Problem with sausage texture - Need help!

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Problem with sausage texture - Need help!

Postby Sky C. » Tue Apr 11, 2006 1:38 pm

Hello to the forum!

NewB here to sausage making.

I'm hoping you can help me with a problem I'm having with my sausage.

I'm trying to make game meat sausage. The following is the procedure I followed:

3 parts very lean, trimmed elk
2 parts pork shoulder

Meat was cubed into ~1" pieces, spicing added, refrigetated overnight.
Ground through 1/4" plate with meat very cold - partially frozen.
Re-chilled in freezer after grinding, approx. 15 minutes, stuffed into hog casings.

Problem: After cooking, the sausages are somewhat dry & mealy. Best description I could give is somewhat like overcooked hamburger only the grain size of the meat is more fine. The meat breaks apart rather than holding together.

Any suggestions as to where I'm going wrong?


Thanks-

Sky C.
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Postby Wohoki » Tue Apr 11, 2006 1:50 pm

Hi,

you might want to add 5-10% of bread crumbs or rusk, and the same weight of water or stock (or wine), and give the ground meat a good mixing (5 minutes, treat it like bread dough) before stuffing. The rusk will hold moisture in the sausage, and the pounding helps the proteins in the meat to bind together and create "bite". You should also keep the finished sausage in the fridge overnight before cooking them.
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Postby Fallow Buck » Tue Apr 11, 2006 1:59 pm

Sky,

Are you adding any seasonings at all?

The rusk and water will give you a better consistency but the herbs, will add flavour.

You mentioned that you added shoulder. Is that pork or more Elk shoulder. You should look to add some fat into the mix when you mince the meat. That will make the end product more succulent.

FB
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Postby Sky C. » Tue Apr 11, 2006 3:10 pm

Wohoki & FB-

Thanks for the tips.

I did a search on "rusk" but it does not seem to be a product known here in USA. From some reading on this forum - the content of yeast in bread crumbs sounds like it may give an unwanted result. Combining the two thoughts - it somewhat sounds like rusk would be some kind of a yeastless bread...? Crushed crackers? Would other additives like potato or oats along with liquid may accomplish the same purpose of providing moisture?

Will give this a try along with some liquid (stock or wine) & the trick with kneading the mixture prior to stuffing.

As for meats - yes - the shoulder was pork to give the fat. Spices??? But of course!!! One of the reasons I want to make my own sausages is because I love spices & cooking! Many ideas I want to try.


Many thanks for the tips!

Best regards-

Sky C.
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Postby Wohoki » Tue Apr 11, 2006 4:05 pm

I've used Ryvita as rusk (swedish-type yeastless flat cripbread ) with great success in the past, but I've also used regular bread as well: the yeast should be dead by the time the bread is cooked, but to make sure you could just bake the sliced bread at 120c for half an hour before use, which would help it crumb in a blender as well. There is also a recipe for rusk on this site (somewhere?).
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Postby Rik vonTrense » Tue Apr 11, 2006 4:22 pm

The only active yeast you would find in bread is wild yeast that can be anywhere airborne.

Yeast dies at 110F so after it's intial oven spring which is it's final death throes it will not be active anymore.

Sourdough starters are made simply by mixing flour and water and a little bit of sugar and leaving it to the open air, within three days it will be come active with wild yeast spoors and this is how sourdough is made.


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Postby Wohoki » Tue Apr 11, 2006 4:25 pm

Pretty much what I thought, but it's good to have it confirmed by someone who isn't making it up as he goes along :D
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Postby Sky C. » Tue Apr 11, 2006 5:08 pm

Again folks- thanks for the tips.

Quick question for clarification...

Rusk - 5% to 10%.... by volume or by weight?
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Postby Wohoki » Tue Apr 11, 2006 6:11 pm

Weight. (1kg meat+50 to 100g rusk)
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