Thought I would introduce myself to the good folks at Smoking Meats! New to making sausages, but not new to smoking meats in general. I started out with a Bradley smoker and had decent success with it for getting great flavored meats. I used it for quite a few years before my parents received a Traeger pellet grill with the purchase of a car. My parents are seniors and really didn't have much use for it so they gave it to me. I quickly found that there's a pretty big difference between it and the Bradley. The Bradley was quickly relegated to the basement and left untouched for a few years since the Traeger does an absolutely wonderful job with chicken and all other meats for that matter. My wife and I love jerk chicken - though I prefer jerk pork just a bit more.
As great as the Traeger is for hot smoking meats, it isn't able to cold smoke, or have temps run below 170-180F at the lowest. This wasn't a problem before, but now that I've gotten into sausage making, I need to be able to run temps a tad cooler so I don't end up rendering the fat. Hence, the Bradley has been rescued and put to use.
After struggling with the KitchenAid grinder/stuffer attachment I initially purchased, I picked up a Weston 11lb vertical stuffer and a Weston 1/3rd hp Butcher Series #5 Commercial Grade grinder a short while ago. I've watched a ton of YouTube and have a few recipes, but I've also picked up Marianski's book Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages. Wife says it's more of a college textbook than it is anything else largely due to the sheer amount of info in it. She's not completely wrong.
In any event, since picking up the gear, I've made some Jalapeno Chedder Smokies, breakfast sausages, garlic coil, and most recently, Pepperoni with the recipe posted by BGKYSmoker. I know the forum loves pictures, so here's a few:
Jalapeno Cheddar Smokies fresh out of the smoker
Hot off the grill and in a bun. Gobs of mustard and piles of onions makes for perfection
Money shot of the jalapeno bits and pockets of cheese
Garlic coil getting a good smoke in the Bradley
Finally here are a few of the Pepperoni sticks I made using BGKYSmoker's recipe.
I've got lots of learning to do on all of this, but hopefully the fine folks here are friendly enough and are willing lend some helpful advise.
As great as the Traeger is for hot smoking meats, it isn't able to cold smoke, or have temps run below 170-180F at the lowest. This wasn't a problem before, but now that I've gotten into sausage making, I need to be able to run temps a tad cooler so I don't end up rendering the fat. Hence, the Bradley has been rescued and put to use.
After struggling with the KitchenAid grinder/stuffer attachment I initially purchased, I picked up a Weston 11lb vertical stuffer and a Weston 1/3rd hp Butcher Series #5 Commercial Grade grinder a short while ago. I've watched a ton of YouTube and have a few recipes, but I've also picked up Marianski's book Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages. Wife says it's more of a college textbook than it is anything else largely due to the sheer amount of info in it. She's not completely wrong.
In any event, since picking up the gear, I've made some Jalapeno Chedder Smokies, breakfast sausages, garlic coil, and most recently, Pepperoni with the recipe posted by BGKYSmoker. I know the forum loves pictures, so here's a few:
Jalapeno Cheddar Smokies fresh out of the smoker
Hot off the grill and in a bun. Gobs of mustard and piles of onions makes for perfection
Money shot of the jalapeno bits and pockets of cheese
Garlic coil getting a good smoke in the Bradley
Finally here are a few of the Pepperoni sticks I made using BGKYSmoker's recipe.
I've got lots of learning to do on all of this, but hopefully the fine folks here are friendly enough and are willing lend some helpful advise.
