# First time sausage ran into problems.



## ihocky2 (Nov 24, 2012)

I decided this year to try making my own sausages and ring bologna's with venison and decided to try some snack sticks while I was at it. The first thing I decided to try was pepperoni snack stix since the time frame fit my schedule this weekend. I have had the Cabela's heavy Duty meat grinder for several years and it worked great for making ground meat. I knew it had sausage stuffing attachments so I thought I was set to go. Only after I mixed up the cure and the seasoning into the meat did I find I did not have a big enough tube for 21mm casings. So I ran out to Cabelas and got a stuffing tube kit that works with the grinder. So after about a 2 hour delay I was back at it and ready to stuff casings. The first thing I noticed is that it seemed to feed fariy slow through the tube into the casings and took a lot of pressure. From there it just seemd to get slower.

When I fininshed and took everything apart to clean it I found there was a fair amount of tendon stuck on everything, but it didn't seem like enough to clog it up. The meat was ground by my butcher since I didn't have time this year to do my own butchering and they seem to not be as crucial about trimming before grinding. Everything was ground threw a medium plate and then prepped for stuffing. But as everything seemed to clog up it turned the meat into paste.

At this point I am wondering what went wrong and how to fix it. Should I run the meat through a small grinding plate first? Did letting the meat set too long and tack up too much cause a problem. Is the 21mm tube just that hard to stuff threw? Did the grinder clog up too much? Am I just expecting too much from this size grinder and should look into a dedicated stuffer?


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## mike johnson (Nov 24, 2012)

It sounds like your meat wasnt cold enough. The meat and fat grind much easyer when they are near frozen. I also use a vertical stuffer because I found the grinder attatchments to be a P.I.T.A. .Dont give up though, sausage making is addictive and an art to be learned while eating your mistakes.


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## doctord1955 (Nov 24, 2012)

Its the nature of the beast to do that!  Grinder stuffers are slow!  If u r going to make much sausage or snack sticks I would sugest u get a stuffer!


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## shoneyboy (Nov 24, 2012)

Ihocky2, It is a really slow process and for some reason, it seems to get slower the more you try to do it.....Another thought is.....Do you lubricate the cutter and the plate ? How old is the cutter? It may be dull.....ShoneyBoy


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## BGKYSmoker (Nov 24, 2012)

Did your grinder stuffing tubes have the cyclone auger?

Its plastic and looks like your metal grinder auger, snaps to the front of the metal auger, you dont use a plate and blade when using a grinder for stuffing.


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## BGKYSmoker (Nov 24, 2012)

Here is the cyclone auger and the stuffing star assembly.

First the cyclone auger with out the stuffing star.

The plastic cyclone auger snaps onto the front of the metal auger.













cyaug1.JPG



__ BGKYSmoker
__ Nov 24, 2012






Insert the auger into the grinder throat and the needle stuffer tube over the cyclone auger. You will not use the stare here. The cyclone auger will keep the meatl auger centered in the grinder throat.













cyaug.JPG



__ BGKYSmoker
__ Nov 24, 2012






Slide screw ring over stuffing needle and screw onto grinder hand tight. The cyclone auger will help the meat into the needle for stuffing thus eliminating much down pressure from the plunger.













cyaug3.JPG



__ BGKYSmoker
__ Nov 24, 2012






Here is the stuffing star used if you do not have the cyclone auger. Note that some companies have different type of auger placements. IE stars, kidney plates .

The stuffing star help keep the auger centered in the throat. When you put the needle stuffer on it will press against the star.













augstar.JPG



__ BGKYSmoker
__ Nov 24, 2012






Assembly with the star, needle. No cyclone auger used in this way. Note you will have downward pressure on the plunger which you will have to push the meat thus making the housing, auger to heat up which will affect the meat.













DSCF2404.JPG



__ BGKYSmoker
__ Nov 24, 2012






Hope this helps some


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## davidhef88 (Nov 24, 2012)

I think when I finally get my grinder I'm just gonna pick up a stuffer also. Just seems easier by the sounds of it. 


Sent via Tap-A-Yap from David.


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## woodcutter (Nov 24, 2012)

I finally replaced my small plate and the tendon winding problem went away. As it slowly dulled over time, I was telling myself it was a good thing to get the tendons out. Once the tendons are clogging things your meat starts to "smear", not what you want.


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## boykjo (Nov 25, 2012)

nepas said:


> Here is the cyclone auger and the stuffing star assembly.
> 
> First the cyclone auger with out the stuffing star.
> 
> ...


Hey Rick, have you ever used those stuffing attachments and how do they work. They came with my grinder but they just sit in a bag....


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## BGKYSmoker (Nov 25, 2012)

Joe

Yeah i have and i thought i had a video but cant find it. I will use the components soon and show. It works fair but still not as good as a stuffer.


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## shoneyboy (Nov 25, 2012)

nepas said:


> Joe
> 
> Yeah i have and i thought i had a video but cant find it. I will use the components soon and show. It works fair but still not as good as a stuffer.


2X .....That was the only way I had to stuff for a long time.....It will work, but it is a lot slower process than a stuffer. For some reason, the more I wanted it to work, the longer it seem to take....I made a lot of great sausage with it over the years.......but once I was able to get a stuffer, it seems to be at least 10 times faster......At first I didn't like using it because it is big and a little bulky, I had a learning curb on how to handle it and clean it, but now I will pull it out for almost any reason.....They are a great investment if you are going to be making sausage regularly.....I was lucky enough to find a 11lber on sale.......At the time I felt that it was huge and wanted to oversize my needs....Now it is just right for what I want to do and am very happy with it.......Good Luck with it SB


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## rtbbq2 (Nov 26, 2012)

One other thing, besides the meat not being cold enough. If you mixed all the meat, spice, cure etc. then went to cabelas. The meat starts to stiffen up when in the fridge. I know you had to make a last minute run to Cabela's, consequently you did not have a choice. Its a good idea to stuff the sausage as soon as you mix it. Then let it sit in the fridge overnight and smoke the next day...Some people like to put the meat in the fridge and let everything marry together. I say stuff then let the sausage meat and spice marry. Lots easier to stuff that way...My thoughts....


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