Sausage does not sound cheap to make?

[pandemonium]

where do you get the casings and all that other stuff? online?

 

[got14u]

both these places are good. I use both which ever one is cheaper is usually the decideing factor.
http://www.butcher-packer.com/
http://www.sausagemaker.com/
I would start by getting a rytek kutas book first or some thing of that kind and read it.

 

[ronp]

When you can buy good quality butts for .99 a pound, and add some cheap spices, get a plain old handcranker grinder with a stuffing horn, put in a little effort and make your own, that is heaven. For less than 75.00 including Rytecs book, you can make great sausage, better than anything you can buy at 3.99 and up in a store.

Oh, and you don't even have to stuff, just make patties, hell you don't even have to grind, buy ground pork and spice it up make patties and fry them or smoke them.

Start out small, and enjoy!

 

[hog warden]

This is probably the most overlooked option around. You can buy ground pork and spice it yourself. My folks live in a small town and if they buy a whole butt, the guy who runs the meat counter will grind it for them for free. All they have to do is mix in some salt, pepper and sage for their breakfast sausage patties. If not that, look in the case for some ground pork. Buy a couple pounds and mix in the spices.

As for hand grinders, get an Enterprise or Chop Rite #5, #10 or #12 off ebay for under $30. A bright shiny one will be as good as new and better than anything you can buy today. I did 15# with mine the other day in less than 15 minutes. Took longer to clean it up than to grind that much meat.

If you intend to crank it by hand, don't get anything larger than a #22 (unless you have access to some 6'5" 300 pounder, or a large German women).

 

[pandemonium]

i found a few enterprise grinders on ebay will post link when i get home to see what you think?
as far as the old ones can you still get blades and parts for them?

 

[uncle_lar]

I started out with the kitchen aid grinder stuffer on my wifes mixer
because I got tired of paying the costs at the processing plant when I got deer during deer season.
I liked doing it so much that I bought a bigger grinder, used on ebay, a old enterprise stuffer, on ebay and various other items and started making sausage all year long. I make all my own beef burger, breakfast sausage, Kielbasa and various other item. you can make a much better product at home for far less than store bought and you know whats in it.
I use sausagemaker.com , butcherpaker.com americanspice.com my local sams club and I buy my sausage casing from my local butcher, along with my butts which I buy by the case and pay market price for which is almost always .89 to .99 a pound.
then to top it all off I found this Web forum which just ties it all together and I am lovin it. and yeah, I make a few bucks at it but its not about the money. its a hobby or addiction,LOL and I love it!!

 

[hog warden]

I just looked at the current crop on Ebay and I wouldn't be interested in any of them. (except that big #32 that looks like it should be hooked to a John Deere tractor......an OHSA inspector would pass out on the spot if he found that!).

Put "Enterprise Meat Grinder" on your watch list. A good one will come along in a week or two. A good one is shiny and looks like it is new. Extra plates and/or blades are more better, as replacement plates and blades will cost almost as much as the whole grinder you are looking at.

Look to see that it has no broken legs, has a thumb screw for the handle. A #12 will be bolted down. If not, and it's a #10 or #5, look at the clamp down screw. Sometimes those are missing, bent or the flat fitting on the end of the clamp down screw is missing. If that's the case, pass on that one. Another will be along shortly.

Plates and blades are about all that wears out and all of these parts can be ordered new.....even or the older models. Plates and blades on the original units are high carbon steel and will rust. If you find an older one that is not rusted, that is just one more indication it's in good shape.

The #5 and #12 I bought were like new.

 

[jerrykr]

I used to like Johnsonville brats a lot.......before I started making my own, now I wonder why I liked them,,,,,,,,, just saying.

 

[pandemonium]

ya i think those suck now compared to getting one from my local meat market or eve the ones publix makes those are pretty good too

 

[pandemonium]

are the northern tool ones any good? or is it just cheaper on ebay?
how about this one from harbor freight? or they have a 50$ one? and i can use a 20 percent off coupon on it
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=99599
i can pay like 5 or ten more for a one year warranty too amd remember i will not be making that much sausage probably, i figured this seems good cause it comes with the stuffer too?
or this from target http://www.target.com/Weston-Meat-Gr...grinder&page=1

this one looks good? http://cgi.ebay.com/rand-manual-meat...:B:SRCH:US:101

 

[hog warden]

My theory on the hand cranks is the older Enterprise units were cast and made in Pennsylvania for something like 75 years, and for the past 30 or 40 years the same units have been made in PA under the Chop Rite brand, which is still in business and selling these units new (along with parts). So that's almost 100 years of the same basic casting and design. Do a search and you can find the larger Chop Rite units priced on the sausage making sites for a couple hundred bucks. For a hand grinder!

http://www.sausagesource.com/catalog/8b.html

I suspect the Porkert (something sexy about that name), Weston, along with Chop Rite are high quality units.

I'm guessing that many if not most of the other units sold by the various makers and places (especially the cheap new units found on Ebay) are going to be cast in China and unless made from stainless are going to be tinned. Chop Rite told me they can no longer "tin" a grinder in the US. They are now Teflon coated. But the big factor will be quality and fit of the blades and plates. On high quality units, they are high carbon hardened steel or stainless and mated to a tight fit. The wear point is the down stream side of the plate holes. Meat is pushed into the hole, where the blade shears it off....the back side of the hole in the plate erodes and elongates over time (grinding spices with the meat probably speeds this process along). Once that elongates and rounds over, it won't cut much. Good quality plates hold up better. I tried sharpening an Enterprise knife and couldn't hardly touch it. The same could not be said for a cheap replacement blade I got as an extra with one unit.

So if I'm patient, for less than $30 I can get one of the best hand grinders ever made. Ebay is the place to look. You will find 100 food choppers in antique stores for every Enterprise, and I've never seen a decent Enterprise in an Antique store. Rough ones are priced at $40 and up.

If you are only going to do a little, look for an Enterprise #5 clamp on. I've seen those new in the box sell on Ebay. They will grind 5# of sausage in much less time that it took me to type this.

 

[rio_grande]

Bottom line with me was I had the moneyand the need for a grinder and a stuffer. Now I have those items and sausage is almost free. If you have the dough then go for it.... but not for the sake of saving money.

 

[pandemonium]

ok Warden i will be patient for once and wait for an enterprise one, thanks for the help

 

[pops6927]

For me it wasn't so much the price difference or learning the art of sausagemaking or anything else other than one statement:

"There is no such thing as buying 'healthy' sausages..!"

Sausage producers are allowed 50% fat in their products and all the salts and sugars they can pack in, and most all push that line to the limit. I'm on a low fat diet a/c diabetes and I looovveee sausage.

I have tons of knowledge and ability to make sausages from growing up in a meat market, but until I came down with diabetes I didn't have much motivation to do so. Once the doctor scratched them off my feedbag... INSTANT MOTIVATION!

Despite cancer bills and oncologists and radiologists and all that with my wife's cancer and my own disabilities, I found my way clear to buy the equipment via some lucky year-end bonuses, scrimping, saving, etc. and making wise purchasing and incredible Christmas deals.

I set aside a small amount each paycheck in a virtual cookie jar for spices and casings and such. They're really quite cheap. I just bought another hank of 32-36mm tubed casings from Syracuse Casing Co. for $34.50 including shipping, and that will last me the better part of a year.

I buy butts on sale and bone them out myself (got to exercise the left hand after my stroke! I'm gettin' lean and mean wielding an 8" boning knife!). So it's 'therapy', lol!

I can trim the butts to whatever level of fat content I want. I can eat sausages that don't shrink down to nothing.
My answer is a simple and as time-honored as making sausage timebook allowed - try it and you'll LOVE it!

 

[forluvofsmoke]

NO DOUBT about that! I don't have the dedicated sausage equipment (YET), but I can do some of the sausages which would normally be cased, such as beef salami, and when they come off the smoker I nearly have to beat the kids away with a shovel to get 'em hidden for a good chill before slicing!

I can definately see where you're coming from Pops...gotta keep/get the body parts working even without serious health issues...if you don't use it, you lose it.

And definately stay away from mass produced meat products, nasty stuff! I don't think it will take me very long to convince my wife that I CAN JUSTIFY going head-long into sausage making...we all love the uncased products I've turned out, and I can hardly wait to get a grinder and stuffer to show them what the homemade stuff is REALLY all about.

The closest thing to homemade we've found as of late is a meat market in my hometown in North Dakota...everything except the slaughtering is done in-house...they love sausage up there, btw. Very good products...a bit spendy but good. In comparison to what's available in the grocery stores, these guys are selling dirt cheap, because it's real meats made fresh and no chemical preservatives other than the meat cure.

Anyway, yeah I'm all for it, especially now that I've taken the opportunity to experiment with some different recipes I've concocted lately. The family sits in suspense waiting to see what I'll make next...and I've had good success, so they know whatever comes next will be a treat like the last one.

I got it! I love it! I want, more, of it! (sausage addiction) lol!

Eric