Well finally found time to do some sausage. 60 pounds of summer sausage and 60 pounds of German Frankfurters. Other then the stuffing time the night before we smoked three batches in 10 hours of smoking a little longer to finish the water bath process. Thanks to my brother-in-law Ken for the help with the videos!! He provided the beef and I provided the venison and we both provided the pork.
Make sure that you click on the links to see some videos that I put together of this project.
The spices mixed for 30 pound batch of summer sausage with stuffer filling tool.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7301.jpg)
Here is a link to the mixing process.
http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/?action=view¤t=MIXINGSAUSAGE2.mp4
I used my 30 pound hydraulic sausage stuffer shown below.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/MONSTERSTUFFER35POUNDS.jpg)
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7315.jpg)
Here is the link to using the stuffer to stuff the summer sausage. The snapping sound you hear is my glove sticking to the sausage casing.
http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/?action=view¤t=STUFFINGTHESUMMERSAUSAGE.mp4
Now time to stuff the 60 pounds of German Frankfurters.
Here is the link for stuffing the Franks
http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/?action=view¤t=STUFFINGGERMANFRANKFURTERS.mp4
Here is 60 pounds of franks.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7317.jpg)
Now to the smoker. [summer sausage first.]
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7321.jpg)
after 2 hours of heavy smoke they are ready for the bath.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7326.jpg)
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7328.jpg)
Heading for the hot water bath.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7329.jpg)
smoker link
http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/?action=view¤t=SUMMERSAUSAGEINTHESMOKER.mp4
Now for the hot water bath.
http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/?action=view¤t=SUMMERSAUSAGEINHOTWATERBATH.mp4
Here is a new rack for the hot water tank. The rack allows water to flow around the sausages.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7331.jpg)
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7332.jpg)
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7341.jpg)
Now after 155 degrees, into the cooldown cooler.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7344.jpg)
On to the counter to bloom. I need to come with up some sort of rack for this part of the process but for now it is the counter.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7349.jpg)
At the same time the German Frankfurters are in the smoker.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7322.jpg)
A little smoker video
http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/?action=view¤t=SMOKINGTHEGERMANSAUSAGE.mp4
Franks in the smoker.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7353.jpg)
franks in the bath
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7362.jpg)
Now on the counter to bloom x 2 batches of what you see here.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7354.jpg)
And the money shot
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/101_7369-Copy.jpg)
And a Day to rest up
Kirby
Kirby - great set up and great pics and videos
Excellent job Kirby of showing the entire process!
Very nice equipment for heating & cooling too!
The stuffer & mixer ain't bad either! ;)
Not sure if I'll ever need to make batches that large, but I really do appreciate you explaining your procedures & sharing the short-cuts & tips you've learned.
Nice job!
Really nice there Kirby.
Dang Kirby very nice!
Love the pics and videos.
Well Done Kirby!! I even learned that I have been doing it wrong. I was opening the supply valve and then trying to control everything with the speed valve.
Well done...and for those that have never tried something like this, the videos are excellent for teaching...just a really great job Kirby...
Awesome lookin' franks and SS Kirby! ;)
I love the new rack you built for the hot water bath!
Great Job.
Mike
Nice job Kirby!!!!
Thanks guys
I thought some of what I posted could help new members understand the hot water process in finishing their sausage. Not every one will have the equipment that I have built but the process can be accomplished in many different ways.
Kirby
That is just fine as frogs hair.
Great pics and Videos.
Just awesome!
Nice work Kirby, sorry I missed this post I was over in Kalispell. almost made it to Missoula, but not quite. should have drove down since the fish weren't biting. But we got our cherrys for the homemade wine ;D
Quote from: grnhs on August 03, 2011, 06:32:45 PM
Nice work Kirby, sorry I missed this post I was over in Kalispell. almost made it to Missoula, but not quite. should have drove down since the fish weren't biting. But we got our cherrys for the homemade wine ;D
If you make it here some time give me a call or drop me a note and we will throw a couple of franks on the grill. Don't you love those Flathead cherries.
Kirby
I will contact you if I find myself heading over there.
Yes I do love those cherries and the wine recipe we have for them.
I have started using the cherry wine instead of water in my hot italian sausages and it gives them a very distinctive flavor.
Although not in the quantity you batch up, wow.
Dave
In our more productive days we have done over 500 pounds a couple of times. A 30 pound batch is about as small as we go. If I were retired I would have time to play with smaller batches. For now I have to get as much done as I can in one process.
What town are you located in??
Kirby
Beautiful!!!
Carolyn
Quote from: pikeman_95 on August 03, 2011, 07:56:31 PM
In our more productive days we have done over 500 pounds a couple of times. A 30 pound batch is about as small as we go. If I were retired I would have time to play with smaller batches. For now I have to get as much done as I can in one process.
What town are you located in??
Kirby
I'm in Havre, about 300 mi from you I believe.
I'd almost be willing to fly out to see that operation in person!!! What is that hot water bath your using? The Kirby Cooker???
Quote from: Bigbirdoffroad on August 04, 2011, 04:50:53 PM
I'd almost be willing to fly out to see that operation in person!!! What is that hot water bath your using? The Kirby Cooker???
That's funny.
That is one thing I won't be producing. It was too much work to build but I am sure glad I have it now. It makes short work of the process. I like the idea of the old turkey roasters. They are kind of long and easy to work and some times available at yard sales and thrift stores.
Kirby, you can still buy those "old" turkey roasters. I still need to buy one. I borrowed one the last time I used the Kirby Cannon to make summer sausage. Unfortunately the lowest temp setting was 190 so I just turned it on high and hooked up my Auber dual probe PID to control it and it worked great!!!
Great idea.
With the vacuum seal idea and the temp control keeping the temperature where you want it. I think you could water finish any sausage. They still sell those roasters I think I saw an ad in Sears for them. I am going to keep tyring to find one in the thrift stores. Last year I was at a rummage sale that had 2 of them but the water bath idea had not come up yet so I passed on them. I have been kicking my butt since them.
kirby
Looks like you can get the Electric roaster ovens at Wally World for $50-60 for 18 - 22 quart
http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=roaster+oven&ic=48_0&Find=Find&search_constraint=0
Post-Thanksgiving is about the best time to look for them.. They are seasonal around here. I found mine at Sears for around 25-30 bucks..
Well Kirby that was just the neatest thing for a newbie to watch !! Retired? after watching that I thought you were in the making business, if you had the time you would play with smaller batches all I do now is 5-10 lbs and I did one 24 lb batch and I thought I was going big time, now I can't wait till some day I can play around with 30 lb batches, wife would kill me though if I suggested a 500 lb load. You've been a great help to me, along with some other folks who know who they are, since I joined the site, so thanks for sharing and showing what the real masters can do, I can safely say from all us newbies a HUGE thanks not only to you but all the MASTERS that make this so much fun !!!
Tim
Quote from: cobra6223 on August 05, 2011, 08:01:07 AM
Well Kirby that was just the neatest thing for a newbie to watch !! Retired? after watching that I thought you were in the making business, if you had the time you would play with smaller batches all I do now is 5-10 lbs and I did one 24 lb batch and I thought I was going big time, now I can't wait till some day I can play around with 30 lb batches, wife would kill me though if I suggested a 500 lb load. You've been a great help to me, along with some other folks who know who they are, since I joined the site, so thanks for sharing and showing what the real masters can do, I can safely say from all us newbies a HUGE thanks not only to you but all the MASTERS that make this so much fun !!!
Tim
Tim all the "MASTERS" started out just like you and I. Newbies learning something new everyday!! Want to know why they aren't EXPERTS? Look in my tag line.
Quote from: Tenpoint5 on August 05, 2011, 06:32:43 AM
Looks like you can get the Electric roaster ovens at Wally World for $50-60 for 18 - 22 quart
http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=roaster+oven&ic=48_0&Find=Find&search_constraint=0
I just found out that my friend that wants to make some sausage with me has one. I have yet to find out the situation with this one but I would like to add it to my tools.
Kirby
A rookie question
What casings do you use The only ones I've seen summer sausage in are the maroon fibrous kind
I really like the look of the clear casings
Thanks
Jerry
Quote from: jbullard1 on August 16, 2011, 03:44:43 PM
A rookie question
What casings do you use The only ones I've seen summer sausage in are the maroon fibrous kind
I really like the look of the clear casings
Thanks
Jerry
Here is a link to the casings that I used. They are supposed to be 1.5 inches in diameter but they came out closer to 2 inches when stuffed tight.
http://www.spokanespice.com/products_detail.php?id=194&secid=39
and
http://www.spokanespice.com/products_detail.php?id=191&secid=39
Kirby
Looks good Kirby, makes me wanna start doing sausage but I gotta wait, I'm definitely gonna try hot water bath method
Quote from: pikeman_95 on August 16, 2011, 04:18:21 PM
Quote from: jbullard1 on August 16, 2011, 03:44:43 PM
A rookie question
What casings do you use The only ones I've seen summer sausage in are the maroon fibrous kind
I really like the look of the clear casings
Thanks
Jerry
Here is a link to the casings that I used. They are supposed to be 1.5 inches in diameter but they came out closer to 2 inches when stuffed tight.
http://www.spokanespice.com/products_detail.php?id=194&secid=39
and
http://www.spokanespice.com/products_detail.php?id=191&secid=39
Kirby
Hey Kirby, hoping for a little help from you.
Over the weekend I attempted to make 10 lbs of snack sticks and 10 lbs of summer sausage (each 50/50 venison/pork butt) using a hot water bath method. I used a chafing dish, starting with hot water and ensuring the sausages got up to 165 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Before the hot water bath, I hung the sausages in my bradley for 2 hrs of smoking
A) The summer sausage and the snack sticks came out very pale looking, causing them to be very unappealing in appearance. Did I not smoke them long enough? Or maybe I didn't get the temp high enough in the smoker before water-bathing them? What suggestions can you offer? I ended up putting the snack sticks into the oven at 300 degrees for 30 minutes just to give them some color, but I'm afraid there isn't much I can do for the summer sausage.
B) Do you get the snack stick casings from the spokane spice company as well?
C) Would you be willing to share your recipe for summer sausage? the one I used was found online and was quite bland. so bland taste with pale/pink looking meat = a mostly ruined batch.
This was my first attempt with the water batch, second attempt making sausages ever. Any suggestions you have would be appreciated!
Thanks! Nathan
Nathan
First I have a couple of questions. Did you let your sausage come to room temperature and dry well before smoking them. A cold wet casing will not take on the smoke and will sweat and leave the casing with a rather pale unappealing look and have a lack of smoke taste. Next if you could add a fan or two to your smoker you will find that the air movement helps the smoke attach to the sausage. It will also help dry your casings well.
I do not use a Bradley smoker and my smoker has a super smoke generator. The smoke really rolls. You just might have to let your sausage have longer in the smoker. The water bath will wash some of the smoke off the casings but if you have enough penetration the will still maintain the smoke flavor and will still bloom out well.
When I get home form work I will send you the summer sausage recipe. We have made several thousands of pounds with this recipe and if you have access to a bulk spice store you can make it up in larger batches. I make a 100-200 pound units and just have a multiple to figure out how many ounces of the spice blend I need for the pounds of meat that I am using to make into sausage. [1.087 oz of spice blend / 1 pound of meat] [or something like 10.87 oz of the blend for a 10LB batch]. Simple math but it seems to work well and nobody ever shows up with just the right amount of meat. This last weekend I had enough summer sausage spice made up to 250# of sausage. We did 160# of summer sausage and 120# of German franks. We will still use up the Summer sausage spice some time after hunting season.
I would encourage any sausage maker, to weight the combined weight of a sausage blend and record the number. This way they can adjust the weight for odd sausage weights.
We smoked our summer sausage for 2.5 hours and you saw the color when it came out of the smoker. We had to take a little longer then normal because we had the smoker stuffed with 120# of sausage. It just took a little longer to get things up to heat with that much meat.
Even with driving the main burner harder the fans keep from having hot spots. None of the casing had any fat-out in the lower tips.
I found the link to the SS recipe and made some necessary edits. So here you go.
Here is the SS recipe that we have worked up. My sausage making partner and myself bought the basic recipe from a spice manufacturer that went out of business. We have modified it some to our taste. We substituted cracked black pepper for whole peppercorns as neither of us liked the whole peppercorns. We both like lots of mustard seed to chew on so we really kicked that up. We are about middle of the road on garlic so if you like lots of garlic you could add up to a 1/3 cup of minced garlic for a 30# batch of sausage. Do not add garlic salt because the salt is where it needs to be with out adding anything more.
This is the recipe that we have made our large batches with. I would guess we have done more then 2000# over the years. I know that the group that we make sausage with swear buy it.
The recipe makes enough spice blend for 100# of Summer Sausage. You can cut the recipe in half or 1/4 and just use the calculated charge rate expressed in the formula. I work at a chemical plant so I treat everything like a chemical concoction. Sorry! The nice thing about doing it this way you multiply the pounds of meat that you have by 1.087 and this tells you how many ounces of the spice blend to add to your meat.
WILD GAME SUMMER SAUSAGE
BASIC SPICE ADJUSTED TO OUR TASTE
For 100 lbs. Of meat 50 lbs. of well-trimmed wild game meat chunks
50 lbs of trimmed pork shoulder.] [I use Costco Pork butt](Mix pork trim together with wild game chunks and grind with preferably a
3/16" plate or with a 1/4" plate if that is all that is available. I would prefer to use a 3/16th plate if you can get your hands on one.
The following is for 100# of summer sausage.
2.5 lbs. none Iodized salt
2 lbs. Corn syrup solids / or dextrose
5 oz. Fine ground black pepper
2 oz. Ground coriander
2.5 oz cracked black pepper
23 oz. Mustard seed
4 oz. Garlic powder [add extra minced garlic at the time of actual production if you care for more garlic. 1//3 cup of minced garlic seems about right for a 30 pound batch
.01 oz. ground Thyme .............[7.3/8 tablespoons / oz]
.02 oz ground Clove .............[4 tablespoons / oz.]
USE 1.087 OZ. OF THIS SPICE BLEND PER POUND OF MEAT THAT YOU HAVE TO MAKE. THIS WILL TELL YOU HOW MANY OUNCES OF THE SPICE BLEND TO USE.
For 100 lbs of meat use 4 0z. Of preg powder # 1 [sodium nitrite] meat cure. This is .04 oz/lb. of meat. (.04 X the number of pounds of meat you are processing.) One ounce of meat cure is = to 5- level tsp which enough for 25 # of sausage
Just remember one level tsp/5pounds of meat.
DO NOT eliminate or reduce the amount of meat cure that should be in the meat. This is what protects the meat during the smoking process!!! Mix the meat cure in the spices just before adding the spices to the ground meat.
10 tsp liquid smoke [mix with water]
Liquid measurements
2 lbs. (32 oz.) of cold water per 100 lbs. Of meat
(.32 oz of water per lb. of meat) Mix this water with the liquid smoke then add it to the meat while mixing in the spices.
10 tsp. Liquid smoke (mix with the water before adding to the meat.) all of this is for 100# of meat.
Kriby, thanks so much for the help!
I did NOT allow my sausage to rest and come up to room temp before hanging in the smoker. I did not dry them. The casings I have on hand are red and non-transparent, will definitely be ordering some of the clear ones you use so that I can monitor them. Sounds like I also did not leave the sausage in the smoker long enough. I will try to find a fan to enhance my little Bradley.
I will likely be attempting another 10 lbs of snack snicks very shortly, may also try your recipe for SS. I'll keep you posted!
Nathan
Hi fong......sounds like several things happened to keep your sausage from getting a good color. If a cold sausage is put in a warm smoker it is going to sweat. Just like a glass of good whiskey on ice will sweat ;D Smoke does not adhere to a damp surface. Drying the casings for at least 1 hour is needed to get moisture off the casings. If the casings feel tacky you are getting a pellicle surface which will allow the smoke to adhere. I find that with the Bradley I need at lease 2 hrs of smoke to get the color I am looking for. Also after the sausage has gotten to IT a quick bath in ice water and then allowing the sausage to bloom will aid in bringing out an nice color.
I thought you would like to see an example of what a fan can do. I have one of my fans hanging from the door of the smoker. When I do jerky I aim the air flow inward. When I do sausage I face the fan discharge at the door and let the air flow bounce off the door and fan out through the sausage. In the first part of this smoke I forgot to flip the fan around and the air flow hit the casings directly in front of the fan. Notice how the color changed in the area of the sausage that the air flow hit. I have circled this area. This tells you that air flow does help. I have 4 fans in my smoker. two low and two high. The two high are hanging on the doors. [my smoker has two doors, one front and one back.] I might try to move the door fans to the corners higher up in the smoker. I want to provide a tornado affect if I can. There is a little water on the camera lens because of the rain.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/smokewithFan.jpg)
THATS what that was! I had seen the discoloration in your original post about your hot water bath method, and thought it was quite odd, but I figured it COULDN'T actually be that way. The fan explains it!
Again, thanks for all of the great advice!
Nathan
That was the first look in the smoker when we started smoking. Then I flipped the fan around.
Here is the picture of the sausage when it spent the rest of the time in the smoker. Everything looked the same.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/100_7329.jpg)
hey Kirby, the hotdogs look relly awesome would you share your recipe? Thanks Tim
I would like to take full credit for the recipe but I can't. We use High Country German frankfurter mix [google it] In Lincoln MT.
To this mix we add
2 cups mustard seed
2 cups brown sugar
1/4-1/2 cups cracked black pepper [med or kind of hot]
1/3 cup of minced garlic or more to taste.
1 tbs ground celery seed
this is for a ]30 pound batch 15 pounds wild meat and 15 pork shoulder [Costco]We heavy smoke for 1.5 hours and then finish in a hot water bath. 160 F water 155 F core temp.
Franks are very juicy and tender
These franks are great boiled in a batch of sauerkraut or on the grill.
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Thanks Kirby, I appreciate it. Tim
Some delicious looking product there, nice work.
-Brian
Well guys, my next try at snack sticks and summer sausages turned out MUCH better. I made 10 lb batches of each in my bradley digital 4 rack. When hanging the meat, I ensured they were close to room temp and were dry. I found a fan out of an old computer tower, and an old phone charger to power it. I put it in the very top of my smoker so the air flow was pointed down. This definitely caused the meat directly under the fan to get much more color than elsewhere in the smoker, so for the snack sticks I rotated the position and smoked for four hours. GREAT smoke/color, probably overdid it. Next time I'll try 3 hours, those pucks are expensive after all. After 4 hours of smoking at 180 degrees, the sticks were at 150 F, so I just left them in there for another hour and skipped the waterbath. Last night I finally got around to smoking the supper sausage. I did 4x2.5 lb sticks and placed the fan directly in the middle of the smoker, between the four hanging sausages. I smoked for 3.5 hours at 200 degrees, and prepared my hot water bath. When I checked the temp, they were all at 160, so no need for the hotwater bath! much less cleanup, sweet! The fan helped to increase the convective heat transfer, so they got up to temp faster than previous tries. So, I just put them in the sink of ice water for 10 minutes, then set them on the counter for two hours. MUCH happier with the results. Thanks for your help guys! ;D