The meat industry’s supply chain broke. Here’s what you need to know
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3 years ago
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3 years agoOlychick
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Meat Grinder
Comments (52)Bought my original 5 pound cast aluminium stuffer (vertical hand crank model) from the Sausage Maker. The newer one holds 15 pounds and is all stainless except the piston. It was bought through Weston Supply and was a second choice, due to the original horizontal model not being suitable for stuffing very narrow 1/2 inch casings. They were quite accomodating when it came to the point where I knew what I needed and they were able to give me options until I found the right one. The cost of the 15 pound vertical model I have now. They also supplied me with the parts to make the custom stuffing tube. Kielbasa is basically just coursly ground pork with 30-40% fat, and lots of garlic and marjorum. Also black pepper can be used. I freeze mine and when cooking, place in a covered corning ware casserole dish with glass cover. Its baked with some water added to the corning up to about half the height of the sauages, and after about half an hour the sausage is flipped over to lightly brown the surface of the meat. I use fresh hog casings for this, and they are usually a bit larger than that used for italian. I make about a 12 to 16 inch length, and coil it for freezing. Many suppliers of sausage seasongs are fairly cheap, but thats usually because they are loaded with salt. Salt is really cheap and added to a spice mix can be more than 70% of the sausage seasoining mix. I like to buy mixes that have no added salt, or just use freshly ground spices and herbs, and add the necessary salt to taste. After mixing, spoon out a tablespoon or two and cook in a small frying pan until done, taste, and adjust seasoning as needed. On a side note, the Cabelas meat grinder is listed as a 400 watt unit, while the NT model is listed as being 600 watts, or up to 1000 watts peak. With a lower wattage for the Cabela, I am not sure if it could handle tough meats, or the skin of pork. My 600 watt NT model does labor on that skin part of the cut, and will sometimes stop and trip the built in breaker. I just reverse a second and switch back to grinding again, and it will continue without a problem. Earl, Nice sources for spices and casings, and the stainless stuffer. My cast aluminium model stuffer looks similar, but is quite heavy. My stainless steel 15 pound model also looks similar to the one from Grizzly. The 15 pound stuffer I have has two gear ratios, slow, for stuffing and fast for retracting the piston nack up to the top. I plan to sell my old 5 pound stuffer for about $30 or so, provided we get decent weather during the late spring early summer garage sales....See MoreThe Unthinkable: I Broke My Other Hand!
Comments (35)Thanks for all of your kind words. I'm trying to keep a positive approach to this latest unfortunate accident of mine. For those who asked, yes, my bone density is very good. My right hand was injured when the ligament tore while I was trying to open a jar. I had surgery in mid-February to reattach it. With this last injury, as I tripped on my little dog, I grabbed into the D-shaped refrigerator handle of my garage fridge with my left hand. My hand snapped backwards and twisted, causing a spiral fracture of the 5th metacarpal bone. DD is thankfully home from college for the Summer and is taking good care of me. I've already finished, "Beneath a Marble Sky", which is the (wonderful, sad, tragic, amazing, happy and romantic) story behind the building of the Taj Mahal. Loved it! I'm now reading the last Tony Hillerman novel, "The Shape Shifter". My hand is hurting more than I anticipated, but I'm taking good care of it and me. Lynn...See MoreFirst time raising rabbits for meat production, questions following.
Comments (10)I have over 100 rabbits in my barn right now. You can ask (10) people the same question and get (10) different answers on anything...and everyone could be a good / correct answer. It all comes down to circumstance and what works for you! What works for one person may be a total disaster for someone else. I could never raise rabbits like you are describing because I am too much of a control freak. I have hutch cards, computer spreadsheets on every doe and buck along with calendars full of useless information (to anyone else) about this or that. But it all comes down to...you work with what you got. One of the reasons for doing this is to provide meat for your family that is affordable and not full of GMO grains and hormones. You can't go out from the get-go and invest thousands of dollars on a professional set-up. It is not feasible. There are a lot of people out there raising rabbits in a colony and it seems to work for them. The one thing I hear them complain about is disease, predators and record keeping. With the rabbits living on the ground, the dampness is a perfect breeding ground for disease. Also when you get more than 1 or 2 does, you will never know whose kits are whose and which doe is the best producer. Not to mention not knowing when they breed and when to expect kindlings. I raise mine inside a barn in all wire cages. Like everyone else I started out with a wood hutch. Trying to keep them clean was a nightmare. I started with (2) Californian bucks and (3) Californian does. My first litter took 12-weeks to reach 5-lbs. Over the last year I have culled and saved rabbits to get my 5-lb rabbits in 10-weeks. I am still saving the best and eating the rest. My goal is to get a 5-lb rabbit in 8-weeks. I have incorporated a FB NZW buck to produce crosses and they were a big improvement over the FB Cali's when it comes to grow out times. Remember you get out of it what you put into it. A commercial 16% rabbit feed will provide the rabbits with everything they need to thrive. A small handful of hay will keep them content and their teeth ground down. If you want to get a typical 5-lb frying rabbit in 10 - 11 weeks...you must put in good quality feed. If "timing" does not matter...feed them garden scraps or forage for them everyday. But remember...a good frying rabbit is between 10 - 14 weeks old. As they get older, they start to get tougher and become roasters or crock pot rabbits. Like I said when I started this (longer than intended) post...you need to work with what you have. You are going to create what works for you and your animals. When something doesn't work, change it to something else. You will eventually find out the right combination and then you will be enjoying some AWESOME fried rabbit. There is nothing better! GOOD LUCK!...See MoreThose shopping, how is the meat availability?
Comments (33)I went to the store today and the aisle of paper products was fully stocked, including Kleenex, paper towels and toilet paper. I bought two pork loins to smoke for Canadian bacon for $1.49 a pound at a small local "meat market", but the price of ground beef is still up at $2.89. Flour is back on the shelves, even hand sanitizer is there although it's $3.99 now for a small bottle that used to be $1.00. The only empty shelves were Lysol/Clorox type disinfectants, ramen noodles, white rice and Mother's favorite, Banquet turkey pot pies. And, for whatever reason, caffeine free Diet Coke. In other news, I see the local WalMart has decided to start enforcing the mask requirement. I seldom go there anyway but they were terrible, I don't think any of their customers ever wore masks. The single time I stopped to buy something unavailable anywhere else, at least 90% of the customers did not wear masks. Meijer is right next door and at least 90% of their customers do wear masks so when I make a rare stop for groceries, I go there. Aldi is across the street, I stopped there for the pinto beans that were not available at Meijer. Every single person in there had a mask on, both workers and customers. Our governor has mandated mask wearing in public, but since there is no enforcement or punishment, some people just ignore it. Annie...See MoreDawnInCal
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