Well, started my Summer Sausage adventure this morning.... except instead of Summer Sausage I'm making "Cervelat" which, like Summer Sausage, can take many different forms... but the recipe I'm using is from "The Art of Making Fermented Sausages" by the Marianski brothers.... the recipe can be found here: http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-recipes/cervelat (http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-recipes/cervelat). It's quite similar to his Summer Sausage recipe. I liked that this one has whole peppercorns and Paprika in it. Was out at a Spanish restaurant last night and bought some Pimentón... smoked Spanish paprika, so thought what the heck, might as well put it to use.
So, got started.... using 3.5kg pork shoulder steaks from Costco. I get the butcher to cut them for me fresh from whole boneless shoulders so I know they haven't been sitting there for a while. Also using 1.5 kg of lean beef shoulder, also from Costco. Had a few scraps of pork belly trimmings from my last bacon, so throwing that in as well:
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5394.jpg)
All sliced up and (nearly) ready to grind:
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5396.jpg)
Oops... still a bit too frozen... my grinder said "uh uh... no way..." so I had to spread the meat out a bit to thaw down a bit more:
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5397.jpg)
Meanwhile... measuring out the spices. Would LOVE to see the look on the old bill's face should they walk in right now, looks right dodgy... ;D :o
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5393.jpg)
All measured out...
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5395.jpg)
Well.... that's it so far... still waiting for the meat to thaw enough to grind... more to come!
DAMN... first mistake :-[ :-[ :-[ >:( >:( >:( Didn't read the meat ratio closely enough.... guess I'm making Cervelat spiced Summer Sausage :P
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5400.jpg)
Ok, finally got the meat ground... realized the problem wasn't so much the partially frozen meat, it was trying to push it through the 3/16" plate first. Switched to my coarse plate, ran it through once, then pushed it through again with the 3/16":
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5398.jpg)
Added the spices, including the starter culture:
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5403.jpg)
All mixed up ready to stuff:
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5399.jpg)
A well deserved Sunday afternoon single malt.... short break before stuffing.... :)
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5402.jpg)
All coming together is going to be good ;D
Ok... all stuffed and hanging in the fermenting chamber... AKA, the DBS cabinet sans smoke generator....
The casings... natural beef middles:
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5404.jpg)
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5405.jpg)
Soaking for an hour....
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5407.jpg)
Stuffer filled to the brim.... JUST made it....
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5408.jpg)
Casing loaded:
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5409.jpg)
First one!
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5410.jpg)
All stuffed...
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5411.jpg)
All tied up....
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5412.jpg)
Starting the 24 hour ferment:
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5413.jpg)
And finally... the most important finishing touch ;D
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5414.jpg)
More to follow at the end of the ferment and the smoke.... until tomorrow... Expat out.
Looking good. Wish I was there to help you drink your whiskey stuff those sausages. ;D
Sausage is looking good.
It's a good thing you earmarked the page or it will take 5 - 10 minutes to find it again in that book. ;D
I have two books by those authors, and for the life of me I don't understand why they don't add an index.
Everything in the book is also located on their website.
I seen Nepas Makers Mark in his fridge in a pic. I got my in laws to bring me some back from there trip to the states it was yummy in my tummy. I will have to find those to types i seen her to try. O ya sausage looks good too.
Quote from: ExpatCanadian on October 03, 2010, 04:56:13 AM
Would LOVE to see the look on the old bill's face should they walk in right now, looks right dodgy... ;D :o
'Ello 'Ello 'Ello.. ;D
Looking good, I love Cervelat even if the meat combo is wrong.
I have always wanted to visit London ;D
Looking good!!
Got a few hours left in the ferment stage, which has been done at high humidity (90-95% according to my hygrometer) to keep the casings moist. the bottom ends of the sausages are a bit dry due to them being closer to the heating element, but hopefully that won't affect the quality of the end product too much. Can always cut that end off I suppose.
Quick question though: the recipe says to start applying warm smoke at the end of the 24 hour period (for 12 hours, but I'm going to cut this to 3 hours in the Bradley). Most other smoked sausage recipes I've read call for a period of drying of the casings before applying smoke. Do you think that applies here too? The way the recipe reads to me is that the smoking starts immediately... but perhaps I should open the damper up and increase the heat to 120
o for an hour or so to dry the casings first?
Quote from: Habanero Smoker on October 03, 2010, 01:28:14 PM
I have two books by those authors, and for the life of me I don't understand why they don't add an index.
By the way Hab... I agree completely, the book is a wealth of information, but a nightmare to read. It's pretty clear English is not their first language, which isn't a problem... the info is all good, it just could have used a good editor to re-organise, spell and grammar check and generally polish it up a bit. Apparently there is a new edition from a different publisher that has an index, but this is the one Amazon sent me....
Habanero Smoker,
Yes, the first editions of the books did not have indexes.
The Art of Making Fermented Sausages, Polish Sausages and Meat Smoking and Smokehouse Design, were edited, revised, and indexes were added. These improved second editions were re-published in 2009 by Bookmagic, LLC.
In addition, Meat Smoking and Smokehouse Design was enlarged by about 30 pages.
In July 2010, another very large book was published by Bookmagic: Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages, 700 pages.
One can search these books inside at publisher's site www.bookmagic.com
The www.wedlinydomowe.com web site was recently revised in order to make it user friendly and easier to navigate. The new version became operational last week. All recipes look exactly the same and more will be added on a regular basis.
Seminole... I want to publicly apologize for my insensitive comments on your book above. As far as I am concerned it's as much of a "bible" on the subject of sausage making as Rytek Kutas book is. I have both, and read both virtually daily to educate myself.... and without your book, I would never have even attempted to make my first fermented sausage, but as you can see from this thread, I have jumped in with both feet.
My Summer Sausage/Cervelat is smoking right now, and I will be posting photos when finished to show the results of my poor attempt at what you and your brother have deemed an "art". Definitely an apt description, and one I look forward to perfecting.
Hi Seminole;
I didn't know you were associated with that site and family.
I often use your site. I was on the site this morning, and notice the changes. It is now very user friendly.
Is there any chance that you can publish the indexes on your site for Meat Smoking & Smokehouse Design, 2007 V 1.0; and The Art of Making Fermented Sausage, 2008 V1.0 R2.0?
ExpatCanadian;
I would not dry the casings first. Though the casings will be moist, they will take on smoke very well. About some areas of sausage drying out. I had the same problem due to hot spots. As long as the meat is not fully cooked, that area will recover when you cook them.
Habs
Here is a link from their site for the book "The Art of Making Fermented Sausage" which includes the index. I'm not sure if it's the right release or not.
http://bookmagic.com/books/art-of-making-fermented-sausages
Here's the link to "Meat Smoking and Smokehouse Design" which includes the index as well.
http://bookmagic.com/books/meat-smoking-and-smokehouse-design
Mike
Hi Mike;
Thanks for the links. Those are the newer editions that Seminole was referring to, but its a good start. Both books have a lot of information, now that the newer editions are indexed it makes them more useful.
Ok, smoke/cook all done! Got home from work around 5 yesterday and got started. Habs, it turns out I didn't need to dry the casings, as they were fairly tacky already. The humidity was still pretty high, but I think 24 hours at 30o still managed to drive off a lot of moisture. The sausage casings were still fairly white (except near the bottom where they had got a bit more heat), but I could see the meat inside had turned nice and red from the cure and ferment process.
I loaded up 3 hours of Oak (Crown Royal) and programmed the PID as follows:
120oF - 3 hours - Smoke rolling
130oF - 1 hour
140oF - 1 hour
150oF - 1 hour
160oF - to IT 152oF
Babysat it until bedtime around midnight, was at around 107oF. Woke up at 5am for a quick check, and the IT was still only at 133oF. I wanted them to finish before going to work at 9, so I upped the temperature to 170oF.... and then thought "What the heck... I'm here.... let's hit them with some more smoke". So, I added anther hours worth of Hickory this time... and went back to bed.
Got up at 8 and the IT was at 151oF.... JOB DONE says I! Anyway, enough talk... pics:
Post-ferment, Pre-smoke:
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5415.jpg)
This morning... cold shower to prevent shrinkage:
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5420.jpg)
Blooming time.... (Am I supposed to do this? Do fermented sausages bloom the same way? I don't know... but not taking any chances ;))
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5419.jpg)
Back into the smoker for the day to dry a little bit more and cool completely to ambient. (Smoker is off)
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5421.jpg)
Taste tests tonight!
Habanero Smoker
I will pass your request to Bookmagic about indexes. It may take a while
as indexing can be time consuming.
Ok, last post on this one I promise.... just got home and eagerly sliced into the smallest of my cervelat/salamis. All I can say is FANTASTIC :o :o I don't think I will be buying commercial salami ever again! It's perfect! And all I can think is, "How can it be?" I used improvised tools and conditions at best... far from a proper controlled setup.... yet it's as good as anything I've tasted from a deli! I either got very lucky... or I did something right.
Needless to say, I'm very pleased, and would encourage anyone else out there who might be intimidated by the whole fermenting thing to give it a try! If I can do it, I think anyone can.
Ok, the money shot.... only question is, what the heck do I do with all the rest of it. Can I freeze these things? I don't have the conditions for long term storage at cool temperatures.....
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Making%20Cervelat%20Sausage/CIMG5422.jpg)
Looks great!!
I would think you could vac seal it and freeze like normal but then I have never done this either
Quite an adventure and it looks like it turned out really well. Send me some if you need a second opinion. I'll "store" it for ya. ;D ;D
Quote from: Seminole on October 05, 2010, 05:40:03 AM
Habanero Smoker
I will pass your request to Bookmagic about indexes. It may take a while
as indexing can be time consuming.
Thanks. I really appreciate it.
ExpatCanadian;
Your semi-dry sausages turned out great. As to your question, when you cook any sausage and you are not planning to eat them immediately you should shower or shock them to stop the cooking process.