Summer sausage help!

[kyle]

FXSTBI for what its worth, I mix cure/spices with water and dump over meat. I always make 25# batches so I put half the meat in 2 meat lugs, dump 1/2 and 1/2 of the spice liquid in each tub, mix, then put the two together and mix more

[mdseaside]

The amount of cure is so small as compared to the rest of the spices it is almost impossible to get even distribution through out tour meat mix. That is where the water comes into play.

[processhead]

mdseaside said in Summer sausage help!:

The amount of cure is so small as compared to the rest of the spices it is almost impossible to get even distribution through out tour meat mix. That is where the water comes into play.

I believe this to be the case as well. Mixing the small amount of cure with some water will make it easier to get even distribution throughout the entire mix. To a slightly lesser degree, it will improve the distribution of the other dry ingredients as well.
I always put some mix water in a blender, add all the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly to dissolve the soluble stuff and suspend the rest in a slurry. Then add gradually while mixing.

[mrobisr]

Whether a small batch or large the ingredients and cure percentages remains the same. If I add 17g of cure and 120g of salt at home or 5lbs of cure and 45lbs of salt to 2,400lbs of meat the percentage remains the same the only difference would be the mixing technique at home compared to the professional.

[mdseaside]

You just summed it up in two words “mixing technique”.

[processhead]

The mixing techniques at a commercial level are much more efficient and thorough than what is available to the average home processor. Probably no real advantage or need for the commercial processors dissolve dry ingredients into a solution.

[Denny O]

processhead I agree with what you have said, You just beat me to it.

[mrobisr]

I agree to be on the safe side most home processors should premix the cure/spices since most don’t mix as thoroughly. As far as as a home processors equipment it can be done just as well with a stand mixer as I have done for years you just have to be willing to go longer than most are willing to. As far as a difference in commercial equipment the 2500lb mixers that I used commercially were almost identical to the Walton’s 50# mixer I just bought a couple months ago. We didn’t tip the tub over to empty, but instead it pushed through a small door, but the paddle design are really close and from the two batch’s I have done it mixes just as efficiently as I did on a much larger scale.

[Dave in AZ]

mrobisr

Here I am using a Kitchen Aid 6.5 qt mixer to do my recent meat sticks. One pic shows the spice, cure mixed in water, and accelerator Vitamin C, 3 tablets I think, ground and mixed in water waiting to go in last.

You can see that 7.3 lbs of meat and water doesn’t really fit too well, it climbed the paddle. The bread hook didn’t work at all, but the paddle did great. I just held a spatula horizontal and kept the meat down in the bowl as it mixed.
Actually I would say the mixing action was better with this than my 20 lb Waltons style mixer, though I do love that one. I decided a 5lb batch would be perfect for the 6.5 qt KA mixer. Also, the 16mm collagen casing from Walton’s held 7.2 lbs, I ended up using 24" of a 2nd stick, which was a pain.

[mrobisr]

Dave in AZ I never found the dough hook to be useful either, but the paddle does very well as you have found also. I think mine is 7 qt and I tried 10lbs once and never did that again, meat was every where. The sweet spot for mine to keep everything clean and where I could walk away from it and mix efficiently was 5lbs.