Any tried the LEM backwoods sausage making kit?

[Tripplebeards]

I ran into this kit thrift shopping out of town the other day. Was only $3 for a 10 pound kit so I said what the heck. Box said Nov 2023 so I figured it hadn't had any birthdays. All was new and unopened so I bought it to try. Grabbed some venison I had ground up with beef tallow added. Figured since I already had beef tallow added I'd skip adding pork tallow or bacon as had listed in the directions. I cut up a block of cheese I already bought and added it to the mix. Used my thrift store find jerky shooter to squirt it into the sleeves. I'm baking them in the oven right now at 300 degrees for and hour and a half. Or until the internal temp is 165 degrees. I watched a guy on YouTube make this kit before I started. He immediately puts them in ice water to cool down and stop cooking internally. I'll do the same. Then I'll let sit in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Anybody use this product before and how did they like it?


I didn't use "hard tack" type cheese with a high melting point. I just used a block of sharp sheddar. My guess it will melt a little but still be good.

[Delkal]

I never used kit but it looked like you did a great job stuffing the cases with no air pockets. When you say beef tallow do you mean ground up beef fat or the rendered tallow? Rendered fats never worked for me. When using an oven I cook longer at 200 and pull at 155 (since you don't want the internal fat to cook out and separate) Then rinse with running water till slightly cool. Its called blooming and is done with sausages and whole meats.

Your sausage will be tasty......

[Tripplebeards]

I had my venison hamburger ground up at the local butcher and he told me it was tallow that they used. All I know is when I mixed it by hand. I had a lot of thick white lard stuck to my hand in the bowl. It was trial and error at first to keep the air out of the sleeves. The first one didn’t go well and I had a lot of air pockets. I redid that one at the end after I figured out how to do it properly. I just took my jerky shooter and pulled the sleeve all the way up and let it slowly back off once it was filled. It worked out really good and kept the air out. I guess I just got lucky. I watched a guy on YouTube cook them and he said that he’s made them in the smoker and a bunch of different ways but the best he said that it turned out was cooking at 300° for an hour and a half and then dumping them in ice water I’ve never made them before so I figured I’d roll with his suggestion. I think I also saw someone doing 200° at six hours in the oven. I still have another 5 pound of the mix and another 5 sleeves for trial and error… for the next round.

I always wanted to try and make my own and figured I’d had to have all these expensive grinders and tooling for it. Guess all I needed was my thrift store three dollar jerky shooter that I make meat sticks with. I knew that was going to be the challenge of getting them stuffed and it actually worked out pretty good. I can say my hands were pretty tired after pumping them all up and then gutting the one and redoing it.

[Delkal]

A butcher should have added beef fat and not tallow which is rendered like lard. Next time look closely at the meat and see if you can see specs of ground fat. While you always get some fat on your hands when mixing you always want to keep the meat as cold as possible when grinding or mixing so the fat doesn't melt and smear.

Next time I would try for 200° (my oven I use 180) for six hours and turn and rearrange the sausages every few hours to keep the cooking even. You will also need them all on the same rack since there is a big difference between the top and bottom rack. I will even turn the tray about half way thru cooking. Cook them for a few hours then insert a digital probe thermometer in one of them pushing it in and out slightly till it reads the lowest temperature (that will be the center). Pull it at 153 and rinse / soak in water then refrigerate.

Then I'll let sit in the fridge for at least 24 hours.

Yea.....sure you will.

[Tripplebeards]

Good thing you posted about blooming! I must’ve shortcut that video and thought it said just stick in ice water for a few minutes and then in the fridge over night. I’ll give them an ice water bath for a few minutes and let it sit for 4 to 6 hours at room temperature to see if they “bloom” and turn red before I stick them in the fridge. They might have half a chance of staying in there for a few days and aging since there’s four meat sticks that I made from leftover mix that are going in the oven afterwards until they’re 165 internally I’ll test drive those babies when they’re done.

[Tripplebeards]

Got them out and gave them an ice bath for a couple minutes. I tested internally on one and it was about 180°. So a little overcooked. The bottom of the pan was filled about a quarter inch full of grease and melted cheese too. All drained, except for one and just a little bit out of another one. I poked holes at the bottom of each one of those. Figured way too much floating juice would not make good tasting sausage even after evaporating. They did shrink down and wrinkle up just like if I did it in a smoker. I have them hanging up sitting on the kitchen table right now blooming. Look like they’ve turned a really good red. In a few hours, I’ll put them in the fridge. Sure looks like a lot of shrinkage versus buying one in the store that’s perfectly even and round. They looked neater before I baked them. I would assume at lower temperature The cases would have stayed filled out?

[Delkal]

That happens on occasion if they cook too hot and the outer layer gets hot before the center is done and once you get much over 150 the juices rapidly leak out. While this is OK for a turkey or a roast for sausages and smoked meats you want to cook them very slow. I always use a digital probe thermometer so you can see the actual temperature as it cooks and set an alarm for the pull temperature. It also looks like one side is more done than the other so keep turning them. I am sure the sausages will still be tasty but just a little dry.

Here is a good online book by Marianski on making meats and sausages. Click on making sausages on the top left to get started. I even bought his book "Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages" even though it is the same info and recipes. An actual book is easier for me to study and read.

https://www.meatsandsausages.com/

Another book that is a little dated now but in the 90's was the bible of sausage making is "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing" by Rytek Kutus. You can find a used copy for cheap. Unfortunately he died but his kids run "The Sausage Maker" website that has everything you need.

https://sausagemaker.com/

Welcome to the rabbit hole.........

[Tripplebeards]

Yep, I’ll have to try them at super low temps next round. I cooked the little pieces I ran through my jerky shooter at 350 degrees for 15 minutes and they tasted pretty good. I would assume they’ll taste pretty close to the same.

[alfadan]

I tried it. Not too bad, though I like the cabelas brand better. You may find the tops of the sausages to be gritty and overcooked since the fats drained out. The rest of it will be fine. I out sliced up jalapenos in mine.

[Tripplebeards]

I just put it in the refrigerator. It’s been out cooling for a few hours. It seems that juice must’ve been from the cheese because it seems all hard now where it’s yellow on the backside so basically the cheese cooked on the bottom and then re-hardened on the outside of the sausage on the bottom.

That’s good to know. I’ll just cut the ends off and toss them.

[Delkal]

I’ll just cut the ends off and toss them.

Before tossing them leave them in the open in your refrigerator for a week or two and dry them like a pepperoni. With a partially dried sausage overcooking it is not as noticeable. Another option is to slice them and fry it like bacon or spam for breakfast. The fat cooks out anyway.

[Tripplebeards]

That’s normally what I do I don’t eat eat it cold. I cut it into slices and fry it. Don’t like eating it cold with the lard sticking to the top of my mouth. Made it cold for my parents to try and I figured the ones that I will eat. I’ll end up frying up till they’re crispy on the outside. The cases are pulling in as they dry. They’re looking a lot nicer now I just took a peek at them in the fridge. I'm guessing the melted cheese on the bottom half didn't help the process either.

[Delkal]

The cases are pulling in as they dry.

This is why you always bloom sausages. It cools the meat and shrinks the cases so it sticks to the meat. Unfortunately cases won't stick if there is fat under it.

Even when you perfect the cooking experiment with drying sausages and Slim Jims after they cook since they will taste much better.

[HWooldridge]

My wife and I go through 2-3 links every week, so I put up 100 lbs or so every year - for about the past 40 years. A quarter is made fresh to be cooked later and the rest is dry sausage with cure powder added. I typically make a standard Polish sausage recipe, whether fresh or smoked since it seems to be universally liked by our family. Dry sausage gets 90% venison and 10% Boston butt; fresh sausage mixes at 75/25.

The Germans, Poles and Czechs in this area are highly competitive with their sausage recipes - you can get some really good wurst here.

[Tripplebeards]

This is why you always bloom sausages. It cools the meat and shrinks the cases so it sticks to the meat. Unfortunately cases won't stick if there is fat under it.

Cool! Good to know. I figured they look like they pulled in about as much as they were going to so I put them in the fridge. I had a fan going above them and the meat felt colder than room temperature so I figured it was time to get them in the fridge.

[Tripplebeards]

I figured it was time to cut one up this morning
I just did it a couple minutes ago. It never dried up on the ends. Super mellow taste vs spicy store bought salami. Imo it tastes better because there's not as much "lard" texture either. I could eat a roll by myself!

[LenH]

Those look good Tripple. If you like a bit of heat in yours try some chopped fresh jalapenos. I found some high heat cheese from one of the
sausage supply houses that will not run out while it cooks.

I have not used those kits but have found several different formulas for sausage & bologne.

[Tripplebeards]

I use to like heat when I was a kid. It will burn a hole in my stomach, give me acid reflux, and an ulcer now. Had some hot wings the other day to remind me of the issue.

I did grind up a bunch of one of the sausages and added mayonnaise and pickle relish. It made one heck of a spread!

[danmat]

Looks awful tasty to me!
Never made summer sausage before, its next on the list.

[Delkal]

Real summer sausage is difficult to make since it is fermented, usually with a culture. After stuffing the sausages you ferment them at 90 degrees for a day or two before cooking and that gives it the sour taste. Its the same with real slim Jims / snack sticks. Since this is time consuming most manufacturers add encapsulated citric acid before stuffing and when the sausage is cooked the citric acid sours the meat. This tastes close but is not as good (and most people never had the real stuff). I don't know what they do with summer sausage kits since the citric acid should be added separately at the end and all of the kits I know of you just mix everything together at the same time.