A Corona Thanksgiving

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Butterbean
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A Corona Thanksgiving

Post by Butterbean » Mon Nov 23, 2020 18:31

The corona isolation left me short handed as we had plans on everyone helping in the kitchen but this all fell through leaving me to do everything myself. I guess this could be viewed as a good thing because I can take credit for everything since everything turned out so good.

What I made was a cubed pork and venison for schnitzel, patty and link breakfast sausage, Redzed's newest venison pork kielbasa, smoked venison Cajun sausage, venison/pork Krakowska, jerky and a modified version of Big Guy's summer sausage. To those who didn't know him, Big Guy was a Canadian and the only member I've met in person. He was a heck of a nice guy, chemist by trade, and a heck of a meat processor and a valuable source of knowledge. If you ever see one of his recipes on the board its safe to say its worth making because he made some fine products. His character is validated by Kentucky giving him the honorary title of Colonel for his work with charities. I think all who knew him from this board know his absence has been a loss to the group.

Anyhow, the pandemic has slowed my workload down somewhat so I've been able to take some time and do some hunting and with these deer I began work toward filling the freezer.
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I've learned over the years its best to pre-cure the meat a few days before processing. My impatience often dictates that I don't do this but on this batch I pacified my impatience by making some fresh sausages while the meat was curing.
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On the second day of curing I got a little impatient and knowing I would be doing this solo I decided that it might be more diffident to go ahead and grind the mince and store the mince in lugs for the third day which would be that much less work on the day of stuffing. In hindsight I think this was a mistake. Not a big one but the mince began to bind somewhat and when the mince was placed in the stuffer it was much firmer than I like and I was unable to remove some air pockets from the mince even though I took extra care to try and punch these air pockets out which led to my having more air in the sausages than what I normally do. Not a real big deal but something I'll try to avoid in the future.

Anyhow, meats went in the smokehouse a little later than I hoped.


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When sausages were nearly done I poached in water using my grandmother's old cast iron washout which I'm blessed to have because this thing is the charm for heating water.
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Sausages were then showered with water to cool.
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Then hung to dry for a few hours at room temperature.
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Then a rest overnight in the fridge then sampled the next day.
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On the left is BigGuy's summer sausage recipe which I tweaked only by adding some ECA and cheddar. This one is as good as I remember it being. Next is Marianski's Krakowska recipe - it was modified only in that its a blend of venison and pork. It is simply delicious and I like the contrast in the meats. The next sausage is made on a Cajun style with a myriad of peppers. Not to hot but does give the mouth a full taste of a variety of peppers. On the far right is Redzed's latest venison kielbasa sausage. (It still requires the second smoke which I hope to do this afternoon). Don't know if it needs the second smoke or not because its very good as it is. Its got a garlic flavor but its not overpowering - its just there. Very good sausage and I'd recommend others to try it. In the front is some jerky. Its a pepper based jerky but not to spicy.

Overall, barring a few tiny mistakes, things went well and am well pleased with how everything turned out.
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Bob K
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Re: A Corona Thanksgiving

Post by Bob K » Mon Nov 23, 2020 19:22

Wow. You have been busy. Everything looks fantastic. Winchester 94?
And this Corona Virus is a real PIA especially holiday time
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Re: A Corona Thanksgiving

Post by Butterbean » Mon Nov 23, 2020 21:46

Bob K wrote:
Mon Nov 23, 2020 19:22
Wow. You have been busy. Everything looks fantastic. Winchester 94?
And this Corona Virus is a real PIA especially holiday time
Thanks. Bob you obviously know your rifles. It is a Winchester 94 but its the economy Ranger model - same thing I think apart from a poorer grade of wood on the stock. This is what I cut my teeth with when I was a kid and the first rifle I ever bought.
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Re: A Corona Thanksgiving

Post by redzed » Tue Nov 24, 2020 08:07

Great post, BB and you have been busy! That's a heck of a lot of work to make all the different sausages and then cleaning up! I always do everything myself but not that many different items at once. But making sausage seems to be a great distraction from all the crap that is happening everywhere. Thanks for bringing up Big Guy. He contributed to this forum in a very significant way and I still check out his recipes when researching different sausages. I don't know whatever happened to him. He also used to post on other sausage forums but it's been a while since I ran across his name.
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Re: A Corona Thanksgiving

Post by Butterbean » Tue Nov 24, 2020 16:20

A few years ago I tried contacting him privately but have yet to get a response so I'm afraid he has passed. When I met him he spoke of some health issues and didn't appear to be in the best of health at the time. He was what some call a Canadian Snowbird and would leave Canada to spend the winter at his place in Florida and he would pass right by my place on his way so he had a standing invitation to drop by on his way but I have seen nor heard from him since. That aside it was an honor meeting such a good and caring man. Last visit he gave me a bag of his goodies and all were excellent.

In the past, he gave me several of his recipes privately. One of which was a salsa recipe which was to die for. Sadly I had put these on paper and stuck them in a place where I was sure not to lose them and promptly forgot where this safe place was. I pray they will turn up sometime. However I do have a few at my fingertips. One is this summer sausage recipe that I have updated to the metric system rather than volume. I thought I'd share this with the group in the near future. I gave a half a stick to a friend whose wife doesn't do deer meat and they both devoured it in a day saying it was the best thing they'd ever eaten made from deer. It is a beautifully flavored product well worth the effort to make.
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Re: A Corona Thanksgiving

Post by Butterbean » Tue Nov 24, 2020 21:10

I had some questions on Redzed's Venison Kielbasa and the need for a second smoke when it was obviously good the first go round I wondered what good a second smoke could do for it. Nevertheless, I plowed on and gave them the second smoke yesterday and let them stay in the smokehouse to continue drying. Today I cut a sliver from one to see if anything had changed much and I have to say the second smoke and drying transformed the flavors of the sausage from excellent to a level beyond excellent. It's hard to explain the transformation but suffice it to say its far better than what it was two days ago. The snap is different, the bite is different and the overall flavorful goodness has intensified - assume from the loss of water. Thanks Cris, this is what I call a real smoked sausage. Its incredibly good.

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Re: A Corona Thanksgiving

Post by Butterbean » Wed Nov 25, 2020 02:41

Tonight we had a simple but delicious supper consisting of nothing more than Venison Krakowska Sandwiches with mayo and fresh German mustard and lettuce. I think the mix of the venison with the various type pork classes gives the meat a unique and interesting look and flavor. Apart from the addition of the venison this is simply a replication of Marianski's recipe for Kielbasa krakowska krajana which I think is one of my favorite sausages.
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Re: A Corona Thanksgiving

Post by jjnurk » Wed Nov 25, 2020 14:55

That's a lot of work !!!
Lately I've also been doing a lot of the work myself.......the rum doesn't taste the same without helpers :D . Several a people have been fooled with the deer meat substitution for ham on the Krakowska! Apart from the color, nothing is different.
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Re: A Corona Thanksgiving

Post by fatboyz » Wed Nov 25, 2020 15:20

Looks awesome. My daughter got a nice little buck yesterday so butchering tonight while I smoke reds Venison sausage I made last night. I have one more tag for Mule doe to fill this weekend, then my December weekends will be sausage making and some homemade Sauerkraut. Going to butcher a lamb and a hob before Christmas as well. That means some Merguez and bacon and ham to smoke.
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Re: A Corona Thanksgiving

Post by Butterbean » Wed Nov 25, 2020 15:27

fatboyz wrote:
Wed Nov 25, 2020 15:20
Looks awesome. My daughter got a nice little buck yesterday so butchering tonight while I smoke reds Venison sausage I made last night. I have one more tag for Mule doe to fill this weekend, then my December weekends will be sausage making and some homemade Sauerkraut. Going to butcher a lamb and a hob before Christmas as well. That means some Merguez and bacon and ham to smoke.
You'll love Redzed's venison sausage and be sure to do the second smoke and drying. This process elevates the sausage from great to magnificent. I also did this with some Cajun sausage and it has really done wonders for it as well. I think this may be SOP for my smoked sausages from now on.

I envy you on the sheep. I love merguez
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Re: A Corona Thanksgiving

Post by fatboyz » Thu Nov 26, 2020 04:48

Just about to take the sausage out of the smoker and in to the water bath. Will try to load an image of my poacher. It's a stainless beer keg with the top cut off. I have a 220 Volt element in it from a water heater and that's controlled by an oven Thermostat. I can do about 50 pounds at a time. I have the water temp set at 81C.
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Re: A Corona Thanksgiving

Post by Butterbean » Thu Nov 26, 2020 16:38

Nice build on the poacher.
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Re: A Corona Thanksgiving

Post by redzed » Thu Nov 26, 2020 17:26

Butterbean wrote:
Tue Nov 24, 2020 21:10
I had some questions on Redzed's Venison Kielbasa and the need for a second smoke when it was obviously good the first go round I wondered what good a second smoke could do for it. Nevertheless, I plowed on and gave them the second smoke yesterday and let them stay in the smokehouse to continue drying. Today I cut a sliver from one to see if anything had changed much and I have to say the second smoke and drying transformed the flavors of the sausage from excellent to a level beyond excellent. It's hard to explain the transformation but suffice it to say its far better than what it was two days ago. The snap is different, the bite is different and the overall flavorful goodness has intensified - assume from the loss of water. Thanks Cris, this is what I call a real smoked sausage. Its incredibly good.
Glad it worked out for you BB! I think that anyone that makes this sausage will come to realize that the process is so important. Too often many sausagemakers believe that heart of the recipe is the seasonings, but that's only the tip of it. BTW, I really like the looks of that venison Krakowska, it's so colourful with array of red and pink shades. Too bad I couldn't swing by for a sample. :D
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Re: A Corona Thanksgiving

Post by Butterbean » Thu Nov 26, 2020 21:06

I couldn't agree more on the importance of the process. I treated some Cajun sausages the same way and it truly transformed them to a higher level. I think everyone gets in a hurry but doing it this way reminded me of the importance of taking your time and letting things cure properly. It also echoes what my old mentor Russell always said. He was a big proponent of using salt petre and pre-cuing the meat to the point one might think it was aging. He said it made a difference. Sadly he died before I really got the time and inclination to become a better student and was scared away from using salt petre during the nitrosamine scare. I sometimes wonder if he didn't have a valid point and may one day do it as he said and see if it makes a noticeable difference because he left me a good supply of his "curing salt".

Redzed, if you are ever headed to Florida on I-75 you've got a standing invitation to drop by and try whatever I have. May not have Krakowska but will surely have something going.
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