Cranked out some sausage!


 
Rich G

Rich G

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Not sure this counts for Smoke Day, but I've got some ribs teed up for Monday..... :)

Did 5lb batches of snack sticks, breakfast links, and Spanish-style chorizo.....

I copied @Lew Newby's setup for snack sticks in his Smokefire. Went with about 4 hours of smoke, then a quick 170° poach to finish. Cut into snack sized sticks, and they are sitting in a paper bag to lose a bit more moisture in the fridge.....

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The breakfast links didn't get any smoke or cooking, but I did fry some up for breakfast this am, and they were tasty!!

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The chorizo was smoked for about 3 hours, then poached in a 170° batch to finish. Just sliced one up to taste, and it's delicious. The paprika really comes through nicely, with just a touch of heat from some cayenne pepper.....

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I'm set for links for a bit, but already planning my next couple of batches of sausage! :)

R
 
Lew Newby said:
Is that upper cooking grate the Recteq grate?
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Yep. That's the Large one, they make a Small one, too, that's about half the size. Only use it when I really need the space, and it came in handy for this snack stick run! Thanks again for the tips on the setup, Lew!

R
 
Hunter Butler said:
Do you have a good recipe for making links you could share, I’ve got the equipment and would love to test it out!
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What kind of sausage do you like, Hunter? I've got a number of recipes that I use. What gear do you have? Grinder? Stuffer? Other?

R
 
That’s what I’m smoking today and tomorrow- a mild pork sausage, I’ve got the grinder and stuffer attachments for a kitchen aide stand mixer - just need to order some skins. I’d like to start with a sausage that’s the diameter of a “brat”.
 

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@Hunter Butler

So, if this is your first attempt at sausage, there's a bit to learn about the process that's important. The basics are keep EVERYTHING COLD -- meat, fat, equipment, meat, fat..... you get the idea. So....keep it cold before you grind, keep it cold after you grind, pretty much keep it cold until you are ready to give it some heat to cook it! Mixing the sausage enough to pull out the myosin which makes it sticky is key to the texture we all associate with a lot of the sausages we eat. Takes a bit of time to know how much mixing is enough. If you've kept your meat cold, then you aren't done until your fingers hurt from the cold! There's more, but read and watch a bunch of videos to get started! I will note that stuffing sausages with the KA attachment can absolutely be done, but if you don't have an extra set of hands, it will be frustrating (which is why the first gear upgrade a lot of people make is a dedicated stuffer.) You will make sausage, but if you enjoy the process and want to do it more, you will quickly see the benefit of a dedicated stuffer.

I like Chud's videos, and THIS ONE for an easy pork sausage is a pretty good one with the right steps along the way. He's a little eccentric, but the process is good, so just ignore him. :) Or pretend he's one of your buddies who had one too many beers! :)

As you get started, learning the process is almost more important that the recipe. Once you get that down, you can make any German, Polish, Italian, Spanish, etc, etc, etc sausage you want.

Feel free to start up a thread in the "Charcuterie" forum as you are getting started, or putting together your thoughts to get started. There are some accomplished sausage makers here (@Dustin Dorsey, @Mark Foreman, and a host of others) that would be more than happy to help.

Also, the smokingmeatforums.com has a pretty active sausage section, which would make for good reading.

R
 
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