Homemade Sausage Making

no problem , just have to wait a bit , heading to canada til 04/16/11

toolmann wrote:no problem , just have to wait a bit , heading to canada til 04/16/11

Waiting patiently. Thanks Toolmann!

So my parents were recently at the butcher shop and picked me up 15' of sheep casing for a batch of hot dogs/frankfurters I wanted to make. So today I got all my ingredients together, did all my grinding, mixing and tasting I was ready to stuff. Turns out they sold my parents hog casings so my lovely sausages look like knackwurst.

Don't fret JerBear,
Lots and lots of franks are made with hog casings. I always use them because when you grill 'em, they snap when you bite into them. The reason people use sheep casing are because they are so delicate and light. Hog casings are preferred by many folks for a good, grilled, hot dog, frankfurter, or brat. BTW, which recipe are you using for frankfurters? Just curious. Good luck.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

I did the Chicago Beef recipe for Ruhlman's Charcuterie book but did a 1:1 ratio of trimmed chuck to pork shoulder and added 25% by weight pork back fat. They're blooming in the fridge now but the tester last night tasted pretty good. I don't have ready access to a smoker so I'm just going to poach them.

And we have a winner folks!!!!

Well Jer,

As Chuckwagon always says, "Self recognition is better than none at all!"

Congratulations man! It's always gratifying to have an outstanding result.

In the not so distant past, many more dogs than people enjoyed the results of my "charcuterie."

Happily, with the help of this forum and our generous Polish hosts, the dogs are now bone racks while the freinds and family are all overweight. Huh?

steelchef wrote:As Chuckwagon always says, "Self recognition is better than none at all!"

Funny, my dad used to say self-praise is half-scandal. But still better than none at all!

I'm going to a beer brewer's gathering on Saturday for Teach a Friend to Brew day and I'll be grilling the dogs and I'll try to post some pics.

JerBear wrote: I'm going to a beer brewer's gathering on Saturday for Teach a Friend to Brew day and I'll be grilling the dogs and I'll try to post some pics.

What time on Saturday? I'll meet you there, it sounds like a blast! Pics would be great.

steelchef wrote:

JerBear wrote: I'm going to a beer brewer's gathering on Saturday for Teach a Friend to Brew day and I'll be grilling the dogs and I'll try to post some pics.

What time on Saturday? I'll meet you there, it sounds like a blast! Pics would be great.

Don't know the time yet, I'm the token "chef" of the bunch and I think they're only inviting me because of my sausage. I don't care, I'll still get all the beer I can drink! There's some good deals on Southwest airlines but I'm not sure they connect to the frigid north.

Our local airline "CRASHAIR" has connections with Southwest but actually getting to the connection site can be problematic.
I'll probably take a pass this time. Soon it will be warm enough to break out the snowmobiles. Maybe I'll bring along some wheels for the SkiDoo and visit later in the year.
Enjoy the beer buddy!

Shucks Jerbear,
If you could put up with the likes of that northern, noisy, nut for a party, I'd be willing to go up to B.C. just to lasooo n' drag him that far. I thought about just rollin' him all the way, but it's too hard on my horse!

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

I grilled the rest of the batch up yesterday at the Big Brew Day and took a couple pictures of 'em. They were awesome, I served them with a Hallertau Hops Mustard (homemade) and caraway kraut (store bought and doctored up) on a baguette.

OK Jer, you've got my undivided attention. What the heck is Hallertau Hops Mustard
It sounds intriguing! Your tube steaks look awesome. How was the beer?

BTW, that old nag that Chuckwagon was taking about couldn't make it here in an air conditioned trailer. The poor thing is nearly as old as himself. Well that's an exaggeration, I have rocks that are younger.

We had actually started to form a plan to visit the western states this summer. The price of fuel may interfer with that idea. The old motorhome only gets about 10 mpg on a good day and I'm not quite a millionaire, not even close.

We'll just play it by ear and inform you all if we do decide to head south. Don't tell that old 'food cart,' though.

Good job Jer! And; thanks for thinking of us and sharing your pics.

I can see only one thing wrong with them, Most of us didn't get to eat them. They look terrific.