Posted: 10/28/2010 5:02:18 PM EDT
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I make a pretty kick ass Polish sausage and I think I'm going to make another batch this weekend. When I stuff it, I'll usually make links about 2 ft long and boil them for about an hour when I'm ready for it. What are my other options to cook the raw links? Just thinking of trying something different.
11/17/10 Update: Well, it's all made and stuffed. Whole house smells like garlic, I love it! Question though ... I used a cure that is dyed pink. Per the instructions, I used one teaspoon per 5lb of meat. I had 10 lb, so I used two teaspoons. I've never used a cure before, but wanted to try smoking some of this and everything I read says a cure is a must. I boiled some sausage last night for about 35 mins and instead of the grayish color it normally is, there is more of a reddish / pink tint to it. I'm guessing this is from the cure, but is this normal? 
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I make a couple hundred pounds per year.
Boiling for an hour seems very excessive. If added to already boiling water, they'll be above 180 in ten minutes. Most of the time, I smoke it. The stuff I don't smoke get's boiled for ten minutes, then put on the grill just to make it look appealing. In my opinion, boiled sausage never looks as good as smoked or grilled. I just boil it to get it cooked thoroughly and quickly, and grill it for looks. What all cuts of pork do you use? ETA: One of those flat, electric griddles with a good amount of butter makes it look good after a boil, also. |
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Quoted: I'm not a sausage maker, but it seems to me that you can freeze it as-is or you have to can or cook it. Have you thought about smoking your sausage? I've seen some pretty basic smokers that turned out amazing results! We are making bratwurst this weekend. When we are stuffing the casings (they sit in a garlic/salt brine for the night before and then are heated before we use them) we usually end up with 6-12ft links. We eyeball the size we want and twist to make individual links and then separate them into 4-6 link sections to be packed into freezer bags for the foodsaver. We freeze them and then pull them out to grill when we want. We will do 50 lbs and the cost will be around $60 for everything. We have a large group of guys who have invested in a commercial mixer, grinder, and stuffer. We buy everything bulk to keep the costs down. We will probably go through 700 lbs of pork this weekend. I am going to try 25 lbs of italian sausage for the first time this year and am looking forward to it. I plan to use the same process we do for the brats. My wife won't even touch a store bought brat anymore. These are as lean as we can make them and mighty tasty. I have had people who don't usually eat pork try them and love them. Later in the winter we will make summer sausage which is a 50/50 mix of deer and pork. We usually get around 20-25 logs and spend about $45 on the whole getup. One guy has a dedicated smokehouse that he cold smokes them in for a week or two and then they hang in the garage for another 4-6 weeks. |
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Quoted: I make a couple hundred pounds per year. Boiling for an hour seems very excessive. If added to already boiling water, they'll be above 180 in ten minutes. Most of the time, I smoke it. The stuff I don't smoke get's boiled for ten minutes, then put on the grill just to make it look appealing. In my opinion, boiled sausage never looks as good as smoked or grilled. I just boil it to get it cooked thoroughly and quickly, and grill it for looks. What all cuts of pork do you use? ETA: One of those flat, electric griddles with a good amount of butter makes it look good after a boil, also. Smoking sounds appealing. What's the process to do that? I don't even have a smoker ...  I usually get 20lb or so of Boston Butt then trim off as much of the fat as I can; I usually end up with 13-15 lb or so a batch ad I'll freeze what I don't cook up at the time. I'm considering trying a vacuum sealer also. |
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Quoted:
Smoking sounds appealing. What's the process to do that? Brinkman Smoker Tips I don't even have a smoker
There are all kinds of smokers, from pan-sized (for your oven or stove top) to trailers and entire buildings (smokehouses). Essentially, you need something to build a fire in/on and a way to contain the smoke from that fire around your food. Smokers are usually made of metal for durability but I've seen wooden boxes used. The smoke is piped into those, usually. For the quantity you mention, a Brinkman charcoal or electric smoker should be fine. A large Weber-style kettle grill would work. I've smoked fish in a tripod covered with a plastic tarp (it looked like a teepee). There are really too many options to describe. Check YouTube for videos and Google for instructions. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Smoking sounds appealing. What's the process to do that? Brinkman Smoker Tips I don't even have a smoker
There are all kinds of smokers, from pan-sized (for your oven or stove top) to trailers and entire buildings (smokehouses). Essentially, you need something to build a fire in/on and a way to contain the smoke from that fire around your food. Smokers are usually made of metal for durability but I've seen wooden boxes used. The smoke is piped into those, usually. For the quantity you mention, a Brinkman charcoal or electric smoker should be fine. A large Weber-style kettle grill would work. I've smoked fish in a tripod covered with a plastic tarp (it looked like a teepee). There are really too many options to describe. Check YouTube for videos and Google for instructions. I agree. When it comes to smoking the possibilities are endless. Anywhere from small, cheap homemade setups to $50,000 smokehouses and trailer rigs... Both of my smokers are homemade. One of them is made from a 55 gallon oil drum, the other one is on a trailer, it's made from a 275 gallon oil tank. I still haven't ventured into doing my own sausage or ground meats yet, mostly because I've been too cheap to buy a meat grinder but I think I'm going to get a manual one just so I can at least do smaller batches. |
| Thanks for the tips, I think I'll look for some relatively cheap options and try smoking a little bit of this batch. Basically you're just letting the stuff smoke until the internal temp is 160 - 180* or so, right? What's a good wood to use for sausage? I generally like the hickory/mesquite flavored stuff, but I'm not sure how that would be with this sausage. |
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Quoted:
Thanks for the tips, I think I'll look for some relatively cheap options and try smoking a little bit of this batch. Basically you're just letting the stuff smoke until the internal temp is 160 - 180* or so, right? What's a good wood to use for sausage? I generally like the hickory/mesquite flavored stuff, but I'm not sure how that would be with this sausage. Apple is my favorite for smoking sausage. I've never tried using a mesquite or a hickory, just because I like the applewood so much. Internal temp will depend on whether or not you are using a curing salt in the mix and your other processes. Depending on where you look online, you'll see a bunch of different opinions on what temp it should reach. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I make a couple hundred pounds per year. Boiling for an hour seems very excessive. If added to already boiling water, they'll be above 180 in ten minutes. Most of the time, I smoke it. The stuff I don't smoke get's boiled for ten minutes, then put on the grill just to make it look appealing. In my opinion, boiled sausage never looks as good as smoked or grilled. I just boil it to get it cooked thoroughly and quickly, and grill it for looks. What all cuts of pork do you use? ETA: One of those flat, electric griddles with a good amount of butter makes it look good after a boil, also. Smoking sounds appealing. What's the process to do that? I don't even have a smoker ... I usually get 20lb or so of Boston Butt then trim off as much of the fat as I can; I usually end up with 13-15 lb or so a batch ad I'll freeze what I don't cook up at the time. I'm considering trying a vacuum sealer also.
There's a lot of ways to smoke it. Since everyone's tastes are so different, I'd just experiment with a few recipes and see what you like. Smoking times and temps have a lot of variables. Batch size, desired level of smoke, etc. I have a vacuum sealer, but I always wrap mine in plastic and butcher paper instead. ETA: The smoking process is pretty simple in general, though. It's not too much different than cooking something in an oven. Just a really smoky oven. 
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Thanks for the input all. I'm looking at getting an inexpensive Brinkman smoker to play with. This thing comes with a "charcoal pan" and a "water pan". So, to sound completely ignorant ... I'm guessing I put charcoal / wood into the charcoal pan, and water in the water pan above that one .... right? Or do I put wood chips in the water? Do I have to use charcoal? What about just putting wet wood into the charcoal pan? |
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Yes, charcoal in the charcoal pan. I recommend a good clean burning lump charcoal.
You'll soak your wood chips and them put them on top the charcoal to smoke. This is where you have to mind your temp. It will drop initially, but then could go up depending on the size of chips, chunks etc. if they got too hot, dry out and burn rather than just smolder/smoke. Water in the water pan, more correctly liquid. It keeps it from drying out too much. A good cheap beer instead of water is a fantastic option when making sausage for a tad bit of flavor. Then when you want to get rid of the rest of that boston butt, try some root beer in the pan 
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Quoted:
Well, it's all made and stuffed. Whole house smells like garlic, I love it! Question though ... I used a cure that is dyed pink. Per the instructions, I used one teaspoon per 5lb of meat. I had 10 lb, so I used two teaspoons. I've never used a cure before, but wanted to try smoking some of this and everything I read says a cure is a must. I boiled some sausage last night for about 35 mins and instead of the grayish color it normally is, there is more of a reddish / pink tint to it. I'm guessing this is from the cure, but is this normal? Nice looking sausage you got there. 
What cure did use? Instacure #1? The color looks normal to me for a cured sausage––it's a byproduct of the nitrates/nitrites. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Well, it's all made and stuffed. Whole house smells like garlic, I love it! Question though ... I used a cure that is dyed pink. Per the instructions, I used one teaspoon per 5lb of meat. I had 10 lb, so I used two teaspoons. I've never used a cure before, but wanted to try smoking some of this and everything I read says a cure is a must. I boiled some sausage last night for about 35 mins and instead of the grayish color it normally is, there is more of a reddish / pink tint to it. I'm guessing this is from the cure, but is this normal? Nice looking sausage you got there.
What cure did use? Instacure #1? The color looks normal to me for a cured sausage––it's a byproduct of the nitrates/nitrites. Thanks. Yes, I used Instacure #1. Good to know this is normal. I guess this is why some folks grill it up a little to brown it.
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