How am I doing so far?

[PaPaSmokes]

bocephus that’s weird as all the videos I’ve watched show the same procedure. I wonder if the dried mango which was rather large pieces could have had an effect. Who knows. I’m almost thinking of just freezing these cheddar brats I made and not smoking them, but I can’t let one mishap scare me away!

[processhead]

PaPaSmokes We all have made mistakes and the best thing to do is just learn from them and move on.

[PaPaSmokes]

I’m still a little confused on whether or not to give the go ahead to the family on eating these, won’t affect me as I do not like mangos but I don’t want them getting sick either. No one has commented on the looks of the sausage either…

[processhead]

PaPaSmokes
You may not get any definite recommendations on this batch because of uncertainty around the cooking conditions and no cure used.
They may be ok or they may not. I don’t think others want to make that call under the circumstances. If you discard the batch then you can sleep easy knowing no one will get hurt eating them and you are only out a few bucks and your time.

[PaPaSmokes]

processhead maybe some of you guys can comment on the look and texture of the sausage as best as you can see in pics.

[Denny O]

PaPaSmokes said in How am I doing so far?:

double grinder and kept at 31/32° during the whole process, used top notch hog casing. Frig overnite. Dries at 120° for an hour with dampers open, 130° smoke/water pans dampers at 1/3 for an hour. 140° same for 1 hour, 150° same for 1 hour, 160° same, 175° no smoke no water close dampers until sausage hit 160°, ice bath for 30 min then into frig. Figured since they were not cured I’d better not leave them on counter to bloom. Not sure how I got from such a great looking raw brat to this…

The information I’m missing here is what are the internal temps of the sausage during this time period of the cooking process that is in question.
If it is stated then I missed it, my eyes are tired tonight.

[cdavis]

PaPaSmokes your cooked sausages look good to me.

[processhead]

PaPaSmokes said in How am I doing so far?:

processhead maybe some of you guys can comment on the look and texture of the sausage as best as you can see in pics.

I think you have to get past the visual appearance of the mango pieces in the sausage. IMO it looks unappetizing but that is just me and personally I am not a big fan of fruit in sausage, but a lot of people really like it.
There are a lot of foods that look unappetizing but taste great.

[PaPaSmokes]

processhead it has that gray dirty look to it. I’m not sure with no cure I want anyone eating it but would hate to throw away 12 lbs of sausage. Def a learning experience as to what not to do in the future. Thx for your input.

[PaPaSmokes]

Denny O it went in the smoker at 35° and didn’t get above 140° for nearly 3 hours or more.

[twilliams]

PaPaSmokes I suggest you ask Austin, me personally I would throw them in the disposal but I’m an a**l perfectionist. They look close to the same as what would be just boiling them. I do not put a water pan in for humidity, smoke does not stick to meat that is wet. I will have to reread your post on your process. The inside looks good, the outside looks like it was deep fried. Looks like you had a bit of fat out.

[PaPaSmokes]

Here is the other half of the run in a cheddar Brat. I opted to let these bloom, frig, freeze and package even though they had cure. I’ll post some pics of the ones I grill up tonight for dinner and show a cross section for your review as well. I think they look great. My labeling should be completed in a few weeks.

[WVTim]

PaPaSmokes they look great

[PaPaSmokes]

Here is the grilled finish product. Mouth feel was great consistency was great and moistness was there!, My question is, this is a mix from PS seasoning for Brats and we added high temp cheese. It’s a bit salty for my taste but the family ate them up. My question is…is there anything you csn add to counteract the saltiness besides developing your own ingredients?

[bocephus]

PaPaSmokes They Look very good. The only way I know to counteract the salt is use less package seasoning or look and see if you can find low sodium. If you use less, you can add your own seasonings to enhance the package seasoning.

[processhead]

PaPaSmokes said in How am I doing so far?:

It’s a bit salty for my taste but the family ate them up. My question is…is there anything you can add to counteract the saltiness besides developing your own ingredients? !

Add more meat or less seasoning. Those are about your only options.
They look great.

[PapaSop]

PaPaSmokes
Look great. Like the “mouth feel” analyses.

[twilliams]

PaPaSmokes they are salty because you added cure to them, as if I recall you did not smoke these, you left them as a fresh bratwurst, correct?

[Dave in AZ]

twilliams said in How am I doing so far?:

PaPaSmokes they are salty because you added cure to them, as if I recall you did not smoke these, you left them as a fresh bratwurst, correct?

PaPaSmokes , I think twilliams is onto it here. Normal cure1 use is 2.5g/1000g meat, so 0.25%. It is 93.75% salt, so if your brat was 1.8% salt, the cure bumps it to 2.04%, which would taste salty. Normal range is usually 1.7 to 1.9%, some folks less.

Oh, by the way, they look great!! Glad you had some victory! And I don’t think your salt is an error, as Johnsonville cheddar brats are 2.13% salt, and I love those!

[Denny O]

Dave maybe this answers the question? I still think he needed cure to stay safe because he was smoking for near 4 hours and looking like he was not going to stay within the safety net (To keep novices close to safe)

Dave in AZ said in How am I doing so far?:

twilliams said in How am I doing so far?:

PaPaSmokes they are salty because you added cure to them, as if I recall you did not smoke these, you left them as a fresh bratwurst, correct?

PaPaSmokes , I think twilliams is onto it here. Normal cure1 use is 2.5g/1000g meat, so 0.25%. It is 93.75% salt, so if your brat was 1.8% salt, the cure bumps it to 2.04%, which would taste salty. Normal range is usually 1.7 to 1.9%, some folks less.

Oh, by the way, they look great!! Glad you had some victory! And I don’t think your salt is an error, as Johnsonville cheddar brats are 2.13% salt, and I love those!

PaPaSmokes said in How am I doing so far?:

Denny O it went in the smoker at 35° and didn’t get above 140° for nearly 3 hours or more.