made summer sausage and pepperoni this weekend

[trophyelk6x6]

Turned out awesome, finally mastered this after a year. As you know there are several tricks to the trade that good smoke houses will never tell you. Very happy, got some high temp cheese to add to the salami. I use to practice with crap beef burger I would buy at cash an carry.  I do a 50% venison to pork butt. I trim the pork but some and utilize beef suet to make up the difference. 

[Timberstalker]

Looks great! Thanks for sharing.

[MtnMuley]

 

[Birdgetter]

Looks great! That is what last weekend looked like around here! Polish sausage, breakfast sausage, burger and pepperoni. 

[Brushcrawler]

Looks really good! Just curious, why trim the pork butt and add beef fat back? Consistency through cooking? We just did a batch of brats with 100% elk and added pure pork fat. Seemed even better and cheaper than cutting in pork shoulder.

[TRD1911]

Can you share your recipe and process? Those look amazing!

[hollymaster]

There’s a recall on those casings. I’ll pm you my address for proper disposal. 

[trophyelk6x6]

Looks really good! Just curious, why trim the pork butt and add beef fat back? Consistency through cooking? We just did a batch of brats with 100% elk and added pure pork fat. Seemed even better and cheaper than cutting in pork shoulder.

I think the pork fat is great but in my salami and summer sausage the texture and particle separation is important and I like beef suet ground up (small chunks you see in salami etc).  I don't use it in my really skinny snack stix/pepperoni like casings smaller in diameter than 16mm because those small chunks don't like to pass that tiny stuffing tube.

What I have found is I always start out the product in the smoker with no smoke until the meat sweats for an hour or two. Then I add smoke for a couple hours and cut that off.  It's like getting a pelicle formed on salmon before you add smoke.  Smoke and moisture don't mix well and tastes like c...p.  I start out at 100 or 120 and slowly work my way up to 160 internal.  Takes most the day but the product turns out way better taking your time. Most meat shops have those big industrial smokers and they set those and run them all night . I think people do their stuff too quick, and actually "cook" their stuff and that's not what you are trying to do.

Prague #1 or pink salt is important for safety and quality/texture etc.  It's as much about process as it is ingredients for me. 

[Angry Perch]

Looks really good! Just curious, why trim the pork butt and add beef fat back? Consistency through cooking? We just did a batch of brats with 100% elk and added pure pork fat. Seemed even better and cheaper than cutting in pork shoulder.

I think the pork fat is great but in my salami and summer sausage the texture and particle separation is important and I like beef suet ground up (small chunks you see in salami etc).  I don't use it in my really skinny snack stix/pepperoni like casings smaller in diameter than 16mm because those small chunks don't like to pass that tiny stuffing tube.

What I have found is I always start out the product in the smoker with no smoke until the meat sweats for an hour or two. Then I add smoke for a couple hours and cut that off.  It's like getting a pelicle formed on salmon before you add smoke.  Smoke and moisture don't mix well and tastes like c...p.  I start out at 100 or 120 and slowly work my way up to 160 internal.  Takes most the day but the product turns out way better taking your time. Most meat shops have those big industrial smokers and they set those and run them all night . I think people do their stuff too quick, and actually "cook" their stuff and that's not what you are trying to do.

Prague #1 or pink salt is important for safety and quality/texture etc.  It's as much about process as it is ingredients for me.

Cooking is exactly what you are trying to do, although I fully agree that most do it way too fast. In the past I've paid the price for my impatience!

BTW, that pepperoni looks fantastic.

[Brushcrawler]

Great info! So much to learn ... good thing even the ‘mistakes’ usually taste pretty good.