Homemade Sausage Making

Sleebus and harleykids, thank you for the warm welcome! Yes I'm thinking of staying with whole muscle cuts for the time being for all the reasons mentioned above. Coppa, lonzino, bresoala, duck breast prosciutto, guanciale, and maybe even some confit are all on the short list!

Hello all I'm new to this site though not to smoking and sausage making. Iv'e never made dry cured meats before so now it's time to try it. I've put together a drying cabinet with a small bar fridge for cooling,a dehumidifier and low speed exhaust fan. I bought an Inkbird ihc-230 to controll it all so I think I'm set to get started.I'd like to start with some salami, so of course I have some questions.Is a ph meter needed and if so what are some good ones?I don't want to break the bank here.My favorite from the deli is hungarian salami so I'm looking for recipe suggestions. I'm sure there will be more questions as I get started.
Thanks in advance
Bill

Welcome to the Forum Bill!
You should have a way to check Ph, a meter is more accurate but low range Ph papers will work.
The Milwaukee MW102 meter is of good quality and reasonably priced. Some of the guys North of the border should be able to help you with what's available in Canada.

Hi Bill, and welcome!

I started off with a small dorm fridge, and the best advice I can give you is to run it empty for a while and see how it maintains temperature and humidity levels. My experience was that with a small space, the system tended to oscillate rather than be smoothly controlled. You don't want to find that out when you load the chamber for the first time! You may want to load it with some bottles of water to simulate the thermal mass of the meat. Water is ~8lb/gal so you can go from there.

There's 3 recipes for Hungarian salami on this page:

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes

Welcome Bill.

Welcome to the best gathering of meatheads on the planet! You have begun a great hobby, just be warned that it's addictive! You can probably fly by the seat of your pants for a while without a pH meter, but it will help you in better understanding what is going on and will help in making better successive products, A pH meter is a bit pricy, but in the long-run a great tool to have.

Sleebus wrote:Hi Bill, and welcome!

I started off with a small dorm fridge, and the best advice I can give you is to run it empty for a while and see how it maintains temperature and humidity levels. My experience was that with a small space, the system tended to oscillate rather than be smoothly controlled. You don't want to find that out when you load the chamber for the first time! You may want to load it with some bottles of water to simulate the thermal mass of the meat. Water is ~8lb/gal so you can go from there.

There's 3 recipes for Hungarian salami on this page:

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes

Hi Bill, I'm currently running a 35 bottle wine fridge as my drying chamber with both a humidifier and dehumidifier. These are controlled by an InkBird IHC-200. I do find that I have ~10 min oscillations between 70-85%RH which I know is not ideal. I may switch to just a salt pan filled with water and the dehumidifier this weekend to see if I can smooth it out. A full size fridge would be much better!

For PH meter, I suggest the Hanna wireless one. Syncs with android or Apple phones, tracks PH drop, and is around $200. Works great!

Hi: I found you guys while searching for "Kielbasa szynkowa". I was looking for info about using HAM in sausage. I love making good sausage inexpensively. Since Ham is cheaper than pretty much any other meat at this time of year, it seems an obvious ingredient. I was looking for info on making good Ham sausage safely.
I've been smoking for 50 years, but only in small quantity and for new ways to use wild game. I do a whole Turkey every year and smoke fish regularly.
I'm of Polish/English descent and from Chicago initially, then lived all over the world. I traveled for work and retired ten years ago. One place I never got to was Poland and I've always wanted a closer connection to my roots.
So, here I am in Florida, more time on my hands these days and looking for great sausage recipes.

Hey Cmdr, you found the right place, WITAMY! Lots of Polish recipes here, as well as other sausages from around the world. Personally I'm addicted to them all! As well, we are ready to give you a hand anytime you have a question.

I suggest you start by reading our pages here: https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-making and check out the recipes here: https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes There are three recipes there for the Polish classic Krakowska, and another one for Ham Sausage, also a Polish recipe. But you can use the meat from a green ham in many sausage recipes. Once you decide on the type of sasage you want to starty with, we'll be glad to help.

Best wishes,
redzed

Welcome to the forum Cmdr!

CmdrDick wrote: Since Ham is cheaper than pretty much any other meat at this time of year, it seems an obvious ingredient.

The Hams on sale this time of year are usually the already processed type. For most sausage recipes you need to use the "green" or unprocessed hams.

Also of note the bacon in recipes is also the uncured pork bellies....not processed bacon.

OK then guys, that brings up my first question.

Yes, most smoked sausage is made with raw meat, I understand that.
But, WHY could you NOT use already cooked ham?

Obviosly, the flavor and texture could be very different, but is there any SAFETY related issue that needs to be looked at.

Has anyone actually made any sausage using already cooked meat?

Thanks

There are a boatload of issues. Some safety related. If you could be more specific on your plan we could help.

Yes some meats are cooked, but not processed before making other sausage.

Hello I think I missed this part. I`m new to all of this but have been making, correction attempting to make, fresh sausage for a while. I`ve done the normal grilling thing and have a smoker that hasn`t been used in a while until recently. Getting better at smoking but have a lot to learn. I have an old refrigerator that I`m turning into a curing chamber. Should be finished shortly. I`m going to start with easier things or should I say things I have already or that are readily available. I have lots or questions. So far everything has been wonderful. Thanks for all the response I received so far.

I was thinking about taking a "Ready to Eat" whole Ham and chopping it up and making sausage. My intent is to create something that would last a long time without refrigeration.

I'm quite fond of the taste of Ham. It is wonderful food, but far too large and messy for a backpack.
Small summer sausages in suitable casings in a size that would feed for one serving would be dry, neat and should last if prepared properly.

"Properly" is the part that is not clear.

Dick