Re: Homemade Brats


 

Don Cash

TVWBB Gold Member
Jeff, I'm replying to this over here because it seems more appropriate in a discussion forum -vs- the photo forum...

Originally posted by j biesinger:
They look good, but, believe it or not, they will be better with the stuffer. The first thing I noticed was they looked just like mine did before I got the stuffer. The meat is shades of pink when it should be reds and whites. I think the meat and fat gets too warm and smushed around with the auger. A stuffer is much gentler and easier to keep ice cold. Plus the whole process of stuffing 5 lbs of sausage takes a few minutes and there isn't time for it to warm.
After the grind do you mix by hand or with the paddle blade on a mixer? I used the mixer as written in the recipe and the sausage was that color prior to stuffing. I was trying out a new butcher and the only veal he had was cutlets and pre-ground. I bought the ground. It was a much finer grind than I would have liked...maybe that threw the color off?

I left every component of the grinder/stuffer out on the screened-in porch overnight with temps in the 20s. I'm confident that it was ice cold when starting to stuff. You're right, it took a long time to stuff them with the Kitchenaid and could have warmed too much over that time...throwing the color off even more. The texture was pretty spot on after grilling, though.
 
a couple notes on what got me to a decent texture:

I switched from the smallest plate to the medium (my grinder came with three). It seems counter intuitive but a coarser grind results in a less grainy texture.

I purchase some cambro buckets, I can recall the size but a 5 lb batch fills it up 1/2 to 2/3. The buckets aren't all that important but they make things simpler when trying to juggle 3-4 different sausage types at once. Anyways, I fill them with the ground pork and keep them in a fridge overnight. The next day, I put in the spices and the required amount of water, and with a gloved hand, I mix the sausage as much as I can until I get tired which is maybe a couple of minutes and just enough to set the bind (IMO, it really doesn't take much and its more to mix the seasoning). Talking with Bryan, it seemed like the key was to really wet the meat down and merely mix it a little. I load the stuffer, and stuff. Afterwords, the links go on a wire rack on a sheet pan and into a fridge to set up over night or until I'm ready to freeze and vac pack*. Talking to Bryan again, the theory here is to lose some of the excess water that we added and allow the sausage time to really bind.

Having the stuffer, the buckets, an empty fridge, and time/patience make it all work for me. Each step doesn't take much time, and I usually pace things out over a weekend or a few weeknights. I make three 5 lb batches at a time and will break down 2 butts and a whole loin: 1/2 for the grind and 1/2 for some chops and to make Canadian bacon as a bonus.

I'll try to dig up the thread that most of these ideas came from, but for the life of me, I have no idea where to look (it was long before the charcuterie forum existed).

*I snug 3-4 links together, loosely wrap in plastic and freeze, the groups can be dropped in a vac bag and vacuumed without getting crushed
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> I'll try to dig up the thread that most of these ideas came from, but for the life of me, I have no idea where to look (it was long before the charcuterie forum existed). </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

eureka! read that and you'll know as much as I do
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