clubchuck well you summed it up. You can see the risk on unrefrigerated fermented sausage. I walk with caution. About your life insurance “didos ”. Thanks for the info.
Which binder is the best to use
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What is the best binder to use for wild game summer sausage, snack sticks and hot dogs? I have been looking at the sure gel and carrot fiber but not sure of pros and cons. Thank you!
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North the best overall binder in my mind is sure gel, this is especially true when talking about cured sausage. Sure gel is aiding in protein extraction by adding protein and the whey in it will help keep moisture in the meat. Super Bind (mix of carrot fiber and potato starch) CAN be good but the issue is that the potato starch forms a gel around 130 which is when the meat starts to expel water. That in and of itself is no issue at all, the problem starts when voids are formed in your sausage, they fill up with an unappealing gel.
Carrot fiber is excellent for fresh sausage (though not necessary if using pork or beef at normal fat content) and absolutely can be used in cured products but it isn’t going to add any protein, thus it doesn’t aid in protein extraction. It gives a similar result but just in a different way.
I always say, if you are using wild game and adding pork fat use sure gel, it’s a few dollars more but not insanely expensive, if you are using pork or beef add sure gel or carrot fiber, whichever you prefer.
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Thank you Jonathon! I really appreciate all your help!
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Jonathan, if making sausage with pork that will not be smoked, such as brats, do you recommend still adding the binder?
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Capnbubb A fresh product with pork (as long as you are above 20% fat) doesn’t need it, though more than a few people do use it for fresh sausage. A good reason to add it at that point is to increase your yield or to make it really juicy. Personally, I think adding more than a pint or 2 of water (at most) for bratwurst is too much. Carrot Fiber holds up to 26 times its weight in water so with 4 oz of carrot fiber you could theoretically add 104 oz of water per 25lb batch. I wouldn’t do that though!
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Capnbubb So, sorry, to make it simple, I don’t add it to mine here.
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Jonathon Excellent recap!
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Simple is good. Appreciate the response.
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Jonathon This discussion was perfect timing for a recent experience. I just finished a 6 lb batch each of venison summer sausage and venison snak stix using Walton products. I used Sure Gel with the summer sausage and carrot fiber with the snack stix. I mix by hand and thought it was much easier to get good protein extraction on the summer sausage with Sure Gel than with the carrot fiber in the snack stix. I am fairly new to making cured sausage. From this experience I think I’ll stay with Sure Gel. It was easier and provided better results.
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North
My believe is to use what was used for a 100 years, which is RUSK, which is bread crumbs. I use 1 cup of Rusk mixed with 1.5 cups of water. Look up rusk used with making sausage. You will get the best binder ever. Very moist. Good luck. -
Little Baby Teddy Great reminder. That is what my Finnish grandmother used, but she called it korppu, which is rusk in Finnish.
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MT Elk Hunter yep my Dad used to also. Its what I use too. Good eats for sure.
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Just made a batch of summer sausage and this year I used carrot fiber instead of sure gel like I normally do. Bad idea. I should have known better than to mess with something that already works great. I mix with a hand mixer and got good protein extraction and everything looked good till I was done cooking. The meat is juicy bu it shrunk and now my casings are all wrinkled up. Will be going back to sure gel.
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not a fan of carrot fiber I have had better results from soy protine
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