Homemade Sausage Making

That CB looks perfect Kevin!

Have you also found that letting it nap a few days in the refrigerator improves the taste a lot?

Bubba wrote:That CB looks perfect Kevin!

Have you also found that letting it nap a few days in the refrigerator improves the taste a lot?

Thanks, Bubba!
I've found with certain meat products, the additional rest time in the fridge really helps both the taste & the texture. Stronger smokey flavors seem to mellow a bit, and meats firm up. Summer sausages really benefit from this time as well as meat sticks.
With this CB, I didnt want to allow too much rest in the fridge time as extended time can tend to dry out (suck out the moisture) from hanging meat. This CB was already quite firm with a fairly dense smokey pellicle, so I sliced everything up & vac-sealed it to retain moisture. BUT after a day in the fridge, the flavor, as my sons used to say when they were younger, is "MORE better" than the first day.

Kevin

Thanks for posting those pics Kevin, I must have missed them originally. Seeing the poacher set-up with the top on and dual thermometers makes everything all clear to me now. I was struggling to reach and maintain water temp last week when doing a batch of smoked Polish so I aborted the water bath and just kept the batch in the smoker until 152° IT was reached. Now I know what the tiny hole in the turkey roaster top is for! RAY

Ray, so long as you can get an accurate DIAL thermometer, you should be in great shape. The long-stemmed Taylor dial thermometer I use through the poacher top tested out to be fairly accurate (boiling water test).

Kevin

Received this smoker for xmas. Made jerky a couple of times and a cured leg of ham, ham hocks and bacon. All turned out great. Already planning to build a bigger smoker

Half way through my first ham


Finished ham


Bacon and ham hocks


Finished bacon


This is mum rearing the next lot of sausages and smallgoods. Sorry, couldn't help myself

Enjoying a smoke-a-thon. Might have bit off more than I can chew though.

Joe, you have been a very busy boy! It looks great.

I have been busy. Am a tired puppy too with a regained respect for the effect of ambient temp on a smoke house and that darn collagen stall.

I forgot the time you want us to come over?