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[ No it really quite easy, the mechanisim has a lot of mechanical advantage, Its made for really big tubes of caulking,and yes the grinder takes a lot of time to change temp.. Thanks for the comment, great book! Bud

Hello Folks, My first post to this thread.... I have been looking at it for a few weeks, and it got me to dig out my sausage stuff. I got the Rhulman book and read it along with the others I already had...I have not made any sausage for about ten years, and this was a good thing to get me going again.. There was one thing that I thought might add to the thread so Here goes.. I am using an old old grinder , an Enterprise #22 that has to be from the 1930's and belonged to my grandfather.. The stuffer is one that I made 10 year ago or so, and it is interesting. It holds about 5 lb of meat and the total cost was probably less than $10. Its a 4" i.d. , 1/4" wall plexiglass (cast acrylic) tube, with the mechanicals from an english caulking gun. The white plunger plates are 1/2" HDPE cutting board. The front end has a PE threaded nipple on it to attach the feed tube to. It lays on the counter and with one hand you squeeze the trigger on the thing and regulate the feed with the other...I have been routinely doing very small (1#)batches with it. The only waste is the little bit inside of the feed tube... Getting ready to do a dried saussion sec to test out my drying area...I have a photo darkroom in the basement that stays 65º or less year round at 55-60% RH. Wish me luck, and will report back...(hope I got the Pics downloaded OK) Bud

I have dry aged beef loins and some lamb legs for three weeks or so in a small refrig, (an old style with the freezer section incorporated in the main part of the inside that gets a a build up of ice that needs defrosting) and never got any growth of mold. You just cut off all of the dried outer layer and off to the grill.The meat is nice colored and is better than the wet aged. I have also wet aged the loins in their original cryovac for 45 days . When you un pack them the liquid in the bag smells bad, but I wash it all off in clean water and the meat smells fine and has not caused any problems... The liquid in any cryovac bag seems to smell anyway, even if its fresh from the packer. Bud

< <Has this flour a very high protein contenent? It doesnt say on the package ( wich <it drives me crazy ) but it says thta is made for the high altitude and has a good <amount of protein ( how much who knows ). Yes it does say on the package...Look at the box with the nutrition facts... The serving size is usually 30g and below it shows protein in grams, if protein is 3 grams its 10%...Hungarian "high altitude " is just ordinary a/p flour, there is no need for "high altitude" flour Just don't over proof or the loaves blow up. Bud

I like the crunchy part the best, so for two people I use a couple potatos sliced thin then put them in a bowl and add a bit of garlic and some grated cheese and a bit of salt and pepper, with enough milk or cream to make everything mix together. Then put it in a 10"porcelain tart pan that is about 1 1/2" deep. Then pour in enough cream to just barely come to the top of the potatos, and scatter a bit of the grated cheese on top. Cook at 375º till top is brown and crunchy.. Bud

One thing that I have experienced doing s/d was that with a mid range gluten (11%) organic flour (no additives), It was very easy to over develop the dough to the point that the gluten degraded, and the loaves did not raise well, and were flat. Bud

< It's basically a 12-16 hour poolish, then a 2 minute mix with a 25 minute <autolyse, a 2 minute mix after the salt and yeast go in Are you adding yeast at the final mix in addition to the yeast in the poosish??? The poolish I use seems to have more than enough to blow the loaves up if I get em to close..Just curious, and still learning.. Bud

], which lists the boiling points of sucrose solutions from 40-95% sucrose. Not sure of the adjustment for altitude...At 5500 ft B/P is 202º. so would temps be 10º less than chart??? Bud