Good Misc. Meat Day

I got up this morning, had my coffee and a bite to eat and then used my new 5lb vertical canister stuffer for the first time. Sweet mutha those things are TREMENDOUS. I stuffed 4 lbs of sweet italian in about a minute it felt like. The one I bought as a vent in the push plate so no air pockets.... just stuffed sausage flying out of the front of the thing.

Then, later in the day, I mixed up the cure and laid it on a 5 lb pork belly for the start of some pancetta. That's in the fridge now

I have a duck in the fridge now and I'm going to do some duck prosciutto tomorrow night.

I have another 5 lb belly that I'm going to do two different bacons with tomorrow night.

And then tonight, just to munch on, I bought a little Sopresata from a local market.... tasty stuff... AND... I sliced it on my new meat slicer!

Oh... and the SWMBO made some farmhouse cheddar today.

On top of all of that, I framed in my "curing closet" down in the basement. I just tacked up some 6mm plastic to the framing to see how the humidity would hold up. I bought a automatic humidifier yesterday that has a built in hygrometer so I can set the humidity level. The little area got up to about 50% humidity on that side of the basement (for now) is holding pretty steady between 50-55 degrees. I really kind of halfassed the plastic so I'm hoping if I actually build out the actual closet instead of just tacking up the plastic, it'll hold the humidity a hell of a lot better and I can get it up to around 60% without too much trouble.

Now.... if I had only brewed on top of everything else.

christ, you have too much time on your hands! (um, and too much stuffed meats. is that the WURST you can do?)

I hate you just wanted to get that out of the way first.


No that that is done. No pictures?


What kind of slicer? I am in the market for one.

Pics?

Which stuffer? I have the grizzly and it's great. I think it is a clone of a Lem or some other brand.

Curing closet sounds super. Wish we had basements down here. When they build houses in florida, they put the basement in the back yard and fill it with water.

passedpawn said:

Pics?

Which stuffer? I have the grizzly and it's great. I think it is a clone of a Lem or some other brand.

Curing closet sounds super. Wish we had basements down here. When they build houses in florida, they put the basement in the back yard and fill it with water.

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It's a Lem... I'm a HUGE fan.

I snapped a couple quick pics with my iphone earlier today. I'll snap a few more tomorrow night and post 'em.

The slicer is an Open Country. I got the slicer and stuffer at Pro Bass Shop right next to the stadium where the Most Dominant Team of the Millenium play (I'M JOKING!!! DON'T START!)

... Although, that Pro Bas Shop IS right next to Gillette.

The slicer seems pretty good. I sliced up that store-bought Sopresatta on it tonight, nice and paper thin. I'm not going to be slicing up thousands of pounds on the thing so hopefully it'll do. I think it was $100.

Damn, Cape Brewing, you worked your butt off today! Nice!

I made 40# of bulk Italian Sausage today. Yum.

It's not Duck Prosciutto, but...

The Sweet Italian i stuffed this morning is the best sweet italian sausage I've ever had. To say I'm happy with it is a gross understatement. I used the recipe out of Chacuterie and used sherry vinegar instead of the vinegar it called for... OUTSTANDING

Can you post the recipe? I am using the Kutas recipe. While it's VERY good, I am always looking for better.

Thanks!

Left the damn book in my office friday. I made up th stuffing thursday night and actually stuffed them this morning.

I'll post it tomorrow when I grab my book back

Thanks, I appreciate it!

- 4 lbs pork
- 1 lb pork back fat
- 3 Tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 Tablespoons toasted fennel seeds
- 2 teaspoons course ground black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons of sweet paprika
- 3/4 cup ice water
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

I simply used 5 lbs of ground up Boston Butt making sure I included a large amount of the fat and they didn't dry out at all.

For the fennel seeds... I tossed them into a small frying pan over medium heat until you could really start to smell the fennel. You definitely do not want to burn them.

I substituted Sherry wine vinegar for the red wine vinegar it called for cause that's what I had.

They are full of win.

Cape Brewing said:

The Sweet Italian i stuffed this morning is the best sweet italian sausage I've ever had. To say I'm happy with it is a gross understatement. I used the recipe out of Chacuterie and used sherry vinegar instead of the vinegar it called for... OUTSTANDING

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I was wondering how that recipe was. I am planning on trying it out once I get a stuffer. I have sworn I won't make anymore bulk sausage until I get a real stuffer.

It is tremendous. Try it.

And yeah, I'm really psyched I went with the Lem stuffer. Best 150 bucks I've spent in a while. The thing is beautiful.

I will be getting the grizzley. I just don't have the money for it right now. I do have some Amazon gift cards that I am going to use to get a slicer though.

I am having "sausagefest" at my place soon with a couple other guys and i'm planning making a bunch of stuff out of Chacuterie so I figured a meat slicer was in order. I am thinking for the bacon alone it was worth grabbing.

Cape Brewing said:

I am having "sausagefest" at my place soon

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Also known as a Thursday night to you and PTN?





Bacon is actually the main reason I am getting the slicer. I am sure I will use it on roasts and whatnot too but I wouldn't buy it just for that.

I am planning on eventually doing a fair amount of dry cured sausage. Between that and the freakin bacon I'll have ready on a constant basis, I though it was a good investment.


It was funny, when I got it home the other day.... "quick! Gimme something to slice!". Luckily there was a leftover hunk of beef tenderloin in the the fridge.


"Ooooo. That's thin sliced!!"

Cape Brewing said:

It was funny, when I got it home the other day.... "quick! Gimme something to slice!". Luckily there was a leftover hunk of beef tenderloin in the the fridge.

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I am the same way when I get something new. I put 3 eggs for an omelet into my stand mixer just to use it when I first got it.

This thread inspired my to purchase Charcuterie. Read the first couple of chapters last night. Found a local source for farm raised hogs and am looking at a sausage stuffer.

Thanks for the info, Cape.

Now if I could only find a parts source to build my UDS.......

Hugh_Jass said:

Now if I could only find a parts source to build my UDS.......

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Just started curing a "sweet bacon" and a "honey gahlic bacon". I'll smoke the sweet with some apple chips when it is done curing and i'll probably leave the honey gahlic alone

You cold or hot smoking?

Technically hot but it wont be on the smoke long enough to "cook", nor will it need to be. I just dont have a cold smoker.

Cold smoker is the easiest thing you could ever make. All you need is a brand new soldering iron, a big soup or small coffee can, some chips, and a container. Take the can fill it with the chips of your choice and stick the soldering in the chips. Put that and the meat in a container of your choice. It can be a grill, smoker, cardboard box, neighbors car, doesn't really matter.

I'll just open the door to my electric bullet. And maybe prop the lid a bit. Like i was sayin', it wont be in there that long. I am thinking 15-20 min at the most with jeavy apple smoke

Cape,
Did you buy this one

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SQDTRC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

or this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-5LB-STAINLE...037?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item483e35bb35

and what's the functional difference between the two?

Data: just having a little fun. I'm still interested (actually two, I think) when you have them ready.

The Amazon one.... I HAD the other one... (well... still have it) and hated it. The "plunger" of the second one never fits the tube exactly right and what ends up happening is meat basically squirts around the edges as you push it down.... then you have to re-stuff the thing... push down... and meat squirts out the back again.

I used the thing twice I think and basically said "eff that" and went with the 5 lb canister (the one from Amazon).

I used the new one the other day and it was night and day... a TON easier. It was a piece of cake to clean and made four or five lbs of sausage in about a minute and a half with ZERO aggravation.

SO.. if anyone is in the market for one of those "plunger stuffers"... lemme know... make me and offer and it is yours.

I am going to make some of these sweet italians Friday. What grind did you use? Did you food process smooth (emulsify) or did you just use a standard grind plate?

Thanks Cape

The largest grind plate I had... which is... I dunno... 1/4inch... 3/8 inch holes... and no, you don't want to emulsify that meat at all.

Cube the meat, mix in all of the spices, grind, give another quick mix and then stuff away.

Yeah 3/8 is the standard "coarse" grind plate. That is what I typically use too. Thanks! I ordered up my meat today.

2.5# pork butt
0.5# pork trimmings
two heaping spoon fulls of bacon fat

yum! I can't wait for tonight!

You just reminded me of another perk of working withing a five minute subway ride to Chinatown... Pork fat! Several grocery stores simply have it wrapped like normal meat you would find in any other grocery store. It's KEY for makin' solid sausage.

It is a perk of having a good meat cutter nearby too.

OK... so sweet paprika is a bit of an item it seems. Did you use standard store bought (like McCormicks et al.) Paprika? Or did you search our and find a specifically labeled "sweet paprika"?

With a bit of google foo, it seems that the commonly found paprika is the sweet variety, but some sources mention it isn't.

A penzey's spice house near me carries a mixed paprika and a spanish paprika that is supposed to be smokier??? Or I have standard stuff on hand.

Any guidance? What did you use?

Well... there definitely is a diference, but I don't think I have time to drive 40 minutes each way right now to pick up some good spices... bummer. I will try again soon with the real deal.

http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices-by-category/paprikas

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

OK... so sweet paprika is a bit of an item it seems. Did you use standard store bought (like McCormicks et al.) Paprika? Or did you search our and find a specifically labeled "sweet paprika"?

With a bit of google foo, it seems that the commonly found paprika is the sweet variety, but some sources mention it isn't.

A penzey's spice house near me carries a mixed paprika and a spanish paprika that is supposed to be smokier??? Or I have standard stuff on hand.

Any guidance? What did you use?

Click to expand...

I like to use Sweet Hungarian Paprika. I usually get mine from the Spice House.

I think "regular paprika" is fine. I think they mean sweet (regular) vs smoked... Which is also reasonably common and easy to find

Cape - do you have a brat recipe as epic as the sweet italian sausage?

I am embarrassed to say I don't. I have tried a couple recipes and havent found one that really jazzed me.

http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage recipes.htm#FRESH

I made the all-pork brat recipe yesterday and it's pretty nice. I did have to add a good bit of water to get the consistency I wanted. Next time I think I'm going to double grind the meat as well. It was a bit course for my tastes.

The sweet Italians were great. The toasted fennel and the paprika realy played well together and the flavor was pretty great overall. I was very happy with the fat content and would recommend the combo I used.

Great work posting this up Cape! Thanks!