Andouille with cubed Ham

Reggie
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Post by Reggie » Mon Jan 18, 2016 10:02

Butterbean, are you saying that I should apply cure and salt in this recipe to the store bought ham (which has been cured and cooked once?) Won't that make the ham too salty? Clarification on this would be appreciated. Thanks, Reggie
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Bob K
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Post by Bob K » Mon Jan 18, 2016 12:09

Reggie wrote:Butterbean, are you saying that I should apply cure and salt in this recipe to the store bought ham (which has been cured and cooked once?)
Reggie-
He said that he would not use pre processed ham, Instead cure your own cubes of (raw) ham chunks using the same method as the rest of the sausage
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Post by Butterbean » Mon Jan 18, 2016 15:35

Bob K wrote:
Reggie wrote:Butterbean, are you saying that I should apply cure and salt in this recipe to the store bought ham (which has been cured and cooked once?)
Reggie-
He said that he would not use pre processed ham, Instead cure your own cubes of (raw) ham chunks using the same method as the rest of the sausage
Ditto. Reggie, if you cure your own ham pieces using your spice and cure mix the ham inside the sausage will be like a tasso ham. You have no idea what's in the store bought ham. I'm sure its pumped with phosphates and water to add weight and if its pre-smoked then its probably cooked and you don't want to cook the meat twice because there is no telling what this will do to the bind or the meat from a taste and bind standpoint.

Start from scratch and make your own and I'm sure you will be more pleased with the end result. Really and truly the only thing you are doing differently is processing some of the meat differently via a different grind and cut. BTW - I really like your idea.
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Post by Reggie » Tue Jan 19, 2016 10:35

Butterbean wrote:
Bob K wrote:
Reggie wrote:Butterbean, are you saying that I should apply cure and salt in this recipe to the store bought ham (which has been cured and cooked once?)
Reggie-
He said that he would not use pre processed ham, Instead cure your own cubes of (raw) ham chunks using the same method as the rest of the sausage
Ditto. Reggie, if you cure your own ham pieces using your spice and cure mix the ham inside the sausage will be like a tasso ham. You have no idea what's in the store bought ham. I'm sure its pumped with phosphates and water to add weight and if its pre-smoked then its probably cooked and you don't want to cook the meat twice because there is no telling what this will do to the bind or the meat from a taste and bind standpoint.

Start from scratch and make your own and I'm sure you will be more pleased with the end result. Really and truly the only thing you are doing differently is processing some of the meat differently via a different grind and cut. BTW - I really like your idea.
I moved forward with what I have. I will post pics when I'm done with the process. Ran the cooked ham through the chili die and it pretty much came out with "shredded" texture. Using 50/50 ratio, I made two spice batches according to Len Poli's Andouille recipe number 1. For the ham chunks, I only added 1/4 teaspoon of cure instead of the full teaspoon. I added 15 grams of salt instead of the 35 grams called for in the recipe. I also added about 550 grams of back fat to the emulsion. When I first cooked up a sample, it tasted a little salty and the flavor of the ham definitely "shined through." A second sample cooked up at the end of the day tasted pretty darned good. I stuffed this mixture into hog casings and let them hang and dry overnight. I'm going to smoke them today. Will post picks. Thanks for the advice!
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Post by Reggie » Wed Jan 20, 2016 10:48

Butterbean wrote:It does add some smoke on the outside. I think its more pronounced if you poach the meat because is would season the water. I was a little concerned that poaching then cold smoking might add too much smoke to the meat but I tried it and everyone loved it.

One guy even went on a rant of how when he bought smoked ham sandwich meat at the store you couldn't even taste the smoke and he said this was the best smoked ham sandwich meat he'd ever eaten. But you know how people's tastes are. Heck, I had one guy on me for some smoked bacon when I was building a new smokehouse only to be told by him later he couldn't eat the bacon because he didn't like smoked meats. :shock:

Only downside I see with them is they are a bit messy. The smoke stuff is tar like and is a devil to clean off a cutting board. Other than that, I like them a lot.
I have completed this project and would like to upload photos, but I am having a hard time figuring out how to do it.
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Bob K
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Post by Bob K » Wed Jan 20, 2016 13:25

The easiest way is to upload to Photobucket. Under share this photo on the right hand side of the image, left click on the IMG box, it will turn yellow, then paste that in your post.
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Post by Reggie » Thu Jan 21, 2016 10:36

Pics are below. I'm pleased with how this turned out. It is slightly sweet due to the sugar in the ham, but this is not off-putting. It is not too salty, and I decided to use the small bore hog casings to try and ensure a better "bind." It worked, although when I fried up a couple of test pieces before stuffing it, I could see that binding was not going to be a problem. I substituted chipotle powder for the hot pequin powder called for in Len Poli's recipe. This has a hot finish, but not too hot. I like it hot, so next time I would increase the measures of the different hot pepper spices. I would do this again!

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[img]http://[URL=http://s1172.photobucket.com/user/Reggie_58/media/IMG_0227_zpsubhowuml.jpg.html]Imagei1172.photobucket.com/albums/r574/Reggie_58/IMG_0226_zpsvyu78st6.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
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Bob K
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Post by Bob K » Thu Jan 21, 2016 18:04

Nice Job Reggie!!!

Also love the cutting board and old maple chairs
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Post by Reggie » Thu Jan 21, 2016 20:48

Bob K wrote:Nice Job Reggie!!!

Also love the cutting board and old maple chairs
Thank you Bob! The hardest part about this whole "Hamdouille" project was figuring out how to upload the pictures. The cutting board is one of my most treasured tools....had it custom made with laminated maple by a local carpenter here in East TN.
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Post by redzed » Thu Jan 21, 2016 21:09

Hey that sausage looks great! I was very curious to see how it would turn out especially how well it would hold together. Looks like there were enough proteins in the fresh pork to glue everything together. There are proven sausage recipes out there that utilize cured and smoked bacon, and now you have proven that it can be done with other cuts.

And I really like your barrel smoker. Thanks for posting!

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