Ok suggestions please.

[Quarlow]

I got 5 lbs of ground Buffalo,some 80/20 ground beef, about 5 lbs of beef fat. I have sausage casings (natural hog) Prague powder #1 and I want to make my first attempt at sausage tomorrow. I am not sure whether to season or not. I want to smoke/cook them so as to be ready to eat. Any ideas? I do have Rytek Kutas's book, but just didn't seem to have just what I was looking for.

[Quarlow]

If I can't come up with a recipe, I will probably just start mixing stuff and see what I come up with. I have put this off this long just cause I have never done it and when I try things like this I like to have a plan ready.

[Mr Walleye]

Q

Shoot me your email address and I'll send you a copy of my favorite and my 2 cents on what I would do.

Mike

[Mr Walleye]

On second thought....

I'll post it. Although I have it all setup in a work document, cut & past works fine.

This is my "go to" recipe. I substitute deer fro the beef, etc, all the time with excellent results.

If you are going to make a 10 lb batch just cut the recipe in half.

You will want a final lean to fat ration of about 80/20. I assume the Buffalo is pretty much 100% lean. If so here's what I would try...
5 lbs buffalo
4 lbs 80/20 beef
1 lb beef fat
This should give you a final mix of about 82/18 or there abouts.

Good luck
Mike


Mike's Kielbasa
Based on a 20 lb batch


Meat

10 lbs of ground Pork (80/20)
10 lbs of lean ground Beef (80/20)


Ingredients

3 cups ice water
8 Tbs of Kosher Salt
2 Tbs of White Sugar
3 Tbs (heaping) Course Black Pepper (butchers grind)
3 tsp Powdered Garlic
4 tsp (heaping) Marjoram (rubbed)
4 tsp Cayenne
4 tsp Cure #1


Notes

- If mixed in blender, leave out Pepper and Marjoram (& Mustard Seed if used) to keep from
  grinding the spices and add in after blending.
- Stuff into casings.
- Allow casing to hang to dry.
- Smoke with Hickory for 3 to 4 hours.
- Drop into 160 degree water bath until 155 degree IT.
- Hang to Bloom for 2 hours.
- Cut and vacuum seal.


Option

¾ to 1 Cup Mustard Seed

[Quarlow]

Perfect Mike thanks this is what I needed, a good plan.

[Mr Walleye]

No problem.

The Buffalo is really lean right?

Mike

[Quarlow]

That is what I am told. I am assuming it as 100% lean till I get a look at it.

[pikeman_95]

Mike how is your stuffer build going?

[Mr Walleye]

For me, my taste, I like my sausage to be a final mix of 80/20 or close to it.

Are you going to completely finish them in the smoker or are you going to water bath them?

Also, are you going to hang them in the smoker or rack them?

Mike

[Mr Walleye]

Mike how is your stuffer build going?

Hi Kirby

I still haven't got to it. I'm just wrapping up our renovations at the office so hopefully in the next few weeks I'll find some time to get at it. I'm looking forward to.

Thanks again for all the work you put into this. I'll keep you posted.

Mike

[Quarlow]

For me, my taste, I like my sausage to be a final mix of 80/20 or close to it.

Are you going to completely finish them in the smoker or are you going to water bath them?

Also, are you going to hang them in the smoker or rack them?

Mike

I am shooting for 80/20 also.
What is the pro's and cons on the finish.
I will just do them on the rack this time.

[Mr Walleye]

For me my preference is to hang them. It's really just a question of the grill marks.

I hang all mine, usually in 75 to 100 lb batches.  ;)

Since Kirby turned me onto finishing the sausage in a 160 degree water bath, I have been exclusively finishing this way. For my taste I like about 3 hours smoke on my sausage so if it was me this would be my plan.

- Pre-heat smoker to 130 degrees.
- Load the sausage & allow the casings to dry at 130 degrees for 1 to 2 hours.
- Bump temp to 145 degrees and start your 3 hours of smoke.
- I would probably rotate Racks each hour.
- After 2 hours at 145 degrees, increase temp to 160 degrees.
- After your 3 hours of smoke has finished, continue at 160 degrees for about 1 more hour. What you are looking for is that nice mahogany color on the sausage.
- Once the sausage has the nice mahogany color pull it from the smoker and put it in a 160 degree water bath. With this process I take the "IT" of the sausage up to 155 degrees. I use a pair of tongs to grab a sausage and check the temp.
- Once you reach the correct "IT", I hang my sausage at room temp for at least 2 hours. This is the bloom period. The casing will dry back out, giving them the nice snap when you bit into them. As well the nice mahogany color will come back during this period. Some people ice bath the sausage when they take it out of the hot water bath but I find mine turns out just fine skipping this step.

If you choose to completely finish the sausage in the smoker you will need to increase the temp again to 165 degrees after being at 160 for a couple of hours. You may have to crank it up to 170 or even 175 to get the IT of the sausage up to the final 152 degree.

Like I said, my preference is to finish it with the hot water bath. It can shave up to 5 hours off per load and the finished product is in my opinion more consistent.

Mike

[classicrockgriller]

I like it.

Now I got to find me a buffallo. ;D

[Quarlow]

Ok mike this all sounds good. Now I hope the snow stops so I can set up the smoker tomorrow.  >:(

[pikeman_95]

What did you find for a hot water tank.

I see that you grab the sausage with tongs to test them.
I have a digital thermometer I got from Wally world. I know that if the probe gets wet it screws them up but I use some dip and grip rubber coating that I get at Ace hardware to coat the joint between the wire and the back of the probe. I rub it into the joint real good and it keeps the water out of the probe. I can use the digital probe with out worrying if I accidentally dip it. I try to keep the end of the probe out of the water but it usually gets a quick dip every time I use it.

Kirby