Time for a smoke

[leech~~]

2 hours ago, smurfy said:

so Leech....that smoked turkey gone already, gotta cook another for thanksgiving!!!!!!!1  

Nope going to sons. His job this year. Mine were just for fun and eats! 

[smurfy]

DNR wants them gone, so ...

[bobberineyes]

19 hours ago, smurfy said:

DNR wants them gone, so ...

Sheepshead??  Looks good smurf!

[bobberineyes]

What brine you use smurf?

[Mike89]

22 minutes ago, bobberineyes said:

What brine you use smurf?

sheepshead brine!!!   

[smurfy]

59 minutes ago, bobberineyes said:

What brine you use smurf?

It's a secret 

[Big Dave2]

2 racks of ribs on the pellet smoker today.

 

 

[smurfy]

looks awesome dave!!!!!!!

[smurfy]

Here is the brine I use for smoking fish, works for chicken too disregard the not using tap water.

Edited January 31, 2022 by smurfy

[rl_sd]

Going through the freezer a few weeks back, I came up with several packages of venison trim from 2019. The trim was all vac sealed so I wasn’t too worried about the age, but knew that the 20# of delicious deer meat needed to be used up. Usually in the spring there is a group of us that take a 4-day weekend and processing everything through, but for this small batch I figured I’d call out my 10 & 12 year old protégés. Decided to do 10# of strip jerky and 10# of summer sausage. I have done a lot of strip jerky, so I have the process down pretty well - but I like playing with different vendors and recipes to see what I like and don’t like. For this 10# batch, 5# was slated to be pepper and 5# was slated to be teriyaki - both commercial seasoning mixes offered by cabelas. As with most commercial jerky seasonings, I went about 20% over the recommended mixture (cure is left at 1oz per 25#). I shoot my jerky onto silicone mesh mats that I have cut down to fit my smoker trays. I usually run the jerky for two hours in the smoker before finishing it in the dehydrator until the center is firm with little give, but not hard and brittle. The pepper turned out great. The teriyaki flavor was subtle but decent…. Truthfully tasted more like an “original” blend

 

Now on to the summer sausage. I have processed A LOT of venison, but truthfully have never done summer sausage. I picked up two kits: P&S seasoning Jalepeno and also Hi Mountain original. Both kits came with the mahogany fibrous casings along with cure and seasoning. I added 4# of pork shoulder to 10# of venison and had the boys grind it through. I split it into 7# batches, seasoned accordingly and hand mixed. The jalapeño got high temp cheddar while the original I just left plain. I didn’t have out my vertical stuffer but instead used the jerky gun without a tip to fill the casings. This worked pretty well, but will use the stuffed on larger batches along with the tub mixer. I had planned to smoke and cook the chubs in my master built electric…… however the chubs were about 2” to long….. SO, the jerky got moved out of top box of my pellet grill and into the dehydrator after one hour instead of two. I continued to bump the temp up every hour starting at 100deg and ending at 180deg box temp until the sausage hit 154 degrees internal temp. It took quite a bit longer than I thought it would (7hrs) to reach the right internal temp. Once the temp was hit, I soaked the chubs in cold water for 20 min to stop the cooking and set the casing.  The end product was fabulous! I really liked the jalepeno and cheese , however the original was definitely on point with anything that you would buy from the store. The fat ratio seemed perfect- the sausage wasn’t crumbly, but wasn’t greasy either. I considered using a dairy binder but I am glad that I didn’t. I will definitely be doing it again! 
 

Sorry for such a long post but wanted to encourage anyone that hasn’t done it to give it a try!

[leech~~]

Nice work! 

I'm encourage, but I didn't get a deer and I don't have any child labor to help anymore!   

[smurfy]

That does look good. I've made jerky, never ventured into the sausage making however. I know it's just me, but never been a fan of high temp cheese in meat. Now a chunk of cheese on top of summer sausage and a cracker!!

 

I too no longer have child labor to help... But they seem to come when it's ready to eat!

[rl_sd]

I think that it is the child labor that helps keep things going! I grew up on the farm and we did our own processing of beef, pigs, and deer. I/We had 16 hours into process 20# of meat, so we really don't "save" much..... but as the boys grow older and have interest it is definitely more about sharing the time and experiences together. They are right at the age that they can start to help,  although I supervise them VERY closely over the equipment (and sometimes find myself saying....I could do it a lot faster!). It is fun as we experiment to allow them to critique our end product vs getting it from the locker and just deciding whether we like it or not!

[leech~~]

1 hour ago, rl_sd said:

I grew up on the farm and we did our own processing of beef, pigs, and deer. I/We had 16 hours into process 20# of meat, so we really don't "save" much.

Little confused on this. 

16hrs to process 20lbs of meat? From a beef, pig or deer? 

[snagfinder]

Jerky and summer sausage took 16 hours to grind, mix, stuff and smoke. Thats what i would guess.

[rl_sd]

2 hours ago, leech~~ said:

Little confused on this. 

16hrs to process 20lbs of meat? From a beef, pig or deer? 

Deer..... we started grinding, seasoning, mixing, and stuffing right after school at 3 pm. By the time everything was cleaned up it was 9pm. I started the smoker at 6am and pulled the last casing from the water bath at 3 pm. All of the meat was deboned and froze previously. My point is that a small 20# batch takes almost as much time and effort as doing 100#

[leech~~]

2 hours ago, rl_sd said:

Deer..... we started grinding, seasoning, mixing, and stuffing right after school at 3 pm. By the time everything was cleaned up it was 9pm. I started the smoker at 6am and pulled the last casing from the water bath at 3 pm. All of the meat was deboned and froze previously. My point is that a small 20# batch takes almost as much time and effort as doing 100#

Auu, the whole process that makes sense.  I just thought maybe you were the slowest butcher around?   

Edited February 3, 2022 by leech~~

[smurfy]

its great getting the kids involved....life lessons. yea you probably dont save money doing it yourself...but it is self satisfying!!!!!!!

[Mike89]

and it tastes better too!!!   

[Big Dave2]

If you have a favorite summer sausage or other type of sausage at a local meat market they would probably be happy to sell you a package of their seasoning so you can try making it at home with your own pork, beef or venison.

[smurfy]

2 hours ago, Big Dave2 said:

If you have a favorite summer sausage or other type of sausage at a local meat market they would probably be happy to sell you a package of their seasoning so you can try making it at home with your own pork, beef or venison.

i know my brother does this. he gets seasonings from the 2 butcher shops up in Richmond mn, and like 3 different butcher shops around where he lives in wisconsin, south of Wausau!!!!!!!

[Big Dave2]

1 hour ago, smurfy said:

i know my brother does this. he gets seasonings from the 2 butcher shops up in Richmond mn, and like 3 different butcher shops around where he lives in wisconsin, south of Wausau!!!!!!!

 

Yeah, if there's something you know you like, why reinvent the wheel?

[bobberineyes]

On 2/4/2022 at 10:44 AM, Big Dave2 said:

If you have a favorite summer sausage or other type of sausage at a local meat market they would probably be happy to sell you a package of their seasoning so you can try making it at home with your own pork, beef or venison.

Does the meat market in your home town sell sausage seasonings big d? I've been ordering online but would be happy to buy local. 

[Big Dave2]

4 hours ago, bobberineyes said:

Does the meat market in your home town sell sausage seasonings big d? I've been ordering online but would be happy to buy local. 

 

Yes they do. What kind of sausage were you thinking?

[snagfinder]

Just make sure you call ahead. They none to happy if you just walk in and want it.