Linguica or Spanish Chorizo?
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My attempts to buy and ship in real Portugues Linguica or Spanish Chorizo have proven fruitless and frustrating. I have a local butcher to source my meat from and can smoke meats on my stick burners or WSM. What I don’t have are a grinder, sausage stuffer, and the know-how.
Where do I start? Is this reasonable for a total novice to attempt? I’ve had enough with the lockdown chores and now it is time to tackle this long-desired project. I may build a cold smokehouse as well to smoke some cheese while it is cold out thanks to the front that has rolled in for Winter temps in East Texas (cold smoking cheese in ~80F is problematic).
TIA,
Sid -
lkrfletcher Sous Vide Canning PK100 Team Blue Power User Colorado Military Veterans Veteranreplied to sidpost on last edited by
sidpost
Walton’s is holding a great raffle right now on their page that has everything you need to get started. Maybe you will win. I know I am going to get a ticket. -
sidpost We will also be doing a pretty big giveaway during our live stream on 10/2 at waltonsinc.com/live at 2:30 PM where we will giveaway a grinder, a slicer and a mixer and a few other things as well! Are you wanting fermented/dry aged sausage? If you are wanting to do that then start here at the Dry Aging section of Meatgistics University. We just started diving more into the dry-aged/fermented stuff but those first few videos should help. We should be releasing the 3rd sometime around Friday.
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sidpost I’d go with a 11 lb hand crank stuffer and spend the bucks for a 32 grinder and chamber vac if you can afford it. You can get by with a lower end vacuum sealer but a good size grinder will up your game big time. Time is money. A large grinder will save boatloads of time.
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Joe Hell ,
I have waffled on the small size Pro-Cut. It would make grinding a feral hog or two pretty easy. And yes, in terms of a stuffer, definitely thinking the 11# model as a good place to start. The mixer is where I’m at a bit of an impasse.
Of the ~$150 ~20# model meat mixers, what are the pro’s and con’s of one versus the other? I’m thinking hand crank here but, over time I could always fab up a pulley system to turn it slowly so I don’t over mix and keep physical stresses low if I find the hand turning to be a bit much for my shoulder.
I’ve been down a similar road with dough mixers and the Italian 5~10qt models are a real godsend for anyone with bad wrists or a shoulder that isn’t up to ‘spec’. Stiff doughs are just a good way to kill a family heirloom KitchenAid mixer plus, a spiral simply does a much better job especially with a breaker bar.
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sidpost I have a 20 lb mixer and only used it a couple of times. I just felt it was easier to hand mix than it was to disassemble and clean another piece of equipment. It’s not like they fit in he average kitchen sink! That said, you should be able to match up a grinder with a mixer that also has a hand crank option.
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Yes, cleaning one more piece of equipment. The flip side to me though is cold and heavy mixing is really hard on my wrists. A soapy sponge isn’t too bad but, a farm sink should make cleaning easier or, I can always clean it up at my “water” wellhouse.
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In terms of powering a hand meat mixer, pulleys with a V-belt are pretty versatile and probably a bit easier to fab up then using something like a Pro-Cut grinder.
I live on a farm so, my perspective is probably a bit different from most people.
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Chef Canning Dry Cured Sausage Primo Grills Team Blue Sous Vide Power User Cast Ironreplied to sidpost on last edited by
sidpost I do Paella for large gatherings when I cater. You are so correct about getting an authentic Spanish Chorizo here, at least in Texas. I’ve been experimenting, got a reasonable fresh sausage but it’s just not the same as a dry cure. Let’s keep this posting going as we make progress.
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Chef said in Linguica or Spanish Chorizo?:
sidpost I do Paella for large gatherings when I cater. You are so correct about getting an authentic Spanish Chorizo here, at least in Texas. I’ve been experimenting, got a reasonable fresh sausage but it’s just not the same as a dry cure. Let’s keep this posting going as we make progress.
Absolutely. I’m really missing a good Linguica! Chorizo where I live is generally a wet ‘paste’ of some overly ground goo (pink goo or slime anyone) with various spices for heat along with a ton of lard. Pretty much anything dry-cured of a similar spice blend in Europe is worlds better IMHO.
Real Linguica is something totally unknown around here so, at least they don’t offer something with that name that is a huge disappointment!
The local independent butcher is the only one around that even knows what Boar’s Head (Boar’s Head.com) is.
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sidpost I’d say it depends on the average batch size more than anything. I haven’t used anything larger than the 20# mixer…which at max capacity is more like 15-16…the minimum might be 8-10? An addition of Sure Gel seems to be the most important factor in the equation from my experience. The cookshack smoker I use each week at the shop is less than ideal IMO. It tends to have a mind of its own, Somehow I can process snack sticks in 1/4 of the time as recommended without issues. Summer sausage still takes some time and patience however.
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Joe Hell said in Linguica or Spanish Chorizo?:
sidpost I’d say it depends on the average batch size more than anything. I haven’t used anything larger than the 20# mixer…which at max capacity is more like 15-16…the minimum might be 8-10? An addition of Sure Gel seems to be the most important factor in the equation from my experience. The cookshack smoker I use each week at the shop is less than ideal IMO. It tends to have a mind of its own, Somehow I can process snack sticks in 1/4 of the time as recommended without issues. Summer sausage still takes some time and patience however.
Cookshack’s have a good reputation. If you are having problems, I’d reach out to them or check out the BBQ Brethren Forum.
Personally, I have Shirley Fabrication and Evie Mae stick burners along with Weber Smokey Mountains and a few other strays that see occasional use.
I may get an electric smoker at some point but, first I’ll probably do a cold smoker. Now that temperatures have cooled off, I really need to smoke some cheese. Whether I hang some hams or sausages is an open question right now.
16# batches in the mixer sounds like a reasonable quantity for me because smaller amounts probably aren’t worth breaking out the grinder or, if I did wouldn’t be too bad to hand mix. Realistically, off a normal feral hog, I’ll probably see 30~40#'s of meat. Some of them are a lot smaller than that in terms of usable meat.
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sidpost I’ve had zero luck with Cookshack CS and their forums are a ghost town the last I checked. I know a few folks that swear by them and I’ve seen good results but its constant babysitting. I need consistent predictability rather than a c**p shoot.
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Joe Hell said in Linguica or Spanish Chorizo?:
sidpost I’ve had zero luck with Cookshack CS and their forums are a ghost town the last I checked. I know a few folks that swear by them and I’ve seen good results but its constant babysitting. I need consistent predictability rather than a [censored] shoot.
Sorry to hear that. You may want to check out BBQ Brethren and ask some questions over there. That forum is pretty active and there are a lot of Cookshack owners there that may be able to help. I know some of them who owned early models swapped out controllers and reported much better results. I don’t follow the Cookshacks too closely but, it seems like the early ones had erratic controllers and the fix was $100~$200 for the various new controllers people used. Between commercial guys, caterers, and serious hobbyists, I bet someone over there can help you get your smoker running better without babysitting.
