Second try at sausage today!

[realdocBBQ]

Decided to take my sausage press over to my friend's house and show him how to make some awesome kielbasa today. He had some of my first batch and he was as blown away as I was with the flavor and juiciness.

Used the same recipe as last time:



Upped the black pepper a bit this time, about 50% or so. Also used his cayenne, not my old totally useless bottle that barely even smells anymore. Also used his scale to measure in grams, so it was pretty accurate, though it doesn't do TENTHS of a gram, I think it's closer than doing the tenths of an ounce that my current scale does - my new one arrives from Amazon tomorrow.

Had 3147 grams of meat left from my first attempt, about 6.9 pounds. Coarsely ground chuck and pork shoulder, slightly higher on the chuck, so this is prolly 55% beef, 45% pork. Or thereabouts.



He was about as enamored of the sausage press and the general ease of the process as I was. Was a good time. We definitely plan on making a LOT more, and trying different types. I was going to make some brats, but this time I forgot my marjoram and forgot to get some lemons to zest - so we just stuck with the original kielbasa style recipe. However, we did about... oh, 4½ lbs in the first batch, then for the second batch we took a couple of jalapenos and grated them up after removing the seeds and ribs inside and mixed them in with the sausage, so prolly like 2½ lbs or so of the spicier version.

Final result:

Jalapeno version


Both together



They're in the fridge for overnight cure and drying out the casings, then I'll smoke them up tomorrow.

Can't. Freaking. WAIT!

W00T!

[58limited]

Man, looks like you got stuffing down. Took me awhile to really get good at it, now I rarely have blow outs.

[realdocBBQ]

We had one, I was trying to 'twirl' the length and had it packed too tight. We managed to salvage it by cutting it and shortening one link and got it to tie. I need to do like Smokin' Joe does and have a measured length to eyeball against, but since this is just for us and isn't 'commercial', the size per length is only for our own pride. lol

I am READY READY READY to make some brats! I think I'm gonna have to go to the butcher shop again tomorrow. lol Need some more ground meat!

[58limited]

If you do the Nurnburger Rost Bratwurst let me know how it turned out. I might make some myself as soon as I get the freezer situation under control. I agree with you on link size - mine end up all over the place on size.

[RickyBobby]

You need a grinder, brother. Lol! This is the one I have and absolutely love it! https://stxinternational.com/STX-Meg...uffer-p4289166
They now make a foot pedal for it as well. it does ok at stuffing, but I found that when making brats, the grind is so fine that the auger just spins inside the meat rather than push it through to stuff. Could be that I was doing something wrong, but honestly I found that I like my actual purpose built stuffer better anyway.

[realdocBBQ]

I was planning on doing coarse ground for brats, as well. I'd love to have a grinder. Gotta get that through the purchasing committee though.

[RickyBobby]

Understood!!! Got mine for Christmas from my dad a couple of years ago, so I got lucky and didn’t have to run that one through the war department. The stuffer on the other hand…….. lol.

[Davek8282]

They sure look good and you may have a partner for your sausage making. Whether you want one or not will be irrelevant you both look enamoured with the process and the results. You did however cut the little guy out of the second picture he looked fascinated as well. I keep wanting to try my own sausage but have yet to take the plunge, you have brought me that much closer.

[jfmorris]

Looks good! I have to try this some day... I turned a butt into loose sausage one time, then formed it into logs, and froze them, then sliced as breakfast sausage, but never tried casings.

[realdocBBQ]

Finished 'em up today, after they cured overnight in the fridge. Cold smoked with just a smoke tube for an hour and half or so, then at 150 for another hour and a half, then an hour or less at 175 to bring up to 150 internal (actually let 'em get to 153).





After ice bath, then nuking 1 of each:



Sliced:



Fabulous. Utter bliss.

The regular kielbasa style was as good as the first batch, but had just a little more spice - I used tiny bit more black pepper and used some fresh(er) cayenne pepper in the mix. It did help, but the garlic seemed less pronounced. Maybe I measured less garlic, or maybe the pepper took over a little bit? I don't know. Still excellent and NO complaints!

The jalapeno version was VERY mild. Only a hint of jalapeno flavor, maybe just the slightest noticeable bit of heat. Wife is more sensitive, said she noticed, but wasn't bad at all. Very pleased. I think I will maybe leave the ribs in the jalapenos next time, but not seeds. Problem with jalapenos is the variability between peppers - you never really know how hot it's gonna be.

Overall - very pleased.

Gonna hit the butcher for some meat to do the brats sometime this week. Can't wait!

[Michael_in_TX]

I. Want. To. Eat.

[Skip]

Those sausages look FANTASTIC!

[PGH_RAM]

Superb!

[klflowers]

Those look excellent. Great job. I tried making sausage a few years ago but I couldn't get stuffing the casings down. Now I just make patties.

[MattTheGR8]

The cold smoking makes me nervous, but those look delicious.

[58limited]

If you use Prague powder (pink curing salt) cold smoking is not a problem.

[realdocBBQ]

I'm about to post attempt #3....