Post by Deleted on May 4, 2016 13:37:43 GMT -4
First of all, I have to give credit to Eldon's Jerky & Sausage Supply in Idaho (www.eldonsausage.com). I used his fresh sausage kits, hog casings, & smoking cure. I also purchased his DVD on how to build a smoker & sausage making & smoking procedures. I set aside 45 or 50# of bear meat to be ground into 4.5# packages (course blade). You may have taken your bear to a processor & they would take care of this initial grind. I also went to a meat processor who did wild game. I got as much fat (beef or pork) as I wanted for free. Personally, I prefer beef fat. By the way, storebought sausage is usually 40% fat & this is about 15% so chow down w/a clear conscience brother. It is a little dryer in texture while eating so I recommend something to accompany it like a good US or CA microbrew. Later you may choose to increase the fat content to suit your taste.
My plan is to set aside 45-50# of ground bear meat in 4.5# vacuum sealed packages. I also ground up the beef fat & froze .5# vacuum sealed packages of it too. This way I had seveeral packages of sausage fixings ready during the off season to keep me entertained. The attached picture (I hope) shows how many brats can be made w/a 5# mixture of 4.5# bear + .5# fat. It is important during the butchering process that you remove all bear fat as it does not taste that good.
MEAT PREPARATION
Thaw the coarse ground bear meat & fat (leave it cold & firm!). Put it into a mixing bowl (I borrow wife's stainless bowl that is about 18" dia). Add the seasoning packet for a 5# batch, add the cure (don't exceed prescribed amount), add water (per packet directions), add about 1 tablespoon (or slightly more) of paprika (this does not change the taste put puts a nice reddish tint to the finished product)...I got carried away & put 2 tbsps in the batch in the pic.
Make every effort to mix/knead the mixture in the bowl. Then run it thru the grinder w/a medium or fine blade. If you have worked fast, the thawed meat will still be a little stiff & turns out a better texture after the 2d grinding. If it gets a little too soft then it is mush when it comes out of the grinder. Put it in the frig & let it set overnight to firm up before final grinding. Regardless of when you do the 2d grind, this minimum of 8 hrs of refridgeration is important for the curing process before smoking.
STUFFING THE SAUSAGE
I initially used my Kitchenaid grinder w/a sausage stuffing attachment. It worked great when the operator finally go his act together. I ended up spending some $ & got a hand crank sausage stuffer. I bought one that held a 5# batch-perfect. If you do a lot of big game hunting, you may already own a larger stuffer...no matter...just "measure twice-cut once". I like it as I can go as fast or slow as I want & get the desired results. The DVD from Eldon really describes how to make the links. The directions on the hog casing were easy & perfect for even me to understand.
SMOKING THE SAUSAGE LINKS
Any good smoker will do. The following was done on a early Bradley w/apple wood bisquettes. I learned real quick that opening the door to check the internal meat temp really added HOURS to the total hot smoking procedure. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of purchasing a remote thermometer that allows reading the internal temp of the meat w/o out opening the door!! You can even buy one that has an alarm that makes a noise when the desired temp is reached as this frees you up a little (you still gotta plan on a good part of a day to do a quality smoking job-but when friends & relatives stand in line for your brats you know you done good). You can pick one up fairly cheap, I got mine at Sears for about $ 21.
I will outline the smoking procedure as I caught it from Eldon's DVD.
Put bear brat links (all still connected) on a bar in the smoker. Try to hang them so they aren't jammed against each other to allow circulation of the hot smoke. Turn the smoker on low w/a closed damper & bring the heat up slowly at first. You will notice the temp is adjusted in stages...this is important...patience.
Stage 1: Open damper when internal temp of smoker reaches 130 deg. Continue at this stage until links are dry to touch & internal temp of meat is about 80-90 deg. Keep smoker temp set at 130 deg.
Stage 2: OK at this point you have to break my closed door rule to chk if brats are dry in Stage 1...and at the Stage 2 juncture put wood chips into smoker to start smoke (Bradley...just start bisquette feed). Also adjust heat so it levels out at 155 deg.
Stage 3: After it reaches 155 deg, now raise it to 175 deg.
Stage 4: Be patient & vigilant until internal meat temp reaches 120-125 deg. Sausage should be a nice red color now. Arrive at temp before peeking inside & losing your smoker heat!
Stage 5: Remove from smoker & place in kettle of preheated 170 deg water. Keep in this hot water until internal temp of sausage is 152-154deg. If you skip Stage 5's hot water soak, your sausage is NOT completely cooked. In the US the greatest population of Trichinosis is bear hunters eating incompletely cooked bear meat. The hot water is your final insurance your guest & you won't be getting more than they bargined for.
Stage 6: Remove from hot water & put in strainer in sink. Spray down w/cold tap water for 5-6 min or until outside of sausage is cool to touch.
Stage 7: Hang at room temp to dry. Blooming will take place now. It will take about an hour.
When Stage 7 is completed, then refridgerate. After they are cold, I recommend vacuum packing w/a Foodsaver or similar & freezing unless you intend to eat them in just 2-3 days. Vacuum packed, frozen brats are good for a year before flavor begins to suffer. Eat them cuz the next bear season is coming!
Keep a diary so you can fine tune the above procedure to suit you...just don't skimp on safe internal temps. Good eating!! Eldon says that 10-20# of link sausage done by the above procedure can take as much as 6 hrs (more if you keep peeking inside).
I usually vacuum pack & freeze about 4-5 links per packet. I really like eating them alone w/something good (like Moose Drool) to wash them down with or w/some chopped red potatoes, scrambled eggs, onions, & diced brats for breakfast. Yeah, the Bear That Keeps On Giving.
My plan is to set aside 45-50# of ground bear meat in 4.5# vacuum sealed packages. I also ground up the beef fat & froze .5# vacuum sealed packages of it too. This way I had seveeral packages of sausage fixings ready during the off season to keep me entertained. The attached picture (I hope) shows how many brats can be made w/a 5# mixture of 4.5# bear + .5# fat. It is important during the butchering process that you remove all bear fat as it does not taste that good.
MEAT PREPARATION
Thaw the coarse ground bear meat & fat (leave it cold & firm!). Put it into a mixing bowl (I borrow wife's stainless bowl that is about 18" dia). Add the seasoning packet for a 5# batch, add the cure (don't exceed prescribed amount), add water (per packet directions), add about 1 tablespoon (or slightly more) of paprika (this does not change the taste put puts a nice reddish tint to the finished product)...I got carried away & put 2 tbsps in the batch in the pic.
Make every effort to mix/knead the mixture in the bowl. Then run it thru the grinder w/a medium or fine blade. If you have worked fast, the thawed meat will still be a little stiff & turns out a better texture after the 2d grinding. If it gets a little too soft then it is mush when it comes out of the grinder. Put it in the frig & let it set overnight to firm up before final grinding. Regardless of when you do the 2d grind, this minimum of 8 hrs of refridgeration is important for the curing process before smoking.
STUFFING THE SAUSAGE
I initially used my Kitchenaid grinder w/a sausage stuffing attachment. It worked great when the operator finally go his act together. I ended up spending some $ & got a hand crank sausage stuffer. I bought one that held a 5# batch-perfect. If you do a lot of big game hunting, you may already own a larger stuffer...no matter...just "measure twice-cut once". I like it as I can go as fast or slow as I want & get the desired results. The DVD from Eldon really describes how to make the links. The directions on the hog casing were easy & perfect for even me to understand.
SMOKING THE SAUSAGE LINKS
Any good smoker will do. The following was done on a early Bradley w/apple wood bisquettes. I learned real quick that opening the door to check the internal meat temp really added HOURS to the total hot smoking procedure. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of purchasing a remote thermometer that allows reading the internal temp of the meat w/o out opening the door!! You can even buy one that has an alarm that makes a noise when the desired temp is reached as this frees you up a little (you still gotta plan on a good part of a day to do a quality smoking job-but when friends & relatives stand in line for your brats you know you done good). You can pick one up fairly cheap, I got mine at Sears for about $ 21.
I will outline the smoking procedure as I caught it from Eldon's DVD.
Put bear brat links (all still connected) on a bar in the smoker. Try to hang them so they aren't jammed against each other to allow circulation of the hot smoke. Turn the smoker on low w/a closed damper & bring the heat up slowly at first. You will notice the temp is adjusted in stages...this is important...patience.
Stage 1: Open damper when internal temp of smoker reaches 130 deg. Continue at this stage until links are dry to touch & internal temp of meat is about 80-90 deg. Keep smoker temp set at 130 deg.
Stage 2: OK at this point you have to break my closed door rule to chk if brats are dry in Stage 1...and at the Stage 2 juncture put wood chips into smoker to start smoke (Bradley...just start bisquette feed). Also adjust heat so it levels out at 155 deg.
Stage 3: After it reaches 155 deg, now raise it to 175 deg.
Stage 4: Be patient & vigilant until internal meat temp reaches 120-125 deg. Sausage should be a nice red color now. Arrive at temp before peeking inside & losing your smoker heat!
Stage 5: Remove from smoker & place in kettle of preheated 170 deg water. Keep in this hot water until internal temp of sausage is 152-154deg. If you skip Stage 5's hot water soak, your sausage is NOT completely cooked. In the US the greatest population of Trichinosis is bear hunters eating incompletely cooked bear meat. The hot water is your final insurance your guest & you won't be getting more than they bargined for.
Stage 6: Remove from hot water & put in strainer in sink. Spray down w/cold tap water for 5-6 min or until outside of sausage is cool to touch.
Stage 7: Hang at room temp to dry. Blooming will take place now. It will take about an hour.
When Stage 7 is completed, then refridgerate. After they are cold, I recommend vacuum packing w/a Foodsaver or similar & freezing unless you intend to eat them in just 2-3 days. Vacuum packed, frozen brats are good for a year before flavor begins to suffer. Eat them cuz the next bear season is coming!
Keep a diary so you can fine tune the above procedure to suit you...just don't skimp on safe internal temps. Good eating!! Eldon says that 10-20# of link sausage done by the above procedure can take as much as 6 hrs (more if you keep peeking inside).
I usually vacuum pack & freeze about 4-5 links per packet. I really like eating them alone w/something good (like Moose Drool) to wash them down with or w/some chopped red potatoes, scrambled eggs, onions, & diced brats for breakfast. Yeah, the Bear That Keeps On Giving.
