Charcuterie day when mom's away

[chad]

OK. Tasso is curing. I should be able to cook it late this afternoon.

Breakfast sausage, 3#, was easy to make using Hi Mountains seasoning. I tried out the Kitchen Aid stuffer with a few links using collagen casings. As "advertised" using the KA is a two person job...so my son will get roped into it this afternoon. The rest of the breakfast sausage is wrapped in wax paper and in the freezer to firm up. I'll cut it into 1# logs later.

I've got 5# of meat to grind for andouille and 5# for a basic garlic sausage. I'll grind them in a bit. Need to run to the store for some butcher's twine. I just about used up the bit I had left around when tying the breakfast sausages!!

I have pics working and will post later.

Sorry to have hijacked SmokinAussie's thread!

[LM600]

Nice!!!!

[chad]

I'm glad I have a b'day coming up. I NEED a sausage stuffer. The KA gets the job done, but my son hasn't shown up today. I just finished stuffing the 5# of garlic sausage and what a PITA. Everything is cleaned up and the andouille is next. I don't want to leave it for tomorrow. Need to run to the store for more butchers twine. Hog rings and pliers are on my "Gotta Have It" list, too. The tasso will get rinsed and seasoned in a bit -- probably before I start grinding the andouille. I can put it in the cooker and have it "done" by a reasonable time.

Sheesh. I need to hurry up and determine which I like best and not try and do three sausages in one day!! My kitchen isn't that big and I don't have a full time pot washer!

[SmokinAussie]

Hi Chad, Yep, Sure is hard work! But well worth it in the end!
'
Can't wait to see the pics!

Bill

[landarc]

I bet you don't have a favorite and you want more, MORE!

[Qing]

How cool is that!

[chad]

Well, the tasso is in the cooker. The breakfast sausage is cut and packed in 8 oz. packages of patties. The garlic sausage is packed in bags and in the freezer. The andouille is in the spare fridge drying a bit and developing a pellicle to hold the smoke. It may have to wait until tomorrow to get in the cooker!! The mandarin/teriyaki jerky will be ready to cook tomorrow afternoon, too.

Taste test of everything was "Why don't I do this more often" good. Well, I used to get great sausage when we lived in San Antonio, TX, and I didn't sweat making it at all. And, we have a really small kitchen. I'm glad momma is out of town - she'd have had to go get her nails done or something because I've had it tied up all day!! Worth it though.

Now I just need clean up the kitchen and put up the cure and spice makings. I miss my full sized restaurant kitchen from my Luby manager days!! Oh, and a pot washer to clean the stuff up!!

Pictures, what I have, will be up soon.

[chad]

OK, here's what I've got up to right now:

1. Is some "stuff". I didn't use all of it, but did use the Kosher salt, dextrose, and pink salt (cure #1). The spices and such were over on the counter. The jerky cure box is a sampler from Hi Mountain.
2. Breakfast sausage. Some test links and the bulk of the sausage in waxed paper heading to the freezer to firm up for slicing.
3. & 4. Shots of the tasso after curing for about 4 hours. You can see how much moisture was removed. The meat was dry when I put in the fridge.
5. Seasoned tasso on the way to the smoker.
6. Fuzzy shot (sorry) of the breakfast sausage ready to be cut into portions. I cut the bigger loaf into thirds and kept the balance in the freezer while working on each section.
7. The setup I used to get the sausage stuffing tube closer to the counter. This is one problem with using the Kitchen Aid. With the attachment a foot or so above the counter it's almost impossible to keep from breaking the casings.
8. 5# of andouille ready for the fridge. I'll smoke this tomorrow afternoon. I did it in mostly 8 oz links. I started with the 6"/4-ounce links and then asked myself what the fark I was doing. I'll never use this in 4 ounce portions!!

Well, off to take the tasso out of the cooker and get it cooled off.

[The_Kapn]

Lookin' good Dave!
I know what you mean by a mess.

HINT:
Raise the level of the thing the sausage goes onto up to the stuffer tube height.
Then, stop stuffing and tie off each sausage as it gets long enough.
No nead to twist it. Just pinch off the casing a bit and pull hard on the butcher's twine.
That way, you don't have to twist and tie after stuffing.
Much easier and a tighter sausage.

And, you will be amazed at how easy stuffing is when you get a dedicated stuffer. Night and Day difference!

Great Job.

TIM

[bigabyte]

Great looking stuff there Chad, err, I mean Dave!

[chad]

Tim, it didn't take long to figure out the shut down and tie-off routine. It went much better after that. I do need to raise the half-sheet pan a bit, but it was definitely better than at "normal" hight!! The KA did fine for a mixer/grinder called in to stuff but a vertical stuffer is on the list. I'm thinking some hog rings and pliers are going on the wish list, too.

The andouille is in the smoker. I used stainless turkey trussing scewers to hold the sausages horizontally over the "water pan" which is today acting as a catch pan.

[chad]

Here's the finished tasso. The spice coating really held well to the surface of the pork. Now I just need an excuse to use some of it!

[Cajunator]

Looks real nice! You really need to get yourself a sausage stuffer. Grizzly and Northern Tools have good prices on 5 lb stuffers which would be perfect for you. I have one but, I really need a bigger one. Check out http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...9319_200449319 or http://www.grizzly.com/products/5-lb...Vertical/H6252

For your tasso, you could get some large shrimp, slice them (not completely in half) and stuff it with a sliver of tasso and grill them. Tasty! Maybe just add a light sprinle of a rub. Enjoy!!

[chad]

Originally Posted by Cajunator

Looks real nice! You really need to get yourself a sausage stuffer. Grizzly and Northern Tools have good prices on 5 lb stuffers which would be perfect for you. I have one but, I really need a bigger one. Check out http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...9319_200449319 or http://www.grizzly.com/products/5-lb...Vertical/H6252

For your tasso, you could get some large shrimp, slice them (not completely in half) and stuff it with a sliver of tasso and grill them. Tasty! Maybe just add a light sprinle of a rub. Enjoy!!

Thanks for the links. I've looked at Northern Tools and was just over at Bass Pro Shop and looked at the LEM stuffers. SausageMaker.com has a nice one, too.

I'm doing a boil for my son's b'day next weekend so I may just have to "borrow" a few of the shrimp. I can get decent crawfish, but most of the family prefer shrimp due to having less work to peel them.

[BBQ Grail]

Originally Posted by chad

Here's the finished tasso. The spice coating really held well to the surface of the pork. Now I just need an excuse to use some of it!

Ruhlman's recipe on the Tasso? Sure looks good.