Since Ed and I could not make it to the NHC, we decided to brew instead. We used my home grown hops, made an American Pale Ale with 1056 Wyeast. We hit 1.060 on the nose!

Here is my first real sausage post. It was pretty easy, just very laborious.

4lbs of pork shoulder

1lb of beef chuck roast

.5lb pork back fat

7T smoked paprika

3T onion powder

1t garlic powder

2T crushed caraway seeds

2T black peppercorns

1.5T K Salt

1t Insta Cure #1

Hog Casings

Partially freeze meat, de boned and trimmed fat. Cube meat. Grind on large plate. Gloves on, combine everything. Vacuum seal and let cure overnight. Next day pump through casings. Place in smoker and smoke low (under 100deg F) for 4-6 hours. Hang dry for up to 15 days. I will update.

You will note that the last 6 pics are another type of sausage I am trying out. I actually had 7.75 lbs total of ground beef, pork, and fat. I made 5lbs of Hungarian, and left over was about 3lbs of meat mix so I did this and these will be just dried out to cure.

3lbs of beef, pork and fat (2pork, .5beef, .5 pork fat)

2t K salt

1t Prague Powder #2

1t anise seed

1T black peppercorns ground corse

1t garlic powder

1t dried basil

1/4c red wine

All men love bacon; and moderation is key. Well making it yourself means you won’t be devouring it all in one setting. Plus portion control is also the key. Here is my process taken from a great book called Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman (native Clevelander) and Brian Polcyn. Chris bought this book and I need to own it. It is a great reference if you want to cure and save great produce and meats. Here is basically what I did:

3lbs of pork belly (yes I removed the nipples) 50g K Salt

12g Insta Cure #1 (pink salt)

50g Brown Sugar

50g Black Molasses

1tsp Chipolte pepper powder

1tsp Black Pepper

Mixed everything together, then placed in vacuum bag. Seal. Refreigerate. I am turning this over once a day until about 7-10 days. Then I have to smoke it at 200deg until it reaches internally 150deg F. Cool, then slice and proportion. It’s really that simple.