BRADLEY SMOKER | "Taste the Great Outdoors"

Smoking Techniques => Sausage Making => Topic started by: staticGenerator on May 11, 2012, 10:31:42 PM

Title: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: staticGenerator on May 11, 2012, 10:31:42 PM
Hello All,

Someone is donating their old milking cow to me that has dried up.  I'll have a lot of beef on my hands!

Other than summer sausage style, most sausage recipies call for pork or a combination of beef and pork.  Has anyone had experience with dry-cure salami or pepperoni styles using all beef?  If you have any tested recipes you can share for either dry cure, semi-dry cure or fresh beef sausage, could you please pass them along?
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: njxbow on May 12, 2012, 05:59:46 PM
fresh all beef sausages can get dry. my suggestion for fresh or smoked all beef sausages would be to add 1/2 tsp of amesphos per pound of meat. i also would use 1 cup of water per 5 pounds of meat. i also use these amounts for all of my fresh or smoked venison sausages, even if i add pork fat. hoped this helped
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: staticGenerator on May 17, 2012, 01:06:28 PM
Quote from: njxbow on May 12, 2012, 05:59:46 PM
fresh all beef sausages can get dry. my suggestion for fresh or smoked all beef sausages would be to add 1/2 tsp of amesphos per pound of meat. i also would use 1 cup of water per 5 pounds of meat. i also use these amounts for all of my fresh or smoked venison sausages, even if i add pork fat. hoped this helped

Great suggestions.  I will try amesphos, haven't before...

-static
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: viper125 on May 17, 2012, 01:37:20 PM
A good Garlic knockwurst can be made from all beef!
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: Kahunas on May 17, 2012, 01:45:42 PM
You can make them like the do down in Lockhart Tx. Ground beef, salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Go about 70/30 to 80/20 on your beef. Smoke em and eat em. If you make more than you can eat, don't cook them all the way done so you can freeze them and won't end up overcooking when you get back to them. Very simple and very tasty. I have also added a bit of MTQ to get the pretty red color and a little different flavor profile.
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: NePaSmoKer on May 17, 2012, 02:36:10 PM
This is what happens to you when you got the sausage bug.

http://s868.photobucket.com/albums/ab242/nepas1/2012%20sausage/?albumview=slideshow


And this
http://s123.photobucket.com/albums/o290/stlthy1/Summer%20Sausage%20and%20Chubs/?albumview=slideshow

And this
http://s123.photobucket.com/albums/o290/stlthy1/sticks/?albumview=slideshow

Oh and this
http://s123.photobucket.com/albums/o290/stlthy1/sticks/?albumview=slideshow
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: staticGenerator on May 18, 2012, 07:41:42 AM
Quote from: NePaSmoKer on May 17, 2012, 02:36:10 PM
This is what happens to you when you got the sausage bug.

Oh and this


Holy smokes! (pun intended)

That Andoule sausage looks the bomb!  Care to share?  I'm trying an Andoule style pepperoni, will let you know how it comes out.
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: rajzer on May 20, 2012, 11:42:05 PM
I would really think twice about trying to produce a sausage from cow-meat only.  The meat will be stringy and usually very lean, and have a stronger flavour.  We are not talking here about beef that we see at the supermarket that come from year old heifers or two year old steers.Probably great for salami, summer sausage and bologna, but I would definately buy some back fat or fatty pork to go with it.
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: NePaSmoKer on May 21, 2012, 05:44:06 AM
What some mumbo jumbo

Use 90/10 or 80/20 ground beef from the store or grind your own from beef roasts and such. Been doing this since 1976 and never had problems with 100% beef sausage or bolognas
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: rajzer on May 21, 2012, 09:46:08 AM
Quote from: NePaSmoKer on May 21, 2012, 05:44:06 AM
What some mumbo jumbo

Use 90/10 or 80/20 ground beef from the store or grind your own from beef roasts and such. Been doing this since 1976 and never had problems with 100% beef sausage or bolognas

Considerably different when we are are talking about ground meat and beef roasts from the supermarket.  Have you ever boned out a carcass from an old milk cow?  These are classified as "canners and cutters" by the industry and used in highly processed products and pet food.
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: NePaSmoKer on May 21, 2012, 11:22:35 AM
Quote from: rajzer on May 21, 2012, 09:46:08 AM
Quote from: NePaSmoKer on May 21, 2012, 05:44:06 AM
What some mumbo jumbo

Use 90/10 or 80/20 ground beef from the store or grind your own from beef roasts and such. Been doing this since 1976 and never had problems with 100% beef sausage or bolognas

Considerably different when we are are talking about ground meat and beef roasts from the supermarket.  Have you ever boned out a carcass from an old milk cow?  These are classified as "canners and cutters" by the industry and used in highly processed products and pet food.

yes

grew up on a farm. butchered and boned out everything from bulls, chicken, cows, goats, sheep, venison and even a horse.
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: viper125 on May 21, 2012, 11:37:29 AM
LOL dog food? Not really! Ive ate plenty milk cows. The stakes and that are tougher. But we usually grind it all and it is great that way. Sure for sausage you should add some fat. Maybe some pork but or pork fat. Pork fat at my butchers is 10 cents a lb I believe. But I do enjoy pork in mine. Wish some one would give me a cow of any kind.
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: rajzer on May 21, 2012, 11:40:26 AM
I grew up in a farming community and and my father operated an abattoir.  From my experience most farmers sold their old cows to the big processors, few kept them for home consumption.  But if old cow meat appeals to you, go for it!
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: viper125 on May 21, 2012, 12:01:32 PM
Dont know about running a slaughter house but I did work at one quite a while. But we only butchered approved meats.But grew up with the farmers and the hillbilly's. And never knew a single one that got rid of them. They always ate their own. Unless something was wrong like a mysterious death or disease. There is no reason to avoid a milk cow they eat good, got to be careful of meds they take because of milk consumption. So I would Say they are probably better chemical wise then some of the beef cattle raise today by big farms. I always but local beef from farmers I know don't approve of chemicals. When ever I can. Store bought foods scare me today. To much food including fresh meats and produce come from over seas where their is no health concerns at all. You get what you get. So yes I'm glad to eat a milk cow when I can. As I said I worked for one of the biggest meat companies in business in the USA. When i started there in two weeks time I quit eating ALL store bought meats. They were voted #1 IN QUALITY AND CLEANLINESS. And I figured if they were #1 it didn't want any thing to do with any meat on the market. LOL So eat your steaks from the store and i'll enjoy my meat cow or other local meats. LOL
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: rajzer on May 21, 2012, 01:00:02 PM
I really don't know the condition of the "old milk cow" we are talking about here, so I can't comment on it's suitability but I feel my comments have some merit.
As I said, you eat what you like, and I can't comment on individual tastes.  You don't have to explain why. Bon appétit!
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: ratherbboating on May 21, 2012, 02:05:05 PM
I live/own a small beef farm (I raise pure breeds).   We have two cows that we are raising for ourselfs to be butchered, grass feed (one this fall and another late next fall).  I know of others who raise "milk" cows to be butchered, most of these are grass feed, so they will taste good.  Right now with the price of cattle VERY HIGH, farmers are selling off some of their old cows.  But these cows should still be OK for hamburger and other lesser cuts of meat.   And I take my cows (and pigs) to a local butcher shop for processing, they are USDA inspected and take pride in their work.
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: staticGenerator on May 24, 2012, 11:25:09 AM
From http://lpoli.50webs.com/page0002.htm

Quote
If you have access to a butcher that prepares primal cuts from slaughtered animals, you may be able to order bull or cow meat; not only because it generally cost less, but because the biochemical makeup of the muscle meat from older, leaner beef animals is best for making salami
Title: Re: All Beef Sausage - your experience and recipes?
Post by: cobra6223 on May 24, 2012, 04:26:21 PM
I would say as long as it's not bloated and there's no abscess, it should be good to grind. Dumb city kid went home with country boy friend after school one day, went to the barn and his dad was sitting on an old bloated milk, I know that now that now didn't back then, any how he told me to go to the house and get a knife and we could have some steak for supper !! Dumb city kid soon learned about the joke and it was fun afterward to know everyone had a good laugh as I turned to go get a knife. OHHHHHHHHHHHHH those wonderful childhood memories. Please someone/anyone I would take a milk cow!!

Tim