Homemade Sausage Making

So I made the recipe for the German SS from Len's site. I added 1 tsp of cayenne because I like a hotter sausage. No need to boor with the recipe and what not. I diced and mixed with spices and Cure #1 on Thursday evening, ground on Saturday evening, and stuffed and smoked last night into the AM. My first time using fibrous casings and my first time doing SS. I might use these things to make my Andouille from now on. They were super easy to stuff and prep and the casings pulls off with zero issues.









The pictures progress through the stuffing, smoking, and final cuts. Cheers!

That SS looks great RG!

A-Mazin how that smoke generator fits perfectly in that smoker.

Caution flag though on your time frame, best to stuff and cook soon after adding spices. Even if its refridgerated

The summer sausage definately looks good and will make a fine sandwich! I looked at Poli's recipe and am somewhat baffled as to the instructions to "incubate" the sausage for 48hrs. at 80F. Leaving it for that long without a starter culture is not a wise idea as it will invite wild and nasty bacteria to take over. When traditional methods without starter cultures were used, the sausage was fermented at a much lower temp.

http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/German%20Farmer.pdf

Red, you're indeed right. That step didn't make health sense to me so I didn't do it. Considering the ingredients, nothing good could have come out of it. Especially not something that tastes this good.

Bob, thanks. I usually stick to just the salt and cure but just sort of kept putting the spices in this time.

Thanks guys.

Rg

Sounds like you are more than satisfied with the taste of that sausage.
If you would like to experiment a bit you could ferment them with FLC or LHP...which would add a bit of tang.

Bob K wrote:Rg

Sounds like you are more than satisfied with the taste of that sausage.
If you would like to experiment a bit you could ferment them with FLC or LHP...which would add a bit of tang.

I do indeed have some Bactoferm F-LC. I was planning on savings until I'm able to get the curing chamber finished, but maybe I'll break it open for some of this. I was planning on making a pretty large batch to give to some friends along with some smoke cheese.

I just hate that it's shelf life once opened is only 6 months.

You can probably push that as long as you check that the culture is still viable by checking the Ph during the fermenting process. After all the BEST BY date is 18 months after manufacture.

Vacuum seal and refreeze after use.

redzed wrote:...somewhat baffled as to the instructions to "incubate" the sausage for 48hrs. at 80F. Leaving it for that long without a starter culture is not a wise idea as it will invite wild and nasty bacteria to take over...

You said it before me Chris!
The only thing that saves our souls in this game is that the thing is heat-treated afterwards. But if core temperature doesn´t hit at least 150 F then don´t count me in for the first bite...

I am just SO curious about the reaction of my German friends, if I invited them for a bite of the "German SS Sausage"
Not only for the very name but more because I presume that it would make them file a case through the European Court of Human Rights for slandering the otherwise undisputed high reputation of German meat products. Most Germans would go OMG! ("Oh, Mein Gott") at tasting this product which don´t even vaguely resemble the worst possible case of German "Cooked Salami" that I have seen so far. OK - this might have been considered a luxury product in the German Democratic Republic some 25 years ago - but then the wall came down...

OK, I won´t spoil the Summer Sausage fun for you US´guys -and I guess that even I could take a liking for the thing

But what I would like to ask/suggest is this:

Did any of you guys ever try to add GdL in a 0,4 - 0,8% dosage, which for sure will ram down pH and provide the desired level of tanginess?

Just as GdL in its own twisted way will contribute to the bacteriological safety, because pH sensible "bad bacteria" will have less time to develop...

Not that I am an advocate of GdL when comparing to the many benefits of using starter culture, but it would be an easy remedy for this kind of product.

Len Poli actually has some very good recipes even though he fast ferments almost everything, I think in this case he forgot to include the starter culture in the list of ingredients.

And as far as Gdl, can you use it in making mild Southern European salami or is it good essentially for making the tangy-sour sausages?

If I remember right sometime ago Idakraut (Rudi) tested 0,4% GdL in combination with T-SPX in a Landjäger and found the combination just a bit too tangy for his taste though the Germans seems to have grown accostumed to it as it is still a quite common fermentation ingredient at smaller producers (like the butcher shop round the corner) where there is usually no climate chamber at disposal. Also in Denmark GdL is very frequently encountered in our weird soft´n salty variation of salami ("Spegepolese") because our climate doesn´t allow a secure natural fermentation´n drying out in the South-of-the-Alps fashion.

GdL though has a way of denaturation which can render the meat fibres rather unelastic when added in too generously, and prolonged drying out may result in your salami becoming as hard as as an old piece of oak. But yes: in general you can expect GdL to give a good tangy acidity.

The reason why I have adviced GdL to be combined with a traditional (slow) starter culture is that GdL alone doesn´t give you much bacteriological control except for the quick drop in pH which, as mentioned previously, does give some degree of protection as it will exclude the activity of some of the nasty spoilage bacteria.

I also thought GdL could be an apt alternative way to pre-ferment summer sausage as the costs of using GdL pr kg/lb will probably be a lot more human when considering what you guys usually pay for a sachet of starter culture. After all, once the SS has been warmsmoked after 48 hours or thereabouts, the culture will have ended its short career...

Ok. I'm planning on making a 10 lb batch of this stuff in the next couple weeks. I'll be following the recipe again but adding in a bit more cayenne than last time. I like it a little hotter. However, this time I'm going to do a ferment phase and then into the smoker for the slow cook. I'll use the culture I've already got at the house for it (F-LC). I'll be sure to report back with differences, which I'm sure we're bound to have.

F-LC should work well for you since it is a versatile starter. Ferment at a higher temp to give it some tang which will nicely complement that extra spice. What type of fermentation chamber will you be using?

redzed wrote:F-LC should work well for you since it is a versatile starter. Ferment at a higher temp to give it some tang which will nicely complement that extra spice. What type of fermentation chamber will you be using?

Good to hear. I've got a converted wine fridge that uses a paint can heater for temp control. For the added humidity during fermentation, a wet sterile towel will serve just fine for the 24 hours ferment.