This didn’t suck

As someone new to this hobby, and new to Walton’s, I do hope that you keep your YouTube presence up, simply because that’s how I found you, and the quality of the videos and the information led me here, and, ultimately, to spending the first $300 of what I assume will be many hundreds of dollars with your store. Now that I’ve found you, that won’t change without YouTube, but I am sure there are many like me who have not found you who would be good customers out there lurking in YT land, maybe not even realizing they want to process meat yet.

Where are you from (city/state)? Independence, MO

How much experience do you have in meat processing or smoking/grilling? Just starting with processing. Lots of grilling/smoking experience. Compete around the region in KCBS competitions, last year finishing 24th in their Team of the Year race, and as high as 8th in pork. The way we trim pork and brisket for comps leads to lots of trimmings, so want to start making sausage that we can use at home, and when catering/vending. I currently have 65 lbs of pork trimmings from the pork for our first 4 comps this year. We’ll do somewhere between 20-25, so do the math. I have it vacuum sealed in 5 pound packages in the freezer right now, so I can start making smaller batches until I’m confident enough to make big ones (aim small, miss small).

What is your favorite meat snack or seasoning flavor? Jalapeno Cheddar

What is your current smoker or grill? Gateway Drum Smokers (5 of them) GMG Jim Bowie, PK TX, WSM (3), weber performer, home built UDS

Can’t wait to get going down the road of sausage making and meat processing. I had a Weston Pro Series 22, but needed a few other things to get started.

What else do I need? I wanted to make my own seasonings, so I skipped out on those , and I think I want to get the bigger sausages down before I start playing with snack sticks, though those will happen soon.

Some things I’ve thought about - additional plates/knife, other cheeses (I have some ideas that I’ll need the other flavors for), but I want to see if there’s anything I’m missing from my list to get started making brats, kielbasa, and my own recipe for disaster creations.

Thanks!

Went back and looked. I made my first purchase 2/1, so just over a month ago.

Jonathon Cooked at 225. To be fair, I think this may be it, as the ones I cooked on my drum at 300 didn’t have that same issue. I’m going to answer the other questions just to make sure I’m not missing something else somewhere.

I did a 10 lb batch, and used 1 cup of water in it.

I’m not sure on the fat content. It was pork butt, but it was trim that was left from after I trimmed some up for upcoming BBQ Comps. I trim them pretty aggressively for comps, but leave most of the fat cap on. It is mainly the horn muscle, and other muscles around the bone that I’m using.

Thanks! The multiples are because we cook comps on Gateways, and used to on WSMs. No other reason to have so many duplicates, lol.

Can’t wait to dive in. Grinder got delivered last week, looking for a stuffer. Is the 11 lb one on the site going to be back in stock soon?

I’m over $500, for sure. I just found walton’s late last year, and made my first purchase…in late January. While my dollar amount is going to be way less than most of you, I am spending at an unsustainable rate. Or not. Either way, once Comp BBQ season starts, I’ll back off until next winter.

PapaSop One of the 70 pounders that Walton’s sells? I was looking at that combo.

Anyone know how much water the Weston circulator will heat? I’m going to be making a batch of summer sausage, and figure I’ll finish sous vide if I can find one that’s not too pricey.

processhead this is why I always try to use bottled water for things like this. Keeps things consistent

This didn’t suck

Went back and looked. I made my first purchase 2/1, so just over a month ago.

I’m over $500, for sure. I just found walton’s late last year, and made my first purchase…in late January. While my dollar amount is going to be way less than most of you, I am spending at an unsustainable rate. Or not. Either way, once Comp BBQ season starts, I’ll back off until next winter.

Looking for tips on using my GMG for smoked sausage. These have a minimal setting of 150, which I figure is probably low enough to be ok, though not ideal.

What are people doing with pellet grills for their smoked sausages? I also considered seeing if I could make the Louisiana grills cold smoke box work on my Jim Bowie, as it attaches where the smoke stack attaches. I would think I could figure out a way to get them connected pretty easy as well.

Interested in everyone’s thoughts, and how I can begin making some snack sticks, summer sausage, etc!

Jonathon Cooked at 225. To be fair, I think this may be it, as the ones I cooked on my drum at 300 didn’t have that same issue. I’m going to answer the other questions just to make sure I’m not missing something else somewhere.

I did a 10 lb batch, and used 1 cup of water in it.

I’m not sure on the fat content. It was pork butt, but it was trim that was left from after I trimmed some up for upcoming BBQ Comps. I trim them pretty aggressively for comps, but leave most of the fat cap on. It is mainly the horn muscle, and other muscles around the bone that I’m using.

Natural hog casings on the tube from waltons. I believe the 30-32mm. Cooked them to 160-165.

Made my first batch of fresh sausages a couple weeks ago (I’ll get into smoked ones later). A common issue I’m having is that when hot smoking them to eat, I’ve had some casings that are hard and chewy.

What could be the cause of this? I had a bit of a learning curve with the stuffer, and getting that done properly, and if it was just some that were a little underfilled I could assume it was that. However, some of the properly filled links have been tough too.

Thanks for the help and feedback!