Reg's Sausage Making

[reg]

morning Tea. your quote " Have been doing some research and found out what prague powder is, so I will have to see if the butcher stocks that."

what you are going to find out is that there are two (2) different curing salts. PP#1 which has nitrite bonded onto the salt and PP#2 which has both nitrate and nitrite bonded onto the salt.
PP#1 is used for semi dried sausages, bacon and hams. PP#2 is used on dried sausages. it may seem confusing at first but it really is not.

usually when hanging sausages they are the dried type that require time, lower temps, 50*F and humidity in the 70% area. that is easier to attain than the 85% - 90% required for most cheeses. the sausage in one of the photos is a semi dried Polish sausage that has been smoked. very very easy to do and a fantastic tasting sausage. the great thing is that you can use turkey or chicken meat for that sausage. :-)))

either of those books mentioned are invaluable when learning about sausage making

reg

[Tea]

Yes I read that there were two types of prague, so I will probably get a bag of both, as long as they aren't sold in sack bag sizes, as I want to try both types.

Getting lower temps and humidity for me IS the hard part.  Even in winter we barely drop below 70% humidity, so I may have to wait until next winter to make the dried sausages, as I don't have a cellar or cave here.  Oh well, more time to gather everything together in preparation.

My husband is prepared to help me with the smoker, so hopefully I will get to try that out soon.  Actually the cold smoker sounds interesting, and I was thinking that for the likes of smoking cheese, that would be better than hot smoking? 

I just need patience.  I have to get the tax done before I can justify any more time away playing 

[bec1986]

i made some corned beef last time we killed a steer and i had to buy a solution because saltpetre isnt available here because it can be used in bombs and gunpowder, as saltpetre is sodium nitrate (i think or similar) i would love to know if you manage to get your hands on it.....also deals direct had a small electric mincer and sausage stuffing attachment and i remember it was cheap but alas i cant find it anymore "sob" i wanted it but couldnt afford at the time. it gets painful when you do 40kg of mince in a hand mincer!

note: just had a look and found what i think is same or similar product on ebay not sure if im allowed to post link here but someone high up can delete it with my blessing if this is so,   http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-1500W-ELECTRIC-MEAT-GRINDER-MINCER-SAUSAGE-MAKER_W0QQitemZ120301110705QQihZ002QQcategoryZ118201QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Cheese Head]

Hi Bec, there's only me and I'm definately wouldn't say higher up, of course you can post links, I posted a How To here.

[Tea]

Hi Bec and thanks for the link, I will look that up.  The ones that I have looked at so far have been in the US, so that means postage on top, so I haven't gone any further with it.  Haven't gone looking for the prague powder yet, but will post what I find later.

Cheese Head, you are definately "higher up", as without you none of this would exist.  In case I haven't said it before, thankyou for this board.  It has been a great source of information and learning.

[reg]

morning Tea. your quote " Even in winter we barely drop below 70% humidity, so I may have to wait until next winter to make the dried sausages, as I don't have a cellar or cave here."

winter is the best time for making dried sausage. will keep you informed when we start making them later this fall. have a good one

reg

[Tea]

Reg, I was talking to the butcher this week, and he said that beef bacon is made from the brisket.  So armed with that information, I am now on a mission. 

[Tea]

Ohh, yes, please do keep me informed of your sausage making.  Very keen to see what you do, so lots of pic, pretty please.

[Tea]

Ok just an update on the sausages.  We killed four turkeys and I minced all the meat sans the legs and wings, and made sausages.  I didn't have any hard fats, but decided to go ahead anyway.  Final verdict is that everyone loved them, although they were a bit dry, which we expected anyway.

Reg, I was wondering if you coule add cheese for the hard fat ingredient?  I am going to experiement with that next.  My SIL is setting up a smoker, so hopefully in the not to distant future, I will be able to smoke some too.
Thanks for your help.

[reg]

morning Tea. don't think the cheese will do the trick in this case. sausage needs about 20% on the low side. we use around 30% plus depending on the sausage recipe itself

reg

[Tea]

mmm ok.  Haven't had time to play around with anything else yet, but I might wait until the smoker is done first before it do anything more.  Hoping to have a couple of cheese done also to smoke, so we will see what time permits.
Thanks for your imput.

[stuartjc]

Hi Tea,

Could I get the recipe for your beef bacon, if you don't mind?

Thanks!

[Tea]

Hi Stuart, I wish I could, but sadly I haven't got around to doing this yet.  My son-in-law was going to make a smoker, and he never did that, so I am yet to make this happen.  I was just going to trial a rub, brine and smoking and see what happened.  From there I was going to make changes as I saw fit.
Sorry I can't help you.

[stuartjc]

Hi Stuart, I wish I could, but sadly I haven't got around to doing this yet.  My son-in-law was going to make a smoker, and he never did that, so I am yet to make this happen.  I was just going to trial a rub, brine and smoking and see what happened.  From there I was going to make changes as I saw fit.
Sorry I can't help you.

No worries. I will try making bacon with a brisket at some point, let you know how I get on