Home Made Sausage, Cured, and Smoked Meats

[Milksteakboiledhard]

Thanks for the feedback. My parents had one of the original giant traegars and it was a beast. Smoked squash and asparagus were always winners when I dog sat while they were away. Plus the time I set a shopvac on fire because the auger overloaded the firebox, memories...


Thanks for the cookshack feedback. The sm 25 is definitely in the running. How long does it take for the hopper to fully burn out (set at ~225F with 3 pork butts)? I see the site gives an estimate, but I rate end user feedback higher than that from manufacturers.

 

[beargonefishing]

Thanks for the feedback. My parents had one of the original giant traegars and it was a beast. Smoked squash and asparagus were always winners when I dog sat while they were away. Plus the time I set a shopvac on fire because the auger overloaded the firebox, memories...


Thanks for the cookshack feedback. The sm 25 is definitely in the running. How long does it take for the hopper to fully burn out (set at ~225F with 3 pork butts)? I see the site gives an estimate, but I rate end user feedback higher than that from manufacturers.

I love my grilla Silverback pellet smoker, and the results are always great. They also have a new controller out that makes it even more idiot proof.

 

[Piobaire]

Made pasta alla Norcina tonight with my homemade Italian sausage. Creamy and rich.

 

[Lizard23]

Made pasta alla Norcina tonight with my homemade Italian sausage. Creamy and rich.

good with truffles

 

[Piobaire]

Seriously, what isn't? ?‍♂️

Also, wild boar would be more authentic but hafta settle.

 

[Milksteakboiledhard]

Anyone need help removing feral pigs from their homestead? Have tools, will travel.

 

[nootje]

Anyone need help removing feral pigs from their homestead? Have tools, will travel.

I’ll expand this service to Europe, happily.

And “everything is better with truffles” is my wife’s mantra. The worst is truffle mayonaise, I’ll use that stuff at breakfast if it’s available.

Oh, and on the meat topic. Got 10 geese to slaughter today. The plan is to smoke the breasts of two, and grind up the rest with pork belly fat I bought yesterday. Expect about 3,5 kg of breast to combine with 3 kg of pork. I’ll probably stuff some of that in casings later this week to try and smoke sausage.

 

[Piobaire]

If you're going to smoke them don't forget some "pink salt" or #1 Cure.

 

[nootje]

The recipe I found was to put them in brine for an hour or three, then smoke at 75 degrees for 45 min. Still have way to much sea salt from the salt pans at Gozo from when we visited, so I’ll use that with sugar and some herbs. Will use cherry wood to smoke tomorrow.

Also turned some of the minced goose with pork fat into burgers today. My wife created some spice mix and they turned out very well. Stark contrast with the beef burgers I also grilled to see the difference. The beef ones shrunk a bit and where flattish in taste. The goose burgers where the better ones, unanimously in a group of five as I had my in laws over.

 

[Piobaire]

You only need 1 tsp of pink salt (sodium nitrite) for 5# of meat. When I smoke sausage I hold them as cool as possible for a few hours to get a good "smudge" then slowly bring them up to a 145-150 internal. Holding them under the 141F cut point like that gives the chance for ground meat to grow some nasty bugs but the sodium nitrite puts a stop to that.

No worries with a 45 minute smoke and you're bringing them way over the instant kill point so any bugs will meet their maker without the help of the sodium nitrite.

 

[nootje]

Thanks. The breasts I saved are still whole, hey are from a juvenile graylag and a young barnacle, so still very tender with sadly not that much fat. I’m quite careful to make sure to bring them up to temp. They where healthy, otherwise they wouldn’t have flown until yesterday morning, but it’s still game.

The sodium nitrite will have to come in play if I decide to try my hand on some sausages from them, maybe later this week. Btw, what level do you grind for sausage? I have three sizes, from big enough for steak tartar to vey fine minced meat. I did the whole batch on medium, but I can always grind it further.

 

[Piobaire]

For the vast majority I used the medium grind too. If I'm doing something that I want more emulsified, like say a thuringer or frankfurter, I'll medium grind the night before, refrigerate overnight, put in the freezer for 45 minutes prior to the second grind, then re-grind using the fine die. Doing it that way makes for a smoother product and ensures forcing it through that fine grind die won't smear the fat.

 

[Piobaire]

@jcman311

 

[Omega Male]

Yuck, plant matter!

Thoughts on smoking chicken versus roasting or a reverse sear -- worth the extra time?

 

[Gibonius]

I love a smoked whole chicken. It's harder to get good crispy skin, but the meat comes out amazing.