7.11.2009

Valuable, but painful, lesson learned.

Andrew, my Master Po of grinding and stuffing, warned me. Stuffing sausage with a grinder doesn't work. Need the Grizzly. I worked my ass off to make my grinder a stuffer. Grinding and stuffing are different operations requiring two different methods.

Today, I made a batch of saucisson sec, this time with the amount of pork fat called for in Ruhlman's Charcuterie recipe. When I stuffed using the auger mechanism, I think the fat and protein broke.1 It looked almost emulsified when it came out, probably heated up - as Master Po warned.

I didn't listen. Finally, I hear the grasshopper. I will use the Grizzly in the future.

I hung the sausage to cure anyway, made the basement smell nice.

Note 1. There is a chance the appearance was different because of the extra fat in the recipe. However, I'll still be using the right tool next time. The Grizzly is also MUCH faster. My original desire to do it all with one piece of equipment was the extra labor washing stuff.