Homemade Sausage Making

Hey All

I was given this site from another forum for sausage related questions. I built a curing chamber out of deep freezer and have only used it for fermentation right now. I still have quite a bit of 50mm UMAI bags I want to use before I go natural casing etc.

One thing I noticed when making a few batches of sausage is I wasnt mixing well enough. At the time I did not have a mechanical mixer and used hands to mix meat and probably only worked it for around 1 minute. I since got a kitchen aid mixer and used that for my last summer sausage batch but wondering if I over worked the meat.

Here are details. Both recipes used 3lbs of meat and followed Marianski recipe (adjusted to per pound). First batch was 70/30 pork/beef ratio and used a fatty butt. Mixed by hand and fermented for 36 hours. 12 of those hours was in a cold smoker at 105* and 90% hunidity. Culture was F-LC. Flavor was fantastic and texture was good but not like what you would get from commercial.

I tried it again but this time wanted more beef so used 70/30 beef/pork ratio. A lot less fat this time and mixed using stand mixer. I mixed for probably 5 mintues and mince stayed under 33F entire time. Rest of process followed eaxctly as above but this time the texture has a slight rubbery feeling to it. Wondering if that is from lack of fat or because I overmixed the meat.

Last question I have on an entirely different topic is weight loss. I pulled a log of spanish chorizo that was in 50MM UMAI bags at 35% loss and was firm but inside was still too squishy. I put it back in bag and into refrigerator. For this type sausage and salami is it better to go to 40-45% loss? I know this may be personal preference but just wondering what others are doing.

Thanks

If I follow you right it would seem to me the second batch had a better bind but due to the high amount of beef and lower fat the sausage was "tougher" or more chewy. I think a more meaningful comparison could have been drawn if you used the same mixture to compare the difference mixing makes with good myosin extraction versus not so good. Personally, I find mixing and fat content both play important roles.

On the chorizo I think its more a matter of choice. I might start eating mine when they are younger but let them continue to dry. I find it interesting to see them transform in both flavor and texture.

I am leaning towards it being more beef and less fat. Ill be doing a Third batch soon and will go with higher pork ratio. I see a lot of videos people mixing meat for long time. Is it possible to overwork it?

As long as the meat is cold it would be hard to overwork it. The problem with hand mixing is you either don't do it long enough because you should near about be in tears from frost bite or your meat warms up and the fat begins to smear. I'm usually working with a mixer grinder and I keep mixing until its gluey and you can grab a handful and turn your hand upside down and it sticks and if you shake it off you are left with peaks on your hand. So basically I mix until I get this consistency and when the sausages set they are like a solid piece of meat all bound back together.

Perfect. Thats exactly what texture was second time so leads me to think not enough fat.

I purchased a pastry knife For my mixer and it dose a great job I found the paddle attachment just balls up too much

G pop

I was given this site from another forum for sausage related questions. I built a curing chamber out of deep freezer and have only used it for fermentation right now. I still have quite a bit of 50mm UMAI bags I want to use before I go natural casing etc.

One thing I noticed when making a few batches of sausage is I wasnt mixing well enough. At the time I did not have a mechanical mixer and used hands to mix meat and probably only worked it for around 1 minute. I since got a kitchen aid mixer and used that for my last summer sausage batch but wondering if I over worked the meat.
When making salami you can certainly over mix causing the temperature to rise which will result in fat smearing. Fat smearing will result in poor drying and case hardening. Make sure the fat is frozen and the meat is semi frozen. Use hard back only. Mix only as long as necessary to distribute the salts, spices and culture. Do your best to not allow the batter to go above freezing temp. and don't allow it to warm before stuffing.

Here are details. Both recipes used 3lbs of meat and followed Marianski recipe (adjusted to per pound). First batch was 70/30 pork/beef ratio and used a fatty butt. Mixed by hand and fermented for 36 hours. 12 of those hours was in a cold smoker at 105* and 90% hunidity. Culture was F-LC. Flavor was fantastic and texture was good but not like what you would get from commercial.
You don't indicate the amount of sugar you used, but at a temp of 105F, the pH of the meat dropped very fast. When there is a rapid pH drop, the proteins denature trapping water which then prolongs the drying time and affects the bind.


I tried it again but this time wanted more beef so used 70/30 beef/pork ratio. A lot less fat this time and mixed using stand mixer. I mixed for probably 5 mintues and mince stayed under 33F entire time. Rest of process followed eaxctly as above but this time the texture has a slight rubbery feeling to it. Wondering if that is from lack of fat or because I overmixed the meat.
It's good that you kept the temp low and you might have over worked the meat, but it also might be the type of fat you used and the size of the particles of meat and fat in the farce. Mixing farce for salami is different than mixing for a fresh or smoked sausage. Try to work with particles of meat and fat in the 6-8mm rage.

Last question I have on an entirely different topic is weight loss. I pulled a log of spanish chorizo that was in 50MM UMAI bags at 35% loss and was firm but inside was still too squishy. I put it back in bag and into refrigerator. For this type sausage and salami is it better to go to 40-45% loss? I know this may be personal preference but just wondering what others are doing.
You don't disclose what type of salami/chorizo you are making and the size of casings you are using. If you are creating a specific style of chorizo, the recipe should give you some guidance as to drying. Going by hard percentage amounts is also folly, because there are many factors that come into play here: fresh or previously frozen meat, cuts of meat, starting pH, amount of fat and so on. In the end you will have to decide what you like .