I need help figuring out a way to keep fresh chicken sausage firm in the casing.
My business partner has been making it and even after adding NFDM and letting it sit over night it still wants to slip out of the natural 32-35 hog casing.
Are you leaving it set up overnight already stuffed into the casings? Chicken is always a sloppy fresh sausage. There is a fine line when mixing so that you dont overmix. Dang poultry can get pretty rubbery if you overmix and extract too much protien. You might try mixing a little longer than you currently are. Another thing we will do is let it set up in our freezer for an hour or two, this helps firming it up.
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I'm not a vegetarian, but have eaten many animals that were.
If you use a mix of White and Dark meat and the least amount of liquid you can you should have no problems after letting it set up overnight Too much White meat has a tendency to make a less firm sausage. I use a mix of 60% Dark 40% White. I also keep the liquid to bear minimum
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Joe Parajecki
Operations Manager/ Partner
Kettle Range Meat Company, Milwaukee WI
Member Meat Cutter Hall of Fame and The Butcher's Guild
If you use a mix of White and Dark meat and the least amount of liquid you can you should have no problems after letting it set up overnight Too much White meat has a tendency to make a less firm sausage. I use a mix of 60% Dark 40% White. I also keep the liquid to bear minimum
the way I have done it is just like any other sausage Grind it, season it, stuff it and let it set up I set my pork sausage for 6-8 hours and my poultry sausage for 10-12 hours before selling it
This ensures a good mellowing of the spices and a firm set of the meat
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Joe Parajecki
Operations Manager/ Partner
Kettle Range Meat Company, Milwaukee WI
Member Meat Cutter Hall of Fame and The Butcher's Guild
I agree with Joe. Grind it, mix it, stuff it and let it set up in the casings. Also as Joe mentioned the breast meat will make a softer sausage. I have always used bonless thighs, mainly because they are juicer than breast meat, and cheaper. Now however I can get breast meat cheaper than thighs. Added water will also have a huge impact on the firmness of the sausage also. You might also try letting them set overnight on trays, not in lugs. This would allow more air flow around the casings and abit more evaporation from the surface of the casing and in turn the meat will give up some of its moisture to the casing. Keep in mind this will also give you less yield, that moisture is weight! But price accordingly to compensate and you should not miss it.
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I'm not a vegetarian, but have eaten many animals that were.
with chicken & turkey sausage you need to back off the liquid....it will have enough liquid in the meat to mix the seasoning....I used to use bnls thigh meat to make my chicken sausage, using a little bit of chicken fat from the breasts....(used to trim up breasts & cube them for extra $$)
Try grinding your BS Thighs thru the chili plate, only grind once. Season, stuff and link but DO NOT cut the links right away. Cut the links after they've set for 30 minutes or so. Why would anyone add breast to the sausage? Seems like you're throwing money out... unless you're strictly using pulls? Also, instead of adding any liquid, you can always substitute with ICE. Season your meat before you grind it, add ice and grind together, again through the chili plate.. your mixture will be much more solid ground with ice. Remember, do not let your meat reach a temperature above 40 degrees (F), you do not want the proteins and the fats separating, this will further decrease the quality of the sausage. One more tip... stuff the casings loosely so that once you've twisted your links there's an inch or so of empty, twisted casing - again, remember to let the sausages rest before you cut them.
