So as you may know, I am always messing around with sausage that's a bit leaner. For both the kielbasa and the brats I used the following meats:
2.5 lbs pork loin
1.25 lbs. 80/20 ground beef
1.25 lbs. pork butt
So if my math is right (which it's probably not haha), each 4oz. Serving will come in at about 12-14 grams of fat. I'd guess closer to 14 because I used the fattier ends of the loin.
So first the kielbasa:
Ground all three meats through the medium plates just once, seasoned up (salt, pepper,marjoram, fresh garlic, cure #1)and mixed until it stuck to the palm of my hand. Used a cup of ice water and a half cup of NFDM:
Added 8oz. of cubed extra sharp yellow cheddar:
Stuffed them with only one blowout while twisting links which to me is a great success:
Into the smoker for about an hour at 130 with no smoke to dry them a bit. Of course it was 4 degrees out so I had to use my propane torch to heat up the sensor in my MES because it was reading some bizarre code which I learned from this forum means that it is reading a temp to low.
Plan was to give it 3-4 hours of hickory smoke once it was dry. Started at 130 and bumped it up abot 160 halfway through. Here it is about half way through the smoke:
And after abot 3.5 hours when I pulled them:
Most of the links were around 130-135 degrees IT so I finished in a warm water bath. It got dark and It was too damn cold to keep running out to the smoker to check on them.
Took about 20 minutes to reach temp in 165 degree water. I find that's like a magic number. No matter what the IT is when you pull from the smoker, they always seem to be up to about 152 in 20 minutes. Threw all but one link in ice water to cool them down:
That one link was my sample:
I was really happy with the texture and the juiciness. My wife who is a picky eater said they were some of her favorite that I have made so far. The extra sharp cheddar was a good addition and I'm glad I made the last minute decision to do it. I was a little hesitant because it wasn't high temp cheese but it held up pretty well to smoking and warm water finish. Casings had a nice snap too! Had this discussion with@Foamheart that I feel like being happy with the sausage I make is streaky... I have months where I am happy with what I make and then others where I just can't seem to get them to be just how I want them whether flavor or texture. Since this one was a good one I hope it's a good month haha
Thanks for looking. Be back later with the Brats.
-Chris
2.5 lbs pork loin
1.25 lbs. 80/20 ground beef
1.25 lbs. pork butt
So if my math is right (which it's probably not haha), each 4oz. Serving will come in at about 12-14 grams of fat. I'd guess closer to 14 because I used the fattier ends of the loin.
So first the kielbasa:
Ground all three meats through the medium plates just once, seasoned up (salt, pepper,marjoram, fresh garlic, cure #1)and mixed until it stuck to the palm of my hand. Used a cup of ice water and a half cup of NFDM:
Added 8oz. of cubed extra sharp yellow cheddar:
Stuffed them with only one blowout while twisting links which to me is a great success:
Into the smoker for about an hour at 130 with no smoke to dry them a bit. Of course it was 4 degrees out so I had to use my propane torch to heat up the sensor in my MES because it was reading some bizarre code which I learned from this forum means that it is reading a temp to low.
Plan was to give it 3-4 hours of hickory smoke once it was dry. Started at 130 and bumped it up abot 160 halfway through. Here it is about half way through the smoke:
And after abot 3.5 hours when I pulled them:
Most of the links were around 130-135 degrees IT so I finished in a warm water bath. It got dark and It was too damn cold to keep running out to the smoker to check on them.
Took about 20 minutes to reach temp in 165 degree water. I find that's like a magic number. No matter what the IT is when you pull from the smoker, they always seem to be up to about 152 in 20 minutes. Threw all but one link in ice water to cool them down:
That one link was my sample:
I was really happy with the texture and the juiciness. My wife who is a picky eater said they were some of her favorite that I have made so far. The extra sharp cheddar was a good addition and I'm glad I made the last minute decision to do it. I was a little hesitant because it wasn't high temp cheese but it held up pretty well to smoking and warm water finish. Casings had a nice snap too! Had this discussion with@Foamheart that I feel like being happy with the sausage I make is streaky... I have months where I am happy with what I make and then others where I just can't seem to get them to be just how I want them whether flavor or texture. Since this one was a good one I hope it's a good month haha
Thanks for looking. Be back later with the Brats.
-Chris