Calling all "sausage makers"

[Would Rather Be Fishing]

Question. Yesterday I made my first batch of bear pepperoni. Small batch to start to test the waters (well, I was told 10lbs is a "small batch"). Results were awesome, very happy with it, but pushing the meat through the sausage stuffer was a pain! Quite literally. After mixing in the cure with water, the meat became so tacky that it resembled sourdough. I got the job done but had to push so hard that I was getting worried of breaking the crank or some of the mechanics.
So, I was thinking next time just to add more water to make the "dough" flow more easy, and just spend more time in the smoker/oven to dry... Good idea or not? If not.. any other suggestions?

As always ,any suggestion is welcome...

[cdub]

Make bigger pepperoni.
the tiny casings are tough to push. More water helps. At least with a stuffer no damage is done to the meat, using a grinder just mushes the meat and ruins the batch. Pepperoni is slow to stuff, doing salami is almost instant out the tube.

[dirtyminer]

You are bang on with adding more water.

[wildcatter]

Question. Yesterday I made my first batch of bear pepperoni. Small batch to start to test the waters (well, I was told 10lbs is a "small batch"). Results were awesome, very happy with it, but pushing the meat through the sausage stuffer was a pain! Quite literally. After mixing in the cure with water, the meat became so tacky that it resembled sourdough. I got the job done but had to push so hard that I was getting worried of breaking the crank or some of the mechanics.
So, I was thinking next time just to add more water to make the "dough" flow more easy, and just spend more time in the smoker/oven to dry... Good idea or not? If not.. any other suggestions?

As always ,any suggestion is welcome...

"After mixing in the cure with water"

Are you talking about sodium nitrate? I would not want to put any chemicals or preservatives in my sausage.

[sakohunter]

"After mixing in the cure with water"

Are you talking about sodium nitrate? I would not want to put any chemicals or preservatives in my sausage.

I think that is how to get botulism. Bacteria needs to be killed thermally and internally with some form of preservative. Just saying most of the sausage making books I have read usually have a chapter on how not to kill people. To each there own.

[Would Rather Be Fishing]

I think that is how to get botulism. Bacteria needs to be killed thermally and internally with some form of preservative. Just saying most of the sausage making books I have read usually have a chapter on how not to kill people. To each there own.

Yeah i didn't want to open a can of worms, also I am a total beginner, but from all the research I have done (which includes a couple of courses on the subject and talking to a few butcher friends), there is really no safe way around using some source of nitrate in the process for sausages like salami and snack sticks (different than brats, for example) for that exact reason. All the so called "nitrate free" recipes still have some source of it in it when you look closely. The trick is not to usee too much but just the minimum amount necessary to have the desired effect.

Happy to be educated otherwise...

[sakohunter]

Yeah i didn't want to open a can of worms, also I am a total beginner, but from all the research I have done (which includes a couple of courses on the subject and talking to a few butcher friends), there is really no safe way around using some source of nitrate in the process for sausages like salami and snack sticks (different than brats, for example) for that exact reason. All the so called "nitrate free" recipes still have some source of it in it when you look closely. The trick is not to usee too much but just the minimum amount necessary to have the desired effect.

Happy to be educated otherwise...

That is really the difference between fresh sausages and cured sausages. I read a really interesting article of the type of vegetable and its uptake of nitrates from the soil they are grown in. If I am planning on sharing my sausages with friends and family then they are made to the safest standards and measurements. Sounds like you are doing things the right way and learning from the right people. Enjoy your sausage making.

[wildcatter]

I think that is how to get botulism. Bacteria needs to be killed thermally and internally with some form of preservative. Just saying most of the sausage making books I have read usually have a chapter on how not to kill people. To each there own.

I don't know much about sausage making, that's why I asked, but I know nitrates are a cancer causing agent.
There are some bacon available from the stores that doesn't have any.
My gardpa was an old school butcher, he never use any of this stuff and nobody ever got sick from what he made.
Wish he was still around so I could lear all he knew.

[sakohunter]

I don't know much about sausage making, that's why I asked, but I know nitrates are a cancer causing agent.
There are some bacon available from the stores that doesn't have any.
My gardpa was an old school butcher, he never use any of this stuff and nobody ever got sick from what he made.
Wish he was still around so I could lear all he knew.

Yeah there is a lot to learn from the old school butchers. There may have been additives that were used in the curing process that were not called nitrates but did the same thing as nitrates. I agree with limiting additives to the fresh sausages that I have made, but when they were cured sausages the bacteria was killed both thermally(over 165°F)and chemically(Prague powder). I am no expert but I listen to there advice.

[elkhunterette]

Add more cold water to the meat and stuff it right away.