First Chicken Bratwurst

[JZ]

OK I am hooked on making sausages and had to try something that might not add more inches to my waistline. So why not try chicken - it's not as fattening as pork. I found a great deal on boneless skinless chicken breasts and bought some to give it a try.
Found a recipe for Chicken Bratwurst and tried it out. The breasts were already frozen and therefore had to be cooked once they were made into sausage. I found another recipe for smoke / cooking them and figured that would work. So the wife and I ground up some chicken mixed in the spices and stuffed into casings. We only did 3 lbs as a trial. I also fried up a little before stuffing to check the taste. They were a little bland but thought that it was good enough.

Here's a pic of the links before the smoker.



And here they are after the smoke.



And here is the flip side. Note the color difference and the grate marks.



So after they sat for awhile I tried a piece and was not pleased. I think I smoked them too long and that gave them an off taste. Left them in the fridge overnight and no improvement. Glad I only did a small batch. I think I might try making these again with a little more spice and then throw them on the Traeger after stuffing or try a partial batch smoked for less time. Apparently I am a sausage maker in training. And now I have to find a use for these things.

I have to ask about making the links. It was more difficult than I thought it would be. There must be a trick to it. Any pointers would be appreciated.

[SiFumar]

What kind of wood and for how long?  I haven tried chicken yet...but some one who has will be along I'm sure.  I think when you fried a sample and found it a bit bland you should have adjusted the seasoning then.  Smoke won't change bland. 

10.5 had posted a recipe for a Southwest Poultry Sausage that you might want to look at.  I haven't tried it yet but someone else might have.  http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=10981.msg119322#msg119322  I had bookmarked it just the other day.

[NePaSmoKer]

To link you start with twisting a link away from you and the next towards you. Away, Towards, Away, Towards. Measure a link from 4-6" pinch the casing there and twist, continue the same way.

Did you add any fat and cure to the chicken? Some do the fry test thing. I dont.

[JZ]

SiFumar   Thanks for the link it is now bookmarked. There is no way on this planet that those chicken sausages would be bland. But that was not the issue with the ones I made. I was ok with the bland part it was after smoking that they weren't good. The recipe called for 4 pucks of smoke and a total cook time of 2 hrs at 250*. I thought more was better and went with 6 pucks 3 pecan and 4 birch. I just think it was too much smoke. The inside of the sausage was still ok - not great but ok. It was the outside that was not good. Gotta be the smoke - either to  much or the wrong kind or the homemade birch pucks. Time will tell.

Thanks NePa - I knew there had to be a simple solution. That sure beats the crap out of turning all of the links you have already done (the wife didn't like that part).