The holidays finally over. It’s frigging cold. And I’m out of sausages.

15# summer sausage ( cracked pepper and garlic)
10# breakfast sausage (110 southern pork)
10# snack sticks ( jalapeno & pepper cheese)
10# brats (Jerry’s seasoning)
5#. Hot dogs ( Excalibur chilli dog)

Found this a lot to do on a weekend with no helper but got through it. To much cleaning between batches. Hands are still wrinkled. Some pics and notes along the way.

25lbs each of venison and pork. The nine pound tube of ground pork saved one step but the meat was pretty smeared. Wouldn’t recommend if your wanting particle definition.

Snack sticks and dogs. First ever try for hot dogs and linking them. Not bad but over stuffed the dogs.

Breakfast sausage and brats. A little difficult to stuff by yourself using natural casing. Got these a bit tighter than I wanted but…a few blow outs when twisting.

Had these stuffed so tight one split where the meat probe went in. That’s a first.

Used my new sous vide circulator for the first time. Worked great. Everything smoked went here to finish. What a time saver. Tried this last spring and won’t go back. [email protected]

Everything turned out great. The kids loved everything. The sticks were the best I’ve ever made. Used Walton’s collagen casing and sure gel for the first time. Even when stuffing the casings I could tell these were better quality. Perhaps the stickiest meat as well. I’m guessing the sure gel had something to do with that. Started to get a little wrinkling but water bath took care of that. All casings will come from Walton’s exclusively.

Whew…I need a beer.

A bit off topic but… Just had a short thunderstorm pass through. Not a big deal to folk’s in warmer climates but huge deal here in the great white north. It means the last of the white stuff is being washed away.

Although we’re sheltered in right now, those few rolls of thunder mean better time’s ahead. Being outdoors, grilling, smoking, camp fire’s and gathering with family and freinds.

Stay strong people… We got this!

Taking a week off work during a lock down is actually kinda boring. No where to go and not much to do. Ok, enough about that. Time to make some sausage.

All seasonings going forward were Excalibur except the cracked pepper and garlic.

Fresh sausage
Five pounds each.
#110 southern pork
Hatch green chili
Andouille
Philly
Last three done as brats.

in

Bagged and let them set overnight to meld the flavors. Still need some practice on the sizing and twisting but whatever.

Tried a patty test on the three new ones. #110 is a repeat. The Hatch is very good, the andouille as well. The Philly brat is exceptional. Wow. Almost a creamy taste profile. Can’t wait to grill these.

Smoked sausage

10# H unit
15# CPG
5# each of Willie’s/with pepper cheese, Gigawatt and Habanero BBQ. These for sticks. First two, summer sausage.
My son and wife came over to help with mixing and stuffing on these. Huge help, went must faster.

The smoked summer and sticks were all finished in a hot water bath. Sous Vide style.

Final results came out very well. Matt & Jen were most impressed with the Hatch, Philly, and Habanero BBQ.

A good few days work. It’s time.

Like a heart attack waiting to happen. But it sure tastes good. Can’t remember the last time I had corned beef hash. Yum.

Back to that old sausage recipe. Found out it’s not my grandfather’s but belonged to his brother Wes. So now it’s called “Wes’s Sausage”. I asked mom how she remembered the texture. She thought somewhere between a bologna and a brat… Hmm. She also spoke with a brother that said Wes definitely had a smoker and they used a beef casing. Time to grind.

Broke the seasoning down to a 5lb batch. Aside from the salt and sugar it didn’t look like a lot. But once mixed together and the aroma of the onion and garlic soaking in warm water totally filled the kitchen.

Next day I ground and stuffed the meat. Didn’t have any beef middles or rounds but had some hog casing about brat size. Did a couple pounds in that because she remembered the natural casing and the rest in a fibrous casing. Hand mixed this only to the point of starting to get sticky. Wanted this a bit looser. Bagged and left sit over night.

Next morning took out to warm up and dry out in the kitchen. To the smoker we go. Used my regular smoking schedule which is nearly identical to Walton’s. 6 1/2 hours later… Done. Ice bathed, hung for 3hrs in the garage and back to the fridge overnight.


This was absolutely amazing. A semi soft texture and the taste is wonderful. Mom took a piece and said OMG. Greatest compliment I’ve ever received.

Wish I could send you all a sample. This is a keeper.
Thanks Uncle Wes.

Bacon wrapped venison back straps. Two different ways. The open pit was much preferred by all.

On the lighter side of all the corona talk. Just talked to a gal who exclaimed…

" I feel like I’m sixteen again. Gas is cheap and I’m grounded"

Yep!

Donovan Mercer
Don’t ever worry about bothering someone around here. Kinda what this whole community is all about. Good luck on those sticks.

Is this cold smoking? Or cold grilling?
Don’t matter, end result is all that matters. Quick rib eye before shutting down. Luv the holidays but… Crazy time of year as usual.

At least I had good company

All the best to everyone for a safe and wonderful holiday season!

Ok… Let’s get this done.

End of week simple. Was going to do Jack’s pizza on the Pizzazz but… Fired up the the grill.
Third attempt at this. Moved the coals to a circle around the Weber. Last time was good but charred the crust with coals directly underneath.
About 14 minutes total cook No smoke.

This was amazing. Probably the best frozen pizza ever.

Ribs going on tomorrow am.

Tex_77
I’ve only noticed this date of birth thing for last couple of livestreams. Never had to do that prior. I was hopping between the house and garage yesterday and had my laptop on YouTube and Chromebook on the Meatgistics link. No issues either way. Entries appeared on both. Very strange what this folks are experiencing.

Parksider
I’ll second that on the butcher 22. It’s a beast.

Chef
The is pretty neat. Nice job.

Jonathon
That truly is sad. Well, if you can’t force yourself to eat them you have my address.

Just curious. Where’re you at on the 50lb mixer and suction cups for the stuffer?

Jonathon
Was looking at doing the same thing by putting a gusset across there. But will wait for 50 pounder to be available. This has to be a design flaw. Should be angled the same as the outer paddle. Weston??

A night off from the grill. Sudden craving for shrimp and fries. Visited the frozen section. Haven’t deep fried in some time. Well worth it. Just me and the Brothers!

Tex_77
Let’s not get into color here. Hmm. Unless it’s just that team blue thing. .
Agree with Chef. Would be nice to just delete them without clicking on them first.

twilliams
Agree with Tex_77 on this. Recently did the same for a small pork loin.