh sausage must never be smoked without having an actual curing agent included in the recipe. The important lesson learned will be how to case sausage without "smearing" it. Once we have explored the process and have discussed it a little, we`ll take on the next step in which the preparation actually includes "partial cooking" of the very same cased sausage, but having added sodium nitrite cure to the recipe. The modified proteins create an altogether different version of its "fresh" counterpart and you`ll be amazed at how cooking and adding sodium nitrite change the sausage.
Let`s make your own 1000 gram (2.2 lbs.) versions of an (A.) Fresh "Finger Sausage", and a (B.) "prep cooked", cured, and smoked "Finger Sausage" using the same ingredients (with the exception of Cure #1). Primitive sausage-making involved stuffing casings through some sort of pipe or funnel, using the fingers, having hand-chopped the meat. The name "finger sausage" came to mean a simple sausage of one or two meats in any ratio, mixed with basic salt, pepper, and perhaps another indigenous herb or spice. To begin, start with:
(Sausage Number One) - Your Own "Fresh" Sausage Recipe: (2.2 lbs) Title:_________________________
Combination of meats: 800 gr. (For example, you may wish to use 400 g. beef and 400 g. pork.)
(Please itemize the type and amount here:)
Pork backfat (suggested) 200 gr.
Salt (1.8% to 2%) (suggested) 18 to 20 grams (not iodized)
Black Pepper? (recommended) 2.0 grams
Garlic? (your preference!) 4.0 grams
Your preference of herb/spice 1.0 grams
* Marjoram? Thyme? Sage? Cayenne? Be really inventive... like "snake-spit yellow mustache trimmings"!
Now, it always helps to tell your audience just where the danged recipe came from. Was it stolen from a medicine man in west Africa? Was it served as a main course at the North Pole? Did it come from ancient China where only old, bald, Irishmen were allowed to eat it? Don`t be afraid to stretch the truth a little. And for goodness sakes, give your recipe a great title. No more boring ol` labels. Come up with something original and innovative! Something that will cause the Duk to roll his eyes around to the back of his head!
Okay folks, while you`re making your own "fresh" sausage, read a little about prep-cooking below. When we prepare a sausage to be smoked, it must have sodium nitrite added to the recipe and to be a proper "cured-smoked-cooked" type sausage, it should be "prep cooked" by following the recommendations:
_________________________________READING___________________________
1. "Prep Cooking"
As the temperature reaches 138°F. (59° C.), a "cured - smoked - cooked" sausage becomes protected from trichinella spiralis. At about 145°F. (63°C.) the sausage becomes "par-cooked" or "prep-cooked" for use on the grill later on and its texture has been changed (tightened), the cooking process having modified proteins. (Be sure to refrigerate the sausages until you "fully" cook and eat them.) Most sausages are safely fully-cooked upon reaching 152°F. (67°C.). At this point, the sausage becomes protected against all sorts of other pathogenic bacteria and microorganisms including Salmonella, Listeria, Toxoplasma, Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium perfringens, Cyclospora cayetanensis, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Shigella, and others.
However, the temperature of 170°F is the extreme upper limit and beyond this point, nothing will save the sausage. Once the fat liquefies, the sausage cannot be salvaged and it will taste dreadful. Worse, the texture will resemble bright - orange sawdust. Ol` Rytek used to say, "sawdust... just like sawdust", then shake his head.
I don`t believe I`ve ever met a sausage maker who didn`t spoil one of his beginning batches by "breaking the fat" and turning the texture into sawdust. Anyone who tells you they haven`t done it at one time or another is either fibbing or they haven`t made much sausage at all. I surely had my moments. Most often, the "grainy" texture people refer to in sausage, is the result of only one thing - too much heat during the preparatory cooking. Again, it is most important not to exceed the IMT (internal meat temperature) of 170°F., as the collagen will "break" and the fat in the sausage will become liquid.
Whether you use your smoker, your kitchen oven, or even a pot of water on the stove, to prep-cook sausages, if you take your time and GRADUALLY raise the temperature only a couple of degrees every fifteen or twenty minutes, the sausages will be just fine. This procedure most often involves several hours. On the other hand, if you attempt to shorten the process by raising the heat too quickly, you`re only inviting problems. Worse, if the temperature exceeds 170°F., you`ll have to toss the batch. And don`t feed them to your dog! He didn`t do anything to you.
At this point, the only thing sawdust sausages are good for is shotgun practice, and with a little drying, they`ll even disintegrate in the air in a delightful puff of dust upon receiving a well placed blast of a 12 gauge.
Type 1. 3/8" grind with smaller 3/16" fat particles - Cooked - W/smoke at 152°F.
Place the grinder knife and plate into the freezer while you separate the fat from the lean meat using a sharp knife. Cut the meat into 1" cubes to keep long strands of sinew from wrapping around the auger behind the plate as the meat is ground. Grind the meat using a 3/8" plate and the pork fat using a 3/16" plate. Place the fat into the freezer while you mix the Cure #1 with a little water (for uniform distribution) and add it to the meat. Work with small batches, refrigerating the meat at every opportunity. Next, mix the meat with all the remaining ingredients (except the frozen fat), kneading the mixture to develop the proteins myosin and actin, creating a "sticky meat paste" (primary bind). Finally, fold in the frozen fat and distribute it equally throughout the mixture. Depending upon various recipes or preferences, the sausage may now be refrigerated several hours for maturing, or the sausage may be immediately stuffed into casings to avoid smearing while the fat remains frozen.
Stuff the sausage into 32-36 mm. casings, allowing them to hang and dry at room temperature for an hour or place them into a smokehouse preheated to 130°F. (54°C.) for an hour with the damper fully open to assist with moisture elimination. When the sausages are dry to the touch, introduce smoke and adjust the damper to only 1/4 the way open. Gradually, only a couple of degrees at twenty minutes intervals, raise the smokehouse temperature until the internal meat temperature (IMT) registers 152°F. (67°C.). This procedure must be done slowly to avoid breaking the collagen and liquefying the fat. Remove the sausages, showering them with cold water until the IMT drops to less than 90°F. (32°C.). This sausage remains perishable and must be refrigerated.
Type 1. 3/8" grind with large hand-cubed fat particles - Cooked - W/smoke at 152°F.
In some sausages such as Sopresatta, people enjoy a medium small lean grind with larger pieces of fat suspended in the primary bind. Place the grinder knife and plate into the freezer while you separate the fat from the lean meat using a sharp knife. Cut the meat into 1" cubes to keep long strands of sinew from wrapping around the auger behind the plate as the meat is ground. Grind the meat using a 3/8" plate then use a sharp knife to hand-dice the fat into the size cubes of your choice. Place the fat into the freezer while you mix the Cure #1 with a little water (for uniform distribution) and add it to the meat. Work with small batches, refrigerating the meat at every opportunity. Next, mix the meat with all the remaining ingredients (except the frozen fat), kneading the mixture to develop the proteins myosin and actin, creating a "sticky meat paste" (primary bind). Finally, fold in the frozen fat and distribute it equally throughout the mixture. Depending upon various recipes or preferences, the sausage may now be refrigerated several hours for maturing, or the sausage may be immediately stuffed into casings to avoid smearing while the fat remains frozen.
Stuff the sausage into 32-36 mm. casings, allowing them to hang and dry at room temperature for an hour or place them into a smokehouse preheated to 130°F. (54°C.) for an hour with the damper fully open to assist with moisture elimination. When the sausages are dry to the touch, introduce hickory smoke and adjust the damper to only 1/4 the way open. Gradually, only a couple of degrees at twenty minutes intervals, raise the smokehouse temperature until the internal meat temperature (IMT) registers 152°F. (67°C.). This procedure must be done slowly to avoid breaking the collagen. Remove the sausages, showering them with cold water until the IMT drops to less than 90°F. (32°C.). This sausage remains perishable and must be refrigerated.
(Sausage Number Two) - Your Own "Cured - Smoked - Cooked" Sausage Of The Same Recipe: (2.2 lbs)Title:____________________
Combination of meats: 800 gr. (see your recipe above)
(itemize type and amount)
Pork backfat (suggested) 200 gr.
Cure #1 (1/2 teaspoon = 2.5 grams)
Salt (1.8% to 2%) (suggested) 18 to 20 grams (not iodized)
Black Pepper? (recommended) 2.0 grams
Garlic? (your preference!) 4.0 grams
Your preference of herb/spice 1.0 grams
* Marjoram? Thyme? Sage? Cayenne? Be really inventive... like "snake-spit yellow mustache trimmings"!
Smoking & Cooking Sausages
Allow the sausages to hang and dry at room temperature while you preheat your smokehouse to 130°F. (54°C.). Having the damper fully open to assist with moisture elimination, hang the sausages when they become dry to the touch. With the sausage surfaces dry, introduce hickory or another hardwood smoke and adjust the damper to only 1/4 the way open. Gradually, only a couple of degrees at twenty minutes intervals, raise the smokehouse temperature until the internal meat temperature (IMT) registers 152°F. (67°C.). This procedure must be done slowly to avoid breaking the collagen and liquefying the fat. Remove the sausages, showering them with cold water until the IMT drops to less than 90°F. (32°C.). Pat the sausages dry and refrigerate them until they are grilled or "fully" cooked.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
We have learned many important factors in making a good non-cured "fresh sausage". The next step involves casing a fresh sausage for immediate cooking without smoking. Fresh sausage must never be smoked without having an actual curing agent included in the recipe. The important lesson learned will be how to case sausage without "smearing" it. Once we have explored the process and have discussed it a little, we`ll take on the next step in which the preparation actually includes "partial cooking" of the very same cased sausage, but having added sodium nitrite cure to the recipe. The modified proteins create an altogether different version of its "fresh" counterpart and you`ll be amazed at how cooking and adding sodium nitrite change the sausage.
Let`s make your own 1000 gram (2.2 lbs.) versions of an (A.) Fresh "Finger Sausage", and a (B.) "prep cooked", cured, and smoked "Finger Sausage" using the same ingredients (with the exception of Cure #1). Primitive sausage-making involved stuffing casings through some sort of pipe or funnel, using the fingers, having hand-chopped the meat. The name "finger sausage" came to mean a simple sausage of one or two meats in any ratio, mixed with basic salt, pepper, and perhaps another indigenous herb or spice. To begin, start with:
(Sausage Number One) - Your Own "Fresh" Sausage Recipe: (2.2 lbs) Title:_________________________
Combination of meats: 800 gr. (For example, you may wish to use 400 g. beef and 400 g. pork.)
(Please itemize the type and amount here:)
Pork backfat (suggested) 200 gr.
Salt (1.8% to 2%) (suggested) 18 to 20 grams (not iodized)
Black Pepper? (recommended) 2.0 grams
Garlic? (your preference!) 4.0 grams
Your preference of herb/spice 1.0 grams
* Marjoram? Thyme? Sage? Cayenne? Be really inventive... like "snake-spit yellow mustache trimmings"!
Now, it always helps to tell your audience just where the danged recipe came from. Was it stolen from a medicine man in west Africa? Was it served as a main course at the North Pole? Did it come from ancient China where only old, bald, Irishmen were allowed to eat it? Don`t be afraid to stretch the truth a little. And for goodness sakes, give your recipe a great title. No more boring ol` labels. Come up with something original and innovative! Something that will cause the Duk to roll his eyes around to the back of his head!
Okay folks, while you`re making your own "fresh" sausage, read a little about prep-cooking below. When we prepare a sausage to be smoked, it must have sodium nitrite added to the recipe and to be a proper "cured-smoked-cooked" type sausage, it should be "prep cooked" by following the recommendations:
_________________________________READING___________________________
1. "Prep Cooking"
As the temperature reaches 138°F. (59° C.), a "cured - smoked - cooked" sausage becomes protected from trichinella spiralis. At about 145°F. (63°C.) the sausage becomes "par-cooked" or "prep-cooked" for use on the grill later on and its texture has been changed (tightened), the cooking process having modified proteins. (Be sure to refrigerate the sausages until you "fully" cook and eat them.) Most sausages are safely fully-cooked upon reaching 152°F. (67°C.). At this point, the sausage becomes protected against all sorts of other pathogenic bacteria and microorganisms including Salmonella, Listeria, Toxoplasma, Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium perfringens, Cyclospora cayetanensis, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Shigella, and others.
However, the temperature of 170°F is the extreme upper limit and beyond this point, nothing will save the sausage. Once the fat liquefies, the sausage cannot be salvaged and it will taste dreadful. Worse, the texture will resemble bright - orange sawdust. Ol` Rytek used to say, "sawdust... just like sawdust", then shake his head.
I don`t believe I`ve ever met a sausage maker who didn`t spoil one of his beginning batches by "breaking the fat" and turning the texture into sawdust. Anyone who tells you they haven`t done it at one time or another is either fibbing or they haven`t made much sausage at all. I surely had my moments. Most often, the "grainy" texture people refer to in sausage, is the result of only one thing - too much heat during the preparatory cooking. Again, it is most important not to exceed the IMT (internal meat temperature) of 170°F., as the collagen will "break" and the fat in the sausage will become liquid.
Whether you use your smoker, your kitchen oven, or even a pot of water on the stove, to prep-cook sausages, if you take your time and GRADUALLY raise the temperature only a couple of degrees every fifteen or twenty minutes, the sausages will be just fine. This procedure most often involves several hours. On the other hand, if you attempt to shorten the process by raising the heat too quickly, you`re only inviting problems. Worse, if the temperature exceeds 170°F., you`ll have to toss the batch. And don`t feed them to your dog! He didn`t do anything to you.
![Sad :sad:](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
Type 1. 3/8" grind with smaller 3/16" fat particles - Cooked - W/smoke at 152°F.
Place the grinder knife and plate into the freezer while you separate the fat from the lean meat using a sharp knife. Cut the meat into 1" cubes to keep long strands of sinew from wrapping around the auger behind the plate as the meat is ground. Grind the meat using a 3/8" plate and the pork fat using a 3/16" plate. Place the fat into the freezer while you mix the Cure #1 with a little water (for uniform distribution) and add it to the meat. Work with small batches, refrigerating the meat at every opportunity. Next, mix the meat with all the remaining ingredients (except the frozen fat), kneading the mixture to develop the proteins myosin and actin, creating a "sticky meat paste" (primary bind). Finally, fold in the frozen fat and distribute it equally throughout the mixture. Depending upon various recipes or preferences, the sausage may now be refrigerated several hours for maturing, or the sausage may be immediately stuffed into casings to avoid smearing while the fat remains frozen.
Stuff the sausage into 32-36 mm. casings, allowing them to hang and dry at room temperature for an hour or place them into a smokehouse preheated to 130°F. (54°C.) for an hour with the damper fully open to assist with moisture elimination. When the sausages are dry to the touch, introduce smoke and adjust the damper to only 1/4 the way open. Gradually, only a couple of degrees at twenty minutes intervals, raise the smokehouse temperature until the internal meat temperature (IMT) registers 152°F. (67°C.). This procedure must be done slowly to avoid breaking the collagen and liquefying the fat. Remove the sausages, showering them with cold water until the IMT drops to less than 90°F. (32°C.). This sausage remains perishable and must be refrigerated.
Type 1. 3/8" grind with large hand-cubed fat particles - Cooked - W/smoke at 152°F.
In some sausages such as Sopresatta, people enjoy a medium small lean grind with larger pieces of fat suspended in the primary bind. Place the grinder knife and plate into the freezer while you separate the fat from the lean meat using a sharp knife. Cut the meat into 1" cubes to keep long strands of sinew from wrapping around the auger behind the plate as the meat is ground. Grind the meat using a 3/8" plate then use a sharp knife to hand-dice the fat into the size cubes of your choice. Place the fat into the freezer while you mix the Cure #1 with a little water (for uniform distribution) and add it to the meat. Work with small batches, refrigerating the meat at every opportunity. Next, mix the meat with all the remaining ingredients (except the frozen fat), kneading the mixture to develop the proteins myosin and actin, creating a "sticky meat paste" (primary bind). Finally, fold in the frozen fat and distribute it equally throughout the mixture. Depending upon various recipes or preferences, the sausage may now be refrigerated several hours for maturing, or the sausage may be immediately stuffed into casings to avoid smearing while the fat remains frozen.
Stuff the sausage into 32-36 mm. casings, allowing them to hang and dry at room temperature for an hour or place them into a smokehouse preheated to 130°F. (54°C.) for an hour with the damper fully open to assist with moisture elimination. When the sausages are dry to the touch, introduce hickory smoke and adjust the damper to only 1/4 the way open. Gradually, only a couple of degrees at twenty minutes intervals, raise the smokehouse temperature until the internal meat temperature (IMT) registers 152°F. (67°C.). This procedure must be done slowly to avoid breaking the collagen. Remove the sausages, showering them with cold water until the IMT drops to less than 90°F. (32°C.). This sausage remains perishable and must be refrigerated.
(Sausage Number Two) - Your Own "Cured - Smoked - Cooked" Sausage Of The Same Recipe: (2.2 lbs)Title:____________________
Combination of meats: 800 gr. (see your recipe above)
(itemize type and amount)
Pork backfat (suggested) 200 gr.
Cure #1 (1/2 teaspoon = 2.5 grams)
Salt (1.8% to 2%) (suggested) 18 to 20 grams (not iodized)
Black Pepper? (recommended) 2.0 grams
Garlic? (your preference!) 4.0 grams
Your preference of herb/spice 1.0 grams
* Marjoram? Thyme? Sage? Cayenne? Be really inventive... like "snake-spit yellow mustache trimmings"!
Smoking & Cooking Sausages
Allow the sausages to hang and dry at room temperature while you preheat your smokehouse to 130°F. (54°C.). Having the damper fully open to assist with moisture elimination, hang the sausages when they become dry to the touch. With the sausage surfaces dry, introduce hickory or another hardwood smoke and adjust the damper to only 1/4 the way open. Gradually, only a couple of degrees at twenty minutes intervals, raise the smokehouse temperature until the internal meat temperature (IMT) registers 152°F. (67°C.). This procedure must be done slowly to avoid breaking the collagen and liquefying the fat. Remove the sausages, showering them with cold water until the IMT drops to less than 90°F. (32°C.). Pat the sausages dry and refrigerate them until they are grilled or "fully" cooked.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
Last edited by Chuckwagon on Fri Sep 05, 2014 03:17, edited 2 times in total.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! ![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
- Chuckwagon
- Veteran
- Posts: 4494
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 04:51
- Location: Rocky Mountains
"Smearing"
As meat and fat slide into a casing during stuffing, the inside of the casing may become "smeared" if the fat has been allowed to warm up - even slightly - during processing. Smearing may primarily occur whenever friction-heated mechanical parts (such as grinder blades, plates, augers, etc.) encounter fat particles that have not been frozen. Forcing room-temperature fat through a grinder is a sure-fire method of smearing an otherwise great sausage.
Smeared fat may cause all sorts of problems. First the texture suffers as otherwise creamy, flavorful fat becomes altered as it is heated and "broken" into liquid, leaving a dry, "sandy" consistency behind. In smoked-cooked (cured) sausage, fat that has been heated too much or too quickly may leave re-solidified orange liquid in pockets throughout the meat with a flavor reminiscent of my uncle`s old chewin' t'backy and the texture of an anthill. Your prize sausage will even be restricted from taking on smoke if the inside of the casing has been "smeared" with a film of "ninety-weight". In fermented, dry-cured sausages, smeared casings prevent moisture from leaving the center of the sausages, evaporating outside the casing. This "case-hardening" causes the meat to spoil within as it prevents the meat from becoming bacteriologically stable while being dried to a point beneath 0.85 Aw.
Let me pause here to let you in on the sausagemaker`s biggest little secret. Almost everyone believes it is what goes into a sausage that makes it great. True, good meat makes good sausage. But, it is really HOW you make it that is most important. You must put all the little tricks together to make a great product. Thaw the meat inside your refrigerator and then grind it while it still has a few softened ice chips in its texture. Separate the fat and freeze it before dicing it with a sharp knife. Pop it back into the freezer twenty minutes or until you discover a "soft-frozen" condition in the fat. Don`t try to grind "rock hard" frozen fat. At the same time, don`t forget to freeze you grinder`s plate and knives for twenty minutes. Use softened ice chips to keep the mixture below 38°;F. (3°;C.). Never miss an opportunity to put the meat back into the refrigerator. Always work in small batches either grinding, emulsifying, or stuffing, and keep the remainder in your fridge. Allow the meat and fat to become cold, cold, cold before you stuff it into casings.
Regarding "Smearing", Uwanna wrote:
Hello all, maybe I can add my 2 cents here. Right off the bat I will say, definitely freeze the fat, keep it cold! Try and dice the fat into small tiny cubes or pieces, and then put back into the freezer keeping the fat separate while grinding the game meat. Then you fold the fat into the meat and again, keep it cold.
Now on to the grind of the frozen fat, generally it`s not a good idea to grind the fat during a separate grind, especially when the fat is frozen, the cold fat combined with the meat grinder and moving parts, this will create heat buildup and more or less, turn the fat into Crisco worms. Not to mention, you will not get a good even mix with the meat and fat when they are mixed together. Next time try cutting the frozen fat into small pieces without grinding. Think of it as adding cubed cheese to the mix, if you grind the cubed cheese, even frozen, it will break down and likely fail to mix into the meat properly.
Another note, when using game meat such as venison or moose and so on, the meat is so lean that I will generally mix a minimum of 30% diced fat to the game meat.
"Big Guy" wrote:
I cut my venison chunks into 1-2 inch pieces and freeze. I do the same with my pork fat trimings. When ready to make sausage I semi-thaw the meat and fat, I mix the semi frozen chunks of meat and fat 75% meat 25% fat then grind, add spices and mix stuff and smoke. I use a separate temp probe in my smoker, don't rely on the dial thermometer on the door and watch your temp closely.
Okay wranglers! There you go. It appears that the secret is actually NOT grinding "rock hard frozen" fat unless you wish to have "Crisco worms"! Isn't that a great way to describe it.
Thanks Uwanna!
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
As meat and fat slide into a casing during stuffing, the inside of the casing may become "smeared" if the fat has been allowed to warm up - even slightly - during processing. Smearing may primarily occur whenever friction-heated mechanical parts (such as grinder blades, plates, augers, etc.) encounter fat particles that have not been frozen. Forcing room-temperature fat through a grinder is a sure-fire method of smearing an otherwise great sausage.
Smeared fat may cause all sorts of problems. First the texture suffers as otherwise creamy, flavorful fat becomes altered as it is heated and "broken" into liquid, leaving a dry, "sandy" consistency behind. In smoked-cooked (cured) sausage, fat that has been heated too much or too quickly may leave re-solidified orange liquid in pockets throughout the meat with a flavor reminiscent of my uncle`s old chewin' t'backy and the texture of an anthill. Your prize sausage will even be restricted from taking on smoke if the inside of the casing has been "smeared" with a film of "ninety-weight". In fermented, dry-cured sausages, smeared casings prevent moisture from leaving the center of the sausages, evaporating outside the casing. This "case-hardening" causes the meat to spoil within as it prevents the meat from becoming bacteriologically stable while being dried to a point beneath 0.85 Aw.
Let me pause here to let you in on the sausagemaker`s biggest little secret. Almost everyone believes it is what goes into a sausage that makes it great. True, good meat makes good sausage. But, it is really HOW you make it that is most important. You must put all the little tricks together to make a great product. Thaw the meat inside your refrigerator and then grind it while it still has a few softened ice chips in its texture. Separate the fat and freeze it before dicing it with a sharp knife. Pop it back into the freezer twenty minutes or until you discover a "soft-frozen" condition in the fat. Don`t try to grind "rock hard" frozen fat. At the same time, don`t forget to freeze you grinder`s plate and knives for twenty minutes. Use softened ice chips to keep the mixture below 38°;F. (3°;C.). Never miss an opportunity to put the meat back into the refrigerator. Always work in small batches either grinding, emulsifying, or stuffing, and keep the remainder in your fridge. Allow the meat and fat to become cold, cold, cold before you stuff it into casings.
Regarding "Smearing", Uwanna wrote:
Hello all, maybe I can add my 2 cents here. Right off the bat I will say, definitely freeze the fat, keep it cold! Try and dice the fat into small tiny cubes or pieces, and then put back into the freezer keeping the fat separate while grinding the game meat. Then you fold the fat into the meat and again, keep it cold.
Now on to the grind of the frozen fat, generally it`s not a good idea to grind the fat during a separate grind, especially when the fat is frozen, the cold fat combined with the meat grinder and moving parts, this will create heat buildup and more or less, turn the fat into Crisco worms. Not to mention, you will not get a good even mix with the meat and fat when they are mixed together. Next time try cutting the frozen fat into small pieces without grinding. Think of it as adding cubed cheese to the mix, if you grind the cubed cheese, even frozen, it will break down and likely fail to mix into the meat properly.
Another note, when using game meat such as venison or moose and so on, the meat is so lean that I will generally mix a minimum of 30% diced fat to the game meat.
"Big Guy" wrote:
I cut my venison chunks into 1-2 inch pieces and freeze. I do the same with my pork fat trimings. When ready to make sausage I semi-thaw the meat and fat, I mix the semi frozen chunks of meat and fat 75% meat 25% fat then grind, add spices and mix stuff and smoke. I use a separate temp probe in my smoker, don't rely on the dial thermometer on the door and watch your temp closely.
Okay wranglers! There you go. It appears that the secret is actually NOT grinding "rock hard frozen" fat unless you wish to have "Crisco worms"! Isn't that a great way to describe it.
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
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! ![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
- Chuckwagon
- Veteran
- Posts: 4494
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 04:51
- Location: Rocky Mountains
READING
Hi gang! Let's catch up in our reading.
There's not much, but we should have a look at it before making the next project (Your Own Sausage) in the last post.
5. stuffing http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-making/stuffing
6. drying http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-making/drying
and......6 (a.) just a paragraph about Emulsification http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... /emulsions
Hi gang! Let's catch up in our reading.
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
5. stuffing http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-making/stuffing
6. drying http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-making/drying
and......6 (a.) just a paragraph about Emulsification http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... /emulsions
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! ![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
The Fat Challenge
CW I`m having a difficult time with the idea of finely chopping fat rather than putting it through the grinder especially after my experience with the assignment for fresh breakfast sausage. I`ve just finished Sopressata dried with a Umai bag with 37% weight loss. It looks just like the Sopressata in Marianski`s article on mixing. For us it failed for two reasons: (a) we don`t like the larger fat particles, and (b) the mix didn`t bind well making slicing difficult.
I am going to adopt the procedure of trimming the fat from the meat, course grind the meat, fine grind the fat, mix the meat and ingredients then add the fat and remix but handling the fat better is the challenge for me.
I am going to adopt the procedure of trimming the fat from the meat, course grind the meat, fine grind the fat, mix the meat and ingredients then add the fat and remix but handling the fat better is the challenge for me.
Launched: one 5 pound pork loin, destined to become Canadian bacon.
("Home at last. Home at last. Good Gawd almighty, Ah'm home at last." <with apologies to Martin>) ...been on the road so much, lately, that I've fallen behind on KB.
Canadian bacon is a "must have" in the repertoire, as I see it.
![:mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
("Home at last. Home at last. Good Gawd almighty, Ah'm home at last." <with apologies to Martin>) ...been on the road so much, lately, that I've fallen behind on KB.
Canadian bacon is a "must have" in the repertoire, as I see it.
![:mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
Experience - the ability to instantly recognize a mistake when you make it again.
...on brining
This note is about how brining works, and how the liquid injected by meat packers affects the nitrite concentration of your brined meats. If you hate math, skip to the end, where you will be reassured that although it dilutes things a bit, it's not a whole lot. For those interested in the math, grab your four-function calculator if you want, and settle in for...
Does Packer Liquid Matter?
I just brined a pork loin to make Canadian bacon, and the label had the following interesting facts:
Brining Basics: Well, to start with, brining assumes that 10% or so of the meat's weight can be absorbed as liquid uptake. You and I ensure that we get the right nitrite concentration in the meat by mixing up a brine solution such that the amount injected into the meat gives a desired salt and nitrite concentration. The other ever-how-much-is-there brine is there just to make sure that the injected stuff evens out. (If there is zero excess brine, you are dry-curing, rather than brining.) The 10% of meat weight is an arbitrary number, a rough approximation of what the meat will absorb if floated in liquid for "however long it takes."
That "however long it takes" figure is still subject to tradition, experimentation, and "by guess, by golly." If long enough, everything has a chance to diffuse in or out, and the meat is said to be "at equilibrium." That`s another assumption that we have to make in most brining recipes. Injecting liquid, rather than waiting, speeds up the process. The liquid and its dissolved goodies don`t have to diffuse as far.
But, back to the "14%" question. What happens when the packer adds the liquid? ...and what IS that stuff, anyway? (...rummages through stacks of paper, scraps flying...) AHA! Somewhere on the internet (so it`s bound to be right, right?) it says, "water, broth, salt, sugar, sodium phosphate..." For pork, it suggests 97.5% water/broth, salt ~2%, sugar ~0.5%, and ~200ppm sodium phosphate. What happens is, you inject an extra 10% liquid into the meat, pockets form, and when you float the poor thing in brine, everything moves in or out until it equilibrates.
Before, we had injected brine such that the composition of the brine was the same inside and outside the meat. We need to change that composition to take into account the packer-injected material. We do that by hypothetically taking out all the packer liquid, mixing it into the brine, then injecting the desired amount.
General Method: Our general method is to calculate the composition of the brine, in weight fraction, then determine how much goes into the meat by using that 10% (which you can change if warranted) to tell us how much actual weight of brine components is in the meat. Dividing by the total meat plus injected or absorbed brine gives us our desired answers- - the concentrations of nitrite and salt.
Base Case: First, let`s use our Canadian bacon recipe (weights approximate)
Is the nitrite concentration too low? Not really. It should be noted here that the recipe calls for a 200 degF oven temperature, which is high enough that botulism is unable to set in. Most likely the cure is in the recipe for the nice flavor that it gives the cooked meat.
Packer Liquid Case: But back to our packer liquid problem. The pork is actually 8.6 lbs of meat and 1.4 pound of packer liquid:
Inject 10% of 10 lbs of meat, which means multiplying 1.0# times the above fractions to get the weight of brine in the meat. The meat loses its packer liquid, which mixes with the brine, and the resulting solution diffuses through the meat, equilibrating.
Injecting 10% of the wet meat weight, or 1 pound, gives
Conclusion: So, the packer liquid dilutes your brine to an extent, but not to a great extent. The reason is that for every unit of material that you put into the brine, only a tenth of it goes into the meat. The rest is discarded.
The "big lever arm" here is that pesky 10% number. Because only 10% goes into the meat, you can get away with a wide range of measurement errors on the brine and still be safe. The 10% number is probably a minimum- - after all, the packers get away with injecting to 14%
That`s probably the reason that so many traditional cure methods work so well- - there`s lots of room for variability, and thus there are many different traditional recipes for you to explore. ...and that should encourage you to do more brining!
Duk
![:mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
Does Packer Liquid Matter?
I just brined a pork loin to make Canadian bacon, and the label had the following interesting facts:
Yikes! Ever wonder what that means to you and me?Weight: 5.4 lbs.
14% liquid added to enhance... blah blah blah.
Brining Basics: Well, to start with, brining assumes that 10% or so of the meat's weight can be absorbed as liquid uptake. You and I ensure that we get the right nitrite concentration in the meat by mixing up a brine solution such that the amount injected into the meat gives a desired salt and nitrite concentration. The other ever-how-much-is-there brine is there just to make sure that the injected stuff evens out. (If there is zero excess brine, you are dry-curing, rather than brining.) The 10% of meat weight is an arbitrary number, a rough approximation of what the meat will absorb if floated in liquid for "however long it takes."
That "however long it takes" figure is still subject to tradition, experimentation, and "by guess, by golly." If long enough, everything has a chance to diffuse in or out, and the meat is said to be "at equilibrium." That`s another assumption that we have to make in most brining recipes. Injecting liquid, rather than waiting, speeds up the process. The liquid and its dissolved goodies don`t have to diffuse as far.
But, back to the "14%" question. What happens when the packer adds the liquid? ...and what IS that stuff, anyway? (...rummages through stacks of paper, scraps flying...) AHA! Somewhere on the internet (so it`s bound to be right, right?) it says, "water, broth, salt, sugar, sodium phosphate..." For pork, it suggests 97.5% water/broth, salt ~2%, sugar ~0.5%, and ~200ppm sodium phosphate. What happens is, you inject an extra 10% liquid into the meat, pockets form, and when you float the poor thing in brine, everything moves in or out until it equilibrates.
Before, we had injected brine such that the composition of the brine was the same inside and outside the meat. We need to change that composition to take into account the packer-injected material. We do that by hypothetically taking out all the packer liquid, mixing it into the brine, then injecting the desired amount.
General Method: Our general method is to calculate the composition of the brine, in weight fraction, then determine how much goes into the meat by using that 10% (which you can change if warranted) to tell us how much actual weight of brine components is in the meat. Dividing by the total meat plus injected or absorbed brine gives us our desired answers- - the concentrations of nitrite and salt.
Base Case: First, let`s use our Canadian bacon recipe (weights approximate)
- ● 10 lbs. pork loins
● 53.7 gm (3 tblspns) Cure #1
● 3.785 kg (4 qts) icewater
● 142 gm (3/4 cup) powdered dextrose
● 20 gm (2 tblspns) Mapleline (maple flavoring)
● 286.4 gm (1 cup) salt
- ● 0.0125 Cure #1
● 0.8829 icewater
● 0.0331 dextrose
● 0.0047 Mapleline (maple flavoring)
● 0.0668 salt
- (0.0125) * (454 gm) * (0.0625 nitrite) / { (10 lbs meat) * (454 grams/#)+ 454 gm brine) } * 1,000,000
= 71 ppm nitrite
(0.0668) * (454) / { (10# * 454) + 454}
= 0.61% salt
Is the nitrite concentration too low? Not really. It should be noted here that the recipe calls for a 200 degF oven temperature, which is high enough that botulism is unable to set in. Most likely the cure is in the recipe for the nice flavor that it gives the cooked meat.
Packer Liquid Case: But back to our packer liquid problem. The pork is actually 8.6 lbs of meat and 1.4 pound of packer liquid:
- ● (1.4 lbs) * (0.975 frac) * (454 gm/#) = 620 gm water/broth
● 12.7 gm salt
● 3.2 gm sugar
● Ignored sodium phosphate
- ● 0.0109 Cure #1
● 0.8948 Icewater
● 0.0295 Dextrose
● 0.0041 Mapeline
● 0.0608 Salt
Inject 10% of 10 lbs of meat, which means multiplying 1.0# times the above fractions to get the weight of brine in the meat. The meat loses its packer liquid, which mixes with the brine, and the resulting solution diffuses through the meat, equilibrating.
Injecting 10% of the wet meat weight, or 1 pound, gives
- (0.0109) * (0.0625 nitrite) * (454 gm brine)/ { (10 lbs meat *( 454 gm/#) + 454 gm brine) } * 1,000,000
= 62 ppm nitrite
(0.0608) (454) / { (10# * 454)+ 454}
= 0.55% salt
Conclusion: So, the packer liquid dilutes your brine to an extent, but not to a great extent. The reason is that for every unit of material that you put into the brine, only a tenth of it goes into the meat. The rest is discarded.
The "big lever arm" here is that pesky 10% number. Because only 10% goes into the meat, you can get away with a wide range of measurement errors on the brine and still be safe. The 10% number is probably a minimum- - after all, the packers get away with injecting to 14%
That`s probably the reason that so many traditional cure methods work so well- - there`s lots of room for variability, and thus there are many different traditional recipes for you to explore. ...and that should encourage you to do more brining!
Duk
![:mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
Experience - the ability to instantly recognize a mistake when you make it again.
- Chuckwagon
- Veteran
- Posts: 4494
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 04:51
- Location: Rocky Mountains
Good show Duckster! Great information. Good reading. Now, hold onto the end of this wire for just a minute while I plug it in. You'll glow like a Christmas tree! Wheeeeeeee.... just look at that Duck light up! ![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! ![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Brining and Salt
CW,
The brine formula calls for ice cold water. However, most of the kosher salt will not dissolve in the ice cold water. Should we be dissolving the salt in a portion of the water at room temp or warmer and then, once the salt is dissolved, add the remaining water and ice. I know the salt would eventually dissolve, but that might be after we've already injected the meat, and therefore it wouldn't be evenly distributed throughout the meat. Or doesn't it really matter....
Thanks. david
The brine formula calls for ice cold water. However, most of the kosher salt will not dissolve in the ice cold water. Should we be dissolving the salt in a portion of the water at room temp or warmer and then, once the salt is dissolved, add the remaining water and ice. I know the salt would eventually dissolve, but that might be after we've already injected the meat, and therefore it wouldn't be evenly distributed throughout the meat. Or doesn't it really matter....
Thanks. david
I mixed up the brine, then chilled it in the freezer. I used multiple plastic containers so it would all fit, and "accidentally" had to remove a package of my Krainerwurst, thaw it, heat it, and eat it in order to make room. (Such are the sacrifices that we face...)
This way the composition is correct when you inject it.
![:mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
P.S. Don't do like CW does, and hold the containers in your arms and spin yourself around in order to mix 'em.
This way the composition is correct when you inject it.
![:mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
P.S. Don't do like CW does, and hold the containers in your arms and spin yourself around in order to mix 'em.
Experience - the ability to instantly recognize a mistake when you make it again.
Our own Sausage Questions
CW,
For both of the cured sausages you say
You also have two Type 1 cured sausages one with both large and the other with small fat particles. Do you want us to make both or should we choose one of them? I.e., are we going to be comparing two sausages (fresh and cured) or three (fresh, cured small fat, cured large fat)?
thanks. david.
For both of the cured sausages you say
I assume you mean cure #1 since these aren't being dried.Cure #1 Cure #2.
You also have two Type 1 cured sausages one with both large and the other with small fat particles. Do you want us to make both or should we choose one of them? I.e., are we going to be comparing two sausages (fresh and cured) or three (fresh, cured small fat, cured large fat)?
thanks. david.
- Chuckwagon
- Veteran
- Posts: 4494
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 04:51
- Location: Rocky Mountains
dabrjn, we are using only Cure 1 at this point. I went back over the recipe and corrected the typo. Thanks!
Also, the idea is to make a "fresh" sausage with your favorite ingredients. Then, using the same ingredients, but with the addition of a curing salt (Cure #1) we'll make a "Cured-Cooked-Smoked" type sausage. The texture will be different and it will even taste a bit different as the nitrite modifies the proteins in the meat. The size of the fat particles is completely left to your own preference. I like to re-freeze the fat just until it is "soft frozen" then put it through an even smaller plate for the smallest particles of fat possible. Just my preference. You may wish to have larger pieces.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
Also, the idea is to make a "fresh" sausage with your favorite ingredients. Then, using the same ingredients, but with the addition of a curing salt (Cure #1) we'll make a "Cured-Cooked-Smoked" type sausage. The texture will be different and it will even taste a bit different as the nitrite modifies the proteins in the meat. The size of the fat particles is completely left to your own preference. I like to re-freeze the fat just until it is "soft frozen" then put it through an even smaller plate for the smallest particles of fat possible. Just my preference. You may wish to have larger pieces.
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! ![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
- Chuckwagon
- Veteran
- Posts: 4494
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 04:51
- Location: Rocky Mountains
A post by a non-registered member was deleted here according to regulations of Project KB.
Last edited by Chuckwagon on Sun Sep 07, 2014 23:28, edited 1 time in total.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! ![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)