Vienna Beef Sausage

• rinse and soak your natural casings. I like to soak mine overnight. If you are using collagen casings, they do not need to be soaked.

Phase 1: Grinding the Meat

• Clean your meat of any arteries, sinew, or unwanted parts. Separate the meat and the fat into 2 piles. Chill your meat and fat. The temp of your meat and fat should be below 34f (1.1c)
• I just want to interject right here to remind you to sharpen the grinder knife and plate. If either one of these are dull it will produce a subpar grind and could ruin the texture of your emulsified sausage.
• You are going to be grinding your meat and fat separately during this first step. The first grind will be on a 10mm plate. The second grind will be on a 6mm plate and if you want to make your job even easier a third grind on a 4.5mm or 3mm plate would be great. Rechill your meat between grinds. You always want the temp of the meat and fat to be below 34f (1.1c). This is ultra important.

Phase 2: Protein Extraction

• Another interjection. Make sure the blades on your food processor are razor sharp. If they are not, you will "whip" the meat instead of chopping it and that will produce a sausage with an undesirable texture.
• In your food processor (with sharp blades) add the meat, the spices (not the binder) and 1/3 of the ice. Chop your meat till it becomes a smooth paste. The temperature needs to stay under 38f (3.3c). After several times chopping and scraping the meat off the side of the walls I usually add another 1/3 of my ice and continue chopping. The end result should be a smooth meat paste.

Phase 3: Emulsification

• This is the step where it all comes together. The fat does not need to be partially frozen here. Just cold fat is fine.
• Add the cold fat, the binder, and continue chopping for another 30 seconds. The temperature of your meat farce should not exceed 55f (13c). This is CRITICALLY IMPORTANT.
• Finally add the last 1/3 crushed ice and chop till your meat paste is homogenous. The meat temperature needs to remain below 55F (13c). If it gets too hot the emulsion will break. If at any time during this process you see that the meat mixture is heating up too quickly, you can always chill it in the freezer and pick up where you left off once the meat has been rechilled.
• The end result should be a meat paste that is very sticky, a little dense, and the meat and fat should look like one mass.
• Stuff your farce (meat paste) into the sausage casings and twist into links
• If you used a cure accelerator you can cook your sausages immediatly. If you did not, then you will have to let your sausages rest in the refrigerator overnight before cooking.

How to cook an emulsified sausage

• POACHING | Heat a pot of water to 176F (80c) and poach the sausage for 30-35 minutes until the internal temp reaches 155f (68.3c)
• SOUS VIDE | Place the sausages in a vacuum sealed bag and cook them in a water bath. Your immersion circulator should be set to 145f (62.7c) and you will cook your sausages for 2 hours. If you have a very large diameter sausage like mortadella (100mm) then you might want to cook that one for 4 hours. Once finished, cool in an ice water bath.
• SMOKING | Set your smoker to 165f (73.8c) or 175f (79.4c). Add a tray of boiling water in the smoker for increased humidity. Apply your favorite smoke. Cook till your sausages reach an internal of 150f (65.5c) for pork or 140f (60c) for beef.
• SMOKING/POACHING | Set your smoker to 165f (73.8c). Add a tray of boiling water in the smoker for increased humidity. Apply your favorite smoke. Cook till your sausages reach an internal of 120f (48.8c). Once you hit your internal temperature, transfer the sausages to a pot of water that's been heated to 176f (80c). Poach till you reach your desired internal temp.
• STEAMING | If you have a steam basket or a steam pot, you can cook your sausages like this till you reach the desired cooking temperature.
• STEAMING/SMOKING | Cold smoke your emulsified sausages for several hours using your favorite smoking wood. Next remove the sausages from your smoker and set the temp to 300f (148c). Add a water tray directly on top of your heating element (this is easier to do in a vertical digital smoker). Let your smoker preheat and allow the steam to form. Finally add your sausages back into your smoker and cook till you reach your desired internal temperature.
• Once cooked you can refrigerate, freeze for later, or enjoy now!!