MiniMax last nite with homemade sausage and 2x baked taters

westernbbq

the potatoes tasted like steak.  ridiculous.  The sausage was ground, spiced and cased by me over T-giving weekend and it was mighty tasty.  it was a huge hit with the kids...

bgebrent

Good work on the homemade sausage!  Meal looks great brother!

westernbbq

thanks bgebrent.  the BGE kicked off a culinary adventure for me- I ended up adding to the repertoire getting a LEM #12 meat grinder, two crank-driven sausage stuffers (a 5 lb and a 15 lb canister), a hand crank meat tenderizer and of course the vacuum sealer, on top of all the BGE accessories.  But hey , as I told the wife, i was considering taking up golf and that's a lot more time consuming and expensive than the culinary adventure.

i find grinding meat to be very therapeutic....

NPHuskerFL

What's the raised grid finagled out of?
The entire meal sounds killer but, the sausages definitely stole the show  

pgprescott

Great looking work @westernbbq. I'm drooling!!!!

Mattman3969

+1 on raised grid interest.  This just might work in my small 

BTW - nice looking cook

SkinnyV

Looks like the MM woo upside down with a mini grid up top. Nice, I have it all in stock will try.

Tinyfish

Great cook and nice set up.

NPHuskerFL

SkinnyV said:

Looks like the MM woo upside down with a mini grid up top. Nice, I have it all in stock will try.

Well I'll be....!  Good eye man. I just may have to try this set-up. Nice @westernbbq

westernbbq

Sorry guys ive been tied up with kid activities for a few hours.  SkinnyV nailed it. Inverted woo for minimax, and the mini grid all set atop standard mm grid and that was placed on top of platesetter for mm.  I decided to add platesetter after i got cgs accessories as sometimes, an indirect cook with two levels warrants the need for bge platesetter.  

The sausages were succulent.  Salt, fennel, garlic, chianti and provolone and just a hint or oregano was used.  

But one thing to let all fellow eggers know is that twice baked taters are incredible on bge.  These were made weeks ago, then frozen.  I thaw em out, amd put them on upper grid midway through the sausage cook and the taters taste like steak. Ive never had twice baked taters like this and they are so simple to make.  

bgebrent

Chianti in the sausage!  Fantastic man!

allsid

westernbbq said:

But one thing to let all fellow eggers know is that twice baked taters are incredible on bge.  These were made weeks ago, then frozen.  I thaw em out, amd put them on upper grid midway through the sausage cook and the taters taste like steak. Ive never had twice baked taters like this and they are so simple to make.  

I am with ya man- I have no idea why twice egged taters are so good, but they are almost a meal in themselves-  GREAT cook!

YukonRon

Beautiful cook!!!!

westernbbq

A little wine in the sausage goes a lomg way toward making the sausage incredible.  Always is a hit whenever i make it.  Labor intensive but so worth the results.  In our house i call it Corleone sausage.

I will get better with posting picts on here of process and finished product. Christmas looks like reverse sear bacon wrapped filets so the minimax will be taken to in laws and it will be the producer of incredible results.  

blasting

@westernbbq   That looks terrific.  Nice cook.  Dying to start making my own sausage.

SGH

westernbbq said:

the potatoes tasted like steak

This ^^^^^^^^^^ I especially like. Great looking grub brother. 

bgebrent

You could just send me some of that sausage if you like.  I'm the SE sausage quality clearing house director.  We can sample and certify the quality of your sausage so you can know it's safe.  Sample size for complete testing is 20#.  Don't waste time, send it tomorrow.

westernbbq

I tried the kitchen aid attachment but it doesnt cut through the sinew.  So it was a constant cleaning off the blade amd trimmimg the heck out of the pork butt.  If you are able get a LEM big bite.  The auger has an assymetrical design so the wider threads where the meat goes in force the more compressed threads toward the blade to pull the meat through.   Watch for specials too. They often have 10-15% off and free shipping. Or the hamd crank grinder looks good too.  I made the mistake of getting the 5lb stuffer to start.  Later i upgraded tonthe 15 lb stuffer and now i can make some sausage.  Ill try to remember to post a pic of the finished fresh sausage my boys and i made.   I think it was 25 lbs.  

westernbbq

here's the ground shoulder in 2 lb bags at the ready for thawing, spicing and casing.... I grind the meat directly into the bags, using a foot pedal to control the grinder.  man I wish I had done this when I first got the grinder as that would save me from constant hand washing.  I don't want raw meat all over the place, but with the grinding directly into the bags, and an automating bag taping system (thank you LEM), grinding the meat directly into the bags is a life saver.  I use tongs to get the meat into the auger.

westernbbq

and here's the cased sausage- about 25 lbs.  mighty tasty!

bluebird66

Beautiful!

westernbbq

bgebrent said:

You could just send me some of that sausage if you like.  I'm the SE sausage quality clearing house director.  We can sample and certify the quality of your sausage so you can know it's safe.  Sample size for complete testing is 20#.  Don't waste time, send it tomorrow.

;-)  hey my man, I am making a bunch of bratwurst for the green bay packer at az cardinals game NEXT sunday for a tailgate.  I just ordered a case of pork shoulder and I won't be making it with veal as most recipes call for but will be doing the spice mix that has white pepper, salt, cinnamon, allspice, mace, marjoram, caraway seed, black pepper and ginger.  there may be a few other items I throw in for good measure (there will be beer in the mix for sure) but we're tailgating with a group of thirty (grassy area on south side about midway between the stadium and the end of the grassy area on west side of stadium).  i'll be the intoxicated one.  but I am making pork shoulder and brats for the group.  stop by, and be forewarned, do not eat for three days before attending.  the foot is ridiculous.  be prepared to throw back a few brews too!

blasting

@westernbbq   If I could pick your brain a little...

The big Bite that you mentioned comes with the stuffing tubes.  What is the purpose of a dedicated stuffer?  Also, why do you put the ground meat into the 2lb bags instead of just making the  sausage.  Thanks

westernbbq

The big bite is the auger in the grinder head that has the blade, and the fine or coarse grinder template.   The LEM grinder did come with stuffing tubes for sausage casing but when i tried it, i had a hard time getting a consistent steady amoumt of meat coming out.   The piston crank-driven stuffer  just gives more control when making sausage.   I grind the meat, unspiced, directly into the 2lb bags so that i always have sausage ready to make for pizza or ready to spice up and case.  I read that it isnt a good idea to spice the sausage until right before it is to be cased.   The salt in spice mixes tends to turn the ground meat into a 'set' consistency and can form a meat concrete that can be more challenging tonwork with.  Inever experimented, but thus far the methods ive used have  served me well.

blasting

@westernbbq Thanks - I appreciate the answers.

westernbbq

you bet blasting.  I have gotten so many great ideas off this forum that i hope to make a worthwhile contribution back

If you get into sausage making, please post progress on this forum.   It is a fun and therapeutic hobby with incredible results