I have a pork roast defrosting at the moment. I should be able to cut it either today or tomorrow. I'll post pictures along the way! As for substitutions: I normally follow a recipe the first time and after that I adjust according to my taste buds (normally that means more chili, more pepper and mor...

Like thewitt, I use a pestle and mortar to crush most of my spices. If I need a lot, I use a coffee grinder. @ markjass: i like the idea of the laminated sheets! Sofar I have just printed the recipes and write next to it by pen. Once I get some favourite recipes I will definitely go the laminating w...

Thanks for the comments guys, At the moment we have high temperatures and low humidity. That will change in a couple of weeks though. Then it will be high and humid! A little more clarification, I only have one mincer plate, a 2 or 3 mm one, so quite fine and putting the meat through it twice makes ...

I have a hand cranked grinder, size 32 and just one grinder plate. I hope to order 2 more in the next couple of weeks, but this being africa it might be months :( What sizes would be most useful? The grinder could be operated by pulley and motor, but we use it by hand (I can always instruct my kitch...

Yeah, totally agree with markjass: Thanks Chuck for doing all this and get us going forward on the sausage making wagon! I might struggle getting some items, but I figure that either there will be substitutes, or I just have sit back and learn from what everyone else is doing for some of the propose...

Why didn't I think of that?

So simple and yet, it will solve the issue !!

Thanks guys

I am not sure if my terminology is/was right. I was trying to twist the sausages. I tend to forget which way I turn them though. Suppose Iwas thinking of other things at the same time. Maybe I need more of a one track mind :mrgreen: It'sjust funny: this was the second time I made sausages and I am n...

. Topic Split by CW 092213@19:40. See "What is Aw? in "Fermented Sausage" Forum. I finally got around to making another batch of sausages. I roughly used a recipe for italian sausage and added nitrite to part of the batch. I smoked those for about 10-11 hours. That was not really the original plan b...

I'm game (pun intended, will be making game sausages at one point in time). I've seen the "old" project N, and was sorry that that had finished by the time I registered Because of my location, I might not always get all ingredients (or get them in time), but I can always make a plan. We are good in ...

Thanks ChuckW I am looking for the emoticon of a thumbs up, as you need a huge one for your help and patience !!!!! Another question, based on your post above: How do you measure Aw? Can you weigh the meat, use a dry brine, weigh again and work out the proportion? Say: your meat weight 1000 gr. Afte...

I think I rather have a beer and a smoked sausages while trying to catch a tigrfish

Thanks for the detailed info ChuckW ! I should have been a bit clearer about what I wanted to find out. I have been reading a lot about smoking and found a lot of info on this forum as well. I am not (yet) thinking about making hams, fermented sausages etc. I actually wonder if that is even possible...

Hey guys, I changed my design radically and it is now a drum smoker, loosely based on Marianski design for a metal sheet smoker. Definitely not light weight though! I am not sure if I posted a picture yet, but I will put one at the bottom of this post anyway @chuck: I appreciate your concers, but, d...

I got chest freezers as well. They are inside the house so a bit more of a pain to defrost. Ah well, it only needs to be done every so often. I like the idea of freezing them first for a short while and then shrink wrapping. That should prevent a lot of squashed sausages! Does anyone have anymore in...

Just a little bit of input from a newbie: I actually enjoy the more thorough discussions. this is one of the few fora that I can actually find them. Got to be something in my genes: I always want to know the background of things. But I can see it getting intimidating All I can say: please don't back...