Equipment advice for newbie in U.S.

Where to buy, how to use. Stuffers, casings, spices, grinders, etc.

Postby Hobbitfeet » Fri Jan 06, 2006 8:20 am

Hi Oddley, it does sound an interesting recipe, but, does the # ( as in 10 # pork butt) stand for lbs? Of course, it could just be my old steam-driven computer misinterpreting things again!
"I would not enter on my list of friends (Though graced with polished manners and fine sense, yet wanting sensibility) the man who needlessly sets foot upon a worm." William Cowper.
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Postby Oddley » Fri Jan 06, 2006 10:03 am

Hi fatnhappy

The recipe says 2 oz crushed red pepper is that not crushed chillies? The nuances of the same language we speak sometimes defeat me.. :?

Hi Hobbitfeet

I have seen the hash sign used in a number of American recipes, I assume it means lbs. Perhaps one of our American friends can confirm it.
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Postby JFIELDS » Sat Jan 07, 2006 4:12 pm

Here, the # is often called the "pound sign". Although it isn't usually used in recipes, most Americans would understand it.
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Postby JFIELDS » Sat Jan 07, 2006 4:45 pm

After some discussion, I ended up making a (mostly) turkey breakfast sausage, instead of the Italian. I'm sure I'll get to that one soon though.

The recipe I used:

Breakfast Sausage
(Modified from Kutas book and scaled to 5 lbs)

1.25 lbs ground pork (Smithfield)
3.75 lbs ground turkey (7% Fat)
2 tb purified non-iodized salt
1 tb ground sage
� tb ground ginger
� tb ground nutmeg
� tb thyme
� tb fresh ground white pepper
� tsp ground savory
2 oz �RP Lean Fat Replacer� (on account of the high turkey content)
12 oz cold water
Collagen casings (breakfast sized)

I'd gotten my stuffer from http://www.sausagemaker.com/. It is the 3-lb stainless model. I'm obviously brand new to this hobby, but I was please by how it worked and cleanup was easy. I like the way the opening on the front is the full diameter, so I can get my hand in to clean.

I didn't really have any problems with the casings or stuffing. I filled them nice and taut and it went pretty fast. I'd read about bursting casings and wondered how (over)full I'd have to stuff them to burst one. So I got a little aggressive on the filling and sure enough, one popped. But it that was the only one.

I did the whole process myself, with the stuffer C-clamped to the kitchen counter. It went really smoothly. I got about 60-some breakfast links from 5 pounds. And the end result was really tasty. Honestly, I don't see myself heading back to the sausage section of the supermarket any time soon. As I'd hoped, the ones I made had a lot more flavor, and I'm looking forward to the variety of things I can make.

Justin
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Postby othmar » Sat Jan 07, 2006 6:42 pm

JFIELDS- I followed this tread sporadically, as my work load leaves me little time. I am very happy for you and your first success. You did all your research and asked questions here, which is the right place to be, and have received a lot of help from all these fine people here.

Now you are on your way the first step is made and soon you will be able to do different sausages and perhaps even cure your own hams and bacon.

You also have shown something which I always recomend. Start small, get informed and then progress as your knowledge progesses. Many people start off with to much and expensieve equipment then they get overwhelmed and frustrated. You did everything right.

Congratulations.

On last note about the ground meat and the fat content of it. If possible buy the ground meat by a local butcher shop and he most likely will mix the meat/fat content to your specifications.

I am not up to speed with the law in America but here in Canada the ground meat grading is like this.

Extra lean, maximum 10% fat.
Lean, maximum 17% fat.
Medium Lean, maximum 23% fat.
Regular, maximum 30%fat.
Meat is good and healthy Master Butchers Choice
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Postby JFIELDS » Tue Jan 10, 2006 6:55 pm

Thanks for the kind words.

If there is one thing I know, it is that there are always people that know more than me. And when they are generous with their time and knowledge, as people here are, I'd be stupid to ignore them.

That I could make something much tastier than what I can buy in the store on my first try doesn't say as much about my miniscule skills as it does about the woeful state of what is pawned off as an allegedly quality product in the store. It surprises me, yet it really shouldn't. The same thing happens when I homebrew beer. If I have a failure, it still tastes better than most of the commercial stuff out there. Once you actually get good at doing something yourself, it isn't just better, but vastly better.

What has become clear is that I need to learn a whole lot more about meat. I've only talked to the butcher in the grocery store a few times, and it is a big chain store at that. I'll look up a smaller shop (or independent butcher) I can work with to get specific cuts of meat and actually get some education along the way, rather than just a piece of whatever is shrinkwrapped in the case.

Thanks for participating and sharing your knowledge!

Justin
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Postby twasilewski » Tue Jan 10, 2006 7:53 pm

fatnhappy wrote:
twasilewski wrote:I wanted to add a couple of things:

- I got the Kitchenaid grinder attachment, but it didn't come with the stuffing horns. I had to order them seperately, for something like $15 or so. So if you want to use it for both grinding & stuffing, you need to get both, and it's a good beginning option.

- Grinding is fairly quick & easy with the Kitchenaid attachment, compared to the other steps: for me, boning out large cuts of pork & cutting into small pieces & getting the pieces very cold in the freezer can take forever, but grinding for a 5-10lb batch takes 10 minutes or so.

-- Stuffing with the Kitchenaid is messy and a pain in the ass though. You have to slap globs of sticky ground meat & spices mixture onto the shallow Kitchenaid mixer pan, then jam the stuff down the small tube with a provided wooden dowel, which gets all gummy and sticks due to the suction on the sidewalls of the tube. After doing this for a few months to confirm that I liked making my own (once you start tasting your own stuff you will quickly reach the same conclusion), I got a seperate stuffer, and now stuffing went from hardest/longest step to easiest/quickest.


Not only do I agree, I agree wholeheartedly.
Where'd you get the stuffer if I might ask?

BTW Oddley, I know Frankfort NY fairly well. I'm going to try that recipe, with a touch of hot red pepper.


To answer fatnhappy, I bought the $60 Grizzly 5-lb vertical stuffer:
http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2006/main/74
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Postby othmar » Tue Jan 10, 2006 11:23 pm

JFIELDS wrote:Thanks for the kind words.

If there is one thing I know, it is that there are always people that know more than me. And when they are generous with their time and knowledge, as people here are, I'd be stupid to ignore them.

That I could make something much tastier than what I can buy in the store on my first try doesn't say as much about my miniscule skills as it does about the woeful state of what is pawned off as an allegedly quality product in the store. It surprises me, yet it really shouldn't. The same thing happens when I homebrew beer. If I have a failure, it still tastes better than most of the commercial stuff out there. Once you actually get good at doing something yourself, it isn't just better, but vastly better.

What has become clear is that I need to learn a whole lot more about meat. I've only talked to the butcher in the grocery store a few times, and it is a big chain store at that. I'll look up a smaller shop (or independent butcher) I can work with to get specific cuts of meat and actually get some education along the way, rather than just a piece of whatever is shrinkwrapped in the case.

Thanks for participating and sharing your knowledge!

Justin


Let me say this, in a super store there are no butchers there are only meat sellers. What I mean with that is that these people learn only the food hygiene laws and how to cut a steak without cutting their own fingers and that is all they learn. That is why super stores get away with paying minimum wages to their staff.

As for the quality of prducts. I am not trying to defend anyone or excusing them. But the reality is this. For a product to become financially attractieve it has to be cheap. If a customer gets to a super store and would have to pay $10 dollars for a pound of frankfurters he/she would turn around and leave the store never to come back again.

Unfortunatly we have come so far in our consumer driven society that to us a price is more important than quality. If people go to McD. for a burger and only pay 99c then they cannot expect to get real meat for that price. The same is true with a super store sausage, there is barely any meat in it, sometimes less than 40% the rest is cheap filler.

So yes making our own food and beverages is qualiy wise a lot better but also a lot more expensieve if we would have to conceder all costs including our time and wages. But having said that I still like to make my own food more than buying it, there comes for me also the experience and satisfaction of doing something with your hands, perhaps it is a primeval thing with me when we where independent and had not to wait until someone gave us something.
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Postby dbabkb » Sat Jan 14, 2006 6:54 pm

JFIELDS wrote:After some discussion, I ended up making a (mostly) turkey breakfast sausage, instead of the Italian. I'm sure I'll get to that one soon though.

The recipe I used:

Breakfast Sausage
(Modified from Kutas book and scaled to 5 lbs)

1.25 lbs ground pork (Smithfield)
3.75 lbs ground turkey (7% Fat)
2 tb purified non-iodized salt
1 tb ground sage
� tb ground ginger
� tb ground nutmeg
� tb thyme
� tb fresh ground white pepper
� tsp ground savory
2 oz �RP Lean Fat Replacer� (on account of the high turkey content)
12 oz cold water
Collagen casings (breakfast sized)

I'd gotten my stuffer from http://www.sausagemaker.com/. It is the 3-lb stainless model. I'm obviously brand new to this hobby, but I was please by how it worked and cleanup was easy. I like the way the opening on the front is the full diameter, so I can get my hand in to clean.

I didn't really have any problems with the casings or stuffing. I filled them nice and taut and it went pretty fast. I'd read about bursting casings and wondered how (over)full I'd have to stuff them to burst one. So I got a little aggressive on the filling and sure enough, one popped. But it that was the only one.

I did the whole process myself, with the stuffer C-clamped to the kitchen counter. It went really smoothly. I got about 60-some breakfast links from 5 pounds. And the end result was really tasty. Honestly, I don't see myself heading back to the sausage section of the supermarket any time soon. As I'd hoped, the ones I made had a lot more flavor, and I'm looking forward to the variety of things I can make.

Justin


I had the same thing happen JFIELDS. As long as you take your time your sausage will come out fine. You mentioned flavor and see you make your own seasoning which I have no doubt is good but I finally gave up on doing it that way a while back and got some seasoning from a webite at http://www.onestopjerkyshop.com/ and let me tell you is came out awesome. I tried two different types the first time. The Original breakfast seasoning and a honey pan sausage which was great. I actually made it with my venison 70% and pork 30% mixture and stuffed it into a 21mm casing that they carry as well. Just my 2 pennies.

Nice site guys and look forward to getting some good processing tips in here.
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Postby fatnhappy » Sun Jan 22, 2006 3:26 am

twasilewski wrote:
fatnhappy wrote:
twasilewski wrote:I wanted to add a couple of things:

- I got the Kitchenaid grinder attachment, but it didn't come with the stuffing horns. I had to order them seperately, for something like $15 or so. So if you want to use it for both grinding & stuffing, you need to get both, and it's a good beginning option.

- Grinding is fairly quick & easy with the Kitchenaid attachment, compared to the other steps: for me, boning out large cuts of pork & cutting into small pieces & getting the pieces very cold in the freezer can take forever, but grinding for a 5-10lb batch takes 10 minutes or so.

-- Stuffing with the Kitchenaid is messy and a pain in the ass though. You have to slap globs of sticky ground meat & spices mixture onto the shallow Kitchenaid mixer pan, then jam the stuff down the small tube with a provided wooden dowel, which gets all gummy and sticks due to the suction on the sidewalls of the tube. After doing this for a few months to confirm that I liked making my own (once you start tasting your own stuff you will quickly reach the same conclusion), I got a seperate stuffer, and now stuffing went from hardest/longest step to easiest/quickest.


Not only do I agree, I agree wholeheartedly.
Where'd you get the stuffer if I might ask?

BTW Oddley, I know Frankfort NY fairly well. I'm going to try that recipe, with a touch of hot red pepper.


To answer fatnhappy, I bought the $60 Grizzly 5-lb vertical stuffer:
http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2006/main/74



As Homer would say, DOH!

I bought mine from Northern tool and was pretty excited that I only spent $79 at the time. After seeing the Grizzly link here I've been posting it all over the web (at outdoors/hunting forums) as the best price I've seen.
Quite a good value for the $ IMHO, especially when you consider the plactic stuffing tubes for a kitchen aid grinder will run you $15.



Oddley, the premise than we speak the same language is debatable. :wink:
Yes, red peppers mean hot peppers even on our side of the pond, except it seems in my neck of the woods. Here we say, sweet peppers or hot peppers. Red peppers are normally sweet, and hot peppers are usually jalapenos, hungarians, peppercini and habeneros.
I live in an Italian-American neighborhood and peppers are regarded as a cultural icon. You can buy hot pickled peppers anywhere (great on salads).
Until you've had hot Italian sausage on a kaiser roll with roasted peppers and onions from a NY deli cart you haven't lived.
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Postby Oddley » Sun Jan 22, 2006 12:23 pm

I think it was field marshal Montgomery who said that "Britain and America were two countries separated by a common language".

I sometimes watch "American Chopper" on the TV and find the mispronounced and made up words used, very amusing.

To get back on topic I tried the Italian recipe I posted, as a burger. I quite liked it, I know someone has said it is a bit too simple, I'm not sure I agree with that view. I will be making them as sausage, but when I cook them, I will cook the outside then split them lengthwise and fry the inside to caramelize the meat and toast the fennel seeds, this should make the flavours more complex, as it did with the burger.

You have made me feel quite hungry with your description of the Italian sausage roll. As I can't get over there, you will just have to put one in the post...
:D
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Postby JFIELDS » Mon Jan 23, 2006 12:47 am

I was the one that thought it a bit on the simple side. However, of the 3 kinds I've made so far, it has been the most popular so far from other tasters.

If we all liked the exact same things, the world would be boring...
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Postby fatnhappy » Mon Jan 23, 2006 5:06 am

Oddley wrote:I I will be making them as sausage, but when I cook them, I will cook the outside then split them lengthwise and fry the inside to caramelize the meat and toast the fennel seeds, this should make the flavours more complex, as it did with the burger.

You have made me feel quite hungry with your description of the Italian sausage roll. As I can't get over there, you will just have to put one in the post...
:D



Off topic slightly, but when making sauce I love to heat olive oil until it's about ready to smoke and then fry fennel and garlic almost black. Then i'll carmelize some sundried tomatoes before browning hot italian sausage and pork ribs. Add some whole tomatoes and paste. A touch of brown sugar to disguise the acid and a pinch or two of oregano seals the deal.

yummmmmmmmmmm
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