1st time bragging here but I wanted to thank Walton’s for some excellent sausage seasonings. I made close to 25 lbs. of sausage that were a hit with the family. I smoked some Walton’s Jalapeño summer sausage with Hi Temp hot pepper cheese. While the summer sausage was smoking I made some fresh Holly breakfast sausage, chorizo and Blue Ribbon brats with Hi Temp cheddar sausage.

Made some Jalapeño Summer Sausage for Christmas gifts and personal use this week. I used Excalibur’s Jalapeño summer sausage mix along with Walton’s Sure Gel, cheddar cheese and cure #1. Unfortunately I didn’t check my stock and I was out of ECA. I used 8 lbs. chuck trimmed off all hard fat, 4 lbs. pork butt and I added and additional 1 lb. of pork fat back. 1st grind through a 10mm plate followed by an additional grind through a 3mm plate. Once ground I used my 20lb. mixer to get protein extraction. Then they were stuffed into 2 1/2 x 12 fibrous casings and then put them into the refrigerator overnight for the cure to work. The next day they went into my PID modified electric smoker with a mailbox mod for my AMPS pellet tray. They were smoked at 120 no smoke for an hour then I bumped the temp up to 130 with Apple/hickory smoke. Remaining smoke schedule was 140 for and hr., 150 for an hr., then 160 until the internal temp hit 130. At the 130 mark they were removed from the smoker and placed in a 150 sous vide bath until the internal temp reached 150 Since I used pork in the mix I held the sausage in the sous vide bath for an addition hour to make sure the meat was pasteurize. After their sous vide bath they went for an ice bath plunge and were then hung up at room temp for 2 hrs. to bloom. I was very happy with the result but all recipients loved them.
Thanks to Walton’s for all their excellent products, tutorials and Livestreams.

There is nothing like pork wrapped in pork. Recently I made a pork loin stuffed with Blue Ribbon brats. I took my boning knife and a 12” carving Carving knife to make the hole length wise in the pork loin for the sausage. I cooked my brats first to make sure the pork loin would not be over cooked while waiting for the brats to come to a safe temp. Once the brats cooled off I stuffed them into the pork loin and seasoned it with salt and pepper. I then tied up the pork loin and smoked it on my Big Green Egg. Once the internal temp of the brats reached 150 I pulled it off a let it rest for a few minutes. I sliced it up and served along with my homemade sourdough rye bread. It was a big hit with the family!

After watching all of Jonathon’s tender jerky videos I decided to give it a go. But before I go on I need to explain the topic heading. In reference to the last time in the heading, this will be the last time I make my jerky the old way I used to make it. The tender jerky was a Grand Slam! The jerky was the best I’ve ever made it. It was tender, flavorful and a bit hit with the family. I started out with 6 lbs. of eye round and after marinating and smoking I wound up with 4. lbs 6 oz. of the best jerky I’ve made. I did make one change to Jonathon’s method that I think really works well. The total weight of the meat was 2,746 Kg. I did 18% low sodium soy (496 grams) and 18% brown sugar 495 grams) with 2% water (55 grams) . I treated this mixture the same way I would as if making a simple syrup. The day before I started to make the jerky I combined the soy, brown sugar and water and weighed it. I then heated it to a low simmer and kept stirring until I had what I would call a nice cohesion. After everything was combined I weighed it again and added water to repl ace whatever water loss I had during the simmering process. This was then put in the fridge overnight to get nice and cold. The next day there were not sugar crystals on the bottom. I sliced the partially frozen meat against the grain into 1/4 inch strips using my Walton’s slicer. The meat was then cut in half to make nice size edible pieces. I took the soy/brown sugar syrup and added Walton’s pepper and garlic jerky seasoning as a base flavor along with 2 TBS. of garlic power, 4 tsp. of cayenne pepper and the proper amount of cure #1. The meat and the mixture was placed into a Marinade Express Pro and vacuumed tumbled for 60 min. and then placed into the fridge. The next day I opened the vacuum tumbler and hand tossed the meat in the tumbler and then vacuumed tumbled it again for another 60 min. The following day when I smoked the jerky as my smoker was coming up to temp I opened the tumbler again, mixed the meat by hand and did a final 20 min. tumble. I followed the smoke schedule that’s listed in the Waltons Tender home jerky post.

As stated I started out with 2.755 Kg (6 lbs.) of meat and with all the tumbling I wound up with a total meat weight of 3.828Kg (there was very little fluid left in the tumbler). After the smoking process I was left with 2.106 Kg or 4 lbs. 6 oz. of jerky. That to me is incredible.

A big shout out of appreciation to Jonathon and Walton’s for not only their excellent products but also for sharing their knowledge and also for this awesome community.

During today’s Livestream I notice the bottle of Maxim sanitizer on the table. How about a topic on the proper way to clean and sanitize your equipment (grinders, slicers, stuffers etc.) . There seems to be quite a few newcomers who may not know the difference between cleaning and sanitizing.

I made a batch of Willies along with Gigawatt with Ghost Pepper cheese in collagen casings. After they were smoked to 135 I sous vide them directly in 170 degree water. They were then pleaded in a ice bath, dried off and hung at room temp for a few hrs. to bloom. I then cut them to size and placed them on wired racks in the fridge for a few days to dry out. After they dried to my liking I froze them and then vac sealed them. I like to freeze my snack sticks/sausage prior the vac sealing so they maintain their shape. When I take a package out of the freezer to eat I just put them in the fridge to thaw out. They may have a little moisture but so far they have maintained their snap and the the casings have not separated.

I finally got around to try my hand at chicken sausage. I used Walton’s Supreme Pizza Bratwurst Seasoning with their hi temp mozzarella cheese. I ground up 3.5lbs of chicken thighs with some of the skin through a 4.5mm plate. Once the chicken was ground I added the Supreme Pizza Bratwurst Seasoning per Walton’s conversation chart. Instead of water I used low sodium chicken broth. With everything mixed I then mixed in the 7oz. of the hi temp cheese. I stuffed them into 24-26 sheep casings. Grilled a few up for dinner and the rest will be going in the freezer. Two things I will do a little different next time. I’ll reduce the amount of cheese as the cheese seemed to be the predominant flavor. I will also reduce the amount of liquid as it seems chicken needs less then pork or beef as the slurry was a little loose.

PapaSop said in Vacuum sealer:

John Belvedere
Wish you the best on the sneaking part. Been there… done that. LOL

Currently on my third Foodsaver. Could have paid for a chambered one and then some.

You mean I can’t use the “Look what I found in the basement” line😂

On Sat. I started a Eye round roast in my sous vide. First I coated it with Excalibur’s Ultimate steak and roast seasoning. I set the sous vide for 135 and left it for 24 hrs. Once out of the sous vide I seared it in my Big Green Egg that was cranking at 700. Once seared I sliced it nice and thin on my Walton’s 10” slicer that I won on their Livestream. Man was that good piece of meat! The eye round was tender with excellent flavor from the seasoning. The only mistake I made was didn’t take into account the temp rise of the meat when searing at 700 so the Eye round was more medium then on the rare side. Next time I’ll do it at 125 for a more rare roast. Excellent products from Walton’s.

Never mind the Lifestream, giveaways or any thing that’s not important. What’s important (if I’m reading this last few posts right) is your and your families health. Things can be replaced, People can’t. Prayers and Karma being sent to you.

Nice looking sticks. I never tried Bloody Mary mix. Who would you describe the flavor?

processhead said in Home made bacon vs Commercial bacon and cooking:

John Belvedere ND Mike I like bacon in the oven too, and it- comes out nice just like you describe. I would like to solve the issue with frying in a skillet though. Maybe it does have to do with dry rub curing process.

I definitely agree the problem is most like.y the dry cure. The dry cure I use has maple sugar along with maple syrup. The high sugar content near the edges is to blame.

Mathew, I use 20-22 sheep casing for breakfast sausage, 30-32 for brats and Italian sausage and 32-35 for Kielbasa. Hope this helps

processhead said in Home made bacon vs Commercial bacon and cooking:

I cure my bellies with a dry cure, wrap, refrigerate, and then short soak in cold water when they are done.

Very happy with the flavor but the aesthetics of the cooked bacon is a minor irritant. I suspected the commercial curing process was tweaked to address this?

Processhead, we had them same issue as you with my homemade bacon. I tried different widths when slicing the bacon. Cooked in different types of frying pans and different levels of heat. Finally we tried cooking it in an oven. and we are are very happy with the results. Cover a a baking sheet with aluminum foil. The bacon is placed on the foil and then the baking sheet is placed into a cold oven, then set the temp of the oven to 400 degrees. Once the oven reaches the set temp of 400 check the bacon. If it’s not done to your liking put it back into the oven and check in 2 min. Repeat the 2 min. check as necessary until it’s cooked to your liking.

processhead said in Another Good Sausage Making Resource:

This web site is a good place to start to learn about sausage types and meat processing methods from around the world.

Also many good authentic recipes that are scaled down to smaller batch sizes.

The adverts are kind of a pain, but the main information is well worth the information presented there.

https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-types

The sausage recipes listing by-country is extensive.

https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes

Processhead, that is one of my go to sausage sites. Excellent recipes and guides. All of Stanley Marianski‘s books are a great compliment to that website. I have found quite a few sausage recipes in his books that are not on the website. In addition the books are a wealth of information regarding processing. Highly recommended.

I would guess lack of the ice bath may be your problem. Another cause could be lack of a binder. Did you use Sire Gel or another binder?

PapaSop said in Vacuum sealer:

John Belvedere
Wish you the best on the sneaking part. Been there… done that. LOL

Currently on my third Foodsaver. Could have paid for a chambered one and then some.

You mean I can’t use the “Look what I found in the basement” line😂

I worked for a railroad for 30 yrs. I worked my way up to a Signal Supervisor and retired with the title of Project Manager for a major project called East Side Access. My screen name for many BBQ sites is Retired RailRoader. I use my name here since I watch all of Walton’s Livestreams and Podcasts on YouTube and if I should win anything on Walton’s it’s just easier to say I’m here on the Libestream.

I made a batch of Willies along with Gigawatt with Ghost Pepper cheese in collagen casings. After they were smoked to 135 I sous vide them directly in 170 degree water. They were then pleaded in a ice bath, dried off and hung at room temp for a few hrs. to bloom. I then cut them to size and placed them on wired racks in the fridge for a few days to dry out. After they dried to my liking I froze them and then vac sealed them. I like to freeze my snack sticks/sausage prior the vac sealing so they maintain their shape. When I take a package out of the freezer to eat I just put them in the fridge to thaw out. They may have a little moisture but so far they have maintained their snap and the the casings have not separated.

bedcitty said in Vacuum sealer:

Trying to decide on a upgrade from my food saver. It would be for processing wild game. Looking at weston 2300, weston 2600 and weston 3000. Found a 2300 for $250 but not sure to buy it because mixed reviews breaking in a year or less.

I bought the VacMaster PRO350 Vacuum Sealer and I’m extremely satisfied with it. I would love a chambered sealer like PapaSop mentioned but it’s a little limiting in size for some things I seal. Maybe I can sneak one in the house without the Mrs. knowing😀