@jonathon thank you sir!

I’ve found that using dark meat helps keep moisture and help everything stick together better than just breast meat too. Boneless/skinless thighs are usually less expensive too.
If you’re not opposed to a little bit of fat you can add some pork butt in as well - it helps bind things together too, pork is sticky.

Howdy! Placing an order and including a pkg of hot link seasoning - https://www.waltonsinc.com/hot-link-unit . This will be a first for me, I haven’t made them before - wondering if you can give me a few tips and answer a few questions.

I’ve made snack sticks before and for those I ground my meat 3 times through the fine plate and mixed well until I had a pretty good emulsion - would you recommend the same for these?

What meat mixture do you recommend?

I was thinking something like 50-60% pork butt (the ones I get tend to be about 25% fat) and 30% lean beef and 10-20% beef suet (adjusted based on pork content) - it seems like you would want a higher fat content than a regular brat… something like 35-45%? I wouldn’t mind doing 100% pork too if they would turn out well - much less expensive per lb.

Carrot fiber needed/benefits?

How much water? 1lb per 10lbs meat?

I plan to use the 30mm red collagen casings ya’ll carry and smoke them. Tips on time and temps would be great.
Once I add cure do I need to let them sit over night? I noticed that there is citric acid in the spice mix - not sure if that has any bearing on it…

Ice water bath after smoking and let bloom?

Anything else I should think about?

Aaaaannnd the wacky place in my brain wants to ask if any of you have pickled your hot links (or other sausages) and what were the results if so - suggestions/do’s/don’ts?

Thanks!

Ryan
Head KnucklHed

Awesome, exactly what I needed. Thanks!

Wondering what the sodium content is in the reg and hot Italian Sausage mix and the low sodium, need to make sure I meet the dietary needs of a friend.

Thanks!

@doc_craig I’ve used the Holly Regular breakfast sausage seasoning and friends & family love it in links or patties.
I’d recommend mixing up a 1lb batch per the directions and fry up a patty and then adjust up or down from there.

I’ve got written down in my notes that I liked the flavor at 10 grams of seasoning per lb, that would make the 1/2lb pkg that it comes in season 22.4lbs of meat (the directions would be 8.96 grams per lb)

FYI - I thinks it’s always a good idea to fry up a test patty before you commit to stuffing or packaging, and for some reason I find that you always want the patty to taste a slight bit saltier than you really want if you’re making links, I find that the perfect patty usually makes kind of a boring link, dunno why tho…

Best of luck!

@Bluemtnman If you’re using a seasoning blend it’s definitely best to use pink salt instead of tender quick - here’s why -
Tender quick is mostly salt with 0.5% nitrate and 0.5% nitrite, their package calls for 1 Tablespoon (3 Teaspoons) per lb of meat.

Cure #1 is also mostly salt, but is 6.25% nitrite and calls for 1 Teaspoon per 5lbs of meat (or 0.2 tsp per lb of meat)

If you used tender quick AND a seasoning blend it’s gonna be way too salty!

Plus, depending on what you’re making with your spice blend, pink salt gives you the option of using cure #1(nitrite) for quick cure items like snack sticks & summer sausage (nitrAte is not usually needed for these items, but there might be times you would want to add it) or cure #2(nitrate) (nitrAte converts to nitrite over time and acts as a “time release” cure) for long cure items like prosciutto, pancetta & fermented sausages like salami etc…

Best of luck!

Heck, if Walton’s doesn’t have anything in the works, I’ve got a 15lb horizontal that I’ve outgrown and need to upgrade to something larger… let me know if you’re interested in a used one that’s in great shape, I’ll send pics.

@Jonathon interesting points on proteins and particle definition… I think part of my lack of issues with doing it my way is that I grind once through a 5/16" plate. It gives a more rustic bite and been pretty popular around here… I might try mixing in after and see if I notice a difference.

Thanks!

I’ve been making bratwurst for a pretty long time and I’ve always mixed my seasonings with the cut up meat added water & ice and then ground it. I give it a good folding/mix after and it’s ready to stuff.

Every book and recipe out there says to grind then mix in seasonings, why??

It’s always seemed far more efficient to me to mix then grind since the grinder is going to “mix” it together far better and quicker than by hand or a mixer, right?

Also the slurry helps the meat slide down the chute much easier, i haven’t had to use a pusher in so long I seriously don’t know where it’s at…

Am I missing something in the process that adding seasoning after grinding helps with?

And if it means anything, it’s usually batches of 50+lbs at a time that I’m working with.

Thx!