Jump to content

Surly Sausages

Baboontyme

By Baboontyme
in Food and Travel

 Share

Recommended Posts

Baboontyme

Baboontyme 2824

Posted
Posted

There was a very good informative thread on TOS. There were a few of you dudes who make a shit ton of sausage and had some good advice. I bought a grindr last year and a stuffer and haven't used it since last summer but I made a great batch of very hot link that compared favorably to the Louisiana Thunder at Stuffed in Austin according to my tastes and my friends. 

I do remember that ground pork shoulder alone was not fatty enough. Once I added some thick cut bacon to it that really helped. I also remember that I needed way more habs and japs than I originally thought to get the heat up to where I wanted it. The other tip I remember that someone passed on to me from the old place was to fry up little patties to taste before you start stuffing. I ground and stuffed an entire 8 lb shoulder before smoking and tasting the links and realizing it was shit. Threw it out. 

I'm going to take another run at this in the next few weeks. Any more tips, advice, appreciated. Also feel free to post store bought stuff that you like so that I can get angry that I can 't get it. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sam Lin

Sam Lin 3561

Posted
Posted

I suggest you join the Sausage Debauchery group on Facebook. It's majority cured meat/charcuterie, but there is still quite a bit of cooked sausage content. A ton of experts on there sharing info, and also international members sharing really cool local recipes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cab948

cab948 69

Posted
Posted

Keep the meat a cold as you can before grinding.  Helps to keep the meat from gumming up in the grinder and around the blade.  

We have used pork trimmings from the butcher to fatten up the meat.  It cost next to nothing and is an alternative to the bacon.

If using fresh peppers, test them out before you start adding them in.   We have had a batch of peppers that tasted as hot as bell peppers and also some that were like habaneros.  It good to know how hot of peppers you are working with when starting out seasoning the meat.   If you want to add some cheese, use the hi temp/melt cheese. 

Good luck.  It's hard work but always worth the labor.

p5jUj2Bq_o.jpgcgfSBIRl_o.jpgvmu9p0YO_o.jpg

 

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
kevwun

kevwun 15897

Posted
Posted

If you get whole boston butts that haven't been trimmed, they have enough fat where you won't have to add any.  We buy a bunch at HEB when they run $1 a pound sales.  You have to have lots of freezer room to do it is the only down side.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Baboontyme

Baboontyme 2824

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I found the old thread. Good info in there. Here's what I'm going to try to recreate:

 

Quote

 I went and bought some uncured bacon. I had a pork shoulder thawed, prob 7.5 lbs. I used about half of it and I mixed in a package of bacon, which I would anticipate to be about 1 lb. Maybe slightly less. 

The seasoning - I went wild with it - Kosher salt generously (I like salt), lots of coarse black pepper, red pepper, chil powder, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika. Added in about 6 oz of water a 12 oz beer. I used a good deal more of the seasoning than my mind said I should, and mixed it all by hand. I did not run it through the grinder again. I used the 1/4" plate grinder.

The test - I fried up a little patty. It was salty, but good. Small kick. Not enough. 

The over-reaction - I cut up 2 orange habs and about 7 serranos and added them to the mixture. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Baboontyme

Baboontyme 2824

Posted
  • Author
Posted

The delay meant that I was over-served. All in all it turned out ok but yeah, that initial screw up with the bit being backwards cost us a couple of hours. The nut fit perfectly backwards. The issue, it seems, is that it also fit perfectly forwards. I could not figure out what the issue was. When we had it on backwards not only did we keep getting clogged but it was like the grinder was only turning out the fat. After we corrected it, I think we were both a little fat wary and though the end product was plenty juicy, I felt it could have used more fat/bacon. Also somehow we loaded about 10 habs, 15 serranos, and 5 poblanos into about 8 lbs of ground meat, added a good layer of cayenne and black pepper...and the spice was still medium at best. I'll try again soon. I'm motivated again. Leaving for family trip Saturday but after I get back it's on. 

Also goes without saying....this is way WAY easier with a helper. No idea how I managed to do it by myself last year but I'll find out in a couple of weeks. 

28992842218_205d7b541d.jpg42147460274_c26d926b52.jpg42865147231_3a2a2beab4.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 5 months later...
  • 5 months later...
Baboontyme

Baboontyme 2824

Posted
  • Author
Posted

The process gets smoother each time I undertake it. It's still a mess and cleanup sucks, but the grinding and stuffing aspect is getting a lot easier. I only tasted a fry patty and it was hot but tasty. I will probably smoke 1 today to try. This was about a 9 lb bone in butt, and as you see I used about 4 ghost peppers and 14 orange habaneros. Mixed with a couple of beers, some liberal sprinklings of garlic salt, kosher salt, black pepper and onion powder. I'm going to sell this stuff at the school fair along with brisket etc next Friday. Let's see how my Northern folk handle the heat. 

47938548016_709dfbe5ac_b.jpg

47938535623_7379242849_b.jpg

47938523582_3c8c0446ff_b.jpg

47938522752_e24eb1670e_b.jpg

47938522017_ee93be6848_b.jpg

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Judge Roybeanbag

Judge Roybeanbag 11821

Posted
Posted

That’s gonna be pretty spicy.   If you’re going to make a big batch, we always grind and season the day/night before, then pack it in tubs on ice in a cooler or in the fridge and clean everything up after.  That way the seasoning works better and there isn’t as much to clean up when stuffing and hanging the next day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Wally Fairway

Wally Fairway 5586

Posted
Posted
On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 9:04 AM, Baboontyme said:

The process gets smoother each time I undertake it. It's still a mess and cleanup sucks, but the grinding and stuffing aspect is getting a lot easier. I only tasted a fry patty and it was hot but tasty. I will probably smoke 1 today to try. This was about a 9 lb bone in butt, and as you see I used about 4 ghost peppers and 14 orange habaneros. Mixed with a couple of beers, some liberal sprinklings of garlic salt, kosher salt, black pepper and onion powder. I'm going to sell this stuff at the school fair along with brisket etc next Friday. Let's see how my Northern folk handle the heat. 

47938548016_709dfbe5ac_b.jpg

47938535623_7379242849_b.jpg

47938523582_3c8c0446ff_b.jpg

47938522752_e24eb1670e_b.jpg

47938522017_ee93be6848_b.jpg

Wut school please?

Asking for research purposes, so I can give a report back to Surly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Baboontyme

Baboontyme 2824

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I'll post some pics of the slices when back on my laptop but I had one the other night and they were good spicy. I mean hot... But I didn't need milk or even water or anything. Still, it's gonna be a bit much for my Michigan compadres. I will give fair warning.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 5 weeks later...
Baboontyme

Baboontyme 2824

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I sold the rest of my ghost pepper stuff to guys in my golf league for more PTO donations. But they wanted more, so I made another batch, a little milder this time with orange habaneros and serranos. I nailed this batch, I think it was the best stuff I ever made. I haven't been everywhere but I've been to some of the top notch joints down there in Austin and I honestly think this stuff is better than anything I've had. Granted, those folks are running full on BBQ joints and I'm just making sausage. 

I got to thinking, maybe a little beer influenced...could I make some money selling this stuff? The overhead is ridiculously low. Especially if I can buy pork butt at $0.99/lb. People seem to really like it. I could do a mild version and a hot version and there is absolutely nothing like it available in this market. I could pretty easily make 50 lbs of this stuff on a given weekend in a couple of hours, freeze it and sell it for probably $10-$12/lb. What am I not considering here? Demand? Marketing? I think I could use social media to get something going. Would getting the product into stores even be necessary in today's day and age? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hornian

hornian 5223

Posted
Posted
20 minutes ago, Baboontyme said:

I sold the rest of my ghost pepper stuff to guys in my golf league for more PTO donations. But they wanted more, so I made another batch, a little milder this time with orange habaneros and serranos. I nailed this batch, I think it was the best stuff I ever made. I haven't been everywhere but I've been to some of the top notch joints down there in Austin and I honestly think this stuff is better than anything I've had. Granted, those folks are running full on BBQ joints and I'm just making sausage. 

I got to thinking, maybe a little beer influenced...could I make some money selling this stuff? The overhead is ridiculously low. Especially if I can buy pork butt at $0.99/lb. People seem to really like it. I could do a mild version and a hot version and there is absolutely nothing like it available in this market. I could pretty easily make 50 lbs of this stuff on a given weekend in a couple of hours, freeze it and sell it for probably $10-$12/lb. What am I not considering here? Demand? Marketing? I think I could use social media to get something going. Would getting the product into stores even be necessary in today's day and age? 

Is it worth all the trouble for $500-$600 gross per batch? What would your take home be? If you’re gonna do it and make money, you need to scale it up. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Baboontyme

Baboontyme 2824

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Yeah maybe just a little supplementary funds to start with. The entire line of thinking is that it's virtually all take home. The pork is dirt cheap, I'd probably buy the peppers for now, maybe could learn to grow them, but they're not expensive and needed in quantities that would affect overhead much. Same with spices. The only other thing needed would be casings. If I could make an extra $500 - $1000 with a couple of hours work, I guess that would be worth it. I have a pretty nice well paying job but I work from home and have lots of down time. 

What sort of health and food safety requirements would be necessary for selling food out of your home and not at a restaurant? I wonder. Just brainstorming, I'm not really very serious about any of this and it will probably never happen. But the way that stuff sold, and I already have others telling me if I make more they want to buy 10, 20 lbs. got me thinking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Both Tacos

Both Tacos 1806

Posted
Posted

I encourage anyone grinding up for sausage that when you are done with the sausage grind to take a whole brisket and grind it up for hamburger or ground beef. Get you a cheap Walmart or grocery store packer to do it and it's cheaper than ground beef from the butcher.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Baboontyme

Baboontyme 2824

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Truly not that hot, if you have a palate for spicy stuff. I took a tip from kev or someone on the old thread to fry up a patty before you stuff. If it doesn't pass the test there, either too mild or too hot or not flavorful enough, it didn't make it into the casings. My kid eats them without breaking a sweat. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...