ISO smoked sausage texture question

[grumpyoldman]

as i have said on here before , we have been making sausage for more than 10 years .....a lot of sausage !!!!
we or anyone else seems to have any problems with our sausage
but 1 thing has always bugged me a little bit , after stuffing in the casing the sausage "in the casing " always feels mushy/squishy" as compared to the one's

you can buy in the market
i know the commercial sausage has "fillers" and i have done a lot of research on those so i am thinking that might explain the difference
because our sausage has 0 fillers
what do you think ?

 

[taxlady]

It might well be the fillers. When I buy sausage, it's kinds that don't have fillers. Those are squishy in the casing, unless it's a kind that is sold already cooked. Hmm, I'm probably not the best person to ask. I can't remember the last time I bought commercial sausage that did have any fillers, so I'm not familiar with that texture.

 

[Badjak]

Difficult one
Could be fillers
Could also be that the sausage is a bit older and has dried out somewhat
Other thing could be the casing. Pork intestine versus collagen or cellulose (asuming you use pork casing)
Most sausages I buy here are squishy

 

[grumpyoldman]

when we 1st started , we tried the collagen casings but didn't like them , our sausage, once i smoke them "tighten up " so that they are easier to cut without squishing them. so its not a big issue just something it would be nice to figure out
i know it can't be an issue with how tight we stuff the casing because if we stuff them any tighter the casings will rupture

 

[dragnlaw]

Not sure what is used as fillers but I remember someone said they used some oatmeal.
I should think with time the oatmeal would absorb, swell and make the sausage more firm, no? Just a thought.

 

[grumpyoldman]

makes sense if you like oatmeal i guess haha
there are a multitude of commercial fillers that can be bought , i really don't want to chance messing up our sausage with an unknown,
one of the reasons i want to "firm " it up is that last summer i was down with my back and couldn't do much
so instead of smoking it like i always do, i tried powdered smoke
this stuff is amazing , we made 20 or so lbs just for us and used it , without ever putting it anywhere near the smoker ,
you could not tell the difference !!!
you would swear that it had been smoked once it was cooked
amazing !!!
but the texture before smoking, is just to different for me to make for other people that are used to my smoked sausage

 

[Andy M.]

You're pleased with the texture of the finished product.
It tastes great.

If the softer texture doesn't have a negative impact on the finished product, I'd take some advice from Julia Child and just say, "That's the way it's supposed to be"

Who cares about the raw texture?

 

[grumpyoldman]

what i was hoping for was to be able to give them to people without having to smoke them.
but with them not being firm , i wouldn't want to give them to anyone like that ,
even if ( I/we ) know they taste the same
smoking them is very time consuming when your talking about 200lbs

 

[taxlady]

Grumpy, didn't you write somewhere that you have some friends that taste test stuff that you make, when you are trying out a new recipe or method? If so, then why not ask them? People might be fine with the squishier texture. There might even be some who like it better.

 

[caseydog]

I'm confused. Are your sausages cured or cooked? raw sausage in a casing of any kind is going to be soft and squishy. Smoking or cooking in any way will firm them up.

Like I said, I'm confused about what you are doing.

CD

 

[grumpyoldman]

taxlady: yes we do have a test group , that is very honest about what we give them to try , so far we have only given it to them after it has been fully cooked , the only information they were given was that something was change but not what , to be clear , after cooking the appearance and texture of the sausage is the same
they could tell no difference in it
what i am afraid of is once they are given it in its uncured and uncooked form there could be a bias formed just from the raw appearance and texture

look at the 1st picture i posted and compare it to the last and you will understand the difference i am talking about

CD : in the past our sausage is smoked/cured and then given, it is not fully cooked , just cold smoked and frozen when people get it

admittedly i am kinda looking for a problem that really isn't a problem in the sense that no one has complained , what i am trying to to is make it more cosmetically more appealing and save me some time and work at the same time
soon a lot of people are going to start asking when we are going to start making sausage again,
i can always do it like we have been doing and smoke it after it has been stuffed , but it sure would be nice if i could just add the powdered smoke and save a step without sacrificing the texture and appearance

 

[taxlady]

I understand about the difference in texture. I just don't think that people will find the softer sausages off putting. I really think you should find out how your testers feel.

BTW, usually when we talk about cured meat, sausage, or fish, we mean that it has been brined, salted, corned or something along those lines, not just smoked. And curing doesn't require smoking.