<font face="Comic Sans MS">Hi gang,
My neighbor and I put together our first summer sausage yesterday.
11.5 pounds of venision (doe)
5.5 pounds of pork (butt/shoulder roast)
13 pounds of Angus (chuck roasts)
We spent the better part of 8 hours putting this together (trimming bone and fat) plus the 5 hours of the use of Mr. Bradley's toy. (Due to my cold temps between 35 and 40 and the wind, I couldn't get the smoker over 180 degrees, so that was a little frustrating but it all worked out in the end.)
We used High Mountain Summer Sausage seasoning and followed their directions - no other additives were used.
2 hours of smoke (Maple pucks) used and voila, 5 hours of cooking and we've got 30lbs of summer sausage - he took half and I got the other.
We cut the meat so lean, there is hardly any fat globules showing in the sausage - very tender and tasty!
I'll do it again when our supply runs out.
Our next challenge will be doing some pepporoni!
Have a great New Years everybody!
Fuzz</font id="Comic Sans MS">
"A mans got to know his limitations"
fuzzybear did you take any pics?
Fuzzy, great to hear from you on the first day of 2006! Sausage sounds awesome!
John
Newton MA
No pics gang, sorry.
"A mans got to know his limitations"
Hey Fuzzy how are the dogs doing? Good to see ya posting.
Olds
(http://www.susanminor.org/Rayeimages/gif/Launch47.gif)
Hiya Olds!
The dogs iz fine! They are not fond of the snow on their bummies this time of year but the deer and turkeys get them excited!
How's Sky holding up?
"A mans got to know his limitations"
Hiya Olds!
The dogs iz fine! They are not fond of the snow on their bummies this time of year but the deer and turkeys get them excited!
How's Sky holding up?
"A mans got to know his limitations"
hello
i just made summer sausage last night i used hi mountains kit as well i used 12#groung chuck 3#pork chops that i ground myself i followed the directions to the T i used 12 pucks hickory and maintained a temp of 185F for the first 4 hours and finished the last 30 min with a temp of 220F it was my first attempt at ss and i was very pleased better then the stuff i paid to have my deer turned into this year i know what ill be doing with the left over meat from my deer [:)]
Welcome, CS180! Glad your first effort was such a success! Keep us posted on your other ventures . . .
John
Newton MA
Fuzzybear,
Did you use the casings that come with the high mountain kit? If you did, how did you put them in the smoker, hanging or laying on racks? They are 3# casings and I am curious if you got all 30 pounds in at one time. I made up some up yesterday and now have them hanging to bring to room temp, then into Mr Bradley. Thanks.
Hopeful in Iowa
Hopeful,
I would suggest laying the summer sausage on racks. This will give you the ability to rotate the racks at your estimated halfway point.
The last summer sausage I made I hung and they turned out great, but, I was using smaller casings. The casings I used only hold 1 1/2 pounds. Your casings will hang all the way to the bottom of the BS. I think you will have a big heat distribution problem. Below are two pictures. One is off the SS that I made the second is a pic of some smoked links that I hung in the BS. Notice how the bottom of the links is more cooked than the top.
Hopefully this helps[;)]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/xcelsmoke/Summersaus.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/xcelsmoke/Brat1.jpg
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/xcelsmoke/FREEGIF.gif)
<font size="4"><b>Doug</b></font id="size4">
jaeger,
pics don't lie, but it's funny because I would have said the opposite. When I load up the smoker with sausage on racks, I get a heat problem front to back. Last time I did a batch (mind it was smaller) I hung the coils on sticks and I found it did a better job of cooking evenly.[?][?][?]go figure
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v433/whitetailfan/wtbuck.bmp)
<font color="green">whitetailfan</font id="green">
"Nice Rack"
Lethbridge, AB
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Fuzzybear</i>
<br />Hi gang,
My neighbor and I put together our first summer sausage yesterday.
<font color="red">11.5 pounds of venision (doe)</font id="red">
5.5 pounds of pork (butt/shoulder roast)
13 pounds of Angus (chuck roasts)
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Fuzzy, I see you used the whole thing. If you cut out the tongue, you can get up to 12lbs out of one of those things.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v433/whitetailfan/wtbuck.bmp)
<font color="green">whitetailfan</font id="green">
"Nice Rack"
Lethbridge, AB
Whitetail,
There is a chance that I had the heat to hot during at least part of the smoke/cook. I will be making another batch soon and we'll see how it goes!!!
I've been busy making deer jerky lately and just tumbled some with a teriyaki marinade that I will be smoking tomorrow. My last batch I used High Mountain original with a little tweaking. I had great compliments, in fact one couple is thinking about buying a BS.[:D]
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/xcelsmoke/FREEGIF.gif)
<font size="4"><b>Doug</b></font id="size4">
Jaeger, I had to lay the SS on the racks diagonally because it was to long to hang, then door almost would not go closed. Next time I am going to use 1 pound casings and hang them, easier to handle and easier to give to friends and relatives. I made 2 15 pound batches, 1 with beef and 1 with pork and followed their recipe, both were good but I think the pork batch had more flavor. Have had many compliments on both batches. Definately will do again but maybe add some additional coarse ground black pepper and garlic powder.
Hopeful in Iowa
hopeful check out the suasage rack the chez bubba sells, here are a few pic with the rack with ribs, (http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a30/smokehouserob/rackwithribs2.jpg)
(http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a30/smokehouserob/rackwithribs2.jpg) works perfect for smoking summer suasage.
click on link to sign up for the 2006 free givaway. http://www.bradleysmoker.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2809
Hopeful,
Another ingredient to consider is whole mustard seed. I always add it to summer sausage. I would suggest you try some in at least part of your next batch of summer sausage.
......also,
since you are making summer sausage and brats, I have to assume that you have a stuffer. Below is a link I recently posted regarding an attachment I made to my stuffing horn for making a chopped and formed beef jerky. I wanted to make something flat and this worked out well. The jerky only took 2 hours with three full rotations. Very simple, and very tasty!
I could have fit 5# of jerky per batch using 4 full racks. Next time I make it I will use venison and will do at least 10# and cook in 2 batches.... here is the link-
http://www.bradleysmoker.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2963
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<font size="2"><b>Doug</b></font id="size2">
I laid them out on the racks - tried hanging them but it was no good as they were touching the drip pan! I used the casings that came with the kit. I literally stuffed 30lbs into the smoker - used every rack - 3 to a rack - 12 sausages - I still have some left in the freezer - after eating the first 3 pounds or so, I'm kinda burned out on it for now - to much of a good thing I suppose!
"A mans got to know his limitations"
Jaeger,
I failed to mention that I did use mustard seed in both batches. I may have to check into one of those racks that Smokehouse Rob mentioned. Thanks again for all the info and tips that everyone is willing to share.
Hopeful in Iowa
Just curious what kind of hardware did you use for your first effort?
Did you borrow equipement. I've wanted to try making homemade sausage for a while but I don't even have a hand grinder. I can get one locally for about $70.00 Canadian with the stuffing nozzle but I can't help thinking that I would want to upgrade for my second batch.
sueblazer03,
If you are making very small quantities, I started using the grinding and stuffer attachment for my KitchenAid mixer. I did that for a few years, but when the quantities increased, I moved over to a dedicated grinder (Cabela's) and five pounder stuffer (Sausage Maker). Very pleased using those tools for my sausage making.
Arcs_n_Sparks
sueblazer03, I purchased a #32 grinder, a 15 pound stuffer and a hand meat mixer all off of e-bay. We now process all our own deer rather than taking it to the local locker. It will take a few years for the equipment to pay for itself but it is quite rewarding to make your own stuff. Good luck.
Hopeful in Iowa
Hi everyone I have just received my Kitchen aid mixer. Wow it works great. I have had my mixer for 1 Week tried to make crusty pizza dough, it was perfect.
Bumblebee:
You're smoking pizza dough or making smoked pizza???
Welcome to the forum. Get that baby grinding pork and stuffing sausage, then throw it in the smoker and give us a report.
Arcs_n_Sparks