Had a successful weekend hunting thanks to the cold weather that came through this past weekend. I harvested a nice 5 1/2 year old buck that I’ve affectionally named Chicken foot due to his unusual rack. I have pictures from last year just after he broke off that side either in a fight with another buck or some other accident. Processed him Sunday morning and dropped off the head and cape to be mounted.

My first turkey, he’s not the biggest fella but it doesn’t matter it was an awesome hunt with a great friend.

Something else to keep in mind, if you have the ability to control the level of vacuum on your machine it is a good idea to turn it down to about halfway. The reason being is I have found if I vacuum pack Fresh sausages on the maximum level they will flatten as they thaw out. Another way to combat that problem would be to just cut open the bag when you pull them out of the freezer, but I never remember to do that so I don’t use the max vacuum when I package them.

I cooked some brats I made a week or so ago for a snack. My wife and girls went out shopping and told me to fend for myself. I cooked some chicken Sunday for dinner but forgot to take pics.

I was born and raised in Louisiana and have tried the Excalibur Boudin seasoning and it turned out great. I’m not a huge fan of liver so I only used a pound and I pureed it and added about 8 cups of cooked rice to it. I cooked to butts in the seasoning in my crawfish pot outside until the bone fell out then mixed that with the rice and a little of the juice and stuffed into 32/35 mm hog casings. I’ve also used that seasoning to make a cured/smoked sausage as well as fresh sausage and it has been great every time I’ve used it.

Departing Contestant Gonna brag a little bit … She’s in three different choirs but also has a 5-2 Muay Thai Kickboxing record and a championship belt, trains Jiu Jitsu and MMA. She has already been accepted into a couple different Universities and wants to be a Psychologist. Needless to say I’m extremely proud of her.

willie6378 I want to say it was around 17-18 pounds of Pork Butt, around 7 pounds of cooked rice the a couple pounds of green onions, bell peppers and celery and white onions when I made it as actual Boudin. When I made it as a Fresh and Smoked sausage I made 10 lbs of each and adjusted the seasoning for that batch size.

Big Buck back strap, well half of one. Injected with the Cajun Soluble seasoning, and sprinkled a little of the sweet basil, oregano and rosemary shaker and finally a few sprinkles of the Ultimate steak and roast shaker. Cooked to an internal temp of 135 and then let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. Turned out delicious, it was the first time I’ve used that injection but I will definitely be buying more from Walton’s!

I agree with Tex, you don’t really want to get protein extraction when making a Fresh sausage. Whenever I make Fresh sausage I mix just enough to mix the seasoning thoroughly throughout the meat and then I stop mixing.

twilliams Meat will only take so much smoke, that’s one reason why I said I wouldn’t smoke Snack sticks for that long, after a certain point it isn’t adding anything else to them. What smoker do you have, I’d imagine that the manufacturer has tested the recipes and validated that they work. I’m smart enough to know that I don’t know everything and I’d probably try it just to see how it turns out. I’m always open to learn something new, I’ve been smoking meat for 30 years but still trying to perfect my process.

I’m not a big fan of seasoning and then running it through the grinder, I prefer to grind it twice then season and mix lightly (on a fresh sausage) and then either stuff into casings or meat bags depending on what I’m doing. I do not think there is anything technically wrong with seasoning before or after your first grind, think it is more of a personal preference thing.

Jonathon It could be that and brakes are not that difficult to work on. You could probably buy the parts and do it yourself for less than the $500 he wants but then You have to do it. It’s possible it could be something as simple that you need new brake pads and maybe rotors.

Tex_77 Chef Jonathon I did the 23 and me DNA test to verify the ancestry that I was told and to find out what I’m made up of since Bio dad wasn’t a part of my life. I wasn’t worried about giving the government my DNA since I was in the Air Force over 20 years it was already on file with them But the results were surprising as well as it also gives some insight into health issues and other stuff, overall I’m glad I did even if it meant finding out that a certain part of my heritage may have been exaggerated by certain family members.

tim cahill No he did not, maybe a 50-70 yards before piled up on that hay bail. He actually ended up about 25 yards (behind) my blind.

Had a successful weekend hunting thanks to the cold weather that came through this past weekend. I harvested a nice 5 1/2 year old buck that I’ve affectionally named Chicken foot due to his unusual rack. I have pictures from last year just after he broke off that side either in a fight with another buck or some other accident. Processed him Sunday morning and dropped off the head and cape to be mounted.

Joe Hell I do the same for the same reasons with reference to the water, I really only mix long enough to mix the seasoning blend into the meat.

Les Strahm Hams and bacon usually have a different formulation to their respective cures. Although you can use the same cure to make both products you will have to make some adjustments, as there are different requirements for ingoing PPM of the nitrites based on whether you are making bacon or ham. I would suggest you just use the cure that was made for each product as it is easier. Now I just want to say I am no expert and this is how I would go about making either of those products.

I agree with Tex, you don’t really want to get protein extraction when making a Fresh sausage. Whenever I make Fresh sausage I mix just enough to mix the seasoning thoroughly throughout the meat and then I stop mixing.

I watched a couple episodes of that the other night, pretty good show. Definitely not getting any recipes but it is nice to see how other people cook.

I have two that I use, Smokehouse chicken and Sweet and Sassy Garlic Pepper, just don’t overdo it with the garlic pepper as it can be surprising spicy.