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do you have a grinder? most have a stuffer attachment, other than that i have seen a video of someone stuffing by hand and it looks like it would take some serious practice.
You can use your grinder to stuff. I always tell folks who are tring to make sausage to do that first so they don't spend alot of money and then find out that they don't like to make sausage but then I'm not sure if anyone of them didn't like the sausage they have made. but anyway yes
I started stuffing with my grinder. Its fine for small lots say 5-10 lbs. After that it can get to be a pain. Also with a grinder some sausages traditionally coarse textured like Andouille is tough to do.
Yes, it is probably the best path to go. Mix and grind your sausages and freeze in bulk (ziplocs, etc.) and thaw as you need them. Roll into skinless links or make into patties and cook. Try a lot of different sausage recipes and types and get a good idea of what you enjoy. By then you'll know just what you really want to case and the desire for a good stuffer will prove itself. If you rush into the equipment without enjoying the rest of the sausage-making, you may find you have wasted your money. And, we all certainly want to seduce you into this enjoyable hobby!
We did it once and had the butcher grind the meat for us. We then mixed it at home and then stuffed it into the casings using cake decorating bags and tips.
I usally only make about 2 1/2-3 pounds of sausage at a time, so my grinder works pretty well. Still even at that small of an amount it is a real pain at time to use the grinder to make links. I would say that when possible deff get a stuffer should be well worth it. In the mean time a jerky gun may work, though I have never used one for that, I have a friend who does.