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.
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.
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