Regular Contributors

@jonathon Black Bull, the name makes it sound like it would be a winner. Yes, I have done the injecting as well. I forgot about that. I thought the overall flavor was a little better with the brine, then a pat down, & the dry rub to finish it off.
The Alabama trick. Well, more like the Dave trick, but definitely from Alabama. Occasionally I will add a can of Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale to my brine or injection liquid. Buffalo Rock, to my knowledge only available in Alabama. It is some real serious stuff No liquor though, but serious stuff. Just about like what Coke used to be. You either like this stuff o you don’t. We like it. We have let some folks try it & they definitely did not like it. I have never found an in between. I have never found a Ginger Ale quite like it in all my travels either. A few have been close, maybe, but not there. I few folks thought that some particular variety might be similar, but them having not tried both the Buffalo Rock & their brand, there is no comparison. How they got the name Buffalo Rock in Alabama. either I don’t remember or never learned. It seems to me that it might have been some sort of Texas thing, probably because I am thinking of Buffalo Gap, Texas. But, the fact of the matter is it apparently started over 150 years ago, but in Alabama. Good stuff!

@gerygaub Absolutely, that is what I have done with the bellies in the past they always turn out fantastic! Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

@joe-hell Awesome pictures and just an all-around awesome post, Joe! That made me extremely hungry looking at the pictures and reading the post! I am going to reference this post in my blog tomorrow making this a must read!

458 days without Pizza is a testament to your willpower! It looks like you broke that fast with an amazing creation!

@Alan Can you give us your recipe for it? Are you adding Rice? If so, is it parboiled or totally boiled first? Any other additives and your cook method and schedule.

Once I have those I will talk this over with our food scientist and see what he comes up with for an answer!

@gerygaub Yes, the smaller meat lugs, which are also called Gray Poly Pans are perfectly safe to make bacon in, that’s what I used both of the times I have recently made bacon here! If you want to pour out what the belly has expelled you can, it’s not 100% necessary though. When I vacuum seal a belly after dry rubbing it I don’t worry about opening it every few days to pour out the water and I’ve never had a problem with it.

Good luck!

@calldoctoday I’ve never brined them before, I inject them every time I do them! Similar to brining but I think it is more effective. My favorite is the Soluble Pa’s Black Bull Seasoning.

Ok, I just have to ask, what is the Alabama trick? I’m guessing some sort of liquor but for the life of me I can’t figure out what it is!

@Christian-Beckman What @Boudreaux says is correct but there may be one more thing you want to think of. They MAY have been doing a dry cured product or they might be doing a 12 hour (or so) fermentation and then cooking them. Also, one other thing to keep in mind is that the Lactic Acid Starter Culture isnt going to be quite as tangy as ECA. Some people say that even at the same pH a product made from Lactic Acid Starter Culture will not be as tangy. I don’t think I agree with that but there are people who claim it to be true. So if you are looking to mimic what they have been doing I would start out a little lighter on the ECA, not a lot but instead of using 4 oz to 25 lb of meat maybe try 2.5-3 oz and experiment to see what works for you.

Can you give us some more information on the seasoning they gave you? Is it designed for a slow cure or do they just ferment it for 12 (or so) hours and then go to the smoker? The reason I ask is if they are slow curing it the cure that came along with the package might not work for a standard snack stick process.

@christian-beckman Yes the ECA will give your meat a “tangy” flavor as well as act as a cure accelerator so no need to hold the meat overnight. Once you are done with mixing and stuffing your casings you can go straight to the smoker or however you plan on doing your thermal processing.

@homesteader57 I’ve never made a pork sausage with pork shoulder that included a fat cap and had nothing render from the meat! I can’t imagine how that would have happened, especially since you cooked at lower temperatures. I’ve got nothing to explain why that would have happened, sorry! Im glad it came out well though, the Holly is an excellent breakfast sausage in my mind as well.

Adding pork fat is the way to go in my opinion. Adding Cold Phosphate and Carrot Fiber is a great option if you are concerned about fat content but neither of those offers the same creaminess that pork fat adds!

@Joepingel That would be correct, the 22mm tube is too big for the 30mm casing, it will fit the 32mm collagen but not the 30. You can check out a chart that shows you what tube to use with what casings (https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/187/what-size-stuffing-tube-to-use-sausage-casing-size-chart) that Austin made a few years ago. Please let me know if you saw incorrect information somewhere on either meatgistics.com or waltonsinc.com and I will get that fixed.