Fatty summer sausage.

[bob2]

I cooked this recipe this weekend - https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/first-time-smoking-venison-summer-sausage-with-complete-recipe-and-how-to-guide.133281/ double batch - 12 lbs elk, 8 lbs pork belly. I've made it once before, but with pork shoulder. Half I left plain, half I added 1lb high temp cheddar cheese and 1lb fresh jalapenos. So this is my second official batch ever.

I should've been more hands on but at the 150F stage I checked on it and it was like 178F - I think it had coasted high. So I reset and finished the 4 hours at 150F and then about four hours at 170F to finish it at 156F then straight to ice water.

It turned out good but it seems really fatty to my tastes. Could it have "fatted out" with the high temp? I see nice white chunks of fat in it - no real holes where there should be fat. Maybe a litte of that going on. But there are fat drop marks on the casings. Or is it just the difference between pork shoulder and pork belly? Or should I dial it back to a 70/30 ratio next batch? I don't remember the last batch being fatty like this.

I will say I don't know if the smoke added much. We had some leftovers after stuffing and pan fried it and it was amazing! Summer sausage not as good but decent.

 

[bob2]

Last batch I also hung vertical, this batch I laid on the racks

 

[jcam222]

Sure looks good to me either way. I can’t answer your question but I’m sure someone will come along who can

 

[pc farmer]

Belly will be higher in fat for sure. I dont see a fat out issue. If using bellies I would cut it way back.

 

[bob2]

Belly will be higher in fat for sure. I dont see a fat out issue. If using bellies I would cut it way back.

Dang well I made a mistake there. Oh well live and learn

 

[chopsaw]

It sure looks good .

 

[tx smoker]

I should've been more hands on but at the 150F stage I checked on it and it was like 178F - I think it had coasted high.

I presume you mean that the smoker temp was 178 as opposed to the IT of the sausage. If that's the case you're not going to get a fat-out. Typically that doesn't happen unless the smoker temp goes over 180 for any length of time and the sausage gets too hot. As has already been mentioned, you may have had too high a fat ratio in your mix. Another possible factor could be over mixing and "breaking" the farce. That's when the meat starts to emulsify and the fat is breaking down further than you want it to for basic sausage. One last item could be that the meat got too warm during the grinding / mixing process. if that happens the fat will actually start to melt into the meat and come across as greasy in the finished product. The must must be kept at temps in the low 30's if at all possible.

Robert

 

[bob2]

Yep, smoker temp not meat. I tried hard to keep cold. The elk was still pretty frozen but the pork had thawed. I put all grinder parts in the freezer but maybe my little $100 Costco grinder got hot grinding 20 lbs

 

[tx smoker]

Edit:
<See below. Don't know why this posted twice>

 

[tx smoker]

I put all grinder parts in the freezer but maybe my little $100 Costco grinder got hot grinding 20 lbs

First thing, don't put the grinder parts in the freezer. They will get too cold, the meat will freeze to them and clog the grinder. Put them in the fridge, yes, but not the freezer. Were the strands of meat coming out of the grinder clean or were they gummy and kind of globbed up? You may be overloading the tube on the grinder and the auger is churning the meat to silly putty before it can get it ground up. Here is a link to a tutorial I did not too long ago with some basic info on sausage making. I didn't start taking pics till after the meat was ground but there may be some useful info.

Smoked Cajun Sausage & A Basic Tutorial (Lotsa Pics)

The past several days I've been helping my new friend David (@dwdunlap) through the learning curve of making sausage. He made a batch of the Cajun sausage I sent him the spice mix for. At the end of the day, he apparently did OK but hit a couple of roadblocks. I got a PM from him asking a few...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Robert

 

[bob2]

First thing, don't put the grinder parts in the freezer. They will get too cold, the meat will freeze to them and clog the grinder. Put them in the fridge, yes, but not the freezer. Were the strands of meat coming out of the grinder clean or were they gummy and kind of globbed up? You may be overloading the tube on the grinder and the auger is churning the meat to silly putty before it can get it ground up. Here is a link to a tutorial I did not too long ago with some basic info on sausage making. I didn't start taking pics till after the meat was ground but there may be some useful info.

Smoked Cajun Sausage & A Basic Tutorial (Lotsa Pics)

The past several days I've been helping my new friend David (@dwdunlap) through the learning curve of making sausage. He made a batch of the Cajun sausage I sent him the spice mix for. At the end of the day, he apparently did OK but hit a couple of roadblocks. I got a PM from him asking a few...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Robert

Thanks, I'll check your tutorial out. No food froze to it, no clog, no stands. I hit it with food grade silicone spray before grinding. It stayed pretty cold to the touch during the process so this might not be the culprit, although your description of a greasy finished product sounds accurate.