Hey fellow meatheads i never did introduce myself, I’m Jeremy from North Dakota. Been here for awhile just never really asked anything or posted anything till recently…I have a few posts on here. I love to read all the recipes/stories /and information… there’s a bunch. I been making sausage for probably 10 yrs just the usual sticks/jerky/brats/and ring sausage. If anyone has any info on a homemade propane smoker I’m all ears…I have one that I used a side burner off a grill…but it gets way to hot…it’s not insulated basically a 1/8 thick metal 2x2x4 box… I’ll post pics in a few days

chippewa we lost our thrust washer once, in a pinch we just made one outta a 5 gallon bucket lid…I think we still use it like that

JohninPa I don’t tie the ends I’ll just pinch how ever long I want my sticks to be…for me my sticks are probably 16-18 inches long so when I get that length I just pinch and cut with a scissors if that makes sense

PapaSop everything looks amazing can’t believe you did that all by yourself in a weekend I’d be wiped out too…you better have more than one

I like the grey/black best but if that’s not a choice…gotta go team blue

I decided it was time for some summer sausage over the weekend made 12 lbs…
50/50 blend…of 90/10 burger and pork butts…made two batches 6lb with ECA and 6 without. Usually I like the ECA but this time I think the batch without is better. Smoked it in my pellet grill till the temp was at 140ish then finished with the water bath in a roaster ( the roaster is way easier to control temp IMO) Took 7-8 hrs from start of the smoking to the end 160° water bath…threw them in a ice bath and let them bloom a couple hrs before putting them in the fridge overnight and packaged them the next day… turned out pretty tasty

twilliams we only use tubed casings as well…they’re worth the little xtra money

Meateater1 I think a lot is personal preference with the ECA some use it some don’t I’ve used it on summer sausage and sometimes I don’t use it in summer sausage. I never used to use a binder till I joined this site and now I always use one (another personal preference) I think it helps so your meat doesn’t fat out. I’ll say this about this site is if you don’t know or are unsure about something…ask questions someone will gladly try to help answer them…or just browse around the forum page there are tons of videos to help

deplorablenc1 we never grind twice. I guess one time we did when we made potato sausage when we ground hash browns with our pork and myself and my daughter like the potato sausage better when we ground that twice (we made it one year just mixing the hash browns with the meat) even when we make brats we use the fine blade. Not sure if it’s a texture thing? Just wondering what the benefits?

craigrice

Arod2015 air compressor and blow gun

twilliams we only use tubed casings as well…they’re worth the little xtra money

akdave we only use pre tubed natural casings as well so much easier than looking for the end…the little bit more money they are is definitely worth it IMO
Made pizza brats pretty good probably better with cheese, ranch brats, blue ribbon,

Joe Hell looks and sounds amazing nice work

bigbuck1976 I have a inkbird ibt-4xp got it off amazon really like it cause I can set a low& high temp alarm… has 4 probes…it runs off a app to your phone. Battery life is really good too smoked all day in 30° weather battery only went down to maybe half charged

srg158 My go to is the Taylor 5in digital pen thermometer (bought it from Walton’s) I use it for everything from sausage to making yogurt…I also have a inkbird ibt-4xp thermometer it has 4 probes and you link it to your phone with a app I like it cause you can set a high and a low temp alarm( bought it off amazon)

Denny I’d like to see that as well

raider2119 it still looks tasty there’s nothing better than smoked salmon on crackers

raider2119 glen I’ve only hot smoked salmon haven’t tried the cold smoke method that’s probably why I don’t see much oil it gets cooked out I’m guessing and like John Gehringer said the salmon from Sam’s has less oil in it