OT Homemade Bratwurst

lkapigian

October is around the corner so making a 20# batch. I have used the recipe from Smokey Ribs and it is great- I tweaked it a bit as Veal is $$$ and hard to get where I am, you can go All pork , I used Pork Cheek Meat in place of the Veal. Also 1 head of garlic per 5 pounds 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes per 5 pounds 1 teaspoon Insta Cure 1 per 5 pounds- Here is the original recipe 

Brats

·         3 Pounds Pork

·         2 Pounds Veal

·         2 Tablespoons Salt

·         2 Teaspoons All Spice

·         2 Teaspoons Nutmeg

·         ½ teaspoon ground ginger

·         2 teaspoons white pepper

·         3 eggs

·         1 cup milk

·         Double grind

Here is the Video

https://youtu.be/rMsaIJ4eXSU

Here is my first grind 

20stone

1) This is decidedly ON TOPIC - and if it isn't, we need to change the topic.  Brats are at the core of my egging heart (and may, at some point, stop said heart)

2) You look to know what you are doing, but for everyone else, a scale is your friend when it comes to salt and sausage.

3) Heavy cream instead of milk is a pretty good call next time out

Thanks for putting this up.  I need to get the grinder out.  Too much stuff in the SV is making me soft.

lkapigian

Thanks @20stone , haven't mixed my milk yet so I will pick up the heavy cream..thanks for the advice...I also add Insta cure 1. 1 teaspoon per 5 pounds even though its fresh , I think it helps the final product a bit

You are absolutely correct on weighing, once I really started doing that to get my salt to meat ratio correct, everything else is just for flavor

20stone

lkapigian said:

...I also add Insta cure 1. 1 teaspoon per 5 pounds even though its fresh , I think it helps the final product a bit

You are absolutely correct on weighing, once I really started doing that to get my salt to meat ratio correct, everything else is just for flavor

I add the Cure 1 as well..... and I weigh it.

The sweet spot for me is:

• Salt - 1.25% of total meat weight (including fat)
• Cure 1 - 0.25% of total meat weight (for fresh sausages like brats)

Agreed on "everything else."  I turn @20stonespice who tinkers with everything else until she's happy.... And when she's happy, I'm happy.

lkapigian

@20stone how about your liquids? I go about 8oz per 5 lbs...ish..my salt is right where you are, but may go up to 2%

20stone

lkapigian said:

@20stone how about your liquids? I go about 8oz per 5 lbs...ish..my salt is right where you are, but may go up to 2%

For 5lbs of brats, I use 250g of heavy cream (~11% by weight).  A little googling indicated that is right at a cup (which is probably how I got to 250g in the first place).  Your recipe has more eggs than mine, but I think that is a good move.

One thing I finally learned (after having read and ignored it in each of the several sausage making books I have) is the importance of mixing the sausage after the grind until it gets good and sticky (Palm test - a small patty should stick to your palm upside down)

lkapigian

20stone said:

lkapigian said:

@20stone how about your liquids? I go about 8oz per 5 lbs...ish..my salt is right where you are, but may go up to 2%

For 5lbs of brats, I use 250g of heavy cream (~11% by weight).  A little googling indicated that is right at a cup (which is probably how I got to 250g in the first place).  Your recipe has more eggs than mine, but I think that is a good move.

One thing I finally learned (after having read and ignored it in each of the several sausage making books I have) is the importance of mixing the sausage after the grind until it gets good and sticky (Palm test - a small patty should stick to your palm upside down)

Agreed , not much talking about Myosin, my first few were a bit crumbly --more like ground meat in a casing...I think Scott Rea is really one of the only Youtubers that go into it.......But this is what makes the Journey into anything we do fun, the learning Process- Just wish I was better at keeping a Journal 

20stone

lkapigian said:

20stone said:

lkapigian said:

@20stone how about your liquids? I go about 8oz per 5 lbs...ish..my salt is right where you are, but may go up to 2%

For 5lbs of brats, I use 250g of heavy cream (~11% by weight).  A little googling indicated that is right at a cup (which is probably how I got to 250g in the first place).  Your recipe has more eggs than mine, but I think that is a good move.

One thing I finally learned (after having read and ignored it in each of the several sausage making books I have) is the importance of mixing the sausage after the grind until it gets good and sticky (Palm test - a small patty should stick to your palm upside down)

Agreed , not much talking about Myosin, my first few were a bit crumbly --more like ground meat in a casing...I think Scott Rea is really one of the only Youtubers that go into it.......But this is what makes the Journey into anything we do fun, the learning Process- Just wish I was better at keeping a Journal 

My two smart moves were:

• Putting all my recipes in a spreadsheet that converted to % of weight, so I can easily scale up or down depending on how much of each type of meat I have.  This also makes it much easier to conform the salt level in all my recipes to what I like (vs Ruhlman, which I find universally too salty for me).
• Suckering in other folks to help.  It is amazing how much of how many kinds of sausage you can bang out when you have 3 or 4 sets of hands at work

I have a much longer list of stupid moves, but, hopefully, I've learned from them.

bgebrent

Looking good brother!

northGAcock

Yumm.

Foghorn

Great project.  Looking good so far.

As one of @20stone's sets of helping hands I can tell you that his Excel spreadsheets are spot on.  Allows for proper adjustment based on whatever weight of additives you are using.

And the cream in the brats is money.  We haven't compared cream vs milk directly, but I was able to have folks blind taste test storebought Johnsonville Originals vs creamless brats that we made vs brats we made with cream added and everyone agreed the brats made with cream were the winners.  Johnsonville Originals (which are great brats) came in last.

Sea2Ski

Why are you guys using cure #1 for fresh sausage? Not criticizing at all,  but I saw @lkapigian used it in andouille sausage recipie before, and I am wondering why you would use it in this application. 

Botch

Great, and timely, post!  Its getting cooler here (finally) and I have a new LEM stuffer to try out (my KitchenAid grinder is still good enough for me; the stuffer, no).  

20stone

Sea2Ski said:

Why are you guys using cure #1 for fresh sausage? Not criticizing at all,  but I saw @lkapigian used it in andouille sausage recipie before, and I am wondering why you would use it in this application. 

Some recipes use Cure 1 in fresh sausage recipes for color/texture changes, much like you see in cured ham or bacon.  If it is made safely (kept cold, kept clean, cooked sufficiently) there are no safety reasons to do so.  FYI, Cure 1 is mostly normal salt (bulked up with it so it can be more easily measured), so you reduced the regular salt quantity by the amount used.

With sausages that you cold smoke (like andouille), it does apply a safety measure for the botulism bug (rare, but no bueno).

For a more complete discussion, you might look at the Marianski book on the subject:
(https://www.amazon.com/Home-Production-Quality-Meats-Sausages/dp/0982426739)

Botch said:

....Its getting cooler here (finally) and I have a new LEM stuffer to try out (my KitchenAid grinder is still good enough for me; the stuffer, no).  

Congrats on the new stuffer.  It will spoil you for sure.

Sea2Ski

Thanks @20stone I know/knew that it cure 1 will give a pink color to the pork, and it gives some protection from the nasties but I was not sure about doing anything else. I would never have thought about using it for fresh. I might try it for color and maybe texture (thinking it may firm it up a bit?) not sure. I am pretty happy with what I make but I guess you don't know what you are missing till you try it.  

20stone

Sea2Ski said:

I might try it for color and maybe texture (thinking it may firm it up a bit?) not sure. I am pretty happy with what I make but I guess you don't know what you are missing till you try it.  

It's easy enough to do a side by side. My favorite thing about making sausage is that you get to tinker and tailor it to your own palate.

CanadianAnvil

Would you have that receipt to share?

20stone

Below is the last one we did, modified just a little.  I am scaling up the eggs just a little and eliminating the binder.  After looking at it, I don't use Cure 1 in our brats (or other fresh sausages).  I do in andouille and Tejas, as we cold smoke both of those. This is a hybrid from Ruhlman and Rytek, with salt adjusted to our taste. Pork - 100% (I normally do 5kg at a shot, but we're a little crazy) Salt - 1.5% White pepper - 0.27% Ground ginger - 0.04% (I would use grated fresh next time) Nutmeg - 0.10% Mace - 0.10% Eggs - 1 egg per 2kg (I would add another next time) Heavy cream - 11.11% This is very similar to the OP recipe, w mace subbed for allspice.

lkapigian

Took @20stone advice and substituted Heavy Cream for Milk, Cut the eggs back by 1/3 everything else is the same--best ones I've done so far, and they have all been good

Loaded and Ready- Love this stuffer, only wished I got the 30 pounder



Stuffed in about 5 minutes- 


After a bit of on air dry- Thanks For Looking

buzd504

Dayum.  I've got to try that.

20stone

GREAT LOOKING BRATS!

Nice work.

Foghorn

Great looking brats. 

I'd hit those all night. 

lkapigian

20stone said:

GREAT LOOKING BRATS!

Nice work.

Thanks @20stone Heavy Cream was a great idea...........wonder what butter milk would do in a sausage

20stone

lkapigian said:
..........wonder what butter milk would do in a sausage

I would expect that the acid in the buttermilk would "tenderize" the meat and make the texture mushy, and, perhaps, not in a good way. On the other hand, there's one way to find out Mr. LEM Autostuffer

Photo Egg

lkapigian said:

20stone said:

GREAT LOOKING BRATS!

Nice work.

Thanks @20stone Heavy Cream was a great idea...........wonder what butter milk would do in a sausage

I have subed Butter Milk in a few things and hated the sour flavor twang it added.

lkapigian

Sea2Ski said:

Why are you guys using cure #1 for fresh sausage? Not criticizing at all,  but I saw @lkapigian used it in andouille sausage recipie before, and I am wondering why you would use it in this application. 

I started adding cure 1 to my fresh, not for safety but had seen a few people do it for color and a bit if a "texture" difference. It does preserve the color but I don't notice any real difference and I do like the bit of a "safety" aspect and having a little more leeway on what to do with it IE I may want to Smoke some like an Andouille...Plus I bough a Boat Load on Amazon and I have to do something with it 

lkapigian

Photo Egg said:

lkapigian said:

20stone said:

GREAT LOOKING BRATS!

Nice work.

Thanks @20stone Heavy Cream was a great idea...........wonder what butter milk would do in a sausage

I have subed Butter Milk in a few things and hated the sour flavor twang it added.

Thanks for the heads up--Note To Self 

Photo Egg

lkapigian said:

Photo Egg said:

lkapigian said:

20stone said:

GREAT LOOKING BRATS!

Nice work.

Thanks @20stone Heavy Cream was a great idea...........wonder what butter milk would do in a sausage

I have subed Butter Milk in a few things and hated the sour flavor twang it added.

Thanks for the heads up--Note To Self 

Might be my fear of sour milk...Lol

There was a great scallop potato recipe that I think Nola posted and it called for butter milk. I made it for Thanksgiving dinner and everyone said they liked it. I made it again with heavy cream and I liked it so much better.
If you try it with Butter Milk let me know

lkapigian

Has a little left over after stiffing so made the conversion to Bratwurst Poppers






and a few @henapple Mexican Panty Droppers- The cherry is in there somewhere!

bluebird66

lkapigian said:

Took @20stone advice and substituted Heavy Cream for Milk, Cut the eggs back by 1/3 everything else is the same--best ones I've done so far, and they have all been good

Loaded and Ready- Love this stuffer, only wished I got the 30 pounder



Stuffed in about 5 minutes- 


After a bit of on air dry- Thanks For Looking

Wow!!

lkapigian