I've been out from the office burning some leave time this week. I received a call from my group supervisor the other day and the office is having a "summer cookout" Tuesday, which will also be my first day back at work. Seemed like they had most of the categories covered so I figured I would make an appetizer of summer sausage. Also going to make some "firecrackers" to put them on, and the local Kroger had their premium white cheddar slices on 50% markdown so it's sort of coming together.
Summer sausage recipe is variation of one posted in another forum by MossyMO. I did make a slight change, but it should be the same flavor profile. Plan is to stuff them into 1.5" x 12" LEM fibrous casings, smoke on the e-WSM on Monday, and then finish in a sous vide bath in a vac bag at 154*
(again this idea of finishing in sous vide also came from MossyMO and that thread is here:
http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40624&highlight=summer+sausageI've found out that the original source may be Texas-Hunter, so I'm editing the credit to reflect this. Not sure who's version came first, but both deserve credit. His version also added jalapeno peppers and cheese with a venison base.
Cast of characters (sorry, forgot to include the powdered buttermilk in the photo, ran out and had tossed the container before taking the photo):
Tangy Summer Sausage - variation of Texas-Hunter/MossyMo's recipeThe original version was for a 25 pound batch. I have reduced it for a 5 pound batch. Also the original recipe indicated you can use 50/50 beef/pork or any other variation. This is the recipe as I made it today.
3 pounds of ground sirloin (90% lean)
2 pounds of ground pork (estimate 70-80% lean estimate)
1 tsp of Cure #1 (pink salt)
2 1/2 TBL of Kosher Salt
1 TBL of Onion Powder
1 TBL of Garlic Powder
1 TBL of Black Pepper
1/2 TBL of Mustard Seed (I lightly crushed them)
1 TBL white Sugar
1 tsp ground Nutmeg
1 tsp ground Basil
1 tsp Coriander Seed
1/3 cup of NFDM (non-fat dry milk)
1/2 cup of Sacco dry Buttermilk powder (not in photo)
1 1/2 tsp of Butcher-Packer #414 sausage phosphate
water to dissolve cure with prior to mixing with meat
1 1/2" x 12" fibrous mahogany casings from LEM
Mixed the cure with warm water to dissolve. All other dry items mixed together, Mixed the beef and pork by hand before adding the cure and seasonings. Then added the dry seasonings and mixed, finally added the wet cure and mixed for at least 5 minutes. The meat will get very tacky (this is what you want). Sorry but I did get a mixing photo, but it's pretty straight forward. Back into the fridge for a while to re-chill after the mixing.
The variation I made was using the Sacco powdered buttermilk for twang instead of Fermento (I was out), and also adding Butcher-Packer #414 phosphates for increased mouth texture, moisture, and to help prevent shrinkage. Yes, I know.... someone will say "but that's what the NFDM is for", but I used them both and went on the lower end of the range for the sausage phosphate for that reason. If you have AmesPhos, it would work the same as the BP #414. Also if you don't have the sausage grade of NFDM and are using the stuff from the grocery store, make sure to grind it very fine as the grocery store version is much courser than sausage grade NFDM.
Back to the process....
Put 6 of the casings into warm water and weighted down with a small plate to keep them submerged. I made sure that the insides of the casings were wetted also. Let them soak for about 45 minutes.
Prepping the stuffer. Since the casings are short, I just used a flexible cutting board as my work surface instead of putting out plastic coated butcher paper like I normally do for sausage.
Ended up with 5 1/2 of the casings. I used the meat from the feed tube to add to the short casing so I don't have a sample to fry up and taste today.
Into plastic bags to keep the casings moist while the flavors do their thing. It's Saturday evening and I plan on smoking them in the e-WSM on Monday morning. That should be plenty of time for the flavors to get happy and the phosphates to do their magic as well.
I will update this thread on Monday as it progresses. I will also post photos of the "Firecrackers" and the recipe. I will make these on Monday evening, so they will be fresh and crisp for Tuesday lunch.
More to follow......