Austin Walton

Austin

@Bruce56BB I’m running out of ideas. Probably is just the fact that the hogs had a bit more fat, and they have just a slightly different/stronger flavor. There’s nothing else I can really associate to it other than that.

Austin

@Bruce56BB Was the seasoning recently bought, or was it leftover from an older purchase?
Seasoning doesn’t go bad, but we recommend to use it within 1 year because potency can dissipate over time.
If the seasoning was newer, I’ll see what else I can find for possible causes, but there is a chance it could be older seasoning.

Austin

@Bruce56BB
Usually, adding fat to sausage will add to the overall flavor and help the seasoning flavor come through more, but at some point, more and more fat can overpower in a way. Too much fat can start to make the meat just taste fattier and the texture can be slightly different which can slightly affect flavor. However, with a breakfast sausage, it is typical to see fat ratios between 20 and 30% and even up to 40% at times. I wouldn’t expect to notice the fat ratio affecting things adversely until it was pushing that 40% mark.

Do you have any idea on what your fat ratio would have been?
Do you have a way of comparing the taste between the different 25 lb batches to see if it was just a few select batches and the mixing not being perfect, or did the meat bags get mixed up together afterwards?

Austin

Up until the time of smoking, you should have the meat at a temperature under 40F, so up to that point it will be at a temp to limit bacteria growth. Once you start smoking, additives like Sure Cure and Encapsulated Citric Acid are going to help control microbial growth and give help you create a safe to eat final product. If you start with a higher temperature, you do risk creating a tough and dry exterior and casing, sometimes known as case hardening. This can be a less safe process for cooking because it creates a tough exterior and prevents the meat and internal temp from rising up to a safe level where bacteria are killed. Case hardening basically makes it hard to fully cook the product up to a safe temp, and it does not allow moisture to escape as easily and in a semi-dried product like snack sticks part of our goal in cooking and creating an edible product is to dry the product out (to an extent, but not as dry as something like jerky). A slow and incremental increase in your smoker temps will help the meat temp rise at a rate that will help prevent case hardening, while still creating a safe and consumable product when finished. Within 2 hours we are setting the smokehouse temp up to a high enough temp to really get the meat up into a temperature range that will begin killing bacteria, and that should be within a sufficient enough time to not be a concern.

I hope that helps answer your question. If you need anything else, let us know!

Austin

Meatgistics: How Do I Make a Healthier Version of a Bratwurst?

Learn how to Make a Healthier Chicken Bratwurst with Walton's and Meatgistics. Watch the video, read the guide, and then post your questions or comments below.

Meat Hacks & Recipe

How Do I Make a Healthier Version of a Bratwurst?
Hey guys, this is Jon with WaltonsTV and today we’re gonna talk about how to make a healthier version of a brat by using chicken.

As health concerns are brought more and more to the forefront of Americans minds we often find ourselves looking for healthier options that fit our busy life style without sacrificing taste. One of the healthiest and most readily available meats is Chicken Breast, a single small serving of 3.5 ounces of uncooked Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast contains a whopping 21.2 grams of protein, just 2.6 grams of fat and just 114 calories! It’s no wonder chicken breast has long been a favorite of nutritionists and healthy eaters. You can also make a brat out of a 50/50 mix of breast and thighs with the skin still on them. This will not be as healthy but they will taste great!

A few years ago we decided to try to take some of our favorite Brat seasonings and make a Bratwurst out of Chicken instead of Pork. The results were generally excellent, there were a few swings and misses along the way but that’s to be expected and we will help you avoid the same mistakes we made.

Before we begin let’s talk quickly about the temperature of the meat. You want to keep any meat as cold as possible before grinding but this is especially important with chicken because of it’s low density. If you tried to run chicken at room temperature through a grinder you would end up with a soupy product that would not hold its form. So you want the chicken as cold as possible without any ice crystals in it.

The first thing to know is that chicken breast can be used by itself, it requires no additional fat from pork however we do recommend you use binder of some sort. You can use Sure Gel, Soy Protein Blend or Carrot Fiber, all are excellent binders. The one we had the most success with was Carrot Fiber, it gave us a very nice juicy and plump Bratwurst.

We have decided to do a Supreme Pizza Bratwurst with mozzarella cheese and a Reuben Bratwurst with Provolone cheese.

A few things to make note of before you select your seasoning, Chicken has a very low fat content (remember 2.6 grams of fat per 3.5 ounces of Chicken) this means that any seasoning we choose is going to lose some of its flavor as Pork, and to a lesser extent beef, have a lot of fat which is a good vehicle for the seasoning as it helps coat your mouth and let the seasoning linger. We can combat this by using a smaller meat block, for example 20 lb instead of 25 lb, or we can just accept that it is going to be a little less full flavored. Here is a list in no real order of seasonings that work well with chicken, Habanero Mango, Rueben Bratwurst, Feta Cheese and Spinach, Supreme Pizza, Hot Buffalo Wing, Cheeseburger Cheddarwurst, Habanero, Inferno Bratwurst and Sun-dried Tomato Italian Bratwurst Seasoning.

The first step to making Chicken Brats is to grind the Chicken twice through a 3/16th plate. We are using a Weston #12 Butcher Series Grinder. We think that the price and value of the Weston Butcher Series makes them one of the best meat grinders for home use. To find out more, be sure and watch our Weston Butcher Series Grinders Review Video.

Once you have selected your seasoning you will want to mix in your binder of choice into the meat at the same time that you mix in your seasoning, again we would recommend Carrot Fiber but you certainly can use either Sure Gel or Soy Protein blend. If you are using Carrot Fiber we would recommend using 2 lbs of water when you mix in the seasoning and binder. Carrot fiber holds up to 26 times its weight in water so this will increase your final yield and give you a nice, juicy product. The amount of water you should use can vary as the water of content of Chicken Breast varies from brand to brand. When mixing meat for bratwursts, the mix time is fairly short and just long enough to evenly disperse the seasoning. We aren’t mixing until the meat is sticky and tacky with a lot of protein extraction. We have 3 options for mixing, either hand mixing, using a manual mixer, or using a powered mixer attached to our Weston grinders. We decided to use the 20lb Weston Mixer and the 44lb Weston Mixer attached to a grinder for powered mixing. Since we are making two batches of brats, we’ll keep the products separate by using the two mixers.

The next step will be stuffing the sausage into casings. You will have to choose between Collagen or Natural casings… We chose collagen because it is easier to work with and I like the snap better than Natural Hog Casings. You will want to load your stuffers canister, put on the correct stuffing tube and extrude the chicken into the casing. When stuffing into any casing, always choose the largest stuffing tube that will fit to make the stuffing process easier. For a 30mm collagen casing, the largest stuffing tube we can use is a 19mm stuffing tube. Remember, that as you stuff, do not over stuff the casings because if they are too loose after stuffing you can always add a couple extra twists when linking to tighten them up, but you can’t as easily fix a blown out casing.

So now you have your Chicken Brats, 25 lbs of chicken certainly makes quite a lot of Brats doesn’t it? So, unless you are having a large BBQ you will want to freeze at least some of these Brats. The best way to freeze them is to put them in Vacuum bags but if you put a room temperature brat into a vac bag and vac seal it you will end up with mush! A good way to avoid this is to put your brats in the freezer for 60-90 minutes to let them freeze slightly, this will allow them to retain their shape during packaging.

Make sure you subscribe to WaltonsTV and remember to tap the bell next to the subscribed button to get notified about all new videos, plus like and comment on this video, and visit waltonsinc.com and meatgistics.com to find Everything But The Meat! Thanks for watching Meatgistics. I’m Jonathon with WaltonTV and I’ll see you guys next time!

Subscribe to WaltonsTV

Make sure you subscribe to WaltonsTV and remember to tap the bell next to the subscribed button to get notified about all new videos, plus like and comment on this video, and visit waltonsinc.com and meatgistics.com to find Everything But The Meat!

Subscribe to Meatgistics

Easily subscribe to any category or topic on the Meatgistics community site by clicking the green “Subscribe” button to get an email each time a new post is made!

Shop waltonsinc.com for Sausage Stuffers

Shop waltonsinc.com for Meat Mixers

Shop waltonsinc.com for Meat Grinders

Shop waltonsinc.com for Supreme Pizza Bratwurst Seasoning

Shop waltonsinc.com for Reuben Bratwurst Seasoning

Shop waltonsinc.com for Sausage & Jerky Seasoning

Subscribe to WaltonsTV on YouTube

Ground Chicken

Chicken Brats in the smoker

Austin

@Parksider
If you wanted to send me the make/model of the hydraulic stuffer you are using, I can do some checking to see if we can find anything else that might fit your stuffer better so you don’t have to decompress the casings. I might not be able to find something long enough to fit the entire length of casing, but there is a good chance of finding something to at least fit the diameter of it.

Austin

@Parksider
Most manual and hydraulic sausage stuffers don’t have as long of a stuffing tube as the casing. The casings are manufactured at a length to suit larger commercial applications where a vacuum stuffer is used. Vacuum stuffers typically have a longer stuffing tube. Many manual/hydraulic stuffers don’t have the same amount of power to push meat out of an extremely long and small tube, so you typically see shorter stuffing tubes when compared to vacuum stuffers, and the casings are typically manufactured for use specific usage requirements on the larger vacuum stuffers.

What kind of hydraulic stuffer are you using? There may be a chance that there is another stuffing tube out there that will fit your process and be a better fit for your casings though. Overall length still might be an issue, but it can be worth looking into.

When I am making 19-21mm sticks, the first thing I always do is just break the casings in half to make them fit and easier to work with. For me, and most cases, I find that breaking the casings in half to start is just the easiest and still gives me plenty of length on the strands when they are stuffed out to be long enough for hanging in any scenario/smokehouse I’ve used. As long as the stuffing tube is small enough for the casing to fit the diameter, it usually is still pretty quick for me once I break the casings in half, then just slide them on the stuffing tube. If the stuffing tube diameter doesn’t fit the casing, I find that as the biggest impediment to speed for me.

Austin

Meat Hacks: How To Make Juicer Meat Products

Learn how to make juicer meat products, what is carrot fiber, and how phosphates are used in meats with Walton's and Meatgistics. Watch the video, read the guide, and then post your questions or comments below.

Meat Hacks

How to make juicer meat products?
We’ve all taken a bite out of a meat snack, a piece of chicken, or other meat, and the meat has been dry and unappetizing. If you want to try and avoid a dry meat product, we can do a couple things to tweak our process and include additives to help increase the water holding capacity and help us make a juicier final product. Two options we will look at today is Phosphates and Carrot Fiber. Sometimes seasoning blends meant to be used as a marinade will already include phosphates. Some additives already include phosphates like the Sure Gel Meat Binder, but it is not always included in other seasoning blends. Always check the ingredient statement on your seasoning to see if it already has phosphates included, or if you can include extra phosphate, as the maximum allowed amount of phosphate in meat products is 2 oz per 25 lb of meat. One of our favorite phosphate included seasoning blends for injecting or marinating meat is our Excalibur Butter Flavored Seasoning & Marinade. It works great on all types of proteins from beef, pork, chicken, or anything else. Using a seasoning like this with phosphates added will really help make one of the best smoked pork loins, brisket, or marinated and grilled chicken breasts that you could imagine. If you are using another seasoning or marinade that doesn’t include phosphates, you can include an additive like our Cold Phosphate, at a rate of 2 oz per 25 lb of meat, to help increase the water holding capacity in any types of meat products. Cold phosphate can be added to most seasoning blends that do not already contain phosphates, and is available in 8 oz or 5 lb packages, and it is also in 50 lb bulk cases if you are a commercial meat processor.

What are options for meat binders to increase water holding capacity?
Options for binders that can increase water holding capacity in a variety of sausages would be using our Sure Gel Meat Binder at a rate of 6 oz per 25 lb of meat, or use Carrot Fiber at a rate of 4 oz per 25 lb of meat, or use Soy Protein blend as a rate of 12 oz per 25 lb of meat. All of these are quite acceptable for most varieties of sausages, and smoked and cured meat products.

How do phosphates work?
By adding phosphates, what happens in the meat is that we increase the pH level of the meat product and move it further away from the isoelectric pH point of meat, which starts at around 5.2. As the pH moves away from that isoelectric point, the water holding capacity increases because there are more negatives protein charges for the water to bind to. Phosphates also increase the water holding capacity by increasing the space between proteins which allows for more water to enter the meat and be held in the myofibrils, by capillary forces. One last thing that phosphates can help with is in extending shelf life because they have antioxidant properties which can decrease the rate of lipid or fat oxidation in meats.

Wrap Up
A few final things to keep in mind is that adding phosphates, carrot fiber, or other binders and additives can increase water holding capacity, but they will not completely correct a bad cooking cycle and overcooking meats. If you marinate chicken and include phosphates, but you cook the chicken to an internal temp of 225 degrees instead of 165, you can still end up cooking out too much water and end up with a dry final product. Instead, couple the inclusion of phosphates, carrot fiber, and binders with cooking meat to the proper temperature, checking it with a meat thermometer, to achieve the best and most consistent results with the moistest, juiciest, and most flavorful product possible. And if you are making and cooking meat products at home, these additives can help you have a juicier final product, but if you are a commercial meat processor it can also increase your profit margins by adding to the overall weight of your meat products.

To sum things up, if you want to make the moistest and juiciest meat product possible or increase your yields to increase your profit margin on meat products you are selling, make sure your seasoning blend includes an additive that can increase water holding capacity like phosphates, or when injecting seasoning and marinade use and add Cold Phosphate or Sure Gel to your injection solution, and if you are making any type of sausage you can add Carrot Fiber or Sure Gel Binder to increase your water holding capacity as well.