Problem with meat consistency

[PAF]

Hi..I recently make a batch of my first �Grandpas Jumbo Polish sausages� which I then smoked. The taste of the sausage was great but the consistency or grind coarseness, for the sake of a better word, was almost mash. The meat did not have any texture. I used 50% venison & 50% pork mince. Venison was minced coarsely by me & the pork was done by the butcher.

I BBQed some fresh but they split & spilled out contents

Can someone tell me where I went wrong with the meat?

[Spuddy]

Hi PAF and welcome to the forum.

Consistency problems are usually due to either:

Not enough fat in the mix

Not enough mixing (mixing helps to emulsify the fat with water and proteins from the meat resulting in a meaty rather than grainy texture)

Meat not cold enough whilst mixing (the fat and water won't emulsify if the temperature is too warm)

Hope this helps

[PAF]

Hi Spuddy..thanks for the quick response.
You mentioned coldness of meat.

I noticed in some of the forum topics they talk about mincing when still semi frozen. Does this damage the meat fibre or is this a plus to mince semi frozen

I think the fat might be my answer. The pork I used was from a butcher & I am not sure the % fat of it. It there some way of establishing the correct % fat before filling cases. I don�t want to waste another batch

[georgebaker]

Hi Spuddy

Meat not cold enough whilst mixing (the fat and water won't emulsify if the temperature is too warm)

I never knew that, I often wondered why it should be cold. I keep mine cold for food hygene so have been lucky without knowing why

Thanks for the info, we never stop learning
George

[Spuddy]

Mincing whilst still semi frozen doesn't really make a difference to the texture but it helps the mincer cut through any connective tissue and membranes more easily. Also a mincer will generate some heat whilst mincing so it is good food safety practice too as it's not a good idea to have the temperature fluctuating to unsafe levels.

Fat content varies from breed to breed and beast to beast but you can reckon on shoulder containing 25-30% and belly at around 50%.
Most sausagemakers here would probably use shoulder or shoulder plus a bit of belly if the shoulder is too lean.

[vinner]

A good butcher should tell you what the fat content is, and Spuddy's percentages seem true. I try to keep the total fat level at 25%.... any less, and it falls apart, any more and the wifey complains. Somewhere on this site is a fat "calculator", where if you know the fat content of your meats, it will let you know how much of each to use. Most store bought is rather high, 50% fat or more.

I put my meat in the freezer for about 45 minutes prior to grinding, and if I am not stuffing righ away, immediately into the fridge. It in no way harms the meat fibre. I mix by hand, so I wear thin hunting gloves under my latex gloves so my hand doesn't freeze, as the mix is about 30degrees F, and I want to mix it alot.

Next peice of equipment will be a 40 lbs. mixer. I just made 20 lbs. of wild boar and apple sausage with my neighbor, and my hands are still numb.

[dougal]

Steady on chaps, lots of interesting hares started but not really relating to the original question...

The taste of the sausage was great but the consistency or grind coarseness, for the sake of a better word, was almost mash. The meat did not have any texture.

The problem was not the sausage was 'gritty' (which can come from over-heating during mincing) the problem was that the texture was too smooth!
That sounds to my inexperienced ear more like too much than too little fat... BUT really, isn't it more likely that it was simply minced too much?
I wonder of the problem might be mincing (a second time) while stuffing - putting the horn on the end of the mincer, with the mincing plate still in position?

Venison is pretty dry and "coarse" mincing producing "mash" without "any texture" just doesn't sound right to me.

I BBQed some fresh but they split & spilled out contents

Sausages splitting on cooking would be caused by too much filler ("rusk" in the UK), too much added liquid, over-stuffed sausages, or poor quality skins...
I wonder what went in as well as the pork and venison?

[dougal]

Consistency problems are usually due to either:

Not enough fat in the mix
Not enough mixing (mixing helps to emulsify the fat with water and proteins from the meat resulting in a meaty rather than grainy texture)
Meat not cold enough whilst mixing (the fat and water won't emulsify if the temperature is too warm)

These comments would refer to "consistency problems" where the sausage is too "loose" and not holding together, wouldn't they?

[dougal]

Meat not cold enough whilst mixing (the fat and water won't emulsify if the temperature is too warm)

I never knew that, I often wondered why it should be cold. I keep mine cold for food hygene so have been lucky without knowing why

There has been prior discussion on here as to whether or not the forcemeat paste should properly be called an "emulsion" or whether that term should be reserved for "fully emulsified" sausages (incidentally with pretty uniform texture) or whether it can be used to describe the "binding" when the meat turns into a sticky paste on mixing to a forcemeat.
I think its fair to call it an emulsion, but was slapped down for it previously.
Whatever, the *binding* (mixing to a paste) only happens properly if everything is cold enough. (And McGee says that different meat fats require different temperatures to "emulsify", although he doesn't discuss "binding" other than in the context of full emulsification.)

Note that the above related to *mixing*.

As regards *mincing*, that should be cold too, but the reasons are different.
However, if mixing follows immediately after mincing, the two things get connected.
IMHO, keep it cold throughout, but the reasons (and the consequences of failure to be cold enough) are different at the different stages.

[PAF]

The problem was not the sausage was 'gritty' (which can come from over-heating during mincing) the problem was that the texture was too smooth!

Yes..Gritty / smooth could be used to explain the texture

That sounds to my inexperienced ear more like too much than too little fat... BUT really, isn't it more likely that it was simply minced too much?

Venison was minced once only & I would say the pork would have only been done once too considering it was commercially purchased

I wonder of the problem might be mincing (a second time) while stuffing - putting the horn on the end of the mincer, with the mincing plate still in position?

Nope..Plate was out & blade too

Venison is pretty dry and "coarse" mincing producing "mash" without "any texture" just doesn't sound right to me.

Wouldn't you think because it was a dry/low fat meat it would tend to not hold shape ? so I'm not sure if I can agree with you on this one.

I BBQed some fresh but they split & spilled out contents

Sausages splitting on cooking would be caused by too much filler ("rusk" in the UK), too much added liquid, over-stuffed sausages, or poor quality skins...
I wonder what went in as well as the pork and venison?

In terms of meat input only venison & pork

I dont know what you mean by rusk..but I didnt use it..I think on looking into it further they split due to the fill being a bit too much meat content without the fat to kind of alow for expansion when being fried at the higher temp. BTW the smoked ones held together wonderfully which I would expect cause smoking contracted the sausage

[pokerpete]

Hi Spuddy..thanks for the quick response.
You mentioned coldness of meat.

I noticed in some of the forum topics they talk about mincing when still semi frozen. Does this damage the meat fibre or is this a plus to mince semi frozen

I think the fat might be my answer. The pork I used was from a butcher & I am not sure the % fat of it. It there some way of establishing the correct % fat before filling cases. I don�t want to waste another batch

I think that a lot of problems emanate from the mincer used. The general workhorse for the retail trade in the UK was always the Hobart 22 which was adequate for sausages, pie meat, and small goods. Nearly freezing down the meat was not necessary as the mincer had adequate speed and power to cope. These machines are a bit on the heavy side, and probably phyically too large for most people to move about due to limited space constraints in the house. One has to make do with a less powerful machine that doesn't have the barrel and worm length to shear the meat. Double mincing on a Hobart 22 wouln't be a problem, but it is on a small machine because it tends to turn the meat mixture into a slush.
Using frozen chipped meat for sausage production would require a minimum of 5HP for the mincer, and I consider that to be smallish
for that job.