angler I was glad to be able to help. If you have any questions after watching that video let me know!

I do this every year. Takes half the time to cook and it literally flies off the plate. There are rarely leftovers, but when there are, slices freeze great if vac sealed and make great, easy dinners.

I don’t use netting. I truss it up with butcher’s twine. I also make sure not to nick the skin or have any pieces that are separate. I always start at the breast of the bird. I get the carcass pretty clean, but what I don’t get off the bone goes into the stock pot. I don’t bone out the last two joints of the wing either. Those I just throw in the roasting pan and snack on them when they are done early. Here is a great video of the process link text. He has some great butchering videos.

I also brine all my birds and either use an herbed butter or full blown stuffing inside when I roll it up.

You may have hit the problem, very possibly a water quality issue… That actually is a difference from last time I used these casings… I will look into this (process another batch) later this week… Thanks! R…

bluehornet75 You can make snack sticks in natural hog casings without any real issues. It might slightly change the flavor due to a larger diameter but I can’t imagine it will be really noticeable at all. The only thing I’d caution you on is the bite difference with a natural casing that has been smoked and a collagen casing that has been smoked.

As for finishing your product up in a dehydrator, you could do that but we do snacksticks from beginning to end in the smoker and it has always worked out well for us! For our process check out this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D4_SyN4TX0

Anyone else have a different opinion?

SierraPete I’m glad you enjoyed the Brat, that was me who was cooking the Brats and I always like to see if there are any customers in the retail store who might want to try them! I will be editing that video and I’ll have it up on our youtube channel in a few weeks. I will pass this along to the store manager as well.

am looking for a Hawaiin summer sausage mix and or kit for a 25# batches, seen before but cant find, anyone able to point me in the right direction

Papa Al You should inject the Hams first and then vacuum tumble it for the best dispersion of the cure and seasoning. If you are wanting to speed the curing process you should still add a cure accelerator like Sodium Erythorbate and hold it overnight, this will give you the best color to your ham. You could inject with cure and sodium erythorbate, tumble and then go straight to the smokehouse but we would recommend holding overnight to let the cure work in the meat and “burn” it a nice pinkish color. You can add a meat stabilizer but it’s not necessary. Check out our youtube ham video for more tips at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5awR77SQmbg

BigJohn72 The best way it to break it down by pound and then multiply that by the number of pounds you will be using. So if you have a 1.5 lb bag of seasoning that will season 25 lb of meat you divide 1.5 / 25 and get .06. So that is .06 lb of seasoning to 1 lb of meat. If you are doing 5 lb then you would use .3 lb of seasoning. For more information check out Austin’s post here https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/174/using-a-scale-to-measure-seasoning-for-smaller-batches.

Two quick tips, if you are making a cured product don’t forget to portion out the cure the same way and shake the bag before you divide out the seasoning so the different spices are as mixed as possible.

Let us know if you need anything else!

Papa Gale You could loop them over smoke sticks if you have a smoker with the vertical space? The picture is on a larger scale but I just smoked 5 lb of chicken brats by linking them and then hanging them over stacks like in this picture.
0_1507556895345_Brats-uncooked-7.jpg

KnucklHed BBQ
I agree with Jonathan, 6 of one half dozen of another. We usually debone venison and store in muscle groups so when we are ready to make a batch we’ll grind venison, then the pork separately. I make a slurry of spice and ice water, 50/50 meat mix into the mixer and directly to the stuffer. I don’t like letting the mix sit long before stuffing, it really stiffens up. Over the years i’ve honed my process. My rule now is I make it the way my crew likes it, if someone wants us to make some-we make it our way. I will also add I’ve never stuffed off the grinder, always use a 3-step process: grind, mix, stuff.
I will admit that I have 3-6 people helping so I don’t have to run the manual mixer but I did take pity on them this year and added the large Weston mixer to the stable, we’ll see how it works.

Newbie Waltons has great products and Meatgestics is an amazing resources. I would like to recommend a book you should get
Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by
Rytek Kutas. It has a wealth of information for a Newbie. Enjoy your sausage.

geo315 If you end up trying make sure you post pictures so we can all see! I personally love Beer Brats and haven’t had any in awhile, I might need to fix that!

jeff cutting down on the lb of meat you use but still using the entire package of seasoning is a great way to increase flavor! I usually do this when I am making something like Habanero Mango where I really want a very strong taste. Another possible option would be to add MSG as long as you don’t have an issue with MSG, MSG gets a bad name but I love it, kicks up the flavor of whatever you put it in!

For more information on MSG check out our post https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/299/msg-and-umami-how-are-they-related

angel4us The carrot fiber usage is 4 oz to 25 lb of meat, we sell a few different sizes of carrot fiber but if you have the regular sized one it should already be 4 oz so if you are doing 25 lb batches use the entire bag. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Bruce56BB one thing to look at is if any of the hogs were boars or possibly cut late. They can give off a strong taste in fact old boars are sometimes condemned for it at slaughter.

Apparently I have got to give this Bulgogi a shot, that was the first thing another guy we work with suggested! George Washington Jerky huh? Yeah, i’d love the recipe, I am always wanting to try new things. Careful though, if it comes out excellent I just might have to do a video on it!

renken58 Might take a day or two longer. Cold brine works a little slower than hot brine.

There is a chance that the dimensions on the Talsa stuffing horns match what you have. The outside diameter of the flange of the Talsa stuffing horns is just over 2.25 inches, if yours is similar we might be able to help you out?

Austin & Parksider - thank you very much for your responses. We are selling our jerky, and are conscientious about customers needing a low-sodium option, while simultaneously wanting a minimal ingredient label. Anymore, so many consumers are wary of artificial preservatives, but many fail to consider that a product like jerky is most convenient when it is shelf-stable. Thank you again!

mammaj
Absolutely! It is totally fine to use frozen meats for making snack sticks or other meat snacks.

Some things to keep in mind though would be related to how long it has been in the freezer and how it was packaged in the freezer, which will not affect your ability to make meat snacks or the safety of eating those products, but it could affect the quality. If the meat has started to oxidize or get freezer burned, your final product may not be as perfect as if you used fresh meat. The quality is much lower, but can still be safe to consume at that point. Vacuum packaging will maintain the best quality of meat, while using meat bags and then butcher/freezer paper not quite as long. Somewhere around 6 months, packaged in freezer paper, is around the longest time I’d suggest to store meat in the freezer before using it to maintain a high quality product. And probably around 12 months of shelf life or more for vacuum packaged meats in the freezer. Again, this is mostly just a quality issue though due to oxidation and freezer burn and it can still be safe past that point, and just the quality is degraded with any longer storage of frozen meats.

joshua425
Yes. Only a certain amount of brine can soak into the meat, so as long as the ratio is right, you’ll end up with a properly cured bacon when it’s all said and done. The ratio is more important than the amount of cover brine.

dennishoddy The easiest way is with a chambered vacuum sealer. Not everybody has one or can get one of the chambered sealers though. If you are using a non-chambered vac sealer, there’s a couple other things to try. First, keep the package of meat/marinade below the vacuum sealer. If they are laying flat on a counter, it can be easy for the liquid to run back up into the seal bar and vacuum area, so just prop up the vac sealer a couple inches to keep the bag of meat further below it. Then you can also try using the manual vacuum/seal process. Most vac sealers have a manual method to start/stop so you can vacuum just long enough to where the liquid starts to move back up the package towards the seal bar. Or, you also try to add a barrier between the meat and seal bar, like a paper towel in the package so the liquid has a harder time making its way back up into the seal bar and vacuum area. You may not get a full vacuum with liquid in the package and using the manual vacuum/seal mode, but at least some vacuum will be better than nothing.

djc51
We will have the Pumpkin Pie Bratwurst Seasoning on April 14th. Price will be $9.99 per package to season 25 lb of meat.

Once we get it in, we’ll also update with new pictures of the seasoning as well on the product’s page.

If you do want some, you can order it whenever and the day we get it into our warehouse, we’ll ship your order straight away to you.

https://www.waltonsinc.com/pumpkin-pie-bratwurst-seasoning

Thanks Austin. I’m probably going to give the 50/50 a shot.Like you said, I think they should turn out fine. Plus I got a lot of Pork Butt in the freezer.

Austin is right. Ice bath until temp is below 100 or even cooler 9 to 20 min. Hang in the refrigerator to allow to completely cool. Try adding water to your smoker as well it might be way to dry this should help with smoke pen as well. Make sure you soak your cases before you syuff this will help with air pockets and case capacity ( the moist case will aid with a better case fill). Turn the top of the case a few times to squeeze out the air and seal with a hog ring don’t tie off.

shelby my wife and I make boudin, we don’t use liver or blood. I found a recipe online and modified it to out taste. We use Boston butt for the meat.

It’s a fairly easy process. Cook pork, spices etc until rhe pork falls apart. Drain and grind everything you cooked (shallots, onions etc). Mix in cooked rice, raw chopped onion and chopped green onion). If you’re going to stuff use hog casings. You want the boudin moist but not dripping wet. I can share my recipe with you if you like, when I get time to get on my computer at home.

Austin I’m ready to get moving forward on the ez slider. Can you email me directly to discuss? Thanks

I smoke my sticks, but as a regular step in my process I hang the sticks with no smoke until the are dry then add smoke. It seems the drier the sticks are before i smoke they have more of a snap. I would try a couple things if you are using an oven:

AlanAlyea The soy listed in the ingredients and what we call for in the recipe, as Soy Protein Blend, are two different things. Using a meat binder like Soy Protein Blend or Sure Gel Meat Binder is our recommendation for any cured sausage, but it is not required. A meat binder will help, but sausage can still be made without an additional binder.

mcherbies
If the ECA was too tangy, you can just use less, if you are happy with the results of your sausage else wise.
The amount we typically recommend (4 oz per 25 lb meat) is at a level to try and lower the pH enough to get as close to reaching more of a shelf stable product as we can. But, it doesn’t have to be used at that high of a usage level.

I can’t recommend to use buttermilk, because I’ve never used it. The concept kind of makes sense though. You are adding something with a lower pH than the meat, to get the meat pH just a bit lower and add some tangy flavor. The biggest problem I see though with using something like buttermilk and immediately lowering the pH is this… A lower pH will reduce water holding capacity, and can make a sausage dry and crumbly after cooking. This is one reason why encapsulated citric acid is coated, and that coating doesn’t melt until 135 F +. If you add buttermilk and lower that pH immediately, I am not sure that the results will be quite the same, and you could end up with a dryer or crumbly sausage. I’ve never used buttermilk though, so I can’t say for sure, but that’s my thoughts anyways.

That is to do a 12.5lb batch that is…

MatthewHolzer Parksider
I cannot speak for the quality or abilities on a Mainca or other brands, but…
We sell and recommend Talsa Stuffers. We have one here in our test kitchen as well. They do not have a problem running snack sticks on a 12mm horn. 10mm can get to be a little more difficult but can work fine still. A 12mm horn works fine for us and stuffing then into 19mm collagen casings.

Even on the smallest Talsa we offer, at a 26lb capacity and 1.75HP, they will stuff snack sticks fine. I think a lot of the capability just relies on what brand and quality of motor is in the hydraulic stuffer.

If you are doing half deer and half pork, the deer is going to be very lean so just make sure the pork used has a high enough fat content. You can safely use up to about 40% of the total product weight in fat and water (approximately 2 quarts water and meat at 75/25 lean to fat ratio), but that’s the limit I’d suggest. If you still struggle to stuff snack sticks at that point, it may just be a limitation on the stuffer you are using.

BrianB I use a wet marinade and let it sit over night. I do not rinse it but i put it between double layers of paper towels and let it dry while I get the smoker ready. Then put it on the racks and let it start warming and drying in the smoker before adding the smoke.

NDKoze I don’t have any pictures or videos, but here is what I would suggest…

After stuffing, twist the end of the open casing and use a hog ring to close it. While clipping on the hog ring, pull the two ends of the casing together and wrap the string from the already closed end around the end you are twisting and clipping. Clamp the hog ring on both the twisted end and the string. Then the string can be used to hang on smoke sticks.

Or, just twist and clip the casing with a hog ring, then loop and tie the string around both casing ends, then making a loop of string to hang on smoke sticks at that point.

Many times the string on the ring bologna casing can be placed under the hog ring used to close the other end, and then use the string to hang on smoke sticks. In one fashion or another, that string is typically used to hold the two ends together and hang on smoke sticks.

Let me know if we can help further.

I will try to add ring bologna to my to-do list for the future and get a video made to help visually demonstrate things better.

Made the sticks on sunday and they came out great. I made Willies, Pepper Stick, and the Jalapeno. They are all good. I did add 1lb of hi temp chedder cheese to my 10lb batch of the Jalapeno. That is my favorite one, highly recommend it to all.

Even with the heaviest HD Freezer Wrap, you are going to start to get some freezer burn if you do not eat it all up within 1 year.

I have found that after meat is stored for a year or more, the quality will go down.

This year, I just bought a new Chamber Vacuum Sealer for which the bags are way cheaper than Suction Style sealers. So, starting next year, I am going to start sealing my sausages in chamber sealer bags.

hendo I’d recommend using about 1 quart (32oz or 2lb) of water per 25 lb of meat for something like snack sticks or summer sausage.
If you don’t use a meat binder additive like sure gel, just make sure you mix really good to get a good protein extraction (where the meat gets really sticky).

Let us know if we can help with anything else!

Thank you for the information Austin!

High_Flyer

Here is our recipe for Ring Bologna! Hope this helps!
Let us know if we can help answer any other questions!

7.5 lb 85/15 Lean Beef
8.75 lb 80/20 Lean Pork
8.75 lb 50/50 Pork Trim

1-bag Ring Bologna Seasoning Unit #4550333550
1oz Sure Cure (packet included with the seasoning)
2oz Smoked Meat Stabilizer
6oz Sure Gel Meat Binder
1 Quart Ice Cold Water

Grind pork trim through 3/16in grinder plate, twice
Grind lean beef and pork through 1/8in grinder plate

Begin mixing lean meats first. While mixing add Seasoning, Sure Gel Meat Binder (or Soy Protein Blend), Sure Cure, and Ice Cold Water. Mix for 5 minutes.
Add ground pork trim and mix for an additional 3 minutes, for a total of 8 minutes of mixing time

Stuff into Collagen Ring Bologna Casings

(If you do not use a cure accelerator like Smoked Meat Stabilizer, then hold in a refrigerator for approximately 12 hours or overnight)

120F for 30 minutes
130F for 30 minutes (start adding smoke now and throughout entire cook cycle)
140F for 30 minutes
150F for 30 minutes
160F for 30 minutes
170F until internal meat temperature of 160F
Shower final product or place in a ice water bath for 10-20 minutes to set the casings and cool the product

Place a small pan of water in the bottom of smokehouse during entire cooking cycle to help increase humidity
If your smokehouse cannot reach temperatures as low as 120F, just start as low as possible and slowing increase the temperature over time

Austin thank you for your quick and informative reply I have not heard about the hickory smoke powder sounds awsome. Next time I place an order I will add it to my list thank you.

NDKoze Glad I could help! Let us know how it turns out!!

pignout
I’m going to guess that your smokehouse has no humidity. Do you add a water pan to try and help keep the humidity up?
With a low humidity in the smokehouse, the casings may be drying out too much. And, coupled with what I might guess could be a slightly inadequate meat bind, the meat is not sticking and binding to the casing properly.
So lastly, what is your mixing cycle like, hand mix or meat mixer, and how long do you mix?

Used some ground deer burger with the 19mm casing and the jalepeno stick seasoning and high temp cheddar cheese. Made them on a treager set for smoke for about 2 hours then turned up the heat to 225 to finish them and brought the internal temp to around 163. Immediately chilled the sticks and then let them rest for about an hour before packaging. I was impressed with myself with the result and the quality of the casings and seasonings. Can’t wait to try doing some more. Thanks for your help and suggestions.

Austin I have a Dehydrator that needs trays, and these look like the same ones.

BrianB Are you using a thermometer when you are cooking the sausages and pulling them off when they hit an internal temp of 160? Could be bursting even when the cooking temp is low, if you are getting them too hot.

Wild hogs are very plentiful here in Texas. I use them often, I get the local store butcher to save pork fat for me, from there trimmings. I like at least 20% fat for my sausage by weight. CF

I do the same, also works great for patty sausage to. CF

mdseaside That’s great! I’m glad it turned out good for you!

I’m sure you’ll love the smoked cheddar too. We have been getting a lot of great feedback on the new cheese flavors!

Gomez

I also took the opportunity to point out we needed a bigger dehydrator with a timer 🙂

Haha! That’s awesome!
Keep dropping those hints.

mdseaside
Sounds great!
Some wild game meats will have a stronger meat flavor or gamey flavor to them, which will mask a bit more of the seasoning and it won’t be quite what you expect if using just pork/beef/etc. So, if you’ve experienced that with some other bear sausages, you might try, as you suggested, to use a little extra seasoning when making bear sausage. I can’t give you too much detail on how much to use though because I’ve never made bear sausage… One thing that can also affect it is the fat content you use. More fat will help the flavor be a bit stronger and noticeable, so you could try adding a tad bit more pork butt, or just try to use pork with a higher fat % to help increase your overall fat ratio. I notice this a lot when making very lean chicken sausage and the flavor is not as strong with very, very lean meat than if I used the same seasoning in a fattier pork sausage.

I hope the pepperoni turns out great for you this weekend!

WinterSausageFest
That is pretty awesome and very creative!

Did you end up putting any actual meat in it, or is it entirely a mix of fun fillers?

dennishoddy
You could either use a cover brine, or you could inject the tenderloins with a brine and cure.
I’d recommend using the Country Brown Sugar Cure and it is definitely the most popular one to use too. That is a ham cure as well. If you do want to try a bacon cure, the most popular bacon cure is Blue Ribbon Maple Bacon.
If you want to use a cover brine, just use 1lb of cure per 1 gallon of water to submerge and soak the tenderloin for 3-4 days in the refrigerator. At the end of 3-4 days, remove from the brine, rinse, and then you can proceed with smoking.
Or, you could inject the loins. With injecting, you would want to use 2 lb of Country Brown Cure per 1 gallon of water. You can inject 10% of the total weight of the meat into loins with the cure solution. So if you have 10 lb of tenderloin, inject them with 1 lb of water mixed with 3.2 ounces of cure. After injecting, simply hold overnight in the fridge and then you can smoke and cook it the next day. You should be fine to use the same process for either the ham or bacon cure.

Let us know if you have any more questions we can help with!

hambone
I will go through and update our cure recipes with some more information to help make this a little more clear.
That instruction is really better suited for injecting bacon.
If you want to submerge, soak, and brine the bacon with a cover brine, we recommend using 1 lb of cure per 1 gallon of water for that cover solution.

Let me know if I can help out any more!

Gomez Might be sticking because of the sugar in the seasoning. You might try drying it in the oven on parchment paper sprayed with non stick spray (pam) then transfer to your trays also sprayed. But I am guessing it is the sugar that is giving you the trouble.

I am always looking for new homemade sausage recipes to test. Please post any recipes for your favorite sausages or biggest successes. See attached recipe for my homemade beer bratwurst. Any tips or tricks for incredible results?
–Sausage King of Central America

0_1471112787974_Pete's Beer Bratwurst 5 lb Recipe.png

0_1470501447621_IMG_1330[1].JPG
Habanero Mango chicken brats, natural hog casings. The test patty was initial sweetness from the mango followed by the heat of the habanero. And whoever said they aren’t very hot is tougher than I am

I agree with processing your own meat. I have found a few seasonings here at Walton’s that I really like and will be placing an order soon for this falls sausage making.

I’ve been processing my game since I started hunt (many years ago) and while it does mess the wife’s kitchen up for a day or so, sure does produce better cuts than having it done at a processing place. Most commercial places are focused on getting stuff out as quick as possible so they’re not going to take the time to get ALL the meat off your animal, and they don’t trim them as well as you will either. I agree, processing it yourself is the only way to go.