# Landjaeger for the first time - with pictures (QVIEW)



## hoity toit (Jan 18, 2015)

Being intrigued by *NEPAS* post about *Landjaeger* and *fermented sausage*, I wanted to try and follow his instructions and duplicate the process. I might add I tried making a fermented salami once and I failed on that one because of a humidity issue. I think I have that rectified now so here we go, gonna give it a shot.

So for my *Landjaeger*, I used 9 lbs of super lean venison all trimmed of the junk and membranes along with a little over 3 lbs of fresh ground pork fat. I used the recipe from *Ryteks Kutas* book that called for cure, fermento, corn syrup solids, some coriander, caraway seeds, white pepper, powdered dextrose and I added some crushed red pepper along with a little mustard seed and garlic powder to suite my taste.

The fat should have been *colder* when ground and mixed because I noticed some smearing during the mixing. _( I mixed by hand )._

Anyway got it all mixed up and added the culture/seasoning mix ( added some distilled water too) mixed a few more minutes and put in the frig overnight because I was beat and needed rest.

Early this morning 4am, I stuffed using some leftover casing I had. I stuffed pretty loose so it would flatten out. As each of the twins was stuffed they were then placed in my pans and I added a couple cinder blocks on top as weights. Back in my "fermenting chamber they go." Its actually a homemade cooler, I set the temp at 70*F and have humidifier running on high., at last check humidity was at 70%.

Today should prove to be 70 degrees here in my part of Texas so i decided to turn the cooler off and just run the humidifier and a box fan to keep the air moving. I'll keep an eye on it . _*I am concerned about fermenting at 70-80 degree because I haven't done this before and I am always used to keeping things cold you know., so this is a bit different but I know I can do it if I follow the direction of all you other Guru's out there who are always helpful to the cause.*_

o pictures , that's right, this thread is useless without pictures so *look below*, here they are as of ferment time.

I will update this thread in 3 days when they get the hickory smoke from Todd's smoker tray.

Comments and suggestions are quite welcome ladies and gentlemen...













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Femento, Corn Syrup solids, a few other spices to taste.













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Powdered Dextrose and some coriander below....













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Holding at 70*F steady.













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The control for the cooler is set at 70F probably will not  be over 70 here this week.













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Here is my venisont, ready to be seasoned. Pork fat added last.













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And my culture and spices mixed with some distilled water.













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4am and here we go.













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Butted up against each other and flat as a pancake.













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may use natural casings next time, but I had these from last year and needed to use them up.













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Good ole cinder blocks for weights.I have 2 pans of sausage.













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Top rack in the 70* "cooler" . Humidifyer is below on the floor.

Holding 70% @ 70 degrees rightnow













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Pan on the right is weighted down with water jugs for the last couple of  links that would not fit in the other 2 pans.













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Humidity @70%













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Going to keep a close eye on this, will be updating in a couple days.

Thanks for looking.

I might also add that i just bought the book by Stanley and Adam Marianski













[h1]The Art of Making Fermented Sausages. I can't wait for it to get here.[/h1]
*I am posting more pictures throughout the thread as it dries out...*


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## tropics (Jan 18, 2015)

Looks good just to much stuff to buy, for me to make it.I'll keep watching


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## hoity toit (Jan 18, 2015)

The moisture content is now up to 90% relative humidity and 60 degrees after 2 hrs closed up.., this is good I am thinking.


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## hoity toit (Jan 19, 2015)

_*Todays Update : *_Still in a holding pattern for one more day - 85-90% rel humid. @ 65-75 degrees F. I hope this is fermenting correctly. I am looking to put these in the smoker in one more day. It should work out to be humid then as well as the weatherman is predicting overcast and possible rain in 48 hrs.


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## hoity toit (Jan 20, 2015)

1/20/2015

Put the Landjaeger in the smoker with some hickory.  I think so far so good. Here are some pictures in the smoker.

Cold Smoke 80 degrees F or less using 2 Amazing smoker trays. (Hickory)

See how flat and square it looks..













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Double the Pleasure













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Cold smokin in S. Texas is a seasonal thing because it usually is hot here.

No heat in the chamber, just the smoke trays.













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## gary s (Jan 20, 2015)

Man o man  that look terrific   

Gary


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## chef willie (Jan 20, 2015)

look real good.....certainly a challenge.....Willie


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## hoity toit (Jan 20, 2015)

Chef Willie said:


> look real good.....certainly a challenge.....Willie


This has been a real learning curve for me, but thanks to SMF and all the good info I have confidence I can do this.Going to give them about 2 more hours of smoke., for a total of 6 hrs cold smoke., that should be about right since the flavors will mature over time the next few weeks in the drying chamber, or as it should be called the torture chamber because this is killing me waiting to see how or IF...they finish off.


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## hoity toit (Jan 20, 2015)

gary s said:


> Man o man  that look terrific
> 
> Gary


I'm trying....fermented is a new one for this fellah. Stay tuned.


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## dirtsailor2003 (Jan 20, 2015)

Looking good! This fermentation thing is fun to watch until I get a set up to do my own.


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## gary s (Jan 20, 2015)

Hoity Toit said:


> I'm trying....fermented is a new one for this fellah. Stay tuned.


Can't wait !!

Gary


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## woodcutter (Jan 20, 2015)

You must have been reading up a storm. I would like to try this some day and I'm enjoying your thread!


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## ontario smoker (Jan 20, 2015)

Will be following this thread till the very end.  Would like to build a fermentation chamber but too afraid to tackle it on my own.:sausage:


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## elginplowboy (Jan 20, 2015)

Looking good and I'm following. The book is great. I'm just up the road from u outside of Elgin. How big is your custom fermenting chamber and is that a window unit keeping it cool? I know what u mean about not being able to cold smoke here in Texas.What starter culture did u use?


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## hoity toit (Jan 21, 2015)

ElginPlowboy said:


> Looking good and I'm following. The book is great. I'm just up the road from u outside of Elgin. How big is your custom fermenting chamber and is that a window unit keeping it cool? I know what u mean about not being able to cold smoke here in Texas.What starter culture did u use?


It is 4x4x8' with a tricked out a/c unit, seperate control. 4" thick styrofoam walIs with fiberglas OSB on both sides of the styrofoam., 8" thick floor and ceilings. can go down to 30-32*F no problem.. Or hold it ot 70,60,50 whatever. Most of the time I use a a cooler Got shelfs and hanging rack inside and has been known to hold 3 deer when needed. I have a circulating fan and a humidifier I use when needed as well.


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## roller (Jan 22, 2015)

Nice you put ur time in on that one..Good job..


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## dingo007 (Jan 22, 2015)

Looking great...you'll love em. I made some recently out of Elk venison...they didn't last long. You'll love the book...best book for understanding the science behind all of this. IMO


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## hoity toit (Jan 22, 2015)

Dingo007 said:


> Looking great...you'll love em. I made some recently out of Elk venison...they didn't last long. You'll love the book...best book for understanding the science behind all of this. IMO


The book came in yesterday and I can see from reading that I have gone to the next level....starting to get obsessed with learning everything and mastering the art.


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## crazymoon (Jan 23, 2015)

Nice job, looking real good !


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## sam3 (Jan 23, 2015)

Looks real good so far. Were you able to get a ph reading after fermentation?


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## hoity toit (Jan 23, 2015)

sam3 said:


> Looks real good so far. Were you able to get a ph reading after fermentation?


Im waiting for my ph strips to get here


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## disco (Jan 27, 2015)

Wow, what a great thread and great looking sausage.

Disco


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## hoity toit (Jan 28, 2015)

Disco said:


> Wow, what a great thread and great looking sausage.
> 
> Disco


I am going to update with some more pictures of the drying process by this weekend, I looked at them yesterday and when i opened the door the humidity was at 85%and the temp was 58-60*F, the smoky aroma rolled out and smelled so good.They are coming right along and should be finished the last week of february. One thing I thought was unusual was that the cool mist humidifier I am using has like some filter paper that draws the water over it, and when I refilled it you could see it had started turning sort of a brown color. I smelled it and it smelled like smoke. I suppose fine "particles" of smoke inside the curing chamber exist when doing this process.

Dexter


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## daveomak (Jan 28, 2015)

Dexter, morning.....   Scroll over the link in your signature line.....   MES owners, walk in cooler, and Sausage Cam are connected by an underline and they can't be accessed.....   could you please fix that...... 

Dave


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## hoity toit (Jan 28, 2015)

DaveOmak said:


> Dexter, morning.....   Scroll over the link in your signature line.....   MES owners, walk in cooler, and Sausage Cam are connected by an underline and they can't be accessed.....   could you please fix that......
> 
> Dave


I sure will., thanks for letting me know. I got it fixed. Oh, and by the way here are some current pictures from today, day 10 of the drying process 60* F  @ 75-80% humidity. They are getting there.













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## chef willie (Jan 28, 2015)

OK now.....those are looking really, really fine.....Willie


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## dirtsailor2003 (Jan 28, 2015)

Points for thosr photos! Looking great!


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## boykjo (Jan 28, 2015)

Very nice Dexter..............


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## hoity toit (Jan 28, 2015)

boykjo said:


> Very nice Dexter..............


Thanks, I will update these photos for the next few weeks as it matures to being ready.


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## gary s (Jan 28, 2015)

Man !!!  those things look really good,  Can't wait for samples

Gary


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## red dog (Jan 28, 2015)

That is some great looking sausage there. Any idea where you are at in terms of percentage of weight loss? What is your goal?


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## hoity toit (Jan 28, 2015)

looking for about 40-50% hopefully..


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## idasmoker (Jan 29, 2015)

H.T.,

Hi, you mentioned you were awaiting pH strips.  Just wondering what the pH was (another poster asked the same thing and you replied that you were awaiting your pH strips)?  I would be worried if your LG's did not have enough acidity to prevent nasty bacteria.  Maybe the natural flora was enough to lower the pH to a safe level because Fermento does not lower the pH very much, if at all.  Did you finish these to at least 140 F  (just in case I missed something and you raised the smoker temps to finish the sausage to a cooked level)?  If so, you should be safe. 

Generally Landjaeger are a "rohwurst" meaning it is not cooked at all, similar to how traditional salami is made which requires certified pork and the proper starter cultures to lower the pH to a safe level.

Not using a starter culture or other means to lower the pH is maybe risky, just saying.


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## elginplowboy (Feb 10, 2015)

Update? How are they doing?


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## hoity toit (Feb 13, 2015)

One more week and it will be ready.

PH after fementation was 5.0/5.2

I sampled 2 of them this week and I good with it, didn't get sick, moisture content was pretty low and the flavor was awesome. Will update next weeken with the money shots.


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## hoity toit (Feb 20, 2015)

*Landjaeger QVIEW*, it is finally ready. The Landjager has lost about 40% weight, I cut into one last week and it was close. It was stuffed the second week of January so that makes it about 7 weeks in the drying chamber. Being the first time I have made this particular type of sausage I feel I put a little too much back fat in it. The flavor is tart with that bite I like, mild for the hickory smoke I used, and is pleasant to my palate. Next batch I will use less back fat and use a starter culture instead of the Fermento.  The recipe I used was straight out of the Rytek Kutas book and I followed it exactly..

So here are the final pictures of the finished product.













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*It has a nice color too.........*













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*Here are the close-ups.,notice the square shape.*













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a little too much fat in some of them, probably because I did not evenly distribut it,.tried to gently add the fat and not squish it so it wouldn't smear.

Not bad for my first try at this type.













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Thanks for looking and for all the advice and comments !


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## dirtsailor2003 (Feb 20, 2015)

Hoity Toit said:


> *Landjaeger QVIEW*, it is finally ready. The Landjager has lost about 40% weight, I cut into one last week and it was close. It was stuffed the second week of January so that makes it about 7 weeks in the drying chamber. Being the first time I have made this particular type of sausage I feel I put a little too much back fat in it. The flavor is tart with that bite I like, mild for the hickory smoke I used, and is pleasant to my palate. Next batch I will use less back fat and use a starter culture instead of the Fermento.  The recipe I used was straight out of the Rytek Kutas book and I followed it exactly..
> 
> So here are the final pictures of the finished product.
> 
> ...


Now That deserves some


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## idasmoker (Feb 20, 2015)

It looks like you have about a 40 to 50% fat to lean ratio.  I agree, try to get it more in the 20 to 30% range.  I am glad your Fermento dropped the pH to a safe level and provided enough tang for taste.  I never got that and that's why I only use T-SPX starter culture in mine.  You could use other cultures, depending on how sour you want your LJ's to taste.  As a real German kraut, I like mine using the T-SPX which gives a milder acidity.  Anyway, nice job.  You obviously have a great setup for your incubation and curing.  Give Len Poli's recipe a try the next time.  It is the most traditional I have tested:  http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Roh-landjaeger.pdf

I like to use all pork (butt) and no beef and I don't add liquid smoke, rather, I like to smoke using Beechwood pellets in the Amazing Pellet smoker.  I do freeze the pork for at least 30 days at minus 10 F just to make sure to kill any trichinosis that may be there before grinding and stuffing.


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## gary s (Feb 20, 2015)

Man does that look good 

gary


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## pwrwgnwalt (Feb 21, 2015)

Very nice process!  Looks delicious, I am a long-time fan of LJ, and just tried my first batch in December (Cabelas mix).  I may try the Kutas or Poli recipe next time... 

Great job!:yahoo:


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## hoity toit (Feb 21, 2015)

gary s said:


> Man does that look good
> 
> gary


Thanks Gary, it is being eaten up pretty fast too.


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## hoity toit (Feb 21, 2015)

Pwrwgnwalt said:


> Very nice process! Looks delicious, I am a long-time fan of LJ, and just tried my first batch in December (Cabelas mix). I may try the Kutas or Poli recipe next time...
> 
> Great job!


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*Thank you sir, this has really opened my eyes to the science of Charcuterie and the fermentation process. This has been a enjoyable learning experience for me. It has taken me to a whole new skill set level, and I like that !*


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## sam3 (Feb 24, 2015)

Finally catching up with this thread. What a terrific looking product you made Dexter. I bet it's delicious!

Great job!!


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## wazzuqer (May 21, 2016)

Great thread lots good info...


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