I’m running my garlic-pepper brats at 2.1% salt and 0.35% coarse black pepper, mixed to a tacky bind with 8% ice water and a 6 mm grind, but the batch I stuffed immediately last week had less pepper bloom and a softer snap than the 12-hour rest. If flavor development is the goal, are you seeing rest time or stuffer speed make the bigger difference for consistency in 32–34 mm hog casings?
I get more bloom with a “12‑hour rest”; speed matters less than colder meat plus 30‑minute air-dry for snap.
I had the same ‘pepper bloom’ gap — overnight rest helps, but the bigger win was blooming the garlic and pepper in hot water, chilling it, and making it part of the 8% so an immediate stuff tasted like the rested batch. Snap improved most when I kept the farce 30–32°F and pre‑chilled the horn; stuffer speed only hurt me once the paste crept past about 38°F.