Newbie: first post

[Laripu]

Hi, this is my first post. I'm kind of new to sausage making too, having only done only ten 5-lb batches. Yesterday I made these:

Garlic / Parmesan Beef Sausage (in the foreground)
5 lbs ground beef
1.3 lbs Parmesan cheese, grated
2 whole garlics, finely chopped
Parsley, a big bunch, finely chopped
35 g sea salt
6 g black pepper
5 g sugar
6 g paprika

Chicken with Basil and Sundried Tomatoes (in the background)
5 lbs boneless chicken thighs, ground
Fresh basil, bunch, finely chopped
Sundried tomatoes, 2 small packs, chopped
28 g sea salt or kosher salt
5 g black pepper
5 g sugar

That other thing in the picture is a homebrew. That's a hobby I've had for 23 years, considerably longer than 18 months I've been making sausage. The nice people at Jim's Beer Kit forum gave me the link to this forum.

[NCPaul]

Welcome to the forum. There are a number on this forum that have both hobbies; last year I made three beers and three sausages for an Octoberfest party.

[Laripu]

Welcome to the forum. There are a number on this forum that have both hobbies; last year I made three beers and three sausages for an Octoberfest party.

Who doesn't love beer and sausage? I'm planning on fermenting some veggies too...if not saurkraut, then kimchi...if not kimchi, then something else.

But I doubt I'd make as much as you did for a party. That's a lot of work. My hats off to you.

Thanks for the welcome.

[DanMcG]

welcome to the forums Laripu. The sausages look great!

[Mohalk]

Howdy neighbor and welcome!

Al

[shnork]

that looks mighty tasty

[Laripu]

that looks mighty tasty

They're all frozen now, and we only tasted a couple of patties (from meat stuck in the stuffer).

Tonight we're going to eat the last of the previous batch of hot Italian sausage.

Some time next week we'll eat some of these and I'll let you know how they taste. It's my first time using fresh herbs. I think that may be the way to go.

Do people here use fresh herbs, or ground spices?

[shnork]

i'm a newbie myself but i have used both

[wheels]

Mainly dried herbs and spices here. But, I do make some 'fresh' sausage with fresh herbs.

Phil

[Laripu]

Howdy neighbor and welcome!

Al

Howdy neighbor to you too! A mere 15 miles away, I guess.

Do you ever try to hang and dry sausages in our Florida environment? I haven't done that. I'm worried about black mold and other nasties. So far I've only made fresh sausage and frozen it, consuming over the course of a few months.

[Mohalk]

Do you ever try to hang and dry sausages in our Florida environment? I haven't done that. I'm worried about black mold and other nasties.

Back in the spring I started to build a shack out back to hang meat and age some waxed hard cheeses. The shack isn't 100% complete but the 10 lb. batch I did hang was good to go. I still need to put a good floor down and I want to do that before I start filling it with goodies but for my health issues I've been at sort of a stand still. I am starting to feel a little better and it's almost time to get back to it

This is a link to my project. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=11005

Al

[crustyo44]

Al,
What you built is certainly not a shack in Australian terms, to me it looks like a quality full blown curing chamber. I am jealous.
Laripu,
Those sausages you made look good, great recipe. Thanks for posting them and welcome to the forum.
Good Luck to both of you.
Cheers,
Jan.

[Laripu]

Do you ever try to hang and dry sausages in our Florida environment? I haven't done that. I'm worried about black mold and other nasties.

Back in the spring I started to build a shack out back to hang meat and age some waxed hard cheeses. The shack isn't 100% complete but the 10 lb. batch I did hang was good to go. I still need to put a good floor down and I want to do that before I start filling it with goodies but for my health issues I've been at sort of a stand still. I am starting to feel a little better and it's almost time to get back to it

This is a link to my project. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=11005

Air conditioning! I'm impressed! I won't do it myself, but I am impressed.

[Laripu]

We tried these sausages for the first time yesterday.

My wife liked the chicken/ sun-dried tomato/basil sausage better, but I preferred the beef/garlic/parmesan/parsley. She always likes chicken sausage better, and they were good. For me, though, the garlic and parmesan taste just bursts through the meat. I find it to be sort of a flavorgasm; please forgive that pun....it was good.

[Laripu]

I'm going to use the first thread I started as the place to post my activity. Since it's called "newbie", it will remind me that "I am only an egg".

My wife and I liked the Chicken/Basil/Sun-dried tomato sausage so much that I decided to make it again, this time with less salt (at her request). Instead of chicken thighs, which seemed more expensive when we looked this time, we bought cheaper chicken "tenderloins". There's even less fat on them; I'll let you know what they taste like.

I also made a turkey/chicken/garlic sausage with meat from a turkey I dismembered. The breast was brined and smoked in the Big Green Egg. The bones with any adhering meat, plus veggies, were made into a fantastic soup stock, overnight in the slow cooker. The meat only 70% of 5 pounds, so I augmented with 30% chicken.

The other difference is that I found a nice little inexpensive scale on Amazon (made in China) that weighs up to 500 grams, accurate to 0.02 grams and displays to 0.01 grams. So you get accurate measurements.

Here are the recipes:

Chicken with Basil and Sundried Tomatoes
2247 g chicken “tenderloins”, ground
1 package of fresh basil, bunch, cleaned and chopped (1 package = 113 g net)
157 g Sundried tomatoes, chopped (2 small packs, each 85 g net)
22.4 g sea salt
5 g black pepper
5 g sugar

Churkey with garlic
1590 g turkey, ground (70%)
698 g chicken “tenderloins”, ground (30%)
4.59 g Cure #1
45 g fresh chopped garlic
20 g sea salt
5 g pepper
5 g sugar

I left the churkey sausages in the fridge for 30 hours to cure, then into the freezer.

And obligatory pics: