I made my first batch of Cotto and I'm still alive!
I made it with some WY elk meat. My brother had it processed by someone else. Most of the meat I used was hamburger. It looked like it was a 80/20 mix but I wasn't sure. I used about 7 lbs of it and then threw in some elk steaks and pork butt.
I didn't realize that you should measure the smoker before you stuff your casings. Two were way too long and I had to remove the V tray. I didn't think about it, but the bottoms were right next to the heating element and cooked a lot hotter than the top. And of course I put the thermometer on the top. When I pulled them off, the top was 152-155 and the bottom was +164.
(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd275/bpnrclark1/cotto1.jpg)
(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd275/bpnrclark1/cotto2.jpg)
(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd275/bpnrclark1/cotto3.jpg)
It turned out a little dry, but for the first batch, it came out pretty good. And if you drink a lot of beer with it, the dryness goes away.
Nice work BPN. Looks real tasty. I have 7 lbs of ground buffalo I want to make into sausage also. I have to figure out how fat is is. I am told it is very lean so I will have to add ground beef I guess.
A learning experience that you won't forget. Looks good though. When you hand out samples just don't tell them YOU think it is dry. They probably won't even notice. I believe our good friend Caribou has said it the best. It just tastes better when I can say "I DID/CAN DO IT MYSELF"
That is mighty nice looking.
Congrats on a job well done.
Nice, damn nice.
Did you take notes? They will help next time.
The length of them kinda sausages is the main reason I got the 6 rack.
If you take a 1" x 4" and cut it the length of your shelf bracket then stand it up on the bracket you will be able to raise your rack your hangin them sausages on up another 3 1/2"
I agree with 10.5
If you hand out some of those sausages and just say try this, knowone will think its a little dry. They'll just ask for more.
Great job bpnclark.
Oh ya, the sausage will taste better in a couple days when every thing has a chance to blend together.
Thanks for the tips! Only one person said it was dry and no one has died, so I think it came out pretty good!
One question – I had them hang in the garage freg over night before the smoke and over night after the smoke. The next morning I cut them, wrapped them, and froze them. Should I have given it a full day or 2 in the freg after the smoke?
That should have been fine. Did you Vac seal them after you cut them? I usually leave them whole and vac seal just to make sure they don't dry out any
Very nice there- bp
One thing i do when i remember :D when i cut the ends off before vac sealing is to put a slice of clear wrap over each end. I tried to leave the ends with the crimp but usually the vac bag gets a hole in it from the hard casing ends.
Now can i have a taste ;D
Wow! That's nice and impressive. Well done!
Looks to me like you have a good reason to buy a new Six Rack. ;D
BPN, Very nice!! I had the same troubles as you did with length of the salami. I use a couple 2x4's that I notched out so a dowel would set in them. That puts the dowel real close to the top which gives you some more room. Here is a post where I did a real big boy so you can see them.
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=14422.msg172435#msg172435
Mark