www.sausagemaking.org

My father used a 3/8" plate exclusively but I would like to try using a 3/16" plate. I read where the proper method for using a 3/16" plate is to first grind the meat with a 3/8" plate and then use the 3/16" plate for the second grind. Is this the generally accepted approach? Would using the 3/16" plate for both grinds produce to fine a consistency for sausage? Thanks for any feedback.

I'm no expert, but perhaps you might stress your grinder a bit if you use the 3/16 plate.

Sam

Several questions for you

1) Do you intend making sausages with the fat and lean meat weighed out separately?

2) Do you have a bowl chopper (also called food chopper, buffalo chopper, or silent cutter)?

3) Do you have stuffing attachments for your grinder or will you be using a separate stuffer?


kind regards

Parson Snows

Be careful if you are going to use the 3/16 inch plate for both grinds as there is a reasonable chance that the meat will be overheated (you are trying to force a large piece of meat through a relatively small hole) resulting in "smearing" or as what they refer to in France as "farcissage" when you make/cook the sausages.

I have taken the liberty of enclosing a table that I came up with that works for me.




kind regards

Parson Snows

PS you can still let me know the answers to the previously posted questions

We have a company in Houston (www.alliedkenco.com) that caters to the home sausage maker. I have spoken with the owner about plate size and he recommends using a 3-hole "kidney" plate for all first grinds.

http://www.alliedkenco.com/grinders/plates_kidney.htm

By using the 3-hole plate initially, the pieces of ground meat will not get turned into mush when you do the 2nd grind during stuffing.

I put the first grind with seasonings in a plastic sandwidch bag, which holds 1 lb. After refrigerating it overnight, I shape the bag into a width twice the size of the feed hole on my grinder. Then I freeze the bag to near solid consistency and cut the bag in half. This gives me 2 long square cylinders of semi-frozen meat to shove into the grinder in easy to handle pieces. No more mushy hands.

Bob

First of all welcome to the forum.
Basically the use of a kidney plate ensures that the larger cuts of meat can pass through the mincer/grinder without getting "squeezed" which would happen if the same size pieces of meat were pushed through the smaller holes of a regular mincer/grinder plate. In the whole posting of making sausages (which can be found on page 2 of "Recipes/how much fat?") I addressed this problem as follows

Method
1) Chill the meat and fat (if used) down to 1 �C (30 �F) prior to mincing/grinding.
2) Decide on what texture/coarseness of sausage you want to make



3) Cut the meat across the grain into strips approx. � inch to 1 inch (1.25 cm to 2.5 cm) wide. Make sure that all sinews etc. are removed otherwise they will clog the plate and you will have to remove the plate and clean it out.
4) Cut the fat (if used) into small pieces approximately � inch to 1 inch (1.25 cm to 2.5 cm) square. MAKE SURE THAT ALL SKIN, GRISTLE HAS BEEN REMOVED.
5) Run/pass the meat and fat through the mincer/grinder the first time into a meat lug or similar.

then the second grind etc.

kind regards

Parson Snows

PS Though I can't comment on now, when I was working in the UK the use of kidney plates was rare if non existent

Parson Snows wrote:Bob
First of all welcome to the forum.

Thanks. I find this forum to be exactly what I need to improve my sausage making skills. I did not realize that the British were into sausage as extensively as this forum indicates. I read The Telegraph every morning and participate in British political forums all the time, plus I have several active correspondences with Brits scattered all over the country but never once have I seen a mention of the British loving sausage outside the occasional reference to bangers and mash. If you make sausage with the same excellence as you make British Ale, I am convinced.

Basically the use of a kidney plate ensures that the larger cuts of meat can pass through the mincer/grinder without getting "squeezed" which would happen if the same size pieces of meat were pushed through the smaller holes of a regular mincer/grinder plate.
[snip]

Yes, I spotted that graphic and did a capture for printing. Very helpful.

I am just about to try my hand at a recipe I found earlier on this forum called "Fatman Sausage". I like the ingredient list. However I make my pork at 40% fat. I use a pork shoulder with outside fat trimmed so I can get the weight of "lean" pork, which I take to be 20% fat. Then I use 1.5 lb lean to 0.5 lb fat, giving a 40% fat. I have found that 30% is too dry and 50% is too fatty. 40% works best for my tastes.

I mentioned the importance of freezing the meat before grinding. I got in a hurry a half hour ago because of my schedule and did the grind/stuff too soon. The meat was not chilled enough. It went into the casing initially the way I wanted it but then started emulsifying. I was using a 3/8" plate.

You need to get the meat hard (but not frozen solid) or it will mush up no matter what plate you use. I even tried it once with no cutter - only the 3-hole plate - and it still mushed up when it was not frozen enough.

I think it's time to invest in a pusher stuffer - the grinder stuffer mangles the meat too much unless conditions are just right.

I usually do the stuffing right before lunch so I can use the meat that did not make it into the casing for a pan-fried sausage sandwich with homemade Kansas City BBQ sauce and sliced pickles. Sometimes when my colesterol gets too low (HA!), I top it with a fried egg which picks up the flavoring from the sausage fat in the pan. Delicious.

Here's the sauce recipe if anyone is interested:

Kansas City Classic Sauce

1 c. ketchup
1/4 c. white vinegar
1/3 c. dark molasses
1/4 t. allspice
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. mace
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 t. curry powder
1/2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. paprika
1/2 t. hot pepper sauce

We struggle to get molasses over here, could you substitute treacle?

Franco

Franco

You wrote

We struggle to get molasses over here, could you substitute treacle?

Please find below a response that I received some time ago from Tate & Lyle. This was concerning Suffolk Hams and Bacon though the principle is the same.

I see no reason why you could not substitute the black treacle with
cane molasses and as you rightly say you would then need to add in some
more sugar / invert to balance the recipe.

Cane molasses do vary in % solids depending on the manufacturer
(normally about 80%) and I am not sure if you have access to any invert
sugars or refiners syrup so it is difficult for me to advise exactly
what the substitution would be

Lindsay Mather
Technical Applications Manager
Tate and Lyle

I used a sugar syrup mixture of 4 parts sugar to 1 part water

I hope that this is of some use to you

kind regards

Parson Snows

Franco wrote:We struggle to get molasses over here, could you substitute treacle?
Franco

What's "treacle"?

I am afraid you need dark molasses. That's what gives the sauce its distinctive taste.

I have been cooking BBQ for over 40 years and I have tried almost every sauce recipe known to man, and then some. I have never found a taste so incredibly delicious as that Kansas City Classic Sauce.

I got the recipe from an obscure BBQ Sauce book where the author claimed he got it from a proprietary recipe of a famous Kansas City BBQ chef.

With the Dollar in the tank, you should be able to get all the molasses you need by mail order for a very affordable price from the States.

I am using "Grandma's Gold Standard All Natural Unsulphured Original Molasses". They have a web site:

http://www.grandmasmolasses.com/

There is a customer inquiry form under "Contact". The jar lists a toll-free number, 1-866-454-8229, but I do not know if it is free from Britain. They might even send you a sample free.

HTH

Franco

Mollasses is readily available here , you are just not looking in the right place mate. You can get it from herbal shops but that is expensive, better you go to your nearest horse feed store it's a tenth of the normal price. I use a lot when making Black Bacon.

Regards

Fatman

Fatman wrote:Franco
I use a lot when making Black Bacon.
Regards
Fatman

What is "Black Bacon"? Sounds delicious. Do you have a recipe?

Franco

T & L's BLACK treacle (not Golden Syrup) is approx 20 % sweeter than Molasses (blackstrap - which is probably what an American recipe is referring to). When I approached T &L I had the other problem. I couldn't get Black Treacle but I could get Molasses (blackstrap).

kind regards


Parson Snows

At what stage of the cure do you add the molasses?


Franco