Author Topic: Honey Ham Sticks/ Ham Patties  (Read 2001 times)

PhilH

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Honey Ham Sticks/ Ham Patties
« on: February 02, 2020, 09:17:36 PM »
Recipe

Pork                 100%
Water                7.9%
Honey                  3%
Salt                      2%
Dry Milk             0.4%
Cure # 1         0.165%    100 ppm

1.) grind through large plate
2.) grind through fine plate
3.) add water and seasonings, mix for proper protein extraction
4.) stuff into casings
5.) let sit 12-24 hours
6.) smoke
     125F   1 hr with jerky dryer no smoke
     140F   1 hr with smoke and water pan
     155F   2 hr
     175F   Till 160F

7.) ice bath 20 min
8.) room temp 1 hour
9.) fridge over night

I used 4oz of hickory cut into chips

I’m currently using a kitchen aid mixer for a grinder and a stiffer
It is near impossible to stuff snack sticks with a kitchen aid mixer, that is the reason I decided to stop with the snack sticks and make a loaf

I will soon be getting a 11 lb Hakka horizontal stuffer

This is what I used

Pork tenderloin       846 grams     70%
Pork fat                  362 grams     30%
Total pork              1208 grams   100%
Water                       96 grams
Honey                      36 grams
Salt                         24 grams
Dry milk                  4.8 grams
Cure #1                  1.99 grams

I pulled the snack sticks @ 160F
I pulled the loaf @ 149F (bed time) was shooting for 152F

Nutrition information is per 1oz
Phillip   Ramsey MN

NDKoze

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  • Gregg - Fargo, ND
Re: Honey Ham Sticks/ Ham Patties
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2020, 01:28:13 PM »
They look really good. Nice Job!
Gregg - Fargo, ND
Smokin-It #3 (purchased in 2014) that replaced a Masterbuilt XL (ugh) and a 10+ Year-Old Big Chief (still used for fish), and few others over the years, along with variety of Weber Gas/Charcoal Grills, Anova Sous Vide, etc. devices.

PhilH

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Re: Honey Ham Sticks/ Ham Patties
« Reply #2 on: February 05, 2020, 01:24:48 PM »
After tasting, there are a few adjustments I will make for next time.

The procedure for the sticks was perfect.  I have not had snack stick casings actually come out like professionally made ones you get at the meat market.

They could use a little more honey, salt, and smoke.  I would just cut the wood smaller, and use the same smoke procedure.

I mixed them too much.  The texture is a lot similar to a skinless hot dog, I would like a little more definition in the meat grind. After watching a video from Walton’s on their Meatgistics, they emphasized very much about the protein extraction.  Maybe you need less with pork, idk.  I used a kitchen aid mixer, I do not have a meat mixer yet like the ones they sell.

I am not sure if the way I made my sausage formula is correct. 

I put the meat at 100%, and based everything else off of that. 
Maybe a sausage expert could weigh in on that. 

I have seen others where the meat is the actual percentage of the entire formula including any fillers, spices etc. 
Phillip   Ramsey MN

NDKoze

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  • Gregg - Fargo, ND
Re: Honey Ham Sticks/ Ham Patties
« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2020, 08:08:57 PM »
I don't think you mixed it too much and I don't think the 100% pork is the issue either. You definitely want the protein extraction which you may not get if you reduce the mixing time, and my family has made 100% breakfast sausage links numerous times and have great definition in our sausage.

I have a feeling that running it through the grinder twice and with the fine die (2nd time) along with stuffing with the grinder, is what caused your texture issue.

I would try using a more intermediate grinding plate if you have one or possibly only grinding once. We process close to 400 lbs of sausage every year and only grind once with what I am thinking is a 3/16" (possibly 1/4") grinding plate. If you are using a 1/8" plate, that is too fine in my opinion.

In a perfect world and if I was only doing a small batch, I would run it through twice first with a 3/8" to 1/2" plate and then the 3/16"-1/4" plate. But, if we were to have to grind 400 lbs twice it would take us forever or we would need a much bigger grinder.

The other thing to consider is that even though you are using a (stuffing/kidney) plate when stuffing, you are still running all of the meat through the auger a third time which will grind it again to some degree. If/when you get your stuffer (I have looked at the Hakka's before and they look pretty good), I think that will help as well.
Gregg - Fargo, ND
Smokin-It #3 (purchased in 2014) that replaced a Masterbuilt XL (ugh) and a 10+ Year-Old Big Chief (still used for fish), and few others over the years, along with variety of Weber Gas/Charcoal Grills, Anova Sous Vide, etc. devices.

PhilH

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Re: Honey Ham Sticks/ Ham Patties
« Reply #4 on: February 07, 2020, 11:52:59 AM »
NDKoze,

Is the formula I wrote correct with the meat being 100%

Or should it be written this way?

Or personal preference?

Lean pork      846 grams         61.7%
Pork fat         362 grams         26.4%
Water             96 grams           7.0%
Honey            36 grams           2.6%
Salt                24 grams          1.7%
Dry milk         4.8 grams         0.35%
Cure #1         1.99 grams       0.145%


I’m trying to adjust the recipe, and I ha e read that the salt should be around 2%, but is that 2% of the weight of the meat, or the weight of all the ingredients?

Phillip   Ramsey MN

NDKoze

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  • Gregg - Fargo, ND
Re: Honey Ham Sticks/ Ham Patties
« Reply #5 on: February 07, 2020, 08:57:09 PM »
So, I started looking at this and was going to give a shoot from my hip answer, but after digging into it a little more I "believe" that I have a more accurate answer based on what I found through the USDA website.

Important Please note that what I have written below is to the best of my knowledge based on the research that I could find at the time. You are responsible for confirming and/or making your own decisions on the conclusions.

To answer your question about whether to use the total weight of the meat block and the ingredients or just the meat block, my initial thought was to only us the meat block. I confirmed this (after quite a bit of research) based on the information in the Nitrite in Curing Compounds or Mixes section that starts on  page 15 of the USDA'S PROCESSING INSPECTOR'S CALCULATIONS HANDBOOK. OK, I'll admit that it appears that this handbook is from 1995, but I searched on the USDA's website and could not find a newer version or any other similar documentation.

Based on my research and comparing some my recipes versus yours as well as the USDA'S PROCESSING INSPECTOR'S CALCULATIONS HANDBOOK that I referenced above, I am questioning the amount of Cure #1 that your recipe is calling for. My reasoning for this is as follows:

Please note few facts that seem to be fairly well documented:
  • The maximum amount of Sodium Nitrite in a Comminuted (ground meat) product is 156 PPM (Parts per Million).
  • The recommended amount of Cure #1 to use per 25 pounds of meat is 1 Ounce.
  • Most Cure #1 products that I have seen/used (might even be all) are comprised of 6.25% Sodium Nitrite. and 93.75% Salt.
On page 12 of the USDA'S PROCESSING INSPECTOR'S CALCULATIONS HANDBOOK, it says:
Quote
As a matter of policy, the Agency requires a minimum of 120 ppm of ingoing nitrite in all cured "Keep Refrigerated" products, unless the establishment can demonstrate that safety is assured by some other preservation process, such as thermal processing, pH or moisture control. This 120 ppm policy for ingoing nitrite is based on safety data reviewed when the bacon standard was developed.

So, from this information I am deducing that the acceptable range of PPM for Sodium Nitrate is between 140 and 156 PPM.

Based on this, your recipe calling for 100 PPM of Cure #1, appears to be too low. Assuming that I am correct on the acceptable range of PPM of 140-156, the amount of Cure #1 for your meat block of 1208 Grams (2.66 Pounds) should be between 2.71 (140 PPM) and 3.02 (156 PPM) grams.

I calculated my numbers using the following formula from page 15 of the USDA'S PROCESSING INSPECTOR'S CALCULATIONS HANDBOOK

    lb Cure Mix × % Nitrite in mix × 1,000,000 = ppm
---------------------------------------------------------------
                  Green Weight of Meat Block

So, this got kind of overly detailed and maybe a little long-winded, but I am very analytical and this is how I would answer your question.

For the other maybe more formally educated meat processing experts, feel free to correct any inaccuracies that you may find.

Hopefully this helps.
Gregg - Fargo, ND
Smokin-It #3 (purchased in 2014) that replaced a Masterbuilt XL (ugh) and a 10+ Year-Old Big Chief (still used for fish), and few others over the years, along with variety of Weber Gas/Charcoal Grills, Anova Sous Vide, etc. devices.

PhilH

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Re: Honey Ham Sticks/ Ham Patties
« Reply #6 on: February 07, 2020, 09:59:50 PM »
Thanks so much for doing all that research, I am going to read it tomorrow.  I’m not sure why it took my 39 years to get into sausage making, but I’m finding I really like it.  I’m going to keep using my kitchen aid mixer, to grind stuff and mix, (for now)

I will be getting a stuffer, and better grinder soon, prob not the meat mixer like the Walton’s guys sell though, yet.

As far as the %, I guess I got putting the meat block as 100%, because that is how it is done in baking.  I used to be in the restaurant business, and that’s where I picked up on that and forgot.  It has been over 10 years now, since I gave up cooking to be a truck driver.

As far as ppm nitrate, I did read that 50ppm was enough to kill botulism.  I know that discussing this on a forum can get tricky, especially (smoking meat forum)  I posted on there once, and got scolded for putting in a link to a website, haven’t been back since.

Lots of reading and smoking to do. 

Working on some chops, and a shank I (equilibrium brined/cured) 12 days ago, and my version of the cheddar sausage you find at gas stations, on the hot dog roller.  (My favorite, yes I know it’s trash food)

Will have those done and posted this weekend.
Phillip   Ramsey MN

NDKoze

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  • Gregg - Fargo, ND
Re: Honey Ham Sticks/ Ham Patties
« Reply #7 on: February 08, 2020, 01:28:14 AM »
You can definitely get by with using your grinder to grind and stuff. I think maybe just use a little less fine grinding plate and that will solve your consistency issue.

As far as the nitrite percentage thing goes, I am no expert. So, there definitely could be some debate there. There are some really good sausage making books and resources that you can get that will really help too.

It is not uncommon for sites to discourage posting links to competing sites and we discourage it here too for the most part. But, I would hope no one  would ever be scolded for doing so. I used to go to that other site occasionally too when this site was smaller and I was first getting into smoking. But, since our site has grown so much and we have so many wonderful and knowledgeable people here now, pretty much much every question I could thnk of asking I would trust the answers that I get here more than anywhere else.
Gregg - Fargo, ND
Smokin-It #3 (purchased in 2014) that replaced a Masterbuilt XL (ugh) and a 10+ Year-Old Big Chief (still used for fish), and few others over the years, along with variety of Weber Gas/Charcoal Grills, Anova Sous Vide, etc. devices.