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View Full Version : New toys - First Time Sausage!


KnucklHed BBQ
03-01-2012, 10:21 AM
Finally got me a grinder (http://www.kotulas.com/deals/electric-meat-grinder-1000-watts-of-power) and a little itty bitty sausage stuffer... :icon_blush:

I wanted fresh brats so I did some searching and amalgamated a few of the best sounding recipes.

Here's how it went:

Spices
http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae133/knucklhedbbq/2012-02-21_19-21-48_HDR.jpg


Pork butt, beef & some homemade belly bacon

http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae133/knucklhedbbq/2012-02-21_19-51-45_HDR.jpg

Made 4 different types cuz I couldn't decide what sounded the best

I used the same spice blend for all of them and just added the other items

Made reg brats, beer-cheddar brats, beer-cheddar & fresh jalapeno and peperoncini garlic brats

A shot of the pep-cini and the cheddar grind...

http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae133/knucklhedbbq/2012-02-21_20-58-41_HDR.jpg

Enter the itty-bitty stuffer... the 20 pounder!!
I, uhh, knew it would be kinda big, but holy CARP!! This sucker is massive! Nearly 40" long with the tube on it!


http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae133/knucklhedbbq/2012-02-23100215.jpg

http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae133/knucklhedbbq/2012-02-23100205.jpg

Heavy duty parts too!

http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae133/knucklhedbbq/2012-02-23100736.jpg

http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae133/knucklhedbbq/2012-02-23_10-08-33_HDR.jpg


I think I need to do bigger batches :rolleyes:
Shot of the ched/jap mix vvvv

http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae133/knucklhedbbq/2012-02-23102137.jpg

http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae133/knucklhedbbq/2012-02-23105802.jpg

Somebody thinks she's going to be a benefactor of this project

http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae133/knucklhedbbq/2012-02-23105820.jpg


Pan fried one of the pep-cini's and devoured it so fast that I almost forgot to snap a pic! Seriously juicy.

http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae133/knucklhedbbq/2012-02-23_11-30-48_HDR.jpg


This pic refuses to post rotated around to the correct orientation... live with it.
http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae133/knucklhedbbq/2012-02-26_13-28-07_HDR.jpg

wnkt
03-01-2012, 10:27 AM
looks good....what were the spices you used?

Ryan Chester
03-01-2012, 10:40 AM
Awesome.

Garyclaw
03-01-2012, 10:50 AM
Congrats on the new toys Knuck!!

The brats look awesome. Are you going to be the new Sausage King around here?:-D

jonboy
03-01-2012, 10:57 AM
Very Nice.
Was this the first time for making sausage?
Did you follow a recipe or tutorial?
jon

Big George's BBQ
03-01-2012, 11:17 AM
Very Nice We have talked about trying to do that at my house

Phrasty
03-01-2012, 11:18 AM
Great gear and great food! I've been looking at that grinder... How do you find it?

Cheers

rawtalent
03-01-2012, 11:29 AM
Nice job!! You got a good grinder and an AWESOME stuffer!

Wrench_H
03-01-2012, 11:46 AM
Nice work. Just so you know, this becomes quite addictive. Did you use high temp cheese or just regular cheese?

DaChief
03-01-2012, 12:16 PM
Now that is one b e a u t i f u l stuffer!!! Looks like you did just fine!

mr dirts bbq
03-01-2012, 12:40 PM
farking awesome! i wanna try making my own eventually, where did u get stuffer?

deguerre
03-01-2012, 12:50 PM
Hmmmm...the new Navy Rail Gun gets news yesterday and you post this today...



http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae133/knucklhedbbq/2012-02-23100205.jpg

Coincidence?

jeffjenkins1
03-01-2012, 12:52 PM
That is awesome!

Jeff

OutlawSwine
03-01-2012, 12:57 PM
I SO NEED one of those!!!!!

gtr
03-01-2012, 12:59 PM
Fanfarkingtastic! :clap2:

It's always a good thing to make fatties out of some of the loose sausage too! :thumb:

My freezer has no sausage in it. I need to fix that soon.

razrbakcrzy
03-01-2012, 01:05 PM
it brought a tear to my eye...that is B E A U T I F U L.....

Brian in Maine
03-01-2012, 02:01 PM
Good job. You make me want to make sausage.

KnucklHed BBQ
03-01-2012, 05:27 PM
Thanks for the comments folks, I'll reply to some of the questions when I get home!

bluetang
03-01-2012, 05:27 PM
Good lookin stuff there Mon! That is one HD stuffer:thumb:

Jarhead
03-01-2012, 05:38 PM
That is one massive stuffer.:shock:
I have the 8# horizontal and it is big. Especially when you have a full tube of meat.
What is it, about 6' long with the rod extended?
Nice looking brats you have there. Great job.

cowgirl
03-01-2012, 05:46 PM
Great job Ryan!! They look danged tasty. :thumb:

Garyclaw
03-01-2012, 07:38 PM
So. Are ya home yet Knuck? It's like bedtime here. Jeez!

KnucklHed BBQ
03-01-2012, 09:01 PM
So. Are ya home yet Knuck? It's like bedtime here. Jeez!

Jeez Gary! I just walked in the stinkin door, gimme a break!! Haven't even poured a beer yet! :caked:

Crazy Harry
03-01-2012, 09:14 PM
nice work. I need a good stuffer, but maybe not that big

KnucklHed BBQ
03-01-2012, 10:32 PM
looks good....what were the spices you used?

I searched around the webz for recipes until I kinda found the common thread of ingredients and kinda adjusted/adopted it to the recipe that is in the book mentioned in the reply to jonboy below.

Here's the book's recipe for 2.5lbs fresh bratwurst:
*1.5lbs lean pork and 1/2lb back fat or 2 lbs of butt - I used butt and ~1/8lb of belly bacon
*1/2lb lean veal (beef, chicken or turkey thighs can be sub'd) - I used lean-ish beef

Seasonings:

2.5 tsp salt (I found that 1tsp per lb of meat was a very common amount in most recipes. I used slightly more because I use Diamond kosher (http://www.diamondcrystalsalt.com/Culinary/Products/Kosher-Salt/Kosher-Salt.aspx) which has nearly 1/2 the sodium per tsp of morton kosher)
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp ground mustard - packed in the spoon
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp garlic granuales
1/2 tsp sage - packed in the spoon
1/2 cup powdered milk
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp light corn syrup
2 eggs
1/2 of the nutmeg I used was fresh grated nutmeg and 1/2 was jarred ground stuff

Changes I made that seemed to be pretty common in brat recipes:
1/2 tsp ground mace
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

My own addition - didn't read about it anywhere but seems to me that I've had it this way some where along the line - added about a 1/4 cup freshly fine chopped curly parsley
I will def add the parsley again, it doesn't really stand out as a parsley flavor, but it adds depth and color. :thumb:

For the pep-cini garlic brats, I added a large clove of fresh crushed garlic

For the beer brats I added about 6 oz of *Ahem* Premium beer. From a can. Originally brewed in Washington with "Tumwater"... IT WAS OLY FOR CRIPES SAKE!!!! DON"T JUDGE ME!
Some of the best tasting beer sausage I've had supposedly was made using Oly... the 6oz in this gave just a slight beer-y flavor, not very noticable.

Most recipes say to grind and then mix in the spices, I have not found a reason for this yet. My thinking is "Why on Earth would you mix the spices in after the grind when the grinding itself will mix far better than you could ever do with your hands?"
So I add the seasonings to the cubed up meat and then grind it. I still mix by hand because the fat content is irregular, but that's just a quick mush around - I also add the eggs and powdered milk & water at that time.

Honestly, most of the time I make something for the first time I come away thinking that it was pretty good, but still needed something or could have been better or I'll add this or take out that next time...
This recipe was, in all seriousness, perfect IMO!



Are you going to be the new Sausage King around here?:-D

YES! Wait... what do you mean by sausage king? :razz:

Truthfully, I've got a ton to learn, I'll be mooching off other's knowledge for quite sometime!

Very Nice.
Q: Was this the first time for making sausage?
A: Uhh, thread title... "New toys - First Time Sausage!" :boxing: :becky:

Q: Did you follow a recipe or tutorial?
A: No sir! I've seen a couple of posts by others 'round here making sausage and figured I'd jump right in!
I do have a great book that I've read thru - "Mastering the craft of making sausage" Got it on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Making-Sausage-Warren-Anderson/dp/1580801552/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330657846&sr=8-1)

jon

Great gear and great food! I've been looking at that grinder... How do you find it?

Cheers

So far so good, I've ground about 30lbs of meat with it with zero problems.
A couple of things you might consider:

The grinder housing and tray is polished aluminum, if you plan on tossing it in the dishwasher, it won't look too pretty for long.

It's a bit loud, prolly about as loud as a blender. I really don't care about the noise though, makes the wife think I'm hard at work. :mrgreen:

The 3 plates that it comes with are 3/16", 5/16" and 3/8"... IMO, I need a 1/4" plate for the best sausage texture. I used the 3/16 plate for these brats (single grind) and it was pretty close to the "traditional" brats I've bought, but not as coarse as what I like, for bulk sausage it would be too fine.

However, 5/16" is perfect for hamburgers! :thumb:

Nice work. Just so you know, this becomes quite addictive. Did you use high temp cheese or just regular cheese?

Yeah, I feel it already!

Used just reg cheddar - store nearby carries high temp pep jack and ched for $13/lb :shocked: and i was tempted to get the pep jack, but decided that I'd try the reg stuff this first time - I've got to say that I think I like the reg better than hi temp I've had in others... While it does melt away and infuse into the rest of the meat, I think the flavor is more natural and the juiciness is uncharted!

I think if I was smoking it to temp, cooling it to reheat later, then the high temp might be worth it, but just grilling/smoking & eatin' like I am... nah...

I'd really like to hear though, what have you found to be better?

farking awesome! i wanna try making my own eventually, where did u get stuffer?

Found the stuffer for $180 inc freight on ebay from this seller (http://myworld.ebay.com/verybigd/?_trksid=p4340.l2559)

I thought about getting the MTN grinder that they have too, but could not find as much feedback on it as the kitchener one has...

The fit & finish on the stuffer is not quite 100%, maybe 90%...
It was dirty from the manf process when I got it - polish compound/dust from polishing the SS was all over everything.
The piston is cast aluminum with a polished face, it's a kinda rough casting, but works.

The grease that lubes the piston shaft stinks and is most likely NOT food grade stuff - I removed as much as I could and lubed it with EVOO

I probably spent an hour & a half taking it apart & cleaning every inch when I received it.

The positives are:
Stinkin' CHEAP price for a 20 lb stuffer - heck, most 10 lb'ers cost that much
horizontal position means that you don't have to clamp it down to use it
2 speed gears for fast "rewind"
heavy duty built - I'll never have to buy another one
SS stuffer tubes - most tubes these days are plastic even on high end stuffers and they are long (8"?) and you get 4 sizes

Would def buy again!

That is one massive stuffer.:shock:
I have the 8# horizontal and it is big. Especially when you have a full tube of meat.
What is it, about 6' long with the rod extended?
Nice looking brats you have there. Great job.

Thanks, yeah, it's pretty stinkin long - time to clear off the counter when you get this out! They make smaller ones too, but that just ain't for me... :loco:

uchinadon
03-01-2012, 10:37 PM
Those brats look AMAZING!

LoneStar Smoke Rangers
03-01-2012, 10:57 PM
Very Nice!

Pitmaster T
03-02-2012, 05:11 AM
Dude, That big thing could fill Auroa Snow!

rawtalent
03-02-2012, 06:36 AM
I add the seasonings to the cubed up meat and then grind it

Me too. Mixing spices after grinding is OK if you have a mixer or if the spices are mixed with liquid to form a slurry.

KnucklHed BBQ
03-02-2012, 08:59 AM
Dude, That big thing could fill Auroa Snow!


I think she's endorsing them... :laugh: