I've been getting more into making sausage making lately and I've made 16lbs brats, 8lbs sticks, and 8lbs summer sausage recently(not many pics to post but they have been a hit!). So my daughter is 5(almost 6) now and I thought I'd go for a product that most middle class kindergartners love—hot dogs! I'd been toying with the idea for a while when I saw a recipe that lhendler had posted and decided to give it a try. It's his recipe with a 1/2 cup NFDM added. I followed the recipe pretty close except I had everything mixed and stuffed the same day. I didn't do the 2-day sit in the fridge with cure. I mixed, emulsified, stuffed, smoked, and vacuum packed the franks right away and put them away in the freezer. After mixing and emulsifying, the cure had made its way evenly through the meat and, at least in my experience, sausage seasoning flavors really come into their prime while sealed up in the freezer for a while. I had a short link after smoking for a tester and, well, it tasted like a hot dog, a pretty good one at that! I even got the kindergarten "thumbs up" for it. I'm excited to see how they taste out of the freezer after a couple of weeks. Pics below....
50% venison and 50% pork butt emulsified with seasoning. (or what the media would call "pink slime")
Links stuffed in 21mm clear casing. Tied individually with butcher twine.
Links hanging in the smoker before smoking.
Smoked 1hr no heat with AMPS and finished for another 2 hours-ish at 180deg F until 152 IT.
Once they hit finished temp dunk in ice water for a few minutes to stop cooking and prevent casing shrinkage(still got a little).
Sealed up and ready for the freezer. Probably going to open the first bag this weekend.
Picky, hot dog lovin', snow shovelin' kindergartner...
Stay tuned for more taste test results.
50% venison and 50% pork butt emulsified with seasoning. (or what the media would call "pink slime")
Links stuffed in 21mm clear casing. Tied individually with butcher twine.
Links hanging in the smoker before smoking.
Smoked 1hr no heat with AMPS and finished for another 2 hours-ish at 180deg F until 152 IT.
Once they hit finished temp dunk in ice water for a few minutes to stop cooking and prevent casing shrinkage(still got a little).
Sealed up and ready for the freezer. Probably going to open the first bag this weekend.
Picky, hot dog lovin', snow shovelin' kindergartner...
Stay tuned for more taste test results.