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Post by Al on Feb 28, 2010 7:48:44 GMT -5
My grandpa and dad had a slaughterhouse from the early 40's till the late 70's. The kill floor and cutting room are still in working order (yeah, I'm spoiled when it comes to doing my own deer) ;D The pride and joy of their operation was summer sausage. Both were sticklers for using good meat, either it be beef or wild game, if they wouldn't eat it, it didn't go in. Prying the recipie from either of them was to no avail either, even the last days with my dad, he wouldn't disclose much. Two falls ago, my #1 son wanted to give it a try, he had helped my dad on occasion, so taking what he knew, and what my bro and myself could remember, we gave it a whirl. It came out ok, but was missing something we couldn't put our finger on. Nobody had ever really seen dad mixing the seasoning (he always had us trimming meat!!) Heck, we had to sort thru some garbage just to find what he was mixing to start with!!! This past fall I ponyed up the 75# of moose meat needed, got the pork butts to make up the rest, mixed the seasoning and added a bunch of brown sugar this time. Wa-la, boys, think we have it now!! At least those who had tried it haven't complained A batch is 110-120#, about 18 sticks, wheel could hold about 25 bags a crack, need to babysit it every hour as it's cooked over wood, average 10hr to cook on nice nonwindy days.
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Post by ET on Feb 28, 2010 11:47:29 GMT -5
Al Nice setup for brewing your own that I am hoping to learn in my lifetime. I won’t let a Butcher touch my deer again when butchering after learning how to de-bone my own. What a difference in taste. For now a butcher does our sausage and smoked pepperoni and hope to gradually eliminate sending our meat out all together. I agree there’s something special about doing your own. Yeah trying to find/get a good recipe is like treasure hunting. Ed
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Post by mountainam on Mar 1, 2010 16:09:24 GMT -5
ET, I know everyone has their own threshold for spices. I tried 3 or 4 different brands of Trail Bologna mixes and settled on LEM products out of Harrison, OH. By far the best tasting. I started out with a Brinkman Smoker and quickly outgrew it. I couldn't hang the 6"x 20" Bolognas and had to fabricate my own from a large pressure tank used for a home well water system. Nothing like home smoked meats. Give them a look! WWW.LEMPRODUCTS.com.
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Post by ET on Mar 1, 2010 21:04:39 GMT -5
Mountainam
Thanks for the link. While at Gander Mountain (US) just after Christmas my good friend and I seen the LEMs on sale. A ¾-hp grinder went on sale from $350 to $250 with all the gizmo attachments and I almost bought one for myself. But other purchases took priorities that trip. Next go around on a sale it will be a done deal. I also would like the capability of just having some ground deer meat for other recipes.
I agree nothing like home smoked meats done with flavor of choice. I really found your choice for a smoker conversion unique. Now I call that “Innovative”.
Ed
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Post by Al on Mar 4, 2010 4:43:15 GMT -5
Al Nice setup for brewing your own that I am hoping to learn in my lifetime. I won’t let a Butcher touch my deer again when butchering after learning how to de-bone my own. What a difference in taste. For now a butcher does our sausage and smoked pepperoni and hope to gradually eliminate sending our meat out all together. I agree there’s something special about doing your own. Yeah trying to find/get a good recipe is like treasure hunting. Ed Ed, it's been a fun relearning curve for sure. Dad once used gas for his primary heat while burning a bucket of wood chips in the corner. Then somebody made the comment it tasted like somebody elses, and that was it, back to straight wood he went. Some have commented it's "too smokey", but they are also fast to grab another piece when it's cut. He never did get into peppersticks, and always used cloth bags. Trickey part is not getting things too hot or the bags will burst. He had it down to a science and at 85, he was still stoking wood. Speaking of the cloth bags, I sent some over to our main office last fall (figured to score some brownie points with the CFO and CEO. I got a nice e-mail back saying the flavor was outstanding, but was a little tuff to chew......................... yeah, they sliced it and didn't take off the cloth bag.
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Post by smokeeter on Mar 4, 2010 8:38:43 GMT -5
I can attest to the elk sausage, only problem is , it's all gone.
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Post by ET on Mar 4, 2010 18:34:58 GMT -5
I can attest to the elk sausage, only problem is , it's all gone. Have plenty of deer sausage and smoked pepperoni in the freezer so no problem here. ;D At least for 4 months anyway. Ed
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Post by ET on Mar 4, 2010 18:59:11 GMT -5
Al In today’s lifestyle buying food at a grocery market it seems some of the art for preparation of meats, bread, etc. is either being lost or no longer really known. Like your example of some people not recognizing and forgetting to remove the bag remnant after cutting off a slice. ;D ;D People just quickly buy off the shelf what is made available to them because of our fast paced society. I have to admit when I was younger it was eat and run but as I got older I began to enjoy some of the finer basic food preparation and cooking. And now am interested in learning some of that almost lost art. Sure there’s more work to it than meets the eye but the reward of the end quality is worth the effort put into it. I also have to agree smoking with wood is the way to go for best flavor. Don’t think my neighbors here would be able to tell the difference from a smoker or fire and would hate to have to promise the firemen a tasty treat after their visit to pacify any upsets if I ever set up a wood smoker here. ;D Ed
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Post by Al on Mar 5, 2010 3:57:57 GMT -5
I can attest to the elk sausage, only problem is , it's all gone. Smoke, must have been the boys eating it!!! One of the guys I work with makes his own bacon and finishes it off in a little Brinkman smoker, does a pretty fair job at it too. I told him next batch I'd cook it for him Another thing I really want to try sometime, is turkeys and hams, but problem with this big ole smokehouse, takes the same amount of wood to cook 1 or 10! I'll have to root around the net for some cures for both and maybe give it a whirl.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2010 22:31:22 GMT -5
Al.... Talked it over with my son and we're going to invest in the equipment to make sausage, salami etc....You're post was the last straw in our decision....Can't tell [or don't want to] how much we've spent having our venison processed over the years. Thanks for the encouragement Zen
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Post by smokepole50 on Nov 22, 2010 11:04:54 GMT -5
LEM makes great products. I bought one of their #8 grinders about 5 years ago. They had it on sale at the time and I think it was just over $200. I called and ask them ahead of ordering about it's throughput and they were spot on. I can grind a deer if it is deboned in about 10 minutes. This grinder has about a 2 inch throat and with the 3/8" cutter it eats sinue and all. I just cut the meat in long strips and feed it right in. I usually trim all the sinue I can easly get to but it is not necessary with this grinder. Just grind it once, mix in you preground beef fat and grind it a second time to mix and make the pieces a bit smaller. I used to use the smaller knife plate but it just takes longer and is a waste of time unless you like very a very fine grind for making hot dog chile burger or maybe it would be good for sausage. This #8 grinder is supposed to grind 240 lbs an hour and I believe it would do it.
I also have a book that I was given for Christmas in 1992 and I think it came from Cabela's at the time. I have yet to use any of the recipes out of it because I just have not made time to make any smoked sausage yet but it is a very comprehensive book and may be of help to those who want to make different types of sausage. The book is called "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Cures" by Rytek Kutas. Who person is that wrote it, I don't have a clue but the book is 500 pages long and tells you much about everything reguarding meat curing.
Al...........if you are willing, I would be very interested in knowing the basics of you fathers recipe. I have been wanting to make summer sausage for a long time but one of the things that has kept me from doing it is not wanting to waste time with trial and error. You can PM me if you don't want the world to know your dads secret recipe, I promise I won't tell. ;D
Smokepole
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Post by deadon on Nov 22, 2010 17:21:11 GMT -5
LEM makes great products. I bought one of their #8 grinders about 5 years ago. They had it on sale at the time and I think it was just over $200. I called and ask them ahead of ordering about it's throughput and they were spot on. I can grind a deer if it is deboned in about 10 minutes. This grinder has about a 2 inch throat and with the 3/8" cutter it eats sinue and all. I just cut the meat in long strips and feed it right in. I usually trim all the sinue I can easly get to but it is not necessary with this grinder. Just grind it once, mix in you preground beef fat and grind it a second time to mix and make the pieces a bit smaller. I used to use the smaller knife plate but it just takes longer and is a waste of time unless you like very a very fine grind for making hot dog chile burger or maybe it would be good for sausage. This #8 grinder is supposed to grind 240 lbs an hour and I believe it would do it. I also have a book that I was given for Christmas in 1992 and I think it came from Cabela's at the time. I have yet to use any of the recipes out of it because I just have not made time to make any smoked sausage yet but it is a very comprehensive book and may be of help to those who want to make different types of sausage. The book is called "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Cures" by Rytek Kutas. Who person is that wrote it, I don't have a clue but the book is 500 pages long and tells you much about everything reguarding meat curing. Al...........if you are willing, I would be very interested in knowing the basics of you fathers recipe. I have been wanting to make summer sausage for a long time but one of the things that has kept me from doing it is not wanting to waste time with trial and error. You can PM me if you don't want the world to know your dads secret recipe, I promise I won't tell. ;D Smokepole Smokepole , try this one. 8 lbs of venison,2 lbs of beef fat,4 tblsp hickory smoked salt, 8 tblsp mortons tender quick salt,4 tblsp garlic powder, 3 small bottles of mustard seed. Mix with wet hands four days in a row,refrigerating over night after each mixing. On the 5th day make into 10 logs ,wrap in wax paper and cook at 175 for 5 to 6 hrs turning every hour. I use a large cookie sheet and place the logs on a wire rack so they do not lay in the juice.Folks who have tried it have not complained Rusty------- PS, you should refrigerate 2 weeks before freezing but that never happens at my house
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Post by ourway77 on Jan 4, 2011 11:51:01 GMT -5
That is some smoke house you have there, mine is nowhere as big but it's fine for what I need done.I will never send my Deer meat out again I took the best part of 4 Deer and trimed the meat to where there was no fat or grissel and the hind quarters the back straps all the best I took it to one who was to be the best at his trade boy was I diapointed when I went to pick the processed meat and found they throw all the meat into one vat and process it. So there went all my hard work. I was disgusted I vented that I was really dipleased of the fact that they mixed my meat with the run of the mill junk that some hunters take there to be made into various sausage. Never again I do it myself now and believe me what a difference I buy my own ingredience and I smoke the meat first grind then add the ingredence stuff the casings and smoke the entire thing for a day it is quite easy to do with all the ingredience pre mixed I have a VG Grinder SS that I bought 2HP with the stuffing attachments for the grinder, I buy the best natural casings. Wallah bon apetite. Lou
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Post by mdgroundhogger on Jan 16, 2011 23:31:50 GMT -5
My granddad used to say those same words when we would process ours. If you won't eat it keep it out of the pot!
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