by cashmkr2001 » Mon Feb 06, 2012 6:47 am
the reason I ask is that I find a wide variety of mixing times. I own about 10 books on sausagemaking and the advised mixing time ranges from 2-5 minutes to 10-15 minutes. Some books simply mention: 'mix well". My butcher, and a renowed sausagemaker in my country, mixes (mechanically) for 12 minutes. My own experience is mixed (ha!). Just having it look 'sticky', which happens in a minute or so, does not seem enough. It still releases fat and liquid when i bake it at this stage. It seems to need more time, but I have not been able to judge by the texture when that time is right.
So recently I've just used the adagium: "it's never too long (as long as the temperature is low)", which amounts to 5-10 minutes. However, this has also occassionally caused problems: grainy sausage, with lots of released fats. Again, I keep the temperature to a minimum (<5 degrees C).
Hence my question: what in your experience is about the right mixing time, and is there such as thing as overmixing?