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  • Chicken Brats

    Let me start by saying I'm not a big chicken fan, if it wasn't cooked with some sort of can stuffed up its rear, I won't eat it. So while walking through Whole Foods, my wife spies all of the different flavors of chicken sausage at the meat counter and said she wanted to try some-at 6.99 per pound. I said nope, lets hit Costco on the way home. So we picked up a 11.1 pound package of bone in skin on chicken thighs for .99 per pound. Next time, I'll get the boneless skinless for a little more. Boning those little buggers was a pain, and after five or so were boned, I got out the big knife and just cut em next to the bone. There was enough meat left on them to justify throwing them on the grill, so I did. I ended up with about 8.5 lbs for the grinder. I tweaked my buffalo brat recipe a little for the chicken.

    5 lbs chicken thighs with skin
    1 tsp cure #1
    2 T sea salt (could use less salt, must have been brined)
    1 T black pepper
    1/2 tsp mace
    1/2 tsp ginger
    1/2 tsp nutmeg
    2 T fresh ground basil (could use some more)
    1 T mustard powder
    3 cloves minced garlic
    1/2 cup whole milk
    2 eggs

    I cubed the meat, mixed in the cure and spices, and put it in a ziplock bag in the fridge over night. Ground and stuffed it into 33mm collagen casings the next day and ran out of time so it spent another night in the fridge. Smoked it the next day to an internal temp of 160. I put all but one in the cold water bath and we ate one fresh out of the smoker. It tasted great, a little salty, slight basil taste, and very juicy. Almost too juicy so I'll try it without the skin next time.
    All ground with the fine plate and getting stuffed.

    I cut the collagen casings into 28 inch lengths, then stuffed, twisted, and tied. This gave me about 12 inches hanging below the smoke stick.


    They tasted a lot better after resting in the fridge for a couple of days. My wife said we can't share them with anybody though, she wants them all to herself.
    Timberline 1300
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    (3) A-MAZE-N
    MES 40
    Weber Genesis with griddlemaster insert
    Cookshack SM009

  • #2
    Originally posted by Night Train View Post
    My wife said we can't share them with anybody though, she wants them all to herself.
    Those look good to me. And sounds like you will be making them again if she has anything to say about it. Nice work!
    KCBS/CBJ #56408

    "Sticks and stones will break your bones, but words will always teach you." -Shihan

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    • #3
      Chicken sausage is becoming more popular and give a different taste and texture.. Good job on the links and thanks for the recipe..
      Ken


      I Should Have Been Rich Instead Of Being So Good Looking

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      • #4
        Another great sausage post. Making my Christmas list simple this year?
        Lang 84 Deluxe (sold it, broke my heart)
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        Bunch of Sausage Makin' Kit
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        • #5
          Good looking sausage! Thanks for the pics and the recipe.
          sigpic
          Smoke Vault 24

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          • #6
            Nice looking sausage. I think my wife would love these gonna have to give it a try. Thanks for the recipe.
            Steve

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            • #7
              I have done a couple chicken sausages...they ain't bad!

              And them bones with some meat on them? Chicken soup! Or stock, if yer like me and try to keep home made stock stocked ;{)
              In God I trust- All others pay cash...
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              • #8
                Man...that looks great! I cheat & get the boneless thigh's at Sam's. Grind skin & all. Ken (Texas Hunter) got me sorted out with the chicken sausage & apples.
                Sunset Eagle Aviation
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                • #9
                  They look good, but I have a few questions.

                  Did you grind the skin too? I ask because your recipe calls for "5 lbs chicken thighs with skin."

                  Curious also about the instacure. I notice this in a lot of brat recipes. Anybody have an idea why you'd cure fresh sausage? Slow and cold smoke maybe? Color?

                  Lastly, why did you choose synthetic casing? Personally, I find it takes away from the whole fresh stuffed sausage thing. Not to mention, after smoking, you'd most likely have to use a knife to slice them.

                  Don't take my questions as a critique, because it's not. Just curiosity. If I like the answers, I'm likely to try it.


                  Tom

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Richtee View Post
                    I have done a couple chicken sausages...they ain't bad!

                    And them bones with some meat on them? Chicken soup! Or stock, if yer like me and try to keep home made stock stocked ;{)
                    Not bad at all, and I'll be making them again when these are gone. We had a bunch of stock on hand from the beer can chicken leftovers so these went on the grill with a little sauce at the end.
                    Originally posted by Gunslinger View Post
                    They look good, but I have a few questions.

                    Did you grind the skin too? I ask because your recipe calls for "5 lbs chicken thighs with skin."

                    Curious also about the instacure. I notice this in a lot of brat recipes. Anybody have an idea why you'd cure fresh sausage? Slow and cold smoke maybe? Color?

                    Lastly, why did you choose synthetic casing? Personally, I find it takes away from the whole fresh stuffed sausage thing. Not to mention, after smoking, you'd most likely have to use a knife to slice them.

                    Don't take my questions as a critique, because it's not. Just curiosity. If I like the answers, I'm likely to try it.
                    Yep, I ground the skin too for the fat content. Next time, I'm going to try skinless, these were a little too juicy. I only added the cure because I planned on smoking them. They were in the smoker for 1 hour at 125 to dry them, 1 hour at 125 with smoke, 1 hr at 150 with smoke, and about 2 hrs at 160 to an internal temp of 160. You can leave it out if you want to make fresh. I used collagen just as a test, I have about half a hank of natural casings left. I got the collagen in the first place to try them out on some polish loops cut to just the right length to fit the smoker and they worked out really well. Once I heated the polish and the brats up, I just split the casing with a knife and peeled it off.

                    Originally posted by Slanted88 View Post
                    Man...that looks great! I cheat & get the boneless thigh's at Sam's. Grind skin & all. Ken (Texas Hunter) got me sorted out with the chicken sausage & apples.
                    I'm going to cheat next time too, and apples sound like something to try out.
                    Timberline 1300
                    Traeger Tailgater
                    (3) A-MAZE-N
                    MES 40
                    Weber Genesis with griddlemaster insert
                    Cookshack SM009

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                    • #11
                      Very nice. Thanks for the answers. I may actually use cure sometime, just because I like the flavor of cured sausage. And I will definitely try these chicken sausages.
                      I hate thighs, but I can tolerate legs. And the local grocer sometimes has leg quarters on sale for .29 cents per lb. I'll grill the legs and save the thighs for sausages.
                      Thanks for a great post. to you.


                      Tom

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                      • #12
                        Nice looking chicken sausage.
                        Custom Reverse Flow Smoker, WSM 22", Blackstone Griddle 36"

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