Online Workshop: Project B (August 2012)

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el Ducko
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Post by el Ducko » Wed Oct 24, 2012 00:01

redzed wrote: ...After resting overnight, hitting it with some smoked sea salt and reheating, it's full of flavour with a delay in the heat from chillies.
Thanks. We should probably add that to the recipe. ...funny how lots of recipes improve when left to rest overnight. ...eh? :mrgreen:
:roll:
:???:
:shock:
:lol:
...kind of like political arguments. :razz:
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Post by Chuckwagon » Wed Oct 24, 2012 05:23

Gunny, there are a lot of things worse than freezing meat before it becomes sausage. Don't waste it. It will be just fine in your refrigerator for three days. If it will be longer than that before you can stuff it, then freeze the meat for use later. Lots of people like to make a big thing about making sausage from frozen meat. Sure, ice crystals will tear it up a bit, but that's life. I'm willing to bet that most people won't even notice a difference.
Waste not - want not. And Ross sure is right about the piggy's life in my opinion.
I'm glad you're enjoying the project. It sounds like you are learning and having fun doing it. Just wait until we get into the next project "A" sometime after Christmas. You'll be making first class salami and pepperoni!

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! :D
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Post by SikaStag » Wed Oct 24, 2012 12:06

Well. I finally got around to making the breakfast sausage today. I cooked a sample and thought it was tasty enough. I stuffed all the meat into casings and had a sample fry.

I still felt that the sausages texture was crumbly as opposed to being more normal sausage like. Am I working the meat too much when i am adding the seasoning. i must be doing something wrong. Any suggestions would be appreciated. The last lot of sausages I made I minced the sausage meat a second time after adding the seasoning. I only minced the meat once for this recipe.

I thought the idea when making sausages was to get as much water into the meat as it can hold. I thought the 100g per kilo looked like it was not a lot. The meat looked like it could have taken a lot more than that. I stuck to the recipe and did not change anything or alter it in any way.

The end result was tasty enough, if anything, a little too flower than what we are used to here in Scotland.

definitely will be eaten thats for sure.

Cheers
Ian
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Post by Chuckwagon » Thu Oct 25, 2012 01:03

Sika Stag you ol' salty dog! We've missed you. Is your hunting season coming to its end? I imagine it's getting a little cool in Scotland at this time of year. Ian, are you going to make a little Hungarian Casaibai? Definitely worth the effort.
Hope all is well Ian and hope you are making lots of sausage. Keep us informed.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! :D
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Post by redzed » Thu Oct 25, 2012 01:52

Chuckwagon wrote:Red, the texture looks great as far as I can see in the photos. Isn't it amazing how much a few days dehydrating can make? How would you rate this sausage overall with others? Are you about ready to kick it up one more step? Great photos Red. Great sausage too! Nice goin'.
Thanks CW. Making chorizo was a first for me, and it's difficult to compare it to the others. I liked the Italian, because I have always been partial to it, and the Kabanosy, well, I've been genetically programmed to like them. As far as the csabai, I don't think I've been successful in making one that I would rave about. I liked the fresh chorizo, especially with eggs, and would take it over the traditional breakfast sausage. And yeah, I am ready to take it to the next level. Normally this month I'm in the forest gathering mushrooms, but it has been a long dry spell here and the rains have come too late, there is essentially no fungi out there and it's getting too late. So that means I have more time to play with this other hobby.
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Post by Chuckwagon » Thu Oct 25, 2012 12:23

Chorizo Experiment (Type 3.) Time to order a culture.

Semi-Dry Cured Sausage - These are tangy, fermented, cured, and usually prep-cooked sausages served on a fancy plate at a party or simply sliced with a pocketknife while you`re in the saddle. They are cured with nitrite (Cure #1), cooked during preparation, dried (yielding about 75%), but not usually further cooked before serving them. (An exception is pepperoni on pizza). Favorites include varieties of summer sausage, landjaeger, kabanosy, "slim jims", and yup... chorizo.

We can take cured-cooked-smoked sausage a step further and make a chorizo (or any other sausage) that we can slice cold and enjoy with a cold brew. This is ideal "trail food" and as a youngster I packed it in saddlebags for a quick snack with a ten o`clock morning coffee break sitting in the sage on the high mountain south slope of our ranch. I also packed it along to school and put a "chaw" inside my cheek while I studied. It was more moist than jerky and just right for convenience. During WWII, the German infantryman often carried along "Landjaeger" - a "semi-dry cured sausage pressed flat during the fermentation step.

The most well-known "semi-dry-cured" sausage is probably good ol` Italian pepperoni. Almost everyone has had it on a pizza to be cooked with the olives and green peppers atop the cheese? This third type of sausage is kicked up a notch by a process called "fermentation" - with which many of you are familiar. It will involve the use of a very fast Bactoferm™ culture called LHP and you will see what flavor "controlled spoilage" of meat will produce. More importantly, you`ll understand "WHY" you are doing "WHAT" you are doing. Later in this project, we`ll even make an encased "spreadable" German sausage with a medium-fast culture producing the "tangy" fermentation we`re looking for.

Okay, for those of you who would like to try SEMI-dry cured types of sausage, you`ll need to order a packet of Bactoferm™ LHP culture. This particular culture is so fast that is will drop the pH to 5.0 in merely 48 hours. Rather than build a special fermentation chamber, we`ll use a baking sheet with salt inside your kitchen oven with the pilot light or a 100 watt bulb providing the only heat. LHP is well suited for all fermented sausages where a relatively pronounced acidification is desired. The culture is recommended for the production of traditionally fermented, dry sausages with a sourly flavor note. Each 42-gram packet of LHP will treat 500 pounds (225 kilo) of meat. Freeze the remaining culture. Don`t think for a minute that the remainder will go to waste. It is ideal for the quick fermentation of Kabanosy and other meat "sticks" also. You may prefer to use any number of recipes with this quick-acting fermentation culture. Cultures may be stored in your freezer 6 months. Un-refrigerated it has a shelf life of only 14 days.

So, if you`re interested in making a "third type" of the same chorizo recipe (or any other recipe you prefer), order a small packet (42 grams) of Bactoferm LHP now. We`ll be starting on it about the time you`ll be receiving your order. I think you`ll be very surprised at the speedy and uniform fermentation this culture provides. With a little "hands on" experience with the culture, you may prefer it in many of your sausages. There are limitless possibilities of sausage sticks that can be made with LHP.

Fully dry-cured or "air dried" sausages are yet another type of sausage; one in which a special "fermentation chamber" will be required. In "Project B", this "fully dry-cured" sausage is NOT covered. We will be starting another Project A for dry-cured sausage after Christmas.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! :D
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Post by Gulyás » Thu Oct 25, 2012 13:31

Hi Chuckwagon.

From here on I'll be only reading, and waiting till after Christmas, for dry-cured sausages.
Yesterday I picked up a freezer to make a fermentation chamber, I have everything else.
The reason I want to make my own sausages is to make sure I have the "good-old-slowwwwwwwwwwww-fermented" one, like I used to eat in the '50s, and '60s in Hungary.
When my cabinet is ready, I'll be making all kind of sausages, but now I have to clean leaves by the train loads.

In the meantime try to behave yourself, and I guaranty you won't have any fun.

Best Wishes Joe.
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Post by el Ducko » Thu Oct 25, 2012 17:08

Chuckwagon wrote: Rather than build a special fermentation chamber, we`ll use a baking sheet with salt inside your kitchen oven with the pilot light or a 100 watt bulb providing the only heat.
Any idea what temperature and humidity we might expect? I'm thinking of using my yard-sale dehydrator (which got "improved"** to run cool). I can block any number of several vents to keep it from drying so fast, if that would help. ...plus, I suspect that the reason for the salt is humidity control.


** - "improved" means "don't try this at home," but tried anyway. :roll:
In this case, I bent the little bi-metallic strip in the temperature control switch until I got what temperature I wanted. :cool:
Obviously don't do this while plugged in or turned on, or ZZZZZAAAPPP! :razz:

...and you thought Ross was the only tightwad around here, huh...? :wink:
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Post by crustyo44 » Thu Oct 25, 2012 23:18

Hi,
Some Project B Photos,
JImagean
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Post by crustyo44 » Thu Oct 25, 2012 23:19

AImage


Some more.
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Post by crustyo44 » Thu Oct 25, 2012 23:26

SomeImage smoked and dried csabai,
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Post by grasshopper » Wed Oct 31, 2012 04:03

I ordered my bactoferm LHP from butcher packer tonight. Than further reading it should go in the freezer. QUESTION The order of bactoferm T-SPX which I ordered a while back for project B, I just put it on the shelf not opened. So is it still good.? The package say's storage 17 deg C and that to me is 49 degrees. :roll:
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redzed
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Post by redzed » Wed Oct 31, 2012 04:18

Are you sure it did not say -17C (1.4F)?
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Post by Chuckwagon » Wed Oct 31, 2012 05:50

Sorry ol' chum,
That stuff only has a shelf life of 14 days if not refrigerated.
Frozen, it will be okay for 6 months.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! :D
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Post by grasshopper » Wed Oct 31, 2012 15:29

Redzed! Yup you're right it did say -17C. It did come in the middle of summer, so I thought after opening I would have to freeze it. (Dumb me) If I think about shipping and handling, from Denmark to Butcher and packer then to me. It would have to be frozen, coming from butcher and packer. No problem throwing it out. :oops:
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