Waltons smoked kielbasa mix

[Johnboy13]

The meat block was 10 lbs of deer meat 10 lbs of pork butt and 4 lbs of pork trim
1 ok signature smoked kielbasa season package
1oz sure cure
2oz smoked meat stabilizer
6oz sure gelmeat binder
1qt of ice cold water
Grind pork trim through 3/16 grinder plat twice grind deer and pork through 1/8 grinder plate
Stuff in36 mm hog casing
Smoke and cook and water bath as stated on the recipe

[processhead]

I don’t see any red flags that would indicate a problem with your ingredients.
Have you tried tasting one with the casing peeled off to see if it eats any better?

If it is overly greasy that could indicate less than adequate mixing or too high of temperature at the end of the process.

Agree that adding and mixing dry ingredients is probably best done after the first coarse grind.

[mhighland69]

Johnboy13 I wanted to reach out to you, whatever you decide to do PLEASE DON’T DUMP your batch if you are unsatisfied with it. Please check and see if there is a shelter, soup kitchen, etc. in your area and donate it. THERE ARE WAY TO MANY FOLKS VETERANS, & EVERYDAY PEOPLE IN OUR COUNTRY GOING HUNGERY. Thanks!!

[Grimpuppy]

I am with processhead on pretty much everything. Your recipe looks good. Not achieving protein extraction could result in the fat not binding and a greasy product.

I noticed you went with a natural casing instead of the inedible ring casing. That may have let it cook faster and resulted in a harder/drier product. That is just speculation.

[Johnboy13]

processhead
I started the smoking at 130 for the first 30 mins the 140 for 30 min 150 up to 170 at the end with a meat temperature 160
When you slice the sausage you will see chunks of pork fat from the pork trimming in the meat that was ground with the 3/16 grinder plate

[Johnboy13]

Grimpuppy just followed the instructions in the recipe on how to smoke and cook it

[Johnboy13]

Johnboy13

[twilliams]

Johnboy13 almost looks like the pork grind was with a 3/8” plate not 3/16”? Dull knives and plates? My opinion you are short on water by at least a 1/2 qt, me personally I use 2 quarts for 25lb meat block. Your cook cycle is also rushed in my opinion.

[Grimpuppy]

Somewhere between the grinder and the stuffer, the fat got to warm. That allowed it to clump up like that. I think you got good protein extraction or else that fat would have rendered out during the cook. When you grind and mix in fat separate to get particle definition, that fat has to stay freezer cold.

[Grimpuppy]

The reason I say the fat got to warm is because I have had it happen on ring bologna I made. I forgot to put my tub back in the freezer after grinding. When I was mixing and went to get it out of the freezer, it was still on the counter. This was the result.

[processhead]

Johnboy13 said in Waltons smoked kielbasa mix:

processhead
I started the smoking at 130 for the first 30 mins the 140 for 30 min 150 up to 170 at the end with a meat temperature 160
When you slice the sausage you will see chunks of pork fat from the pork trimming in the meat that was ground with the 3/16 grinder plate

I would also agree with twilliams on the coarseness of the fat grind and the large size of the fat particles.
I am not seeing much finer fat particles interspersed through the meat.
Overall it looks pretty dry like it got too hot at some point.

You may want to cross check your smoker temperatures against a known accurate thermometer.
I wish I could have seen the mixture just before stuffing.

[HerbcoFood]

Grimpuppy That almost looks like an obnoxious amount of hi temp cheese!

[cdavis]

Johnboy13 I ground my fat with a 3/16 plate and this is what it looked like