Need help with Landjaeger sausage

[katfishcharlie]

I want to try making some landjaeger but I'm pretty new to smoking and making sausage. All the recipes that I find call for you to press the sausage. Is this necessary and why? Also, can this sausage be smoked in the Bradley until done, or would it also need to be air dried separately? Hope someone out there can help.

[beefmann]

there are some out here  that can help. i have never  made sausage though do love it... good luck

[La Quinta]

I have made a lot of sausauge...am not familiar with the kind you want to make? Can ya give me a clue? I'm thinkin the sausage boys will come out?

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi; katfishcharlie

Welcome to the forum.

Though I've never made landjaeger sausage it is generally a dried cured sausage, which I haven't had too much experience in, and most of that were failures. Are you using a Cure #1 or Cure #2 in your recipe?

According to the book Charcuterie; landjaeger sausage it is traditionally pressed and fully dried cure, the book "Great Sausage Recipes" state the same. Other then saying it is traditional, neither book gives any additional information. My guess would be that it aids in the dry curing process.

Any sausage can be cooked if you don't want to go through the dry curing process, but the texture and flavor will be different. Also if cooked and not dried, it will still require refrigeration. If you intend to fully air dry it, you would need to do it separately after a cold smoke has been applied. Air dry in an environment with a temperature of about 60°F, with a humidity of at least 65%, for about two weeks.

If you intend to cook it instead of dry curing I would suggest using Cure #1; instead of Cure #2 which is used for dry curing.

To fully cook in the Bradley:

1) Place sausage if a preheat 100°F - 110°F Bradley (to get these temperatures you will need to use the cold smoke setup). Make sure your vent is wide open and air dry until the sausage feels dry to the touch. Start checking after one hour. Depending on the sausage and load, this can take up to 2 or 3 hours.

2)Close vent to 1/4 - 1/2 opening; raise the temperature to 140°F, and begin applying smoke. I generally don't apply more then two hours.

3)After applying smoke, raise the temperature to 170°F, and continue to cook until an internal temperature of 150°F is reached. Remove from smoker, and either shock in ice water or place under a cold water shower.

Hope this stirs you in the right direction.

[katfishcharlie]

Habanero,

Thanks for the advice. The recipe that I'm looking at does require Cure #1 for smoking or Cure #2 for drying. I don't really have much of a setup for drying other than a dehydrator. I wonder if that would work? Would take forever though to dry very much that way.

I was looking at a pre-made mix from the Sausage Maker. I called them and asked them the same questions but didn't get a lot of help.

[beefmann]

that  dident help  much

[Mr Walleye]

Hi Katfish and welcome to the forum.

I have never tried it either but I'm with Habs on this one. Every recipe I've seen uses cure #2 and it is a dry cured sausage.

Here is one recipe I had found.

http://www.alliedkenco.com/catalog/popup_text.php/fld/recipe/tbl/recipes/key/30

Here is another one I had found but I can't seem to open it for some reason.

http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage%20recipes.htm#ROHWURSTS

If you do give it a shot keep us posted on your results.

Mike

[Habanero Smoker]

For sausage a dehydrator won't work; it's too thick. If the outside casing dries too fast it will seal in moisture preventing any further drying, and it will spoil for the inside. That is why such high humidity is needed; to keep the outside casing from drying until the inside of the sausage has lost most of its moisture. I find dry curing sausage very difficult, I do have future plans to build a box to dry cure.

Let us know which method you choose and how it turns out.

[NePaSmoKer]

Here is a Landjaeger recipe for ya.

2 1/2 lb pork shoulder
2 1/2 lb beef roast (90% lean gb will work too)
7 tsp salt
4 tsp dextrose
5 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp cure #2
1 Tbs caraway seed
1 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp garlic powder (or more to your taste)
1/8 tsp starter culture (encapsulated citric acid)
Hog casings 32 or 34mm

Grind beef and pork through a 3/16 plate (fine) Place meat in a mixer, add salt and cure and mix for 5 mins. Add the starter (dissolve in 1/4 cup water) and the rest of the seasonings. Mix well for 5 mins to form a paste like.

Meanwhle soak the casings in ot water for 1 hr. After casings have soaked cut into 12 1/2" strips. Tie one end off with twine. Stuff the casing to 5 1/2" twist in the middle and stuff the back end to 5 1/2", tie off the end. Repeat untill all the meat mix is gone.

Place sausages on a baking tray then place another tray on top of the sausage. (cookie sheet trays) Place a heavy pot or brick on the top tray to flatten sausage about 1/2" thick. The sausage should ferment in the trays in a 80* F area to allow them to get flat and firm. This takes 2 days.

At the 2nd day mark remove the top tray and allow to sit at room temp for 4 hrs. Turn landjaeger over and replace top tray and weight, return to the 80* temp for another day. After the last day of fermenting  (the sausage should be 1/2" now) remove from trays and prepare your smoker. Use hickory or oak and smoke at 95 to 105* for 4 hrs. Longer if you like more smoke.

After the landjaeger has smoked, leave them in the smoker for 6 hrs (no heat) After the 6 hrs bring in house and allow to air dry for 10 days in a 60* enviroment. This is the hard part to do. I use a small wine fridge. I can get the 60* and 50% RH.

The landjaeger by this time should be very dark and dry..........

This is a long process and i dont make it very often.  There you have land hunter meat  ;D

nepas

[West Coast Sausage Maker]

I have made these a while ago. 

After you mix the meat, you can stuff 2 - 4 inch casings to make salami and or stuff hog cassings to make landjeager sausage. (hunters sausage)

It is traditionaly flattened during drying to speed up the process.

Instacure # 2  lets your meats cure for days or weeks without cooking or smoking.
the end result is shelf stable. (no refridgeration) Nitrates in the #2 cure turn to Nitrites over time.

adding starter culture or fermento gives the sausage a tangy taste, like slim jims or pepperoni stix

Landjeager takes weeks to make, but well worth the wait.

[NePaSmoKer]

Yeah TBS, it does take time.

nepas

[katfishcharlie]

Thanks for all the replies. I still feel a little uneasy though about air drying meat for such a long time. I'm sure it's been done this way for centuries but my modern understanding leads me to fear trichinosis and other little bugs. I guess I need to get over that.

[Stargazer]

The landjeager like TBS said is flattened to help speed up the process, however it was also flattened to serve a dual purpose.

A long time ago, landjeager 'pronounced lond-yeger' was a meal for police much like our national reserve who patrolled the Alps much like our militarys version of C rations. The flattness not only helped speed up the dry time, but also allowed to meals to be drapped over the shoulder much like a gun belt to be carried around. The landjeager needs no refridgeration when done so the meals could last a long time while out and about.

I am not sure how correct this is, but I have heard it was also flattened to help give its unique taste by cutting excess grease which in return also helped keep the land hunter/police from slowing down due to taking breaks behind the pine trees. However this was something I was told by a friend and never found anything to back it up, so that one subject to 'maybe' be true, maybe not. But felt it was at least worth saying for others to contemplate on as another possibility as to why they are also flattened.

As for making it, you have some pro's here, NePaSmoker and Habanero Smoker who gave superb recipes and methods that really can't be added to; however cold smoking is the traditional method used for making this, not saying hot smoking wouldnt work by any means. I have not cold smoked yet, but again, you are among some of the worlds greatest smokers here on this forum who have written some of the coolest articals on cold smoking with a Bradley: for both the OBS and BDS. Diagrams and all.

For long periods of slow dry curing, youll definatly want to use insta cure #2 found at http://www.sausagemaker.com.

http://www.sausagemaker.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=159 for a full dry cure section at The Sausage Maker :)

Enjoy and welcome to the forum.

[beefmann]

lots of  good information.. gonna have to keep this information for  later

[badtoelz1980]

i lived in germany3 time.graduated in munich 1980. germans make the best sausages in the world. my favorite is landjaeger. i bought alot at the train station. they were always rectangle shaped, from being pressed. that alows it to cure faster and more thorogh. i process alot of my own smoked sausage, and i am hesitating doing the dry cured sausages. these have to cured at about 70 f and humitity at about 75%.for some days. then a couple of days at 55 f with hum. at 70%. dold smoke 90 f. for 4 hours. continue to dry until it loses 45% of wt. i hear that could take weeks. you have to create or build a dry cure cabinet, with thermistat, humidifire, it could be a big headache.you also have to use a different type of cure that you use for smoking. ihave thought of tring it. to build a curing cabinet could cost you about $1000. for all the componits.hard salami is also dry cured.