JoeB I live in the UP of MI deer up here are a bit larger, but I also I am also in Northern WI and a couple of times a year in west TX. Different types of deer in all places, depending on their environment. A lot of hogs in TX though. Looking at building a Cool bot storage for those pig’s to relax.

Harkness I’m not sure I would trust the safety of wild hog biltong. The wild hogs may have more parasites than domestic hogs or beef. That is why I freeze it to -10 for at least 2 months before still cooking it to at least 165 degrees before consuming it.

What I like the most about the suos vide is how it has expanded my sausage portfolio. I would never think about making sausage larger than 1.5" before due to the extremely loooong smoke times. Now, I have a plan for 4" bologna maybe this weekend. My Waltons order should be here by then. (Don’t tell my wife I made a second Waltons order this month plz) The super short cook times in the sous vide has made these before unreachable goals now very reachable. 3hrs in water vs 30hrs (estimated) in a smokehouse. Big difference. Plus we seem to be cooking dinner with it a couple times a week! A very handy tool.

I believe i am in error by omission I grind x2 only because i am too cheap to buy a $2000 bowl cutter for a 20lb batch of emulsified batter. This is done for the purpose of texture, and to fine grind spices such as marjoram, caraway, fresh ion and garlic with, and into the batter. The texture of sausage is the way you want it to be. I like 3/8" coarse grind for polish sausage, griddled smash burgers. 1/4" grind for breakfast sausage and x2 3/8 to 1/8 for hotdogs and some regional German sausage, (Wurst). It’s the same with Kielbasa, (sausage). Depends on the region and what you remember it to be, and the texture you like. I make some sausage with 1/2" or 5/8" plate to emulate hand cut batter for some regional sausage, and pressed ham deli loaf . Thank you all for your input and information… It is all good and all correct. I will point out that there is a visionary among us: Smokinbubba He knew i ran out of consumable alcohol my last x2, 1/8 grind . Wonder how?![IMG_00001621.jpg] (/assets/uploads/files/1613743605947-img_00001621.jpg) 30lbs Brats. 30lbs old style hotdogs Germany 1800"s emulsified

smokinbubba Thanks bubba. Everyone makes do with the resources they have. I personally find it helpful to know my audience before I lather advice. Generates more smiles then frowns

kksmokehouse Best of luck either way my friend. I would have thought you might have been able to find a small machine shop somewhere there. Of course Malaysia is fairly large but small and depends where you are located. Glad we could at least give you some help and ideas.

Chef , I appreciate your comments, and clarity. Breaking down a recipe isn’t that hard . This site: https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-making and his book: Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages Paperback – Illustrated, March 21, 2012 is a great read. It does break down the norms and tolerances for spices and seasonings (2-3pgs of listings). The site is international and covers just about everything meat, and alcohol Lots, and Lots of whys, not so much how to’s. The spirit of the author is to teach you how to make sausage not read recipes, but the wisdom to spot a good or bad recipe, and why to use metric, not imperial. Rytek Kutas’ auto-bio is a great read as he walks you thru the failures and successes of a sausage maker and how he acquired his recipes throughout his life. Culminating in his efforts for the Sausagemaker business. Sad ending. When I visit the East coast I make 50lbs of brats for their taste, For what they think brats taste like. When i travel to the Left Coast i retool my polish sausage for what they think is a traditional Kielbasa taste… When it comes to Bulgogi, I take into consideration what region of South East Asia they’re from. It is what it is… Cheers PS: I an not responsible for my computer’s grammar or spelling errors

Thank you for your input that sounds good to me…

Mschmidt wow, small world…lol

wmjacksoniii said in BBday Grinder stuffing funnel size?: Forgive me if this is a stupid question that should have been a no-brainer to figure out. Has anybody have any idea how I can figure out what size sausage tube will fit a BBday cheapo grinder/ stuffer? There is no markings on the machine, the funnel that came with it, or any of the grinding plates. I tried Google for a customer service number and discovered that it always refers the customer back to customer service of the store it was purchased at. Agreed, we need clarification on what your question is. Lots of experience on this site and awesome customer support from Waltons. I think a few of us read your original post differently. Are you looking for additional stuffing tubes for your grinder?

skibumben said in New Grinder: d. Dumb luck. true I wished they carried the #22 but who ever said I wished I had less power… lol My only miss was once order was placed a friend called and she had a couple of $100 off coupons!

I am waiting gyro to arrive looks like Thursday being making those… lots of elk this year to play with lol…

blackbetty61 you got it together sausage warrior. If it works for you that’s all that matters Thanks for the insight. Cheers

I don’t want to broke anything. Just want to know hou you use it underwater without breaking the vac seal?? I’m a challenged meat processor (apprentice) and a lot dumber than I look. 🤫 cheers!

Jonathon I believe that griddle is from Camp Chef as well. The main difference compared to a Blackstone is going to be heat distribution on the griddle, where you will have hot and cold spots, but thats not all bad as you can move things to the cooler spots as they are done cooking. I’ve done hash browns, fajitas, steak etc. on it.

Sounds like its a keeper.

Okay, we just got power back, I do have a wood burning stove, so warmed the house and cooked inside. Everything is ice. I’m better off than most of Texas. Some have no means of warmth and been without power for 2 days. Feeding whoever I can and giving them a place to warm up. It’s a real learning opportunity for Texas and the rest of the nation to wake up about our grid. Way out of date and we can’t solve it with pipe dreams.

mdseaside : I did the same, works well

I guess we’ll see how it works…

kyle Yeah that’s the name I remember. The south western edge of Superior was down Tower and the group of businesses were K-Mart, Superior Credit Union , a pizza place and, I think a Kerr McGee gas station. Sounds like things have grown up that way. I will keep you updated if we make it that way and tip a few.

keend I couldn’t get a manufacturer to tint a knife orange and I tried hard, so I am not hopeful on that but it WOULD be interesting to have a stuffer like this…actually grinder would be cool too. I wonder if we could spray the outside of the container with something instead of having orange tinted in. Tinting isn’t what I am trying to do though, this would be more helpful to the actual process than this.

Thank you Paul. I’m extremely happy with it. Have 15 lb of willies sticks in it now!

VÄESKE Insulated Large Sous Vide Container with Lid and Racks Kit | Neoprene Retains Heat | Sous Vide Accessories (26 QT, Container/Sleeve/Racks) $139 on Amazon…works great for sausage and the neoprene sleeve works great.

The plate ribs can handle heat, much like a brisket can. There is a lot of internal collagen that needs to be rendered down. Go with your favorite brisket rub. I like to cook my brisket north of 275 degress, but I am using an offset or my drums. I am looking for color and bark, which will get there in about 3 or 4 hours and the meat would be around 155 degrees of so. I would then wrap and take them to probe tender which would be around 205 to 210 internal. Then give them an hour rest or so in my cambro or a dry cooler if you don’t have a cambro.

Tex_77 Sorry, I have not used that one. I will say this, for just sharpening that is as good as any steel I have used and the only one I would put above it is the Multi Cut Steel from F.D ck but that is about $130. That isn’t from a sharpening perspective either, as for just sharpening the Smiths is at least as good and almost certainly better. What I like about that multicut is that is can take a drastically knicked or folded edge and bring it back to true without taking a lot of material off of a knife. It also does a very good job honing the edge.

Jonathon 1/4 cup Spanish PK (cheap) 1pt oil… Simmer slow and whisk. When you hit max dilution / extraction, the oil is the essence. Discard the PK. I store in a canning jar, the olive oil will not go rancid at rm temp. You can make it Light or dark, the darker you make it the less you have to use for coloring. Depends if you are working with light or dark meat batter and your personal goals

smokinbubba Thankfully I have a spare room. Yep, Harbor Freight, can’t beat it.

Jonathon , it’s a Hakka brothers stuffer. According to their website. It does say sticks in the description. They are saying 16mm is a 1/2 in tube. The deer sticks the processors here in north central illinois make. Basically are as big around as a hot dog. These are the size I’m wanting to make. . I’m just hoping I’m not confusing myself others saying deer sticks. But that’s what we call them here. I’m not wanting to make slim Jim style sticks. But bigger ones the size of hot dogs.

To all that helped with the duck meat issue Thank You All ,I think it’s going to be abit of trial and error . I’m doing 5lb batches so I will be able to experiment

shoprat53 Yeah, I wouldnt add ECA to a polish or german or anything like that. Maybe use Sodium Erythorbate if you want the cure acceleration without a tang?

Ozgrams I added 2 tablespoons to 8.5 lbs meat. I disolved the sugar in about 1/4 cup water and incorporated that way.

JoeB LOL!! Thanks guys!

Clarko Ranch is the mildest snack stick in my opinion. Doesnt have a strong ranch taste, just mild (don’t add dry seasoning ranch mix either, doesn’t work) and a nice overall taste.

Jonathon No problem, thanks for making it happen! A real time and frustration saver

twilliams Thank you.

Mke Dildwr if you follow Jonathon link, you have to scroll up 2 post to get my recipe. I have done it with chunks of beef, but I do find the flavor is a little different then if you use venison, but is still good. An important part is to slice it thin, I dont know why, but it seems to taste better.

TJENKIN421 Nope, there is very little fat in the water when I am done with this process. The only reason I vag bag is if I am using the HBC or Vacmaster sous vide that function by drawing water in, heating it and pushing it back out, I don’t want to clog a filter or something with a little piece of casing or some fats or oils. But when I used the Weston they go directly in water and I honestly can’t tell the difference.

Every other is my standard, if smoking it depends on the sausage

JoeB No Libation gives you no excuse… lessons learned

Yeah, for some reason unread is empty. Working on it now. @tex absolutely chi-com!

processhead curing process is identical, however the spices and cooking process are different.

deweymeats No worries, this is exactly what we were talking about on this. I am asking our commercial sales people what their commercial customers do here. I’ve only ever made Dill Pickle and Pizza ground and formed jerky and those both are snack and jerky seasonings, so they are formulated either as a topical or to be mixed into the center of the meat. Ozgrams Thanks for clarifying, that is good to know!

smithbryan84 Yes, the cure is supposed to come along side with the cure. I will be in touch outside of this to get some more information.

Jonathon You’re spot on. I always taste by grabbling a fist full, and make a patty. Paper plate in the microwave and test the temp for done. Saved a few disasters … joe

Jonathon yup, listening to my wife and father in-law tell the story it was hilarious after the fact, not then. It cost him a new kitchen to mom in-law.

Austin have you tried to place the emails in some sort of compressed file , i am computer illiterate at best just my thought .

Sdickey1960 The main person you need to talk to is your inspector. You want to hear what people say here but make 100% sure your inspector is okay with your plan before you do ANYTHING. Different inspectors have different levels of rules. We had one in Texas that wouldn’t let a customer use our safe handling bags because it either was missing a comma, or it had a comma where he didn’t think there should be one. So, before you make any investments talk to them.

processhead We never got to this during the live stream, austin was needed to do other things to make sure we keep running as a company, while I on the other hand am completely replaceable for a few hours, he is NOT. I will talk to him offline and then update this post or do another one if it is a longer answer.

Ozgrams Yeah, as long as they are properly taken care of and vac sealed before freezing it shouldn’t be an issue. Certainly, don’t add a cure accelerator of any kind though. If you skip the cure then you need to cook them as a fresh sausage, cant use the same smoked schedule, you’d be in the danger zone for too long.

Jonathon thank you. .16 and 2.4 oz of water for 1 lb ground turkey for making turkey bacon got. I appreciate you giving me the answer

joe do you smoke them or sell them as fresh ?

JoeB Midwest_kc Correct about the aluminum reacting. Any acidic food will react with the aluminum and form aluminum oxide, which does impact the flavor of food, even at small levels. It has also been linked to Alzheimer’s. In Alzheimer’s patients, it has been discovered that they have an excessively high presence of aluminum. That’s enough for me to stay away, I have enough problems as it is LOL. When I wrap a tray or pan with aluminum, I always put a layer of plastic wrap over the food first. Restaurant grade plastic wraps are fine with aluminum over it even in the oven up to 400’F.

Jonathon Thank you

twilliams Yeah and the best sellers are best sellers for a reason. No PSS is going to outsell Holly (medium #1 ) , no brat is going to outsell Blue Ribbon (though the gap has closed) and no snack stick is going to outsell Willies. Though, it will be interesting to see if Bourbon gets a bump from this post!

Jonathan, thanks you for the link and the answer.

Great advice everyone! Thanks so much, Going to experiment this weekend with small batches. Thanks again David

You can increase the humidity levels from evaporation systems if you can incorporate some kind of circulating fan to increase the volume of air moving past the water pan or absorbent pads or sponges. I also have thought about how you could use a nozzle or atomizer on a pressurized water source. If you can create a fine mist in an heated smoker, its a lot easier for it to evaporate into steam .

s.a.m If you were asking me about the camp chef that was with a smoke setting of 1. I was more concerned with temp than amount of smoke at this point. I maybe could have upped the smoke settings after the first hour or so.

Jonathon, I do not have any pics. The flavor was not bad, like I say the only problem was when you bite into them you gotta have a couple napkins at the ready because they make a “greasy” mess! I have made brats in the past, never had the issue. I will look into adding carrot fiber or super bind in the future. Thanks for the help everyone.

I did the snow trick a couple weeks ago. The roads were too nasty to go get a bag of ice. I over filled a meat lug with fresh powder and layered sausage in. Then ran cold water over to make a slurry. Worked GREAT!

twilliams said in Mixing sausage: You just dropped big coin on items you may not have needed. You’re right, but it as mostly a hobby and something I enjoy doing with friends and family so I’m not attempting to justify any ROI. Bought the grinder with credit card points through Paypal anyway. And now I bad want a chambered vacuum sealer, which is real coin! I am in construction so I like equipment…

Tex_77 Yes and No. Yes, we could just change it to an hour when we don’t have as much use but no because we want it to be at that time as that is when people tend to use it, so we want to encourage that. HarleyMunneke Hi Harley, sure cure will work for what you are talking about if you are just wanting to impart the cured meat flavor. If you are wanting to do a mix of a seasoning and a cure then you could either add Pa’s Black Bull or use the [Corned Beef Cure Twin Pack])https://www.waltonsinc.com/corned-beef-cure-twin-pack) but that is for a lot of meat! Another option (and this is probably the best one) would be to use a jerky seasoning. Pick a flavor you want and then the 1 oz sure cure comes with it. I have never done what you are proposing though, but I would think that would be the best option.

Ozgrams said in Venison Whole Muscle Jerky: hell of an operation… never seen that brand of smoker… and you must have some great recipes in that safe… Whats the benefit of dusting the seasoning and stacking vs adding water and marinating in Fridge The short answer on dusting is, that’s how the instructions say to do it. The stacking just makes it easier to get them apart again when they are ready to go on the rack and also ensures that the un-dusted side is in contact with a dusted piece underneath it. With a marinate, the amount of cure and seasoning to use gets a little iffy. With some trial and error, you could probably figure out a system that would work with a marinade, but ultimately, not all the dry ingredients in the marinade are going to stick to the meat, and some drips off somewhere you don’t want it to go. I like the meat to have the minimum amount of moisture to shorten dry time and just minimize the mess while preparing. Its just my method and I am sure other methods work just as well for others. You have never seen a smoker like that one because it was a limited edition of one. In it’s previous life, it was a hospital blanket warmer. After adding vents, a larger heating element, home-made pellet auger/smoke generator, and temperature controls, it is now a smoker. Originally, I built electric smokers for my friends, mostly made from vintage refrigerators, the kind with the latching handles that kids would play in and…you know. A buddy coined the name, cooked up a logo, and built some badges for the smokers I was making. Yes, kind of sick/dark. But easy to remember.

Remember unless you purchase a pre corned beef ya gotta wait for the corning time of at most 3 weeks.

processhead awesome find!

Kentucky Fisherman Good Point. In all of our Freezers essentially all cured products are the last to freeze and first to start to thaw Right along with fresh sausages.

wbryant2 sorry, I read it wrong! Yeah, you will be fine. twilliams nicely done!

Jonathon said in Bacon Curing Project: processhead Have you ever put orange zest on the brown sugar bacon as it fries? Someone here did that and was trying to convince me to try it. It’s been in the back of my mind for a while but any time I am cooking bacon I have another use for it or I just really want to eat it as bacon, not as some weird experiment! Orange zest on bacon is new to me andI have not tried it. Seems like it would be easy enough to add to a pan of frying bacon or even just a couple strips to see what it brings to the party.

Elsos Yeah, what you are describing in your initial post sounds like the vinegar from something in that can. The lowered pH is going to denature the proteins and prevent them from effectively binding together. I added some pickled jalapenos to a batch of willies once and to prevent what happened to you I laid them all out on a screen and let them air dry for 2 hours. That seems to be long enough to dry the outside of the jalapeno slices but it still maintains some of the taste.

smokinbubba Thank You!

processhead I always dry cure whole loins, never cut before curing. I cut after smoking to 145 - 150 to retain as much moisture as I can. I used the seasoning and it turned out great. The salt level was ok. As there is no information on the composition of the seasoning blends it is always a [censored] shoot using one of them for other than the intended purpose on the salt. That was really my reason for asking about using the seasoning mix, was to see if anyone had used it and if they liked the results. The dry cure rub actually pernitrates faster than using a wet cure unless you are injecting. I have never had any issues with dry rub curing any piece of meat. I learned to cure meats from my Grandfather, who was a professional butcher all of his working life. The only time he wet cured much of anything, was if it was to mass produce for sale as it is faster, otherwise, for personal use he just about always dry rub cured everything as it produces a better end product according to him. I tend to agree with him. He was doing Dry Rub Equilibrium Curing 30 years ago, long before it started to become popular. Dry Cure produces a much more flavorful final product as you are not adding excess water that dilutes and pushes out the juices of the meat. There are some juices lost dry curing as well, but not as much as with wet curing. The main reason injection and wet curing are used is primarily speed and economics, not quality. A meat processor can not afford to produce a product of the quality of a boutique curing house or a home curer as they can’t compete with other processors doing it that way, it takes to long to make a quality product like that for them to be profitable.

Austin Tex_77 thanks for the reply. I mostly always order from my phone so this is why i did not see “write a review”, only the one that austin circled…lol. I do get the suggestion of giving a review after i purchase something however that is just for the purchase transaction not the individual products. Thanks

Thanks Tex!! Got it.

Robertdochler Yeah, luckily #2 has both to allow for fast and slow curing power. I’d say if this was a commercial application it would need to be tossed but for home use it should be fine. This might seem like an odd tip but don’t make the bacon too crispy. Since you won’t know the ingoing ppm of nitrate just be safe and don’t make it too crispy. High levels of nitrate in meat that has been burnt can be a carcinogen. But, you should be fine as long as you don’t make it too charred, the charring of the meat with high levels of nitrate is the problem and I BELIEVE (could be wrong) that it is the only proven time nitrate becomes a carcinogen.

no_eyes_processor First, I recommend you always run at higher wattage. Lower wattage seems to be an option they installed for R&D reasons as far as I can tell? Second, I am guessing your base unit for your Meater + is out of batteries, it does take 1 aa or aaa in the back of the unit. We can talk about this afternoon when we call you?

That’s great!!!

Thanks Jon!

I have tried a 50/50 mix but the 40/60 is a much more moist sausage

Yep can’t add percentages. My kid just told me it is 22.5% fat content not 45% forgot to divide b 2. I’m a sausage making idiot!! Ha ha

Jonathon There is just no trade off for time invested… The more you know the luckier you get

OK, now I’m really confused. I understand that belly’s are cold smoked. Been there, done that, years ago. I thought imitation bacon was hot smoked to 160f with a smoker temp of 175. That’s why I thought a sous vide at 175 would not render.

samspade2519 Yeah, length of time frozen (as long as correctly packaged) shouldn’t be too big of a deal (unless we are talking years) and 7 days is certainly fine!

twilliams -15 and making sausage, that is dedication!

lkrfletcher Looks awesome man! I really like some of the Kosmos stuff. Has anyone tried their Clean Eating stuff? Its on my list of things to do going forward but its a little down the road. Nice Moscow too!

Thanks. If it pans out let me know what you think.

BBQCartel Yes, tenderizing the meat will absolutely help. Weve added this to our process recently and it has helped. We also have let it sit overnight in the solution after vacuum tumbling it. You dont replace the water by adding gycerin, the glycerin is replacing the sugar. Here is some more information gistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/2155/jerky-203-glycerin-in-place-of-sugar

Jonathon awesome. I will try that next time. Thx

Thank for info. In smoker an waiting. For finish time.

gus4416 Well it is a Buffalo thing, but the Sahlen’s hotdogs around since 1869 are known for suppling Ted’s hotdog’s that started a vending stand around 1950 under the Buffalo Peace Bridge to Canada. They’re pretty well known even a few times on the food channel drive arounds… Syracuse is may be a little far away . Thanks

Both the Supreme pizza and the spinach feta came out great. The flavor of the spinach feta really shines in this cured sausage. The texture is different than your pork summer sausage. It is more creamy almost like A hot dog, it may firm up after resting in the fridge overnight. Am definitely going to make the spinach feta again. The supreme pizza I think will improve as it rest as some other cured sausages do. Being all chicken no pork my kosher and Muslim friends will really enjoy these. You would think they have to be better for you than the pork ones? Maybe I can eat more than just A few slices have lost close to 60 pounds in last 6 months. Try to keep my calorie intake around 1500 A day, feel great and can enjoy things I could not do as A fat boy.

Jonathon Cooked at 225. To be fair, I think this may be it, as the ones I cooked on my drum at 300 didn’t have that same issue. I’m going to answer the other questions just to make sure I’m not missing something else somewhere. I did a 10 lb batch, and used 1 cup of water in it. I’m not sure on the fat content. It was pork butt, but it was trim that was left from after I trimmed some up for upcoming BBQ Comps. I trim them pretty aggressively for comps, but leave most of the fat cap on. It is mainly the horn muscle, and other muscles around the bone that I’m using.

craigrice For sure, my all time #1 is Walton’s Ultimate Steak and Roast for steaks, also good on chicken and nice to add to a salad. My other top 3 Excalibur shakers are ALL DISCONTINUED. I can only imagine they did that as a personal attack on me. Anything from Eat BBQ like Zero to hero is a great all around BBQ rub. JPs Custom Sweat Heat is awesome on Chicken and Pork. Most things from Kosmos are also really really good. Oh and Oakridge is really good too but they are a little pricey. One of our IT guys has a serious love for the Mississippi Grind. Bash Brothers and Butcher BBQ are mostly good too.

jim blais said in Snack sticks: Just got a new dehydrator and I was thinking of making snack sticks in it any suggestions on whether it’ll work thought I would just make them the same way I would make sticks for my smoker but lay them on the trays in the dehydrator bolded text

Thanks for the quick responses! Much appreciated.

twilliams It is an email we send out daily as a sort of “what’s going on” email. It is an automated one as of right now. You can go to your profile then settings and there is an option in the lower left hand side to get them daily, weekly, monthly or to just turn them off.

Polski l like your handle. Jak się masz? Depends on your budget. I am looking at the cool bot just because I can make it portable.

Thank you

Clarko I assume you have the 20lb manual mixer like I have?

I have a buddy with the dual grind LEM 22 it’s all I’ve been around until yesterday I used a 1/4 hp LEM the first grind of 35 lbs wasn’t terrible definitely not as good as it’s bigger brother but good lord the fine plate after was excruciating I did about 2 lbs in ten minutes I’d push the plunger down and it would come up the tube all around it. I ended up doing the large plate for the second grind and it wasn’t much better, having to freeze between grinds just to push it through the smaller grinder sucks. I hope the bigger 1&1.5 hp don’t have these problems. Has anyone used the new made by meat stuff? https://www.[link removed]/ I’m not sure if it’s a rebranded Weston or LEM like the Cabelas version or not. The # 32 looks good

Thanks guy! Should have clarified a couple things in my question but it has nothing to do with twang, just making sure the meat is safe for consumption after I’m done smoking. Normally I would either leave it in the fridge overnight (i.e 12 hours or more) or would just go with ECA and go immediately into smoker right after stuffing. Without going into all the details I really don’t have that option this weekend so my choice is either a) add the ECA with the cure and start smoking within 6-10 hours of when the cure and ECA are added to the pork or b) leave the ECA out. I’m planning on smoking about 100 pounds of sticks in the smoker so I’m thinking it will probably take me 3-4 hours just to get everything mixed and stuffed (i.e. thus the reason for the 6-10 hour range). Based on these additional details, would you recommend ECA or not?