Summer Sausage in da Summer

[Jarhead]

Making Summer Sausage with Legg's Mix #114, plus my personal touch.
I just can't leave well enough alone.

Got 2 different experiments going here.
One is (#1) medium heat and the (#2) other, just a warm after glow.

The recipes are for a 10 pound batch, each.

I was surprised with my order for casings. The one pounders are on backorder.
So, looks like I'm doing 2 pound logs.

Anyway here we go.

I used 2 - 10 pound chubs of Ground Chuck (80/20)
1 pound of High Temp Pepper Jack Cheese (#1)
1 pound of High Temp Lava Jack Cheese (#2)
10 – 2 pound fibrous casings (2 X 24)
and spices listed below in the recipes.

The mix (#1)



The mix (#2)



The test patty


Money Shot, well most of it.


I put each batch into 2 gallon Jumbo Freezer bags for a night in the fridge.
Stuffin' and smokin' tomorrow.

Legg's Summer Sausage #114 (Batch #1)

204 grams Legg's #114 Mix
10# Ground Chuck (80/20)
2 tsp Cure #1
1 Tbsp Granulated Garlic
2 tsp Red Pepper, 60k
2 tsp Granulated Onion
2 Cups Buttermilk
1# High Temp Pepper Jack Cheese
Added Binder #86 for less shrinkage. 22.68 grams/10#.
Added Encapsulated Citric Acid (ECA) for the tang. 10.0 grams/10#.
I mixed it with a jigger of Vodka to make it easier to incorporate into the sausage, without adding a bunch of water.

Legg's Summer Sausage #114 (Batch #2)

204 grams Legg's #114 Mix
10# Ground Chuck (80/20)
2 tsp Cure #1
1 Tbsp Granulated Garlic
2 tsp Granulated Onion
2 Cups Buttermilk
1 tsp White Pepper
1# High Temp Lava Jack Cheese
Added Binder #86 for less shrinkage. 22.68 grams/10#.
Added Encapsulated Citric Acid (ECA) for the tang. 10.0 grams/10#.
I mixed it with a jigger of Vodka to make it easier to incorporate into the sausage, without adding a bunch of water.

Directions for both:
Mix dry ingredients into the buttermilk.
Add to meat and cheese. Mix well. About 5 minutes.
Cure overnight.
Add Binder and ECA mix before stuffing.
Stuff into 2” Fibrous Sausage Casings
Air dry and allow to come to room temp.
Apply smoke for the first 3 hours. Try to keep under 100F
Raise temp to 140 and increase by 10 degrees each hour, until you hit 170.
Your sausage is done at an Internal Temp of 160. (remember this is hamburger)
Ice water bath to get temps to 70 or below.
Air Dry.
Refrigerate overnight.
Break out the knife, cheese and crackers. It's time to eat.

Batch #1 had a medium amount of heat to it after eating the test patty.

Batch #2 just had a warm glow to it.

Thanks for Lookin'. (To be continued)

[Papa Tom]

I like........

[ChileFarmer]

Yeah man, I like it to. I gotta make sausage, were out. I am thinking hot links.
Gunny you going to smoke with hickory? I am sure looking forward to the results. Please post the smoking time and temps. I know you posted the recipe and I have copied that. But I want to know what you did. Us dummies want to know. CF

[Jarhead]

Thank you Papa Tom.

CF, thanks. I have to do a batch of Jalapeño Cheddar Snack Sticks next. But, I love hot links, I think I still have some in the freezer.
Yes sir, Hickory all the way.
I'll post the times and temps as they happen.

[atcNick]

loos great. Make sure you post finished pics

[Jarhead]

Thanks Nick. I'll be stuffing here shortly.
Gotta get my timing together, I have butts in the smoker right now.
Hope to have them off by 1:00

[Jarhead]

Here's a YouTube Link to the way that I stuffed em.
I gotta go back and edit the recipes. I forgot to mention that I used a binder and a small amount of ECA before stuffing. So if you copied them, plz make corrections.
Added Binder #86 for less shrinkage. 22.68 grams/10#.
Added Encapsulated Citric Acid (ECA) for the tang. 10.0 grams/10#.
I mixed it with a jigger of Vodka to make it easier to incorporate into the sausage, without adding a bunch of water.

I like to rinse my casings before using. Plus it makes them easier to put on the horn.



All stuffed up and drying.



Lit the AMNTS and let er rip for 3-4 hours. Had Hickory pellets in it.





Fired up the FEC-100 to run @ 140F. I should have used a water pan or something to give me more mass. It over shot the 140 and settled in at about 160.
Oh well. Here they are after a total of 9 hours, including the smoke. I pulled em and put em in an ice water bath to get temps below 70.
Hung to air dry for a few hours.



I can't take it any longer. Gotta have a taste or five.



Oh yeah, good stuff.
It lost some of the heat during the cure/cook process, so if you like heat, bump it up.
Don't forget the corrections to the original recipe.

[atcNick]

Looks great man! Gotta ask though, what's that metal tube that you lit?

EDIT: Never mind, I see it now on the amazen site.

[Jarhead]

Thank you Nick.
For everybody that is curious about the AMNTS here it is: Amazin Tube Smoker

I have the 18" version.

[ChileFarmer]

Dang Gunny, I was beginning to think you weren't going to finish the sausage. But you did and it looks fantastic. The amazing smoker, you think the tube is better than the tray? I want one, I have been using a cast iron skillet on my burner with hickory chunks. Super nice smoke. CF

[atcNick]

I'm hunting for a cheap freezer on Craigslist. I'm planning on making a curing chamber for dry fermented sausage


-Nick

[Jarhead]

Thank you CF. I got kind of buried here with some weekend to go orders.
This is my first Amazin product, so I don't know which is best.
I have read that the tube is designed to be used in conjunction with a source of heat. I bought it for that reason.
I wanted a bit more smoke flavor than the FEC-100 gives me.
It worked well during the cold smoke. It got up to 113F in the smoker. A little too hot for cheese, but a pan of ice should bring it down to below 100.

Nick, I got a Work In Progress Freezer that I'm working on, but nothin' fancy like what you're gonna make. It's just a Plain Jane Cold Smoker.
I'm looking forward to seeing your build. Who knows, you may change my mind.

[Papa Tom]

Looks good, stayed plump. Interesting that you used both buttermilk and ECA, how was the tang?

[Jarhead]

Thanks Tom.
I cut the recommended amount of ECA in half and subbed Buttermilk for water.
I may back off a bit more on the ECA, to about 7 grams.
The flavor was still great. Just wish it had a bit more heat, but that's me.
These 2 batches I will still call a mild and a medium.
We got a bunch of wusses around here.
I gotta get my batch going this afternoon. And it WILL have more heat.

[ChileFarmer]

Here is a link you guys might be interested in. CF
http://www.nirvani.net/docs/cache/home. ... #Incubator