New piston stuffer & problem to mix with Kenwood

[EnriqueB]

So I made the first sausages with my new vertical stuffer. Definitively the way to go, what a difference to stuffing with the Kenwood grinder attachment, night and day! And my wife, who doesn't need to help me any more, loves me again

Basic fresh pork sausage:

825 g pork collar
175 g backfat ("tocino ibérico fresco")
1,5 g salt
1 g black pepper
1 g white pepper
1,4 g nutmeg
1 g granulated garlic
50 g water

I made two identical batches, one was cubed, salted and vacuum-sealed for 36 hours, the other was salted after grinding. In Modernist Cuisine they advocate this "pregrind" treatment as a way to improve miosine extraction, but I could not appreciate any difference in mixing difficulty to achieve the primary bind.

Ground through medium (4.5 mm) dice, mixed & stuffed on 3,2mm hog casings, conditioned for 5 hours and cooked sous-vide 2 hours at 56ºC to pasteurize, then a brief sear over high heat in a cast iron grill pan. Moist, juicy and yummy!

I had problems to mix with my Kenwood Chef K010. I tried to mix 1 kg very cold ground meat/fat at "min" speed with the K paddle and it completelly stuck to the paddle every half a minute. I resorted to mix by hand, but wonder if there is some optimum amount of meat to use with this type of mixer or something to do differently?

[denty632]

Hi, I tried to use a Kenwood to mix once and found that the smearing of the fat made for a very poor mix. I think that the one and only method to mix small batches is the one you resorted to, your hand.

Will wait out to see if anyone else comes back with optimum weights

Cheers

S

[wheels]

I agree with Denty, and mix by hand.

Phil

[EnriqueB]

Thanks denty632 & Phil. I was afraid that was going to be the answer, I already start to feel the cold and numbness in my fingers

[wheels]

[denty632]

yes, the coldness is not great BUT it gives you instant feedback as to whether your mix is too warm. I work on the principle that if my hands are NOT uncomfortable, my mix is too warm and it goes back in the freezer.

[Big Guy]

ten pounds and under I mix by hand. larger batches I have a 20 lb mixer to save frozen fingers

[NCPaul]

Your salt seems too low in the recipe above; are you sure it wasn't 15 grams? I use a KitchenAid mixer (similar) and it will do 1-2 Kg.

[jenny_haddow]

Hi,
I always mix with my Kenwood, but I use the dough hook not the K beater. Works well and doesn't clog.

Jen

[EnriqueB]

Your salt seems too low in the recipe above; are you sure it wasn't 15 grams? I use a KitchenAid mixer (similar) and it will do 1-2 Kg.

Thanks for noting the error! Yes, of course it was 15 g. May I ask, which paddle and speed do you use?

[EnriqueB]

Hi,
I always mix with my Kenwood, but I use the dough hook not the K beater. Works well and doesn't clog.

Jen

Thanks Jenny! I'll try with the dough hook next time.