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  1. hog warden

    Kielbasa Quest chapter 2: Smokies

    Yes, does look pretty good. What I eventually realized was when trying out new recipes, 5 pounds makes for a good size for a test run. A lot of recipes show spices for 10 pounds, so is easy to cut that into half. And if using pork, almost any pork butt will yield at least 5 pounds when trimmed...
  2. hog warden

    Pickled Smoked Hot Sausages

    I remember back in the day when most taverns would have a big jar of pickled eggs or the Penrose pickled sausage on the shelf. Also pickled beets. Have traditional recipes for the eggs, but not the sausages. If forced to try it, would probably follow the recipe given by Rytek for the beer...
  3. hog warden

    Drum smoker help

    The concern with that method is if you have much fuel in the basket, the fire tends to spread to lite it all.....then when the lid comes off, the fire can take off and get out of hand. Not a big concern with a brisket but can do some damage to delicate sausages. The snake method sounds like a...
  4. hog warden

    Drum smoker help

    The snake method has merit. If memory serves, I tried that once, but had trouble keeping it going. Wondering what would happen in first photo showing smaller basket inside larger basket, if charcoal / fuel were stacked between outer basket and inner basket? The charcoal could stack higher and...
  5. hog warden

    Drum smoker help

    One design that might work is to take the stock fuel basket, which has solid outside walls, and install a 2nd inner liner, creating a circular channel around the outside edge. Fill that with fuel, then let it burn its way around. Has anyone tried that? If so, how wide did you leave the channel...
  6. hog warden

    Drum smoker help

    My secondary smoker, the one I actually use for sausage is also a 55 gallon drum, but not a UDS. This one I cut a 10 inch diameter hole in the bottom if it, intending to place it on a larger fish cooker burner. The one I place under my pressure canner. That one struggles as it is about 60,000...
  7. hog warden

    Drum smoker help

    My primary smoker is a UDS.....built to original plans, now modified using some internals acquired from Mark Hunsaker of Hunsaker smokers fame. Works great for the normal smoked meats, but have had a time stepping it down to temps used for smoking sausage. Trying to get it to 130...
  8. hog warden

    Sweet Italian Sausage Recipe

    You want to try one that is "uniquely" sweet.........here you go. Described as a "Sicilian-style" fresh sausage. Can be stuffed into casings or used as bulk. In this recipe, the "sweet" comes from the anise. Think licorice. Some like it a lot.......some not at all. 5 pounds ground pork butt 5...
  9. hog warden

    1st Lockhart-style sausage

    Actually had to look up Lockhart style. Salt and pepper by themselves about as simple as it gets. From there, one can branch out into many, many others. Hot guts takes that, plus garlic and onion powder. Polish Kielbasa.......plus garlic and marjoram. Italian is salt, pepper, garlic ...
  10. hog warden

    Non fat dried milk

    This keeps getting better. I have a jar of the NFDM from Sausage Maker.......and no where on the label or jar does it even mention "high heat". It does on the website, but not on the product itself. Also have a box of Instant non fat dried milk from Walmart. Other than the word "instant", a...
  11. hog warden

    Non fat dried milk

    Here is a link to the guys that make/sell the stuff. They list uses for Low Heat, Medium Heat and High Heat. They say the latter is used for baked goods and meats. Again, if this is true, then all references in books, recipies, etc. ought to say so. Don't just say NFDM, say high heat non-fat...
  12. hog warden

    Non fat dried milk

    My reason for asking about store bought (low temp) vs. high temp from places like Sausage maker........the video by 2 guys & cooler (cajuneric here) is the only place I've seen the distinction made in detail. None of the books and none of the online videos from the "experts" even mention there...
  13. hog warden

    Non fat dried milk

    For those of you who add dried milk as a binder, who uses the stuff from the grocery store vs. the high temp stuff from places like Sausage Maker? Does it work the same? Granual size is different, but that can be mitigated if you mix it along with spices and cure with the extra water. It will...
  14. hog warden

    Getting to the bottom of what happens to cure in smoked sausage

    BTW, I should also add that when I use cure in sausage, it is added as 1 tsp Instacure #1 per 5 pounds of meat (.25% by weight) first dissolved into ice water, which is added at rate of 10% of meat by weight. It is essentially a brine that is mixed until the sausage turns tacky and sticky to the...
  15. hog warden

    Getting to the bottom of what happens to cure in smoked sausage

    BTW, as far as process goes, curing issue aside, if one is making 10 pounds or more, grinding and stuffing one day, then letting stuffed sausage rest overnight and smoking next day is not a bad plan. Doing it all in one day, along with cleanup, makes for a very long day. If it then improves...
  16. hog warden

    Getting to the bottom of what happens to cure in smoked sausage

    Yes, good information but while both stir the same pot as every other source (and like most other sources, also get cross threaded by using nitrates and nitrites interchangably when they are not) they do not address my question, which is how much time does it take for the nitrite in the cures we...
  17. hog warden

    Getting to the bottom of what happens to cure in smoked sausage

    Just so all are understanding my questions, what I'm trying to figure out is if all the sausage books ever written and all the recipes are leaving out some critical last step........or if this 12 to 24 hour waiting period for nitrite to do its thing is hokum.
  18. hog warden

    Getting to the bottom of what happens to cure in smoked sausage

    Lets the nitrite convert to do it's thing? We may be getting somewhere. What thing is that?
  19. hog warden

    Getting to the bottom of what happens to cure in smoked sausage

    What I went looking for and could never find was what happens during the 12 to 24 hours these guys say the stuffed sausage needs to rest in the fridge before smoking. The part related to the curing process......not the drying out part. They say smoking is not safe if you fail to give it time to...
  20. hog warden

    Getting to the bottom of what happens to cure in smoked sausage

    To paraphrase Capt. Ron........."it's the land of voodoo, whodoo and all kinds of weird.......stuff". So have been pulling together some information in order to do some Texas hot guts smoked sausage........and all was well until I started watching the youtube videos..........and guys are all...
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