I made some summer sausage sticks using 32mm hog casings. I used the right amount of cure 1 and used LHP culture. Let me first say the culture is about a year and a half old but I just made some landjager and it worked. I had this happen before and didn't know why... When the culture was less than 6...

Bob I'm sorry.... The main problem is the time it's taking to reach those internal temps... 6 hrs for a small diameter meat stick just isn't right. The secondary problems are I sometimes get fat rendering out and/or dryness on the ends. I don't use a water pan in the smoker. Now even with these prob...

Just checked my temp probes... One is spot on... I looked up my elevation and I'm supposed to be at 211f for boiling water... My smoker probe is 212f...Maybe it's how I'm inserting the probe? I usual put it going parallel with the sausage from the end... Should I put it in there perpendicular? I usu...

Bob, yes I have a digital thermometer and I did the boiling water test and it matches the one in my smoker. Is 20 min all that's needed for snack sticks? Should I bump up the temp incrementally or just jump to 170? Should I go to 190 or is that too high?

I agree something is definitely off.

So I've tried this recipe several times: http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/kabanosy My problems come in at smoking. I hold in the smoker at about 115F to dry for an hour then I bump it to 120 and start smoking. After the 90 min I leave it smoking then bumped to 170. It too about 6 hrs ...

Chuck, I'm gonna try your version of this sausage... Can something be substituted for corn syrup solids?

Thanks guys!

So after you ferment the starter for 4 or 5 days THEN you place it in the fridge? Also, after you use some, how do you know how much to replace back in, and when you replace it back in, does it go in the fridge or stay out for 4-5 more days? Is the "proofed" batter the same batter as what you mix fr...

even though it mixed better, it's still dripping out at low temps....the landjager above dripped out at 100 degrees during fermenting, and even more when I put it in a 125-130 degree smoker

Hey Bubba! I have been using the coarse plate...I figured the smaller plate would restrict it too much....I figure if I need to I can double grind....I have two plates and I have a blade for each one so I'm good there I'm the same way as you...I'm on a learning curve....so far I've got down fermenti...

Thanks Wally, Big Guy, and ssorllih! I think that is my problem, I ground the fat separately first and did like Wally said and made crisco worm! Love the description lol...that explains perfectly what is happening. I tried re-grinding some of the already ground (but frozen) fat with the ground deer ...

I will do it separately. It really sounds like your blade is in backwards and is not cutting to me. All your doing is forcing it out through your plate I'm 100% sure the blade is correct...I have the flat cutting side against the plate...i'm not that much of a newb lol the fat just doesn't seem fir...

hmmmm, maybe freezing the fat is the problem....seems like last time when I didn't it still came through the plate in strings....like long noodles instead of breaking up into pieces like the meat does Do you grind your meat and fat up separate or together? Maybe that's the problem? OH, thanks to bot...

has anyone ever used bactoferm or citric acid to make these?

so what would I need to do? Is it coming from the grinding/mixing or what? Or is this just normal? I'm afraid when I start smoking here soon, the fat is going to render out more and make the sausage dry.