@schreib
We do a lot of different sausages and find using pork butts are very easy to find, i always get the ones with the largest fat caps on them. We mix 50/50, our original recipe for snack sticks was 60/40 venison to pork, but no one likes to do that math, so 50/50 is how we’ve been making it for a long time and everyone loves it so we use that ratio for everything. We make a lot of different sausages at one time so it’s just easier to know we have a standard. Not sure where you’re at but we have a Restaurant Depot in town that sells 2-butt packs and discounts it if you buy more than 50# at one time. They have very good product and great price.

Well we finally to our game to the next level, we acquired a 6x10x9 walkin cooler and a 4x6 walkin freezer. It went up pretty quick but we had two panels on the wrong side, this pic is before we fixed it. Went to put the top on and it was one foot longer… so a quick rearrangement of the panels and here it is. We are planning on using a window air conditioner and a Coolbot controller to run it since it didn’t come with a compressor. Anyone out there using the Coolbot or similar setup?

@Jonathon
Can’t wait to see the Lebanon bologna video! We are going to give it a shot this year with venison and pork fat using the Excaliber spice mix. I’m excited to see how it goes. After growing up in Dutch Amish county in PA I think I’ve had every kind. Our local butcher shop here in Rochester NY makes it but it’s too sweet for me.

@bigda964
Jim I’m here in Rochester, actually we live in the village of Lima. We process around 25 deer a year and make all sorts of stuff. If you’d like to learn you’re welcome to come by. Reach me at5859535611. Check my profile and I’m at black run bbq on Instagram. You can see what we make.
John Correll

@ggillis
Austin is right, there is no easy way to get meat, especially if it has cure in it, into the 16mm casings. You WILL strip the stuffer, been there done that! I found that doing small batches, add water and stuff immediately, try doing maybe a pound or two at a time. Go up to the 19mm it will make like much easier and really isn’t that big of a jump. Even our 35# hydraulic doesn’t like casings under 19mm, just too much pressure. Save your shoulder and the stuffer gears!
If you do cut the tube down, be sure to post and let us know how it goes, i’m curious???

@gerygaub
If your girlfriend doesn’t like oak she will hate mesquite. Typically the sweeter fruit woods have a milder taste, cherry, apple, birch…i use hickory for everything, very common, easy to find. I use oak sometime i think it’s a very light wood-I’ll throw a stick on the charcoal while I’m grilling burgers and stuff like that. If you are using like a Weber Smokey Mountain or something like that you can always just use charcoal and very little wood, it will give it a good flavor that won’t overpower the flavor of the meat. I’d throw that on my WSM at 200-225, pull it at 130 internal temp and rest. It will be great, you got this!

@stan
I’ve done a lot both ways. I would highly recommend a stuffer and I have the Weston grinder with the auger stuffing attachment. It’s slow, but if you’re doing 5# or 10# batches, it’s not that bad. I’ve had small 5# stuffer, old school cast iron Enterprise, 11# vertical and now a 35# hydraulic. Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t trade the hydraulic but the 11# vertical I got on amazon had a lot of versatility. I think your bigger decision should be what type of stuffer should I buy. I would recommend the taller, smaller diameter instead of the large shorter one. The smaller diameter allow for a higher pressure for doing sticks with cure in them. The large short ones would be great for doing pork sausage or larger diameter casings, not 19-22mm sticks with cure. It would be fine as long as you’re doing fresh like breakfast or something like that. If you go the stuffer route I’d get it from Waltons and get the Weston-they stock parts, other no name from amazon is a one shot deal, once ours broke couldn’t find parts. Plus they have so many tube sizes now and Walton’s does a great job helping with casing and stuffing horn sizes, they carry them all.

Try 6oz of TQ per 20# of meat. We use 10# pork and 10 venison. We backed this down from the original recipe. We eat a lot less salt now so adjust it as needed.

Wow! That sounds pretty cool! I’ve never really relied on our product being shelf stable we’ve always refrigerated it other than throwing some sticks in a bag for a hunt or tailgate party. This may launch us into retail! Getting ready to install the walkin cooler, concrete gets poured tomorrow

@weathered100 I’m sure Jon or Austin will comment about the science but you still need to cook the meat-you don’t want raw sticks. If you’re having trouble getting sticks to temp we smoke for 2-4 hours to get the color right then into a water bath at 170F until sticks reach temp. We use a turkey fryer the strainer basket makes it easy to remove and rinse in cold water to stop the carryover cooking process. I’ve been questioned about the water bath, and no it doesn’t remove the smoke flavor, no it doesn’t make the meat watery, we use it with natural, cellulose, and collagen casings. Cooking in water is a very soft even heat, some use a sous vide cooker. I’ve never tried it we just put the pot on top of a wood stove in the shop works great, just put a temp probe in one stick and wait for it to hit 160F, shower with cold water we hang to dry, an hour or so, then into the cooler.