Questions about my first batch of sausages (long + pics)

[warba]

I've tried to absorb the wisdom from the experts on the forum here and the result was pretty good for my first try at an Andouille sausage and a Chicken and Roasted Garlic sausage (pictures below..).

I'd appreciate any feedback you all might have regarding a couple of issues I encountered, mostly due to my lack of experience I'd guess.

First was after twisting the sausages after the hog casings were stuffed, they kept wanting to "auto-rotate" and unwind themselves. I ended up tying some links with string, but is this due to filling casings too full? I only had 1 split during twisting but I wonder if this was the problem.

The other question was about the "bite" of the final product (the texture of the hog casings); it is good, but I can think of some sausage I would like to make and have a very tender bite; is there any way to achieve this?

I know what it is like to read these posts and salivate over the pictures of everyone's food, so I've uploaded a "scratch and taste" pic (use a clean finger, scratch your computer screen, taste  ;D ):


Here are a couple more pics of my adventure . . .

Got my hog casings from a local butcher (they cut me 20 feet and tossed them into a plastic bag); is there a course you can take to "untie" hog casings?


Ground almost-frozen meat and spices into chilled bowl:


Two minutes with paddle until "sticky" (added the ice-cold red wine and chicken stock to the Garlic-Chicken sausages):


Stuffed hog casings with vertical stuffer from http://www.stuffers.com


Tried to tie them..  this obviously took a long time because my dog has lost interest in the sausage making "experience" and fallen asleep.


Overnight in the fridge to dry:


Then brought to room-temp before smoking (notice my dog has again re-found his interest in the sausage making "experience" after a good night's sleep):


Smoked with Pecan. 4 hrs smoke but I forgot to pre-heat the OBS so with the PID set to 180 it took 2 1/2 hours to get the smoker up to that temp. It held the 180 and after the 4hrs with smoke I left the heat on until internal temp of Andouille's were 150 (about 6 hrs total); I took them out and iced, but left the chicken in until they were at 160 internal temp.  All of this was based on the instructions and recipes in the book "Charcuterie" (Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn). To do it again I'd add about 4 times the amount of spice and seasoning to the Andouille that is in the book's recipe. They are really good, but I enjoy a heavily spiced andouille that has very strong mace/clove/allspice flavor. For 5 lbs of pork butt there is only 1 1/2 teaspoons of spices in the recipe. Does this sound light for an Andouille ?


Ice to chill before going into freezer:


Overall a really good first try at making sausage with my OBS and all the good advice on this forum. Anything you see I could improve on I'm all ears !

[smokeitall]

Send some my way for taste testing, then I can make some suggestions  ;D

From the photos it appears that the sausages are stuffed pretty full.  when I use my stuffer I let them fill up enough so I don't have air pockets and thats about it, I don't give a lot of resistance to get more meat in them.  I think someone on here has a rule of thumb on how many sausages per lb of meat should make (depending on length of course).  When I twist mine they never untwist on their own.

Anyway the finished product looks great.  I use the kitchen aid grinder as well, that thing is a workhorse.

[Mr Walleye]

Congrats Warba! They look great!  8)

The bite of the casings can be tricky. When you soak your casings you can add vinegar to the water which is supposed to help with the bite and make them more tender. The other thing I find is I like to start the sausage at 130 degrees for an hour to 1.5 hours without smoke. The casings will become tacky to the touch and will allow better smoke penetration. Then I turn the temp up to 170 - 175 and start my smoke. I always found I couldn't use 180 degrees or I would end up with the casings getting a little tough. At 170 - 175 it will take you a little longer to get the IT to 152.

That's just my experience anyway. Keep up the great work, you'll get it dialled in in no time.  ;)

Mike

[warba]

Thanks for the advice guys; I'll try a batch with the vinegar soaking for the casings and the lower temp idea to compare the final texture.

Looking at the pictures again I have to agree they look over-stuffed compared to other pic's I've seen posted.

[Tenpoint5]

Warba,
That's just plain cruel, I broke some LCD's on my screen scratching!!
Another thing you might want to give a whril with is twist as your filling the casing, remembering to alternate each one. They shouldn't unravel then.
Looks good for a first batch. Just gives you an excuse to make some more!!

[FLBentRider]

That's just plain cruel, I broke some LCD's on my screen scratching!!

That only works on a touch-screen tube monitor.....


and only if you happen to be making the same recipe and didn't wash your hands...

;D ;D ;D

[Habanero Smoker]

Nice looking sausage; well trained dog. :)

As Mike stated, vinegar helps, and gradually bringing up the temperature in the smoker. Also salt can make them tough, but I see you rinsed the inside of the casings, so that shouldn't be a concern.

As for twisting, I twist every other link in the opposite direction as the previous one. Difficulty in twisting can also be caused by stuffing the casings too tightly, it can also cause them to split; but weak spots or small tears in the casings can also cause this.

[Caneyscud]

Good looking batch of sausage - no matter if it was the first batch or not!  Took me awhile to realize scracth-n-sniff don't work on a flat panel screen, gotta go with the CRT - no upgrade is available.

I hope my first batch of sausage looks half that good.  I'm getting my nerve up to try my first now that I have my grinder and my stuffer. 

[Up In Smoke]

Warba,
the sausage looks great! i am with caneyscud...if my first batch looks half that good i will be happy.
i do have a question that is off topic.
(sorry) what breed of dog is that in the pictures?

[warba]

The "sausage hound" had a pure bred Australian Shephard for a mother, and a white German Shephard mix as a father. But, I'm not sure what the "mix" involved; possibly any combination of malamute or husky.

He's good security when the smoker's running. I don't need to worry about anyone stealing my sausages  ;)

Generally he is a bit fussy about food, but for some reason he likes to lick the wood bisquettes when they are in the hopper. Weird.

[NePaSmoKer]

I cant see it now cuz there is a bite mark in my screen  ;D

Looks good, great job.

nepas

[Up In Smoke]

Cool pup....thanks

[Roadking]

I can't add anything to this everybody else got it covered. Spices? It's all personal taste, me I'm a garlic nut the more the better.
Your first batch looks good.

[Smokin Soon]

I just love that pic of the dog and the smoker ! That's a keeper. Made my day a little bit brighter.