Two late hatchers...when to help?

[AmyLynn2374]

Feel free to post your sausage recipe.

I've found some folks smoke their bellies too long. I don't like sweet bacon so I lower the sugar and up the pepper in the cure. Then cold smoke it for 4-6 hours depending on what I'm going for. The cure is the key as far as I'm concerned.

I like my bacon salty..lol

 

[WalnutHill]

Feel free to post your sausage recipe.

I've found some folks smoke their bellies too long. I don't like sweet bacon so I lower the sugar and up the pepper in the cure. Then cold smoke it for 4-6 hours depending on what I'm going for. The cure is the key as far as I'm concerned.

I make quite a few fresh and smoked sausages, still working my way up to semi dry cured.

One of my most requested is Venison Jalapeno Cheddar smoked sausage. While it seems to be just about perfect, I am going to add some bacon to the next batch to see if I can reach sausage nirvana.

Since this thread is so far off topic already, here goes:

24 oz trimmed dark meat pork butt, cubed and chilled (dark meat makes better cured sausage)
36 oz trimmed venison, cubed and chilled (blend pork/venison ratio to your tastes)
16 oz back fat, cubed and frozen
1/8 oz granulated garlic
3/8 oz fine ground black pepper (freshly ground)
1 1/2 oz kosher salt
3/8 oz sugar
2 fresh jalapenos, seeded and deveined, chopped into 3/8' squares
6 3/4 oz cheddar cheese, cubed 3/8"
3 to 5 oz ice water
1/8 oz Cure #1

Cube up pork, venison and back fat and place in freezer 30 minutes along with any metal grinder parts. Assemble grinder and using a medium grind attachment, grind fat and return to freezer, then grind all meat.

Mix spices in a small bowl. Work the spices, jalapeno, fat and cheese into the meat with your hands, adding the water in small amounts as you go to reach a workable consistency.

Take a meatball sized piece and cook up a test patty. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Stuff into 1 to 1 1/2" hog casings. Tie into links, prick air pockets and allow the sausage to hang, refrigerated, overnight to allow flavors to meld and cure to work.

Hang the sausages at room temperature for an hour or more, until they reach room temperature. Meanwhile, fire up your favorite smoker to 100-130F, no smoke. Hang the sausages in the smoker at this temp for another hour until the casings are dry (this allows for a nicer finished product color).

Bring the temp up to 140F and add wood chips. Hickory, oak, and a touch of mesquite make a great flavor. Every hour, raise the temperature 10 degrees until the sausage reaches 155F internal temperature. When the sausage reaches 155F, remove from smoker and plunge into an ice bath until cool. Once cooled, remove from ice bath and let bloom for one hour at room temperature on hooks or rack.

As these are fully cooked smoked sausages, enjoy cold and sliced with crackers and cheese, grilled, or vacuum pack and freeze for later.

 

[WVduckchick]

Now that looks like a sausage I might like. I assume its ok to copy your recipe! I'm sure my hubby would love it.

 

[WalnutHill]

Of course! We are all one big family here anyhow. Let me know when they are ready, I'll stop by with some cold beer.

I made 20 pounds at the end of November. It's gone...

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Of course! We are all one big family here anyhow. Let me know when they are ready, I'll stop by with some cold beer.

I made 20 pounds at the end of November. It's gone...

I like a lot of "Italian" dishes and use sausage quite a bit. It's not hard to go through sausage!

 

[WVduckchick]

Of course! We are all one big family here anyhow. Let me know when they are ready, I'll stop by with some cold beer.

I made 20 pounds at the end of November. It's gone...

Looks yummy! And thanks! I've copied and saved as a pdf and sent home! Will keep you posted when to bring the beer!

 

[Titanpaul726]

That sounds good WalnutHill. I saved it also. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Titanpaul726]

I like my bacon salty..lol

Me too!

 

[bg]

This is our first hatch, when our hen started brooding we didn't realize that other hens had been laying eggs with her until after 10 days. Now we have 6 hatched and another 11 who knows when. She got off the nest but we have another brooding hen now. Can we just put them under her? She has no eggs of her own. It would be ashame to loose so many.

 

[WVduckchick]

This is our first hatch, when our hen started brooding we didn't realize that other hens had been laying eggs with her until after 10 days. Now we have 6 hatched and another 11 who knows when. She got off the nest but we have another brooding hen now. Can we just put them under her? She has no eggs of her own. It would be ashame to loose so many.

Seems to me like it couldn't hurt to try it. Or could you incubate them yourself.?