Summer Sausage - Caseless

[GimpyMagoo]

Thought I would try my hand at caseless Summer Sausage while I wait for my sausage barn to be finished.


My new scale with a lb of Cheese Summer Sausage


I tightly wrap the SS in plastic wrap first before I re-roll it in foil. I think this gets a tighter roll and helps keep the completed surface smoother.
Rill in plastic wrap, loop the trailing end of the wrap around your fingers and roll the meat until tight.


Tie the ends together


almost 6 lbs after adding the cheese. I started with 5lbs of 80/20 chuck burger.


into the fridge for an hour or so to firm up again. Then I will remove the plastic wrap and wrap in foil and cook them in the oven at 170 for 2 hours or so. then at 190 until internal 155 or so.

UPDATE:
ok, re-wrapped in foil, pierced some holes with the fork shown. some on top to release steam and a few below to allow drip.
The Beef roast came out so i'll be using the smoker to cook. Better this way since I can goto 140 for 2 hours then bump to 170 till internal is 155 or so.



Disregard this part but I left it 'cause i took the time to type it ;)
I'd use my smoker but there are two reasons why I am not this time around.

one: I used, cough, cough... liquid smoke in the recipe. I think I'm saved though 'cause I used HOMEMADE liquid smoke - lol.
I used Alton Browns technique for making homemade Liquid smoke and I wanted to try it on something.

two: the smoker is full of this:

Beef Arm Roast with a pepper rub. I'll pull this and serve with
Mad Hunkys Beans

so, in the oven it goes.

I'll edit this when I wrap the chubs in foil. This post is being written as I proceed.

oh. the recipe I used for the Summer Sausage is here:
Dead Simple Summer Sausage

UPDATE again.
Out of the smoker at 155 internal. It stalled at 154, see below. This is the result of having the wife watch your sausage while you sleep, she eats it!
Verdict, peppery hot and needs more cheese so sayith the wife :)
about half an hour in cold water to internal of 106. I missed the 120 mark seems I was bragging to the wife about my sausage. I rubbed them down a bit to remove some surface fat and put them on a grate to dry and bloom a bit. I went to bed leaving my sausage in my wifes capable hands.




I was shooting for a nice smooth result. It's why I wrapped in plastic wrap first to tighten it up and smooth out the surface.
Seems like it worked. I am very pleased with the results.

GO SMOKE!!!

[merrell]

I would try to keep the temp no higher than 175 ish, to keep from rendering fat and melting cheese. Maybe a couple hours at 150-160 and then take foil off and finish at 170-175. Taking the foil off will let the ss get a 'natural' casing to it.... Just my 3 cents worth.

[GimpyMagoo]

I want to do that but am limited to my lame oven minimum temp of 170 and my own sense of hurry the F up i'm hungry!

The peppered arm roast is in the smoker but, it is cooking faster then expected so I may be able to use the smoker for the SS. In which case I'll start it at 140 for 2 hours. and increase to 170 or so to finish.

This was my original plan but sometimes make bad decisions 'cause I get impatient sometimes - thanks for the kick in the Arse Merrel. I'll slow down and do just that.

[merrell]

Sounds like you'll git er dun.........

[Fishawn]

Curious on how these turned oot & what you thought of the AB liquid smoke recipe

[GimpyMagoo]

on the last leg of the journey now. temp is at 144. just removed the foil and bumped them to 170.
So far, nice and smooth which is what I was shooting for. fairly firm too. They do have a slippery film/gel on them that I hope will be drying off before finished.

I'll pull them tonight and fridge them. slice tomorrow after morning hunt and let you know.

Fishawn:
I read your cheese story a long time ago and STILL get a kick out of your sig photo every time I see it.
priceless

[curious aardvark]

it's richtees cheese - just saying

Curious as to why you poked holes in the foil. sausage in casing would not have holes poked in - well I don't poke holes in it anyway.

Other than that can't think of any reason it won't work.
Never would have thought of wrapping in foil.

So what's this make your own liquid smoke method that one of alton brown's researchers came up with. (watch him on iron chef - he knows bugger all personally).
Slagging celebrities a side - very interested in the home made lquid smoke. I know all about the commercial process and it's not simple.

[GimpyMagoo]

After bailing on the SS at 2am last night (it stalled at 154 degrees) I went to bed when I saw the wife get up. I left her in charge of the cold water wash, bloom and fridge. She handled my meat perfectly!
Pics to follow ;)

In the meantime:
Liquid Smoke:
It's pretty easy to make as long as you have some sort or chimney on your smoker. You can even make your own chimney if you have a WSM, kettle or other with a lid and a vent ring on the top.

The idea is to direct the smoke through the chimney and condense the smoke with ice and collect the condensation. I used a bundt pan set atop my chimney, a stainless mixing bowl inverted over the hole of the bundt pan and bags of ice on top of the mixing bowl.
I don't have pics of the last time I made some but I have found a few pics around the web and will make a separate thread and try to explain the best I can.
I borrowed this pic from google.


I call my concoction "Old Brisket Hickory 66" Liquid Smoke. If u wanna use it as Manfume (perfume for men) it's called Old Hickory 66. 'Cause Brisket sounds kinda ookey when used as Manfume. Just a marketing ploy ya know.
Old: Your an old man before you get enough to play with
Brisket: because it has an unmistakable Brisket perfume flavor. I made mine while I was smokin' a Brisket after watching Alton Brown make some using one of those patio fireplace things. I stole the wifes Bundt pan and threw everything on top of my chimney and collected the goodness as the Brisket cooked.
Hickory: 'cause, well, I used Hickory and Oak but Oak didn't sound catchy ya know and 'cides, Hickory looks better on a label.
66:'cause the highway is where you'll end up if you actually use this as Manfume