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Preserving Foods

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Texas Sauerkraut
Texas Dill Pickles
RedbirdTx Regular (Pork & Beef) Sausage
RedbirdTx "Micro Link" Fresh Sausage (Hot Dog Size)

Texas Sauerkraut (German Style)

Make Homemade Texas Sauerkraut the simple way with some basic materials:
Sauerkraut Board cutter, grinder, motorized slicer, or just a knife to slice the cabbage.
A crock or large nonmetallic container is needed to age the kraut.
A large pot is needed to boil the filled bottles before sealing.
Pint or quart jars with sealing lids are best to store the kraut.

Sauerkraut Receipe:

1 cup of salt to 17.5 pounds of cabbage.
Approximately 8 large heads of cabbage will make the 17.5 pounds of sliced cabbage.
The 17.5 pounds makes about 8 quarts and one pint of finished sauerkraut.

Sauerkraut Making Procedure:
Slice the cabbage into 1/8 inch strips leaving out the hard core.
Mix the cabbage with the salt being sure the salt is completely mixed with all the cabbage.

Press the cabbage hard into the crock or tall container until liquid surfaces.
Place a heavy weight sealed in plastic on top of the cabbage inside the container. The sealed weight should reach very close to the inside edge of the crock.
Cover the container with cheese cloth and wrap a string around it.
Store in a room around 70 degrees or slightly cooler to ferment.
Store for 3 weeks; 4 if the weather was cooler where the kraut was stored. You now have sauerkraut.

To preserve the sauerkraut, stuff the kraut in jars.

Place the jars without lids in a boiling water bath (Pot) but do not let water enter the jars.
Cook filled jars for 10 minutes after the water returns to boil.
The jars may cook over but continue to press the kraut down.
Remove the bottles from the pot and seal.
Store 8 weeks before using.

Additonal tips:
Put a rack at the bottom of the pot to keep the bottles from touching the pot bottom.
Condition the bottles by standing them in very warm water before putting in the pot.
Lower the filled jars slowly into the boiling water to prevent cracking.

Eating the Sauerkraut:
When preparing sauerkraut to eat, rinse it slightly with water to make a milder kraut. Boil the sauerkraut for at least 20 minutes and drain in a colter. Put it back into the pot and add butter (1 tablespoon per quart of sauerkraut) and heat until butter melts. Optional: Add two pieces of finely diced salt bacon for flavor. If you are serving to guests, a nice touch is adding a little diced pimento pepper for color and flavor.

Texas Dill Pickles

Dill pickles are made with small to medium cucumbers. Refer to the picture. The cucumbers should be washed with a vegetable brush. It takes at least ten pounds to make a batch.

Step 1:

Put 1 1/2 gallons water into a large roasting pan. Add 3/4 cup of rock salt and 1 1/2 cups of white pickling vinegar (90 Grain) to the water and bring the mixture to a boil.

Step 2:

Pour 1/2 gallon of the mixture into a separate pot and continue a slow boil.
In another small pot place the jar lids and caps, and bring to a slow boil.

Step 3:

Place cucumbers in the roasting pan with the boiling mixture so that the entire top of the cucumbers are covered. Then turn off the heat and wait until the cucumbers turn a lighter green or about 5-10 minutes.

Step 4:

Put 1 teaspoon of dill seeds into the jars with sprigs of fresh dill. If you do not have fresh dill put 1 1/2 teaspoons of dill seeds. You can also add hot peppers, garlic, or other spices depending on what you like. The recipe can be made with pickling spice instead of the dill seed.
Stuff the cucumbers into quart or pint jars.

Step 5:

Now fill the jars to within 3/4 inch from the top with the boiling mixture you placed in the separate pot.
Wipe the rims of the bottles after filling to insure a tight seal.
Put the sealing rings on the bottles and tighten tightly. Retighten in about 5 minutes.

Step 6:

Place the bottles in a cool spot (Not the Attic) for about 6 months before starting to use the pickles. We continue to use the pickles for up to 3 years.

RedbirdTx Pork and Beef Sausage

Redbird Sausage is made from cheap beef and pork cuts of meat. The sausage making process requires a meat grinder and sausage stuffer along with a few large pans. A smoke house is needed to complete the process. Deer meat is a great substitute for the beef. Do not use ground meat but any type of chunk meat is OK. Keep the fat to a minimum. Sausage should only be made during cold weather to prevent spoiling and to enhance the flavor of the meat.

Step 1: RedbirdTx Sausage seasoning ingredients for 50 pounds of meat.

16 ounces wt. Salt
4 1/4 ounces wt. Black Pepper (Restaurant Type)
4 teaspoons paprika
2 1/2 ounces wt.chili powder (Fresh Ground New Mexico Pepper Pods preferred)(Gebheart's OK)
2 1/2 rounded teaspoons fresh cayenne pepper - 4 teaspoons for hotter sausage.

Step 2: Ready the Meat

25 pounds beef cut into small pieces to fit the grinder.
25 pounds pork cut into small pieces to fit the grinder.
Mix the above seasoning together. Sprinkle it on the meat before grinding.

Step 3: Grind the Meat

Grind the meat alternating beef and pork pieces into the grinder. After grinding the meat, mix the meat by (gloved) hands until it becomes a sticky mixture.
Complete mixing is very important!

Step 4: Stuff the Sausage

Stuff the sausage with a sausage press or put the meat back through the grinder that has a sausage spout. Do all of this while the meat is kept very cold. Thread the sausage casing onto the spout and feed the sausage into the casing while holding your hand around the end of the spout to regulate tightness of the sausage casing. (Casing can be either bought from a local meat market or the synthetic type can be used. Rinse the casing in warm water before using.) Cut and tie the sausages with cotton string into the size you prefer.

Step 5: Smoke House

Hang the sausages in a smoke house fueled by wet oak bark placed over charcoal or a small fire in a bucket. (Do not hang the sausage from the string until after the sausage has been in the smoke house at least 30 minutes. Hang the sausage from the side opposite the string.)

Smoke the meat for 2 hours with heavy smoke.

Remove and package the meat for the freezer. Vaccuum packing is a must if you plan to store longer than four months.

RedbirdTx "Micro Link" Fresh Sausage (Hot Dog Size)

Great for Grilling or Breakfast (Raw Sausage)

Redbird Micro Sausage is made with beef and pork (Cheap cuts of meat make good sausage). The sausage making process requires a meat grinder and sausage stuffer along with a few large pans. Deer meat is a great substitute for the beef. Do not use ground meat but any type of chunk meat is OK. Keep the fat to a minimum.

Step 1: Redbird "Micro Link" Sausage seasoning ingredients for 25 pounds of meat.

8 ounces wt. Cajun Seasoning (I use Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning.)
4 Full Tablespoons paprika
4 ounces wt.Chili Powder (Gebheart's OK)
2 Rounded teaspoon fresh Cayenne Pepper.
2 Rounded Tablespoons of Mustard Seed
4 teaspoons Cumin

Step 2: Ready the Meat

12.5 pounds beef cut into small pieces to fit the grinder.
12.5 pounds pork cut into small pieces to fit the grinder.
Mix the above seasoning together. Sprinkle it on the meat before grinding.

Step 3: Grind the Meat

Grind the meat alternating beef and pork pieces into the grinder using a "Chili" meat size blade. Next change to a "ground meat" type blade and regrind the mixture. After grinding the meat, mix the meat by (gloved) hands until it becomes a sticky mixture.
Complete mixing is very important!

Step 4: Stuff the Sausage

Use "Sheep Casing" to stuff the sausage.(Casing can be either bought from a local meat market or the synthetic type can be used. Rinse the casing in warm water before using.) It costs about $25-30. for a package that will stuff about 50-60 lbs of meat. I split the package in half. The half I save is vaccuum sealed with a little salt and left in the freezer for another batch.

Stuff the sausage with a sausage press or put the meat back through the grinder that has a sausage spout. Do all of this while the meat is kept very cold.

Thread the sausage casing onto the spout and feed the sausage into the casing while holding your hand around the end of the spout to regulate tightness of the sausage casing. Cut the sausages into 8" pieces and pinch about an inch off each end while twisting the casing to seal the sausage.

Remember the meat is fresh and uncooked. It will require a lot longer on a grill(but taste better) than regular hot dogs which are precooked. If you boil the Micro Links, let them boil for at least 15 minutes.

Package the meat for the freezer. Vaccuum packing is a must if you plan to store longer than four months.