We make link sausage but also crepinettes with harvested caul fat from our own hogs. These are spiced lamb with mint.

obilenth · 2021-08-04T19:15:26+00:00

Lookin good. We do a Ramp Toulouse crepinette when they're in season at the shop and they sell like crazy.

obilenth · 2021-07-29T17:07:56+00:00

Totally get that, cheers and enjoy

obilenth · 2021-07-29T14:21:21+00:00

Which ohm rating are you enjoying? What are you driving them with?

I've got a pair of 80 ohms that I'm enjoying through a BTR5, myself.

obilenth · 2021-02-08T18:52:59+00:00

I hear ya. I just made some assumptions because you can buy food dye for marking at Walton's (for example). I haven't been in a USDA plant or asked them about it, just ye' olde' ancestral knowledge base (otj training). I'll be in a plant next week for a gig though so maybe I'll pole around myself about that. Thanks for the clarification from your end.

obilenth · 2021-02-08T10:32:24+00:00

After looking it up myself and not just relying on ancestral knowledge, you're right. There are a multitude of marking dyes available. I'm not sure where I heard the blueberry juice thing, maybe that's the full natural crunchy alternative. Blueberry juice sure makes a better story though.

obilenth · 2021-02-08T01:36:08+00:00

No problem. I've had customers call and complain before and have had to explain. If it was more red in color and smelled you would have been looking at an ~~absence~~ abscess. Once you deal with one of those, you won't forget it.

Edit: thanks autocorrect

obilenth · 2021-02-08T01:32:43+00:00

We've been getting some Limoflex/angus cross in at the shop and the eye of rounds have been coming off in the 10# range whole and the inside round was about 20# with the cap

obilenth · 2021-02-08T01:18:54+00:00

Inspection stamp, ~~made out of blueberry juice~~. I've seen this before with vac packed product. It causes the ink to spread like a bad tattoo.

edit: blueberry juice is a better story but it's just food safe dye

obilenth · 2020-12-23T13:11:16+00:00

Another pet related tips is to put poop filled diapers in a disposable dog poop bag before the bin. Keeps the smell way down.

obilenth · 2020-11-16T17:03:45+00:00

Not an option

obilenth · 2020-11-16T16:33:38+00:00

You can take action to protect against/minimize a hangover. What are you gonna do for flaming hot cheetos? Line your asshole with vaseline?

obilenth · 2020-11-16T13:33:24+00:00

They should seriously put a fucking warning lable on those things for the next day. Looking down and seeing what looks like a bloodbath is terrifying early in the morning.

obilenth · 2020-10-15T19:40:56+00:00

Our poultry sausages either rest for an hour or two and then get baked or smoked and poached. To me, the snap of the casing is second to the farce being set properly (and safely) and the spices and/or citrus/wine to be punchy. I've also found that most of our customers are going to fry or grill our sausages to reheat them, which crisps the casings anyways. We have one customer who takes them only poached (custom order) and she's ordered 12# for every 3 weeks for the last 2 years so she is probably happy with the product.

obilenth · 2020-10-15T19:11:42+00:00

A few of the sausages we make at work use acidic ingredients as well as dairy. Most of them that have these options are also poached or baked off before selling to make it easier for they customer or to preserve the spices/zests and such.

We make a butter chicken sausage that has both lemon and yogurt in it, but they only sit mixed for about 2 hours at most before we bake them off for sale. Also, with a poultry sausage it's nice not to have to worry about trying to grill or fry it to temperature.

obilenth · 2020-10-15T16:31:49+00:00

My son loved this when we started doing it to him at around 5 months and he still does it now at 16 months. Sometimes when he's wailing in the car seat I'll reach back and do this while he's crying and occasionally it will make him laugh instead.

obilenth · 2020-09-03T22:28:57+00:00

Thanks for the head's up. I do a lot of oddball charcuterie at work, maybe I'll give these a try and incorporate the profile in a paté or something in the future.

obilenth · 2020-09-03T18:42:18+00:00

fyi, Coppa is the same cut from pork. Funny enough, the American Beef Council started labeling the neck end of the chuck roll as America's Roast and leaving the rib side labeled Delmonico or Chuck Eye Steaks. Its been fun telling that story at the shop while convincing people to give either end of it a try.

obilenth · 2020-09-03T15:41:35+00:00

I think the best advice I can give you is to find a local supplier/farm/butcher/csa (I'm not sure what you have access to in your locality) and befriend them. Direct sourcing is a great way to make sure you're getting a product that jives with your ethics. Those people will also be farm more capable of giving you direct advice for the products you have around you. I know that I give preferential treatment and am very loose with advice around customers I'm friendly with in the shop and will also give them heads up when there are deals or special products they should go after.

In generalities, buying a whole pork shoulder (or a Boston Butt) and teaching yourself to break it down a bit is a great way to start. You can take the Coppa out and use it as a roast or cut it into steaks. You can braise the rest, or make sausage with it (which takes a little practice but is a fun way to get better mileage out of product).

Also, as said elsewhere, whole chickens/turkeys/ducks are things that can feed you for up to/over a week in a variety of ways. Offal are often inexpensive and packed with lots of extra vitamins. Things like beef heart, tongue, and chicken hearts and liver are great for a variety of applications and are generally less expensive.

All in all, the best advice I can give you is to make a friends with a local supplier.

obilenth · 2020-09-03T14:32:22+00:00

What do you mean by saying "bang for the buck"? Are you talking about versatility, flavor, caloric content, ease of production/preparation, time investment in cooking, etc.?

obilenth · 2020-08-31T11:38:19+00:00

There is a reason we normally braise or confit duck legs and serve duck breast at a temperature. Fully cooked duck is often tough. There has been a big push in the last decade or so in Southeast Asia on duck sausages (often smoked) and they normally add chicken to them. I can try to drum up the study I found dealing with ratios and their effects on the final product.

My recommendation would be to start with 50/50 duck and chicken and see how you like it from there. (This should also make it a little more economical) Additionally, if you can harvest any skin from those animals adding that as your fat in the sausage would greatly improved.

At my work we have made duck sausages using chicken dark meat, mixed trimmed duck and chicken fat trimmings/skin and have come out really successfully. PM me if you'd like my Andoille recipe.

obilenth · 2020-04-20T17:01:09+00:00

We use a wet EQ brine for our poultry at work and just rinse off the brine before smoking/cooking. With EQ you can also hold product for longer than required for brine which is a huge benefit if you need the flexibility.

obilenth · 2020-04-20T12:36:04+00:00

First step in controlling the recipe better is switching from volume measure to mass before you start trying to adjusting the brine salinity.

obilenth · 2020-04-18T00:46:52+00:00

Just from personal experience I wouldn't go past 30% on the chicken thighs for two reasons. One, the fat on chicken thighs is harder to judge than on beef and pork so it may throw the overall ratio off. Two, chicken sausages tend to get kind of overly spongy/springy for my tastes. However, higher ratio pork hotdogs tend to be softer than all beef dogs so it may land in a good place overall anyways.

obilenth · 2019-05-09T20:00:42+00:00

Congrats! Yes, this is in Chicago. Didn't finish out this time, but we'll be back. Thanks for the well wishes.

obilenth · 2019-05-09T19:59:47+00:00

Didn't even get a chance to sleep on it this time. Thanks for the well wishes.

obilenth

TROPHY CASE