Homemade Sausage/Bacon making forum

dancinglemons

16 years ago

Could we have a sausage/bacon making forum?? Thanks!

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Comments (50)

bejay9_10
16 years ago
A lot of folks are interested in meat brining, sausage making, which is now being "aired" on the Harvest Forum.

Would appreciate your considering a special forum as there seems to be quite a bit of interest.

Thanks in advance.

Bejay
mscratch
16 years ago
yes, definitely.. I think a forum on these meats would be of great interest especially for rural people who do not have a very good selection of these at the grocery stores..like me! This way I could gather recipes from here and make my own.
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Got an email about some sausage making supplies and casings. Instead of private, I chose to post the members question and my reply here: [This message originated at GardenWeb] Did you happen to catch the show I think it's called "Good Eats" with Alton Brown. He did a show about making sausages etc...I was just wondering if you saw it and your opinion on it. He use d collagen casings on his Italian sausages. Al My reply: Hello, No, I missed that show, but recall that he made a sausage show a while back. He used the meat grinder with attached stuffing nozzle to stuff the sausages as opposed to a separate stuffer. I use my meat grinder just for the meat grind, and then have a separate meat mixer where the spices are added as well as some water and liquid smoke (optional). Then. my stuffer is now motorized and allows me to fill 11 pounds of sausages per filling. The stuffer is vertical uses a big round piston and drive screw. http://www.texastastes.com/p39.htm Its a red frame with green color motor that takes the place of the hand crank. I bought it from a distributor called Weston Supply. They used to have these as well as professional meat slicers and when I was searching for them, Weston bad clearance sales that allowed me to get these for less than half the price. The method Alton used to stuff was to cut the pork into 1 inch pieces and then mix in the spices at that time. The stuffing was then done using a course cutter plate of about 1/2 inch. There are two types of collagen casings. The larger fibrous ones are inedible and are used for cured luncheon meats like salami, pepperoni, etc. The edible collagen casings are quite thin and are dry, and shrunken up (like an accordion) into a short tube length. I use a very small 1/2 inch diameter one for making pepperoni snack sticks, and my sausage stuffer labors greatly as its a lot of force to push meat into a 10 inch long 1/2 inch diameter tube. In any case the edible collagen comes in two colors, clear and brown (mahogany). Clear would be for things like breakfast and italian sausages. The mahogany color is for darker sausages like pepperoni and chorizo. I use mostly fresh (natural) sheep casings for my breakfast sausages as the cost for a hank of casings is a bit cheaper than the molded and edible collagen ones. Sheep and hog casings are not as consistent in their sizes or diameters. The natural casings also need to be rehydrated by soaking in water about 10 or more minutes. They last forever and are packed in course salt and refrigerated. Years ago, a whole hank of sheep casings (enough for about 150 pounds) cost only about $9. But today, they are way up there in price. At first, when I was making italian sausages years ago, I used supermarket type hog casings under the Hormel brand. These tended to be short pieces and had holes and were not sized very well, so you could get 1 inch to almost 2 inches in diameter in the same container. The holes in the casings were a real pain, but you found this out when they were rinsed and filled with water prior to the soaking. I used to see 2-5 foot lengths too, and that's not easy to deal with either when you stuffing 11 pounds of meat at one time. In any case, you can use either natural casings or the edible collagen ones for making italian sausages. I have some natural hog casings I bought which are slightly larger and properly sized for use in making Kielbasa. The sheep casings are used only for my breakfast sausages. Breakfast sausages use sage, ground black pepper, and coriander for its spices. For italian, I like adding lots of garlic, peppers, onions, and also fennel and even oregano, summer savory, or even hot red peppers.. For some, I mix in high melting point cheddar cheese. I also make brats with beer added (dried beer). The Kielbasa use lots of garlic, marjoram and also some whole mustard seeds. My grinder plates vary from smaller than 1/8 inch diameter holes to almost 3/4 inch holes. The pork fat is ground separate form the pork meat. I use a smaller plate for the pork fat, as it distributes better in a mix, than large chunks the same size as the pork meat. The sausage making suppliers sell dried beer, high temp cheddar cheese, dried peppers, and dried onions which are easier to deal with as they do not have extra water. The bottom line though, is to know exactly how much salt, herbs, and spices to add to the coarsely cut meat, as well as how much pork fat to use. Once its ground to the proper size, and salt and spices mixed in, I cook up a small piece to taste and see if it needs more or less salt or more herbs. You could end up with a bland sausage or an overly salty one if the recipe was not followed exactly. You don't have much control over the way the meat mixes with spices and salt while in the grinder and while its stuffing the sausage casings. That's the main reason I chose a separate stuffer and separate meat mixer device. Like every other recipe, it all goes back to your own taste preferences too. Beef fat should never be used in sausages. Pork fat can be refrozen without any concern about quality. Never use salt pork or pork fat back as these are cured and will melt away giving a wet sawdust texture. Ken
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Yes you must inject. Using only the canister and vacuum (Food Saver one??) will not allow the brine to penetrate properly. They also so this with all hames. My pump is 4 ounce capacity and has a long needle with several side holes punched into it. I push the needle all the way in, and start to pump in the brine while slowly taking out the needle. The pumping makes the meat swell up. I weigh before and after to ensure the proper amount of brine. These people have a brass one at $12.50 - http://www.alliedkenco.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/1003 The site below has a stainless one from Morton, for $30. Both are decnet quailty. I also added a regular needle that looks like a giant needle on a syringe, with the end tapered at an angle. This is used in thinner meat poultry brining as its got no side holes. At best the vacuum pump on a FS machine will only give you about 15-20 in. Whereas a regular vacuum pump would bring down the vacuum to 30 in. BE CAREFUL!! don't get ANY liqiid ito the vacuum hose or pump!! My more powerful vacuum pump also has a moisture trap to collect any liquids that might enter the hose. Here is a link that might be useful: Brine Pump
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This type of bacon in the UK and Ireland is called rashers and the bacon we mostly use is called streaky bacon. Because it is so lean it requires much less time to cook and becomes dry and chewy if cooked more than a couple of minutes per side. Canadian style bacon can be made from the pork loin using about the same procedure. It is the pork shoulder the same cut used for pulled pork. We have at least two meat markets here locally who make it and it really is excellent,much better than anything you can purchase at your local supermarket.
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found this link.. make sure to hit the top..'more posts' button if need be.. the first reply should be bkay ... or maybe i activated it....?? while reviewing the little sleezers pizza link .... found this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOurjE9s3GA&ab_channel=RecipeCards and dons link from above: https://aliensoup.com/threads/welcome-baconforum-com-members.65423/ ken
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valleyrimgirl
16 years ago
I also would like to see a homemade sausage/bacon making forum available.

Each winter I make venison sausage and also grind up all the extra venison, that did not go into roasts, for ground meat. It would be nice to read about others' experiences in making homemade sausage.

Brenda
annie1992
16 years ago
I'm another person who would be interested in such a forum. I just cured a roll of pancetta and made some Italian sausage and would like to be able to exchange recipes, ideas, tips, with other people doing the same thing.

Annie
ksrogers
16 years ago
Been doing these for over 30 years now. Have many experiences I would like to share.
love2troll
16 years ago
Not sure what the forum name should be, but would be nice to have a single place to go to for processing farm-raised meat, fish, fowl, wild game and of course meats bought at the market. Sausage and jerky making is becoming very popular & I intend to learn both this year. Brining meat for smoking and BBQ I already do. Forum could include both hot and cold smoking of meats, curing and storage.
I personally will promise never to post my Sons of Norway method of making lutefisk by the barrel. :)

JohnT
avidchamp
16 years ago
I am just getting started into making my own sausage. We badly need a forum that will allow sharing ideas, tips, traps and tricks to make it more successful and enjoyable. I started a posting on the Harvest Forum out of desperation because there was no where else to go.

Thanks for your consideration.

Bob
dgkritch
16 years ago
I agree. A curing, smoking preserving of meats forum would be extrememly useful.
Please consider!!!!

Deanna
zabby17
16 years ago
Yes, yes, a meaty forum, please!

Zabby17
shirleywny5
16 years ago
I would love to see a sausage making forum. Please, please. You will be amazed at the response.

Shirley
jimster
16 years ago
A "Meat Curing" forum would be a great asset to GardenWeb. There are many of us, several of whom hang out on the "Harvest" forum, who have a strong interest in making bacon, pastrami, corned beef, jerky and the like, as well as all sorts of sausages (of which there are many). It's a very creative endeavor and will spark many exchanges of information.

GW, please consider this seriously, as I know you will.

Thanks,

Jim
msafirstein
16 years ago
I'm a sausage maker and would enjoy a Sausage and Meat Forum.

Michelle
femmelady
16 years ago
Definitely agree! Perhaps a "charcuterie" forum would cover all the topics?
dancinglemons
Original Author
16 years ago
femmelady,

Totally agree with your idea.

DL
garden_fool
16 years ago
I also would like to see this sausage and bacon forum. I think it would be very useful and used by many who like good home made sausage and home cured meats. Please consider.
bcskye
16 years ago
I'm another one who would like to see a forum on sausage/bacon making. I'm particularly interested in making my own sausage and know there are many skilled people here that would help me learn and be more than happy to answer any questions or offer recipes.
dancinglemons
Original Author
16 years ago
GW - let us have a MEAT forum. We really need a MEAT forum.
chad_la
16 years ago
add me to the list requesting a Meat forum.
vdrko
16 years ago
I'd like to see this forum started also.

Thanks!
astilbebstillz6a
16 years ago
I would also like to see this forum get started. I think it would be very informative and helpful.
Thanks in advance...Marylee
mxbarbie
16 years ago
Yes Meat forum Please!! More Meat! More Meat! To quote my 3 yr old.
I would be very interested in a Meat/sausage Forum.
wildlifeman
16 years ago
i would like to see a forum for:

SAUSAGE MAKING/JERKY/SMOKING

good stuff
wildlifeman
jujubee_de
16 years ago
Where's the beef (or venison, or elk, or turkey)? Would love to contribute to a sausage making/meat preserving forum.
Embothrium
16 years ago
Maybe they think the site is already too jerky.
debra79
16 years ago
I also would like to see a sausage/bacon making forum. Please consider this
Thanks
jimster
16 years ago
I just finished eating sandwich made of home cured corned beef. It was delicious!

It caused me to start thinking about the proposed Meat Curing forum once again because, while I was eating the corned beef, I was reading the Cooking forum. I considered starting a thread there about the proposed Meat Curing forum. However, having gotten acquainted with that forum, I realized meat curing would not be of great interest to most members of that forum. Cured meat to those members is an ingredient, not a finished product.

As has been said before, the most interest in meat curing is on the Harvest thread. That's OK, but meat curing really is a special interest, one which is not indulged in by most members of that forum.

I believe the topic of meat curing really does have the breadth and depth to make a successful forum. I hope Tamara and the other administrators will seriously consider establishing one.

Jim
lynn_1965
16 years ago
I am another forum member who would benefit from a meat curing forum.

I would love to have other forum members recipes and useful tips/information for curing meats, sausages, and for smoking meats and fish.

Please consider.

Thank you,

lynn
ksrogers
16 years ago
I want to voice here too. I post just on the HARVEST forum, which is really hard to get people to read about meat curing, sausage making, jerky making and preserving meats of all kinds. I've been doing meats for many years now, and move up well beyond a few pounds of it in a batch. My last effort was 30+ pounds of Polish kielbasa the way I want it to taste. Loaded with garlic and Marjorum, as well as some flavor of brown mustard seeds. Add to this, my pepperoni snack sticks, which end up being 50 pounds or more. Here, I have a big meat mixer, big stuffer, that can even press out 1/2 pound hamburger patties in 2 seconds, made just like you want, as lean or as fatty as you like, as well as seasoned. The list is endless, salami, pepproni, summer sausages, beer bratwurst, Italian cheese, Italian loaded- with fennel, hot, garlic, cheese, onions and peppers, all in the same casings!! Beef and tomato, breakfast, smoked meats, pastrami, corned beef, and easy away to turn corned beef into pastrami. Many, many spice combinations. Heck, I don't use any recipes, and never measure anything, unless its for the total weights of meats vs. fat, as well as any meat cure additives like salt, sugar, nitrates, and even soy protien and other texture improvers like phosphates. Imagine a sausage with a Chinese red sweet and sour flavor, or some with sundried tomatoes and basil. The list can go on and on. We need a forum for these, as many more people are concerned about meat consumption, additives, excess fat, and that every familiar, meat 'by-products'... Come on Admins, lets get rolling. BBQ time is near, and I need my brain to be picked..
jimster
16 years ago
An interesting post was made today re rendering and preserving beef fat.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rendering Beef Fat
ladykitsu
16 years ago
I would love to see a Meat curing forum! I've never cured my own meat, but I am very interested in it and hope to try curing my own meats.

Laura
albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
16 years ago
Would this forum include chorizo?
jimster
16 years ago
Chorizo? Absolutely! As well as linguica, keilbasa, pepperoni, andouille, and so on ad infinitum.

Got your interest?

Jim
jimster
16 years ago
Oops! I spoke too soon about my familiarity with the Cooking Forum. I haven't followed that forum long enough to know the level of interest in meat curing. Mea culpa. I'm told there was a "sausagethon" on that forum last summer, for example. I need to do some searches to find out what else has been happening on the Cooking Forum relative to meat curing.

Jim
aclum
16 years ago
Hi,

I would also like to see a meat curing/charcuterie forum. I'm just getting into this very interesting activity and have lots of "newbee" questions and interest in reading what others have to say on the subject.

Thank you!
Anne
aclum
16 years ago
Hi Again,

Since retiring and moving to a new city, I'm getting involved in lots of new things - including charcuterie, cheesemaking, and brewing. At least for me, all this will be done with purchased products. I've just been exploring the harvest forum recently and except for the recent sausage thread, it seems to be mostly about dealing with your actual harvest (as in fruits and vegetables). So I think it would be appropriate to have a separate forum dealing with the subjects I mentioned. It seems to be a whole different mindset in some ways from dealing with the veggies from your garden (as most of the harvest posts seem to relate to).

Thanks!
Anne
Embothrium
16 years ago
Charcuterie sounds like wall calendars etc. featuring pictures of models in skimpy outfits posed with barbecue grills.
Embothrium
16 years ago
Maybe a charcuterie wall calendar would be a good prize for the party who waits the longest for this thread to be responded to.
katykelly_gw
16 years ago
Charcuterie, please! Last week I made pork belly confit and shrinp and lobster sausage using sheep casing. Both were a big hit.

TIA
jimster
16 years ago
"Charcuterie" is perhaps the name we have been seeking for a forum of this type. It seems appropriate and general enough to cover the topics which would be discussed.

Jim
Embothrium
16 years ago
I see it now: a charcuterie wall calendar with various meat-based foods arranged in seductive poses. Maybe call it Pleasures of Flesh.
mogzilla
16 years ago
Add my voice to the request for a meat forum. We have recently begun buying all of our meat from a local farm (beef & pork) whose philosophy of production we agree with. But having been raised a carnivore in my distant youth, I MISS BACON. Please, please, let others with the knowledge share and discuss it here.
jimster
16 years ago
The thread, Homemade sausage, on the Harvest Forum, is now up to 140 posts and going strong. This is but one of several charcuterie threads on that forum over recent months.

Jim
tlcmpc
15 years ago
Please add a meat curing forum. It's something of interest to many, and quality information is not always available easily. Books are few and far between, and often available at the local library only after a lengthy waiting period. A testament to their desirability.
chel8
15 years ago
I joined this group because I read the thread about sausage making on "Harvest forum". Please add sausage making and curing to the list.

I made British/Irish bacon which IÂve missed for a long time and it was fantastic. I have to buy the cure from the UK because it was my first time making it. This will go down well Â no pun intended ;).

Rachel
sapman
15 years ago
I love the section about sausage making that is presently on the Harvest Forum, and judging from the responce, so do many others. WE NEED A SAUSAGE/MEAT Forum.
ruthieg__tx
15 years ago
Please...Please we need a sausage forum..
big_al_41
15 years ago
Well what does it take ??? Can we get a sausage forum here? Just look at the response. Thank You

Big Al
earl
15 years ago
we need a sausage/cured meat forum. Thanks.
misskimmie
15 years ago
Yes, please, may we have a separate forum for sausage, jerky etc. I have just started making my own sausage and would benefit from advice and recipes.

Thanks
kim

PS ksrogers and others please share your recipes with me !
James McNulty
15 years ago
I guess I have been waiting for this forum to get started without putting in my proper request. I would love to add to my 4 or 5 sausage recipes and learn properly how to do it. I have been reluctant to start an area I have so much interest in but I perceive it to be very complicated. In addition, it take a sizable investment that you don't want to go to waste. If you are going to do it, and because it involves fresh meats and possible contamination, I believe it is critical to do it safely.
I read Ken Rogers posts always in AWE with respect to his knowledge and experience and with the Harvest Forum would give him a proper forum in which he could share all his knowledge with us. With this recession, seed companies are selling 25 to 40% more seeds, and I believe that preservation of all kinds will bloom. And hey, jam making is fine for the ladies, but meat making is real man's work!
Why, if there were a meat preservation forum, I'd log on everyday.
My input from Jim McNulty in Southern California

Homemade Sausage/Bacon making forum

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