PK100

Nice fall weather called for some chicken and dumplings.

Of course this had to happen a few days before elk hunting. I could have as many as 4 elk to process. Not gonna have time to get it fixed. I think it must be a stat. Burner works. I just replaced it.
I can’t deal with it right now.

Did a 10mm then 4.5mm grind for these yesterday with 50lb of pork shoulder - thanks to recent $.99/lb sale. Mixed and stuffed today. Will vac seal tomorrow.

Did the Philly Cheese Steak and added 2.5lb of hi-temp Swiss in a 32-35mm hog casing.

Did a quick clean and followed with Maple PSS into 22-24mm sheep casings.

Agree on the Thermoworks. Can’t live without my Thermapens from them have teh Smoke remote therm. Accurate as can be and work perfectly!

lkrfletcher sure you really don’t mean that your gonna throw it out, I understand it’s frustrating but everything goes haywire eventually. That is the finest equipment in smokers you will get for the money. Just collect your thoughts, call customer service and have them walk you through it or take it to an appliance store to see if they will repair it for you. If you still want to throw it away privately message me and I will pay the shipping for it to take it off your hands.

ND Mike if you have a jerky shooter that basically looks like an overgrown caulk gun that would be better. You may stress out the gears on your stuffer. My stuffing tube fits my caulk gun

ND Mike said in What are your tips/tricks for more efficient sausage making?:

Jamieson22 on the second grind I just drop smaller meat clumps down and it seems to go better. I never have to really use the plunger.

I have been trying to keep a constant pressure/feed so have been using plunger to tamp it all down into the chute. Then it runs up the side of the chute/plunger so need to scrape it down off the edges (LEM #22). Even used a foot pedal this batch to back off the grind while loading chute, etc. Was worried about heat build-up with 50lbs but maybe over thinking it a bit.

I’ve made most sausages as a coarser single grind, so still getting used to a second.

bocephus said in What are your tips/tricks for more efficient sausage making?:

Jamieson22 do you have a big cooler that you could put ice in to set one lug in while grinding the meat in the other? Cold meat grinds better for sure.

Not sure a lug would fit in any cooler I have. When I do 50lb I keep one lug in garage fridge while working the other. For this batch I deboned and cubed and put in fridge when a lug hit 25lb. Left both in fridge for several hours before staring the grind. Then I did 10mm grind on one batch then back into fridge and pulled 2nd batch to do the same. Set up for 4.5mm grind and then pulled 1st batch and put back in fridge when done, and then pulled second batch for the grind.

So seem to be keeping as cold as I can. Grinder head and all parts were in freezer for a couple hours before grind as well.

bocephus main issue is I don’t have freezer space for two meat lugs with 25lb each.

Am curious what your tips and tricks are.

I’ve been deboning my butts and grinding one day and mixing/stuffing the next. I do 25lb batches so certainly easier to break up the equipment cleaning of grinder and stuffer. Also think the extra fridge time is nice on the ground meat before stuffing. Processed 50lbs today to stuff tomorrow.

Would love some second grind tips as it just seems to be a bit of a mess for me. Took 20 min to second grind 25lb from 10mm to 4.5mm today in my #22 grinder. But perhaps it just takes a lot plunger effort normally?