Sausage Making

[chopsaw]

https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes
Look thru the link if you have not all ready . Not sure if you are using a store bought mix or not .
Maybe give some thought to a smaller batch to start . Do more than one type .

 

[tallbm]

Yes Steve, I was thinking there had to be something misleading somewhere in these descriptions for the fact it wasn't making sense. I bought a cheap hand grinder on Amazon should be here today, got some natural casings also. Hoping this will work 'till I do some more research before investing $120-$150 on something decent.Looks like I'll be trying my hand at making and smoking some sausage this weekend, so I'm psyched as I wasn't expecting to recieve the stuffer 'till next week, thanks to your generosity. Thanks once again Steve for the stuffer. Gonna get a boneless pork shoulder for the grind. Was thinking about adding a couple boneless chicken breasts in there also unless anyone has a better suggestion on what goes good with pork shoulder.

Read this post for sure to get your natural hog (and sheep) casings to behave:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/how-to-handle-natural-casings.159729/

In short, soak them in water in your fridge for over a week and they should behave better. Don't follow the info in the post and prepare to have a lot of aggravating fun fighting with casings on the tube and some casing busts while stuffing :)

Also another tip. The sausage stuffers NEVER stuff the exact amount they claim. So a 5 pound stuffer really does like 4 pounds. So if you have a 5 pound stuffer then only plan to mix 4 pound batches or else you will stuff 4 pounds and then 1 pound separately hahahaha :)

One final tip. Many grocery stores have offer so called "full service" butcher services for free. Meaning they will often cut, slice, and/or grind any cut of meat you buy at that store. You might be able to stall on buying a grinder if your grocery store's meat counter/butcher will grind the meat for you. Just be sure to call ahead so they can plan to do it or else you will be waiting all day there at the store for them to do it or for them to tell you they cant.
If doing all beef sausage just buy ground 80/20 already.
Here in Texas our brisket prices are often way better than 80/20 ground beef so grinding our own 80/20 is actually cheaper... this is likely not true with other states though.

I hope this info helps! :)

 

[Polka]

To add my two-cents of help to this thread, here is a video guide to keeping the blades and plates of your grinder sharp. I followed them from the beginning of my sausage saga, and have little or no trouble with tissue wrap on my blades...even with chicken skin and such. Hope this helps. Happy Suffin. R

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/sharpen-your-grinder-blade-and-true-the-plates.175359/

 

[Winterrider]

To add my two-cents of help to this thread, here is a video guide to keeping the blades and plates of your grinder sharp. I followed them from the beginning of my sausage saga, and have little or no trouble with tissue wrap on my blades...even with chicken skin and such. Hope this helps. Happy Suffin. R
Darn... Wish I would have looked this up a few days ago, I just took mine in to get sharpened. Oh well, next time. Thanks for posting link ...

 

[smokininidaho]

https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes
Look thru the link if you have not all ready . Not sure if you are using a store bought mix or not .
Maybe give some thought to a smaller batch to start . Do more than one type .

Thanks chopsaw and everyone else for all the help so far. With all the work that it looks like it's going to be and as a first timer I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible so I have this:

Bought an 8.77lb boneless shoulder this morning after work at wally world. I'm going to go to my local store that has a meat department and ask the butcher if I can get 1.5lbs of pork fat. That should get me right around 10lbs. Gonna be taking some pics of how everything goes. Don't know if I should start a new thread or just keep this one going?

Also for the casings I got these:

Says only have to soak for 15 minutes and then rinse inside and out. Saw somewhere to soak in vinegar to make the casings less likely to split, don't know if this is true or not.

 

[chopsaw]

Look thru this link . My opinion is this is the only way to do it .

Read this post for sure to get your natural hog (and sheep) casings to behave:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/how-to-handle-natural-casings.159729/

I saying 15 minutes is not long enough . Get them cleaned and soak as soon as you can For as long as you can .
I keep mine like this per the link above .

Slide right on and off . No blow outs since I started this .

Bought an 8.77lb boneless shoulder this morning after work at wally world. I'm going to go to my local store that has a meat department and ask the butcher if I can get 1.5lbs of pork fat. That should get me right around 10lbs.

Watch the fat content . A un trimmed butt should be right at 80/20 .
I've used that seasoning . Might have to see how much per pound on a smaller batch . I might have it written down some where . Would need the number from the bag to be sure .
Doin sausage right now . Cut up 2 6 lb butts and trimmed . Have about 10 lbs total .

 

[sawhorseray]

Agree! A untrimmed butt should have all the fat you'll need, I'd put a pound and a half of backfat into a 25 pound batch of wild hog sausage. RAY

 

[chopsaw]

Gary , I would cut and clean up what you have and work with that final weight .
If you really want to up the weight get a couple pork steaks if they sell them there .

 

[tallbm]

Thanks chopsaw and everyone else for all the help so far. With all the work that it looks like it's going to be and as a first timer I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible so I have this:

Bought an 8.77lb boneless shoulder this morning after work at wally world. I'm going to go to my local store that has a meat department and ask the butcher if I can get 1.5lbs of pork fat. That should get me right around 10lbs. Gonna be taking some pics of how everything goes. Don't know if I should start a new thread or just keep this one going?

Also for the casings I got these:

Says only have to soak for 15 minutes and then rinse inside and out. Saw somewhere to soak in vinegar to make the casings less likely to split, don't know if this is true or not.

What chopsaw says is right on.

You can soak for 15 minutes and try but expect to have an annoyingly painful experience fighting with the casings to go on the tube, pull off the tube, and blow out on you. I recommend a minimum of 7 days soaking but follow the post and it will save you grief.
If you want to experiment take a few casings and soak them like the post says so you have them ready. Then on the day of stuffing pull one casing out and rinse and soak for 15 minutes and give it a shot. Be preapared to be amazed at the difference in using the two :)

Also a HUGE word of advice on using untested (by you) seasoning recipes or store bought seasoning for your sausage.
Mix it up and do a "fry test" where you take the thoroughly mixed sausage meat and make a small patty that you fry on the skillet. If it isn't too salty then u are good. If it is bland then add a little more seasoning, mix good, and fry test again.

I always recommend to mix the initial mixing a little light of the sausage instructions because you can always add more seasoning but if it's too salty you may not have more meat to add to dilute the salt and even out the flavors.
Once you know you are good with the amount of seasoning based on your fry test then do yourself a favor and re measure out that same amount dry seasoning and weigh it on a small scale and write that number down. Then do the math to figure out how many grams of THAT seasoning you must add per pound of sausage and you will NEVER end up with oversalty or bland sausage again.
Going by the cup and tablespoon measurements leads to larger batches getting too salty where going by weight of seasoning per pound of sausage grind meat is ALWAYS precise :)

 

[smokininidaho]

Look thru this link . My opinion is this is the only way to do it .

I saying 15 minutes is not long enough . Get them cleaned and soak as soon as you can For as long as you can .
I keep mine like this per the link above .
View attachment 409310
Slide right on and off . No blow outs since I started this .
View attachment 409311

Watch the fat content . A un trimmed butt should be right at 80/20 .
I've used that seasoning . Might have to see how much per pound on a smaller batch . I might have it written down some where . Would need the number from the bag to be sure .
Doin sausage right now . Cut up 2 6 lb butts and trimmed . Have about 10 lbs total .

Casings are soaking, whew glad I saw this. May have to wait till Sunday now to do this. I think I may just go with what I have although bone in pork steaks are $1.49lb on sale this week ( I know don't grind the bone). Glad you guys are here or I would have botched this for sure, not saying that I still won't but I like my chances much better now! BTW I do have a kitchen digital scale I bought years ago weighs in grams/ounces up to 10lbs.

 

[chef jimmyj]

It's a bigger initial hit to by a Hank of tubed Casing but you only pull what you need. The little packs of $10 casings on amazon and cabela's are seconds and pieces. One section may be 12" long and the next 3' but full of holes. I used them ONCE. Less than half the pack was usable and the blow outs in the rest were very frustrating. Bought from Syracuse and every section was perfect...JJ

 

[chopsaw]

smokininidaho . Sounds like you're set up to get started without a big investment .
Once you get some batches under your belt you can buy the better casings and such . These guys told me for a long time to stop using the home packs . I've been thru 2 tubs of hog casings and ready to buy another . It really is a big difference . What you have works for getting started .

 

[chopsaw]

May have to wait till Sunday now to do this.

Trim it out , cut it up , grind , season and mix . Let it sit over night and stuff on Sunday .
I did 5 lbs of hot breakfast , and 5 lbs of hot Italian today . All mixed up , but wont stuff until Sunday ,, maybe tomorrow . I take my time any more .

 

[smokininidaho]

Trim it out , cut it up , grind , season and mix . Let it sit over night and stuff on Sunday .
I did 5 lbs of hot breakfast , and 5 lbs of hot Italian today . All mixed up , but wont stuff until Sunday ,, maybe tomorrow . I take my time any more .

I was going to grind thru the course plate first, then season and grind again thru the medium or fine plate, not sure on this help! The casings are actually looking pretty good. Been rinsing changing the water, then they were soft enough to rinse the insides out. They are all about 3' lengths. Already looking nice and white.
So I was really disappointed when I got that hand crank plastic grinder from Amazon $26.54 shipped, it was really small. Went to the UPS store and shipped it back, already got my refund. I know I'm going to get some gruff for this but after reading all the reviews and watching some youtube videos I went to Harbor Freight and bought this 250W, true 1/3HP electric grinder, after the 20% off coupon it was $46.33 with tax out the door. So for $20 more I think I may have an easier grind. I'm not going to be doing this but maybe once a month in small batches, so hopefully I'll be fine. Really getting psyched now to make some Brats!

Here's what I had:


Here's what I have now:



For $20 more it's a no brainer for me, but I could be wrong as usual.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Doing some research a few years ago, I discovered that...Most of these sub $200 meat grinders are all made buy one company. Sunmile in China. The Kitchener #12, the smallest LEM, Northern Tools Huntrite and your Ship to Shore. They generally have similar guts with different Grinder Head sizes, 5, 8 and 12. They have different Cases, Switch locations and Company names but otherwise the same everything else. The big give away, all the Grinder heads are similar if not identical.They are good quality and get the job done. So you did just Fine. No Beating necessary, Today...JJ

 

[smokininidaho]

Doing some research a few years ago, I discovered that...Most of these sub $200 meat grinders are all made buy one company. Sunmile in China. The Kitchener #12, the smallest LEM, Northern Tools Huntrite and your Ship to Shore. They generally have similar guts with different Grinder Head sizes, 5, 8 and 12. They have different Cases, Switch locations and Company names but otherwise the same everything else. The big give away, all the Grinder heads are similar if not identical.They are good quality and get the job done. So you did just Fine. No Beating necessary, Today...JJ

Thanks chef, had a bad enough beating at work this week don,t need another, lol!

 

[smokininidaho]

Hey, got my vertical sausage stuffer from Steve about an hour or so ago, it's awesome! Wouldn't take a penny even for shipping. I'm truly grateful. I'm ready to go now. Think I'm going to get grinding, seasoning and stuffing tomorrow as the casings look pretty good, fingers crossed and pics to come!

 

[Polka]

I've got the Ship-to-Shore version, also from Harbor Freight. Usually make 5# batches of most sausages. Had it three years and doing just fine.

Just a suggestion...Even though it is new, I'd consider following the blade/plate sharpening videos. I did two batches, then got the grit papers, and followed the directions in the videos. It made a difference to me. I guess I was taking the burrs off the new plates and blade. I touch them up once a year, or as needed.

The other thing is cold, cold, COLD meat when you grind -- much the better.

Happy stuffn!
R

 

[smokininidaho]

I've got the Ship-to-Shore version, also from Harbor Freight. Usually make 5# batches of most sausages. Had it three years and doing just fine.

Just a suggestion...Even though it is new, I'd consider following the blade/plate sharpening videos. I did two batches, then got the grit papers, and followed the directions in the videos. It made a difference to me. I guess I was taking the burrs off the new plates and blade. I touch them up once a year, or as needed.

The other thing is cold, cold, COLD meat when you grind -- much the better.

Happy stuffn!
R

Thank you Polka, I've also researched this and have already done it.
Started with 500 grit and finished with 1000 wet/dry sandpaper on a granite surface, basic circular motion. I think I'll be fine.

 

[nanuk]

Thank you Polka, I've also researched this and have already done it.
Started with 500 grit and finished with 1000 wet/dry sandpaper on a granite surface, basic circular motion. I think I'll be fine.

View attachment 409342

Just a thought, as I haven't seen the video, but when I was trained, we always went in a figure 8 motion.
This evens out the pressure so your plate etc stays flat.
also, we only used a finger in the middle, as that also helped keep it laying flat, only letting the weight of the plate/knife do the cutting.