Any sausage makers here?

[kgressler]

I've made just one batch about 15 lbs a few weeks ago. We ate some of it gave away most of it. Just your everyday italian sausage and some jalapeno with cheese.

After some more reading on grinding my own meat hopefully I've worked out the kinks. My last batch I didnt add enough liquid and the second grind I dont think I had the meat cold enough by the time I got threw it all.
This time I am only going to grind it the one time since my grinder and stuffer are one in the same I think running it threw 2 times instead of 3 should help with a better consistency.

My next batch I am gonna give apple sausage a try. A butcher in town makes these and they are fantastic but he wasnt really down with giving me a recipe so I found one online.

5lbs of pork butt
3-5 Granny Smith apples
1-1.5 cups of apple juice concentrate(I may try my hard cider I brewed)
1/2 brown sugar
2-3 tablespoon of salt
1-2 tablespoon of pepper
1 tablespoon of sage
1 tablespoon of rosemary
I saw no mention of bread crumbs but I will need to add rusk to this.

Any thoughts would be welcome.

 

[WayFrae]

I have made one batch of 10 lbs of venison breakfast sausage that turned out really nice. That apple sausage sounds really tasty! I think the hard cider would probably be really good in it but I don't think you should replace the concentrate completely since the cider doesn't have any sugar left in it or at least not nearly as much as the concentrate.

 

[bobbrews]

Be sure to use enough fat. Most sausage contains 30% to 50% fat by weight. European styles are the best for my tastes; they do not have bread filling and are 100% meat, fat, herbs and seasonings. For other ideas, look into toasted fennel seeds, tri-colored peppercorns, paprika, oregano, garlic, parsley, and onion.

And keep things very, very cold. I use ice cubes to aid grinding as well as ensure that my equipment and all ingredients are cold.

 

[gwaugh]

I've made a few batches ( Italian and breakfast so far) and they turned out pretty good. There are some great books out there like Micheal Ruhlman's Charcuterie.
I love all types and forms of sausage and cured meats. The old refrigerator that is my current fermentation chamber was going to be my curing chamber for charcuterie before I became obsessed with brewing.

 

[Melana]

I have not made sausage yet however there are a number of guys here that do.

 

[mrbrew]

Im making venison sausage today. I went to the local grocery store and asked for pork trimmings at the meat department. When I got home I realized they gave me beef suet. I was going to make sweet italian sausage. Anyone use beef suet with venison?

 

[Flboy]

I am on the verge of buying the stuffer, already have an old hand meat grinder with all the plates.

 

[ajdelange]

I dont think I had the meat cold enough by the time I got threw it all.

The object is to be able to grind the fat without it melting. Unless you are working in a cold room this is tough to do. I've been tempted to do that but was too lazy to move the gear in there. Outside in the winter should work.

 

[Flboy]

The object is to be able to grind the fat without it melting. Unless you are working in a cold room this is tough to do. I've been tempted to do that but was too lazy to move the gear in there. Outside in the winter should work.

Unless you live here! When the forecast hits 30s, the world crumbles!

 

[passedpawn]

The object is to be able to grind the fat without it melting. Unless you are working in a cold room this is tough to do. I've been tempted to do that but was too lazy to move the gear in there. Outside in the winter should work.

I freeze the fat completely before I grind it. The meat needs to be slightly thawed though.

 

[brewbama]

Kielbasa and Kolbász Friday

 

[kgressler]

Those are some nice lookin sausages there.

 

[Inor]

I am on the verge of buying the stuffer, already have an old hand meat grinder with all the plates.

I bought this stuffer about 5 years ago. It works great! No complaints.

http://www.amazon.com/LEM-Products-Stainless-Vertical-Sausage/dp/B00474HCK6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1424060667&sr=8-4&keywords=Lem+Sausage+stuffer

 

[Eubanks]

An old neighbor of mine down the road and I raise 3-5 hogs every year and butcher them ourselves making mostly country breakfast sausage. We sell it locally and it always sells out in a day or two. We don't get rich from it by any means but I usually have a well- stocked freezer of sausage, tenderloin, ribs, etc.

Everyone around here used to raise and butcher their own hogs and chickens. A couple families would usually split a cow as well. It is hard to find people who still know how to do these things. It is a dying art.

 

[Eubanks]

 

[vanishingpint]

I grew up on a farm and we would butcher two hogs and a steer every year.Mom would always slice and fry pork tenderloin while we were cutting up the hogs.I miss those days.Now all I have is some chickens.You can't buy pork that tastes like that in a grocery store.

 

[vanishingpint]

Back on topic.I have a seven lb capacity horizontal stuffer I bought from Cabelas a few years back .It works great.All steel gears and two speeds,but I don't think they sell them any more.

 

[vincentAlpha]

Anyone here use the 'gun' style stuffers? I'd love to get into making my own but I know I won't be able to do it that often and they look pretty handy for what volumes I'd like to do.

 

[BrewWho]

I meet a guy in a bar once who said he liked to eat a lot of sausage, never made much though. That was the last time i went to that bar. Anyways im getting sidetracked. Ive got the "gun' style one i think you're talking about. Works good for small batches but kills the hand towards the end. I also have a cast 5lb extruder that's older than the hills but still works great.

 

[vanishingpint]

That reminds me I have my parents old cast iron Enterprise stuffer/press.My mom used it as a lard press.Gonna have to dig that old dude out and clean it up.

 

[Temptd2]

Here is our first attempt from last week - Texas hot links. Ground up in the Kitchenaid meat grinder attachment and stuffed with the LEM 5 pound sausage stuffer.

Let 'em cure over night in the fridge, then into the sous vide at 150* for 4 hours; let cool in the fridge, then grilled til browned. OH man, so good.

These are freshly linked:

 

[Temptd2]

I think next up will be gyro sausages (ground lamb and Greek seasonings).

Andrew and anyone else on here - would LOVE some of your recipes to try! Purty please!

 

[Temptd2]

I've made just one batch about 15 lbs a few weeks ago. We ate some of it gave away most of it. Just your everyday italian sausage and some jalapeno with cheese.

After some more reading on grinding my own meat hopefully I've worked out the kinks. My last batch I didnt add enough liquid and the second grind I dont think I had the meat cold enough by the time I got threw it all.
This time I am only going to grind it the one time since my grinder and stuffer are one in the same I think running it threw 2 times instead of 3 should help with a better consistency.

My next batch I am gonna give apple sausage a try. A butcher in town makes these and they are fantastic but he wasnt really down with giving me a recipe so I found one online.

5lbs of pork butt
3-5 Granny Smith apples
1-1.5 cups of apple juice concentrate(I may try my hard cider I brewed)
1/2 brown sugar
2-3 tablespoon of salt
1-2 tablespoon of pepper
1 tablespoon of sage
1 tablespoon of rosemary
I saw no mention of bread crumbs but I will need to add rusk to this.

Any thoughts would be welcome.

Boy those sound great!

I'd love to see your jalapeno/cheese recipe too if you have time.

 

[vanishingpint]

Temtptd I never even thought of sousvide for sausage.Great idea.I think you could sousvide then freeze.Right?

 

[Inor]

One trick that I learned works REALLY well is when you are mixing in the seasonings, instead of using 1 oz of water per pound of meat, use 1/2 oz water and 1/2 oz Maker's Mark per pound of meat. The difference in the taste is amazing!

 

[Temptd2]

Temtptd I never even thought of sousvide for sausage.Great idea.I think you could sousvide then freeze.Right?

Absolutely, and that is what we PLANNED to do, but KOTC decided that he'd grill them all first so all we have to do is reheat quickly in a skillet or whatever and they'll already have that smoky good grilled flavor.

They could certainly be eaten right after the sous vide though, they're fully cooked at that point.

I chilled them first, then vacuum-sealed, then into the sous vide at 150* for 4 hours. Worked great and didn't squeeze a lot of liquid out of them. Letting them sit in the fridge again overnight helped them reabsorb some of the little bit of liquid that WAS in the bag.

One trick that I learned works REALLY well is when you are mixing in the seasonings, instead of using 1 oz of water per pound of meat, use 1/2 oz water and 1/2 oz Maker's Mark per pound of meat. The difference in the taste is amazing!

I used homebrewed beer in place of water! Made them quite tasty!

 

[vanishingpint]

Ok then one batch or so in and you are already the sausage queen .And king.

 

[Temptd2]

Ok then one batch or so in and you are already the sausage queen .And king.

Ha ha! Yeah, far from it, but 60 plus years of kitchen duty has given me some pretty good skills to work with!

Can't wait to learn MORE as we go. I love this board - it's so nice to share ideas and recipes. We ALL learn from it! :rockin:

 

[Temptd2]

A little more experience under our belts - gyros links. These are in small sheep casings, the size of hot dogs. We made most 7" with a few shorter due to casing lengths.

Fun! Can't wait to cook and eat them!

(crossposted in "what are you cooking this weekend" thread)

 

[Mismost]

Been grinding for 15 years so I am still a rookie. I used a #32 grinder with a reduction drive motor...it will grind a 100# batch is about 40 minutes...we call it the LifeSaver.

We use the same motor drive to power a 20# meat mixer. When the mixer came on line, that is when the sausage really got much better. Mix until it has a dough like consistancy and that greatly improves the texture.

Keep the meat very cold at all times. First grinding the meat is almost frozen! Grind and get it back in the cooler quick. Running a few ice cubes through the grinder keeps it cold and clean it up pretty good.

We grind venison and pork seperate and then weigh out the portions to mix. Spices are measured for 20# batches and added to red wine. Meat and spices all get dumped into the mixer after grinding is done...hit the switch and let 'er rip. As we remove the meat from the mixer we make like baseball size balls.

After everything is mixed and back in the coolers, we change the motor back over to the grinder and put in a stuffing plate....we stuff off the grinder too. The baseball size meat balls are perfect to just drop into the grinder throat and we use a push batt to help the meat along.

Casings are a real PITA, we use hog casings that must be soaked, washed inside and out, and kept in water untile ready to use. But, they are also 5 to 8 feet long and give a real good bite to the sausage.

This is a major kitchen project that we spend a whole week end doing...but we eat for a year off our efforts! Kinda like beer brewing...smaller batches are fun, but just as much trouble as 5 gallon brews! Clean up is always a PITA!

 

[podz]

Since my right hand is currently in a cast, I hired my Hungarian friend to make a batch of Greek sausage for me. Will be delivered to my house today in time for grilling for dinner!

 

[brewbama]

Kielbasa in the back, Summer Sausage, Can Bacon, and Cotto Salami next, then the jerky up front

Made some Brats while the smoker was doin its thing

Jerky was done first

Summer Sausage, Can Bacon, Cotto Salami, Kielbasa

Sliced and served with some Kolbász and cured Coppa (Buckboard Bacon) and cheeses on a warm sunny brewing Sunday. I made all the meats on this board:

Cheers!

 

[Staestc]

Kielbasa in the back, Summer Sausage, Can Bacon, and Cotto Salami next, then the jerky up front

Made some Brats while the smoker was doin its thing

Jerky was done first

Summer Sausage, Can Bacon, Cotto Salami, Kielbasa

Sliced and served with some Kolbász and cured Coppa (Buckboard Bacon) and cheeses on a warm sunny brewing Sunday

Cheers!

Those pictures are just mouth watering!! Amazing!

 

[passedpawn]

Holy hell @brewbama

You must have spent some time making all of that goodness. Nice job.

 

[Temptd2]

NICE work, brewbama! Impressive!

 

[podz]

In this recipe, 6 kilos of sausage contains 1 litre of red wine. Grilled last night, awesome taste.

 

[vanishingpint]

Wow! brewbama .Just wow.

 

[passedpawn]

Made knackwurst. I ground, then emulsified, the meat with the food processor - never even got the grinder out of the cupboard. Smoked over applewood.

I did half in hog casings then tried out some collagen casings I have had for a long time. I was worried the collagen wouldn't take the smoke, or would break when twisting into links, etc, but it worked out perfectly (need to twist them while stuffing, not at the end after you've got one loong link).

 

[Staestc]

...I did half in hog casings then tried out some collagen casings I have had for a long time. ...

Ignoring the stuffing characteristics, do you have a preference for hog or collagen casings when it comes to eating them? Do they have a similar mouth feel and snap?

 

[passedpawn]

Ignoring the stuffing characteristics, do you have a preference for hog or collagen casings when it comes to eating them? Do they have a similar mouth feel and snap?

Since I dried them first, then smoked them, the bite/snap was really good on both. This is the first time I've smoked sausages and it improved the snap considerably (at least with the hog casings, which is what I always use). The collagen casings were pretty much the perfect snap though. I might continue using them.

Collagen doesn't stretch, so you end up with unusually uniform links, which I think looks a little odd. The collagen was also VERY easy to stuff. It probably lends itself best to emulsified meats that are creamy and uniform, as these were.