Sausage making...let's hear from the experts.

I've been watching this thread for a bit. I was a commercial meat cutter for many years but never did get into the sausage room where I worked so my experience there was very minimal.

Seems to me that they used to add crushed ice to the mix before stuff to congeal the meat to aid in stuffing, and to add moisture (and weight) to the finished product.

I no longer cut meat for a living, but do cut game for friends and am looking to buy a LEM grinder and get into making sausage on the side. Good thread, but I have a lot to learn.

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They add ice for a couple of reasons. It keeps the meat mix cold which is essential to get it to bind together, it adds moisture and makes the mix flow through the stuffer better.
 
I picked up a copy of a commercial sausage and meat curing recipe book, a few weeks ago at the local equivalent to the Salvation Army store.

Frozen meats (or near frozen) and ice, get a fair bit of coverage.

If I ever want to make 100 pound batches of wieners, I have a recipe! :)

Most of the recipes are pretty much impractical for the home user, but there are some flavoring ideas, for the likes of those that are comfortable winging it in the kitchen.

Cheers
Trev
 
We buy our supplies from Halford Hide in Calgary.

Half deer, half pork does make the best product. Use the pork fat for flavor and moisture as any deer fat tends to have an off taste.

Use a prepared pack of spices and curing your first time it makes it pretty easy. Jerky or Plain sausage is the best place to start.

Smokies, pepperoni, salami are all a bit of work in a small smoker. You end up cheeking the temperature so often, the system cools down so fast that it takes forever to get done and you usually end up wrecking the first batch. Maybe start with just some pork / beef product to get the hang of it before wasting your deer.

Presoak your casings to lube. Pack your casings as tight as you can. Keep everythinig clean. Stainless is your friend. Send me samples....
 
Not sure yet what recipe I am going to try first, but I think I will stick to just packaging the sausage meat, to use in pasta sauces or cooked as patties.

Mmmmmm.....

Cheers
Trev
 
Ok, I need to weigh in on this one. I also sell the the Water Stuffers, it's a one man operation with this one. (http://www.tulameen.com/Dakotah_Sausage_Maker.html)


6 pounds moose
4 pounds pork trim
1.5 cups fresh ginger
3 small/medium white onions
1 whole garlic
4 celery sticks peeled
2 yellow peppers
2 red peppers
1.5 cups roger golden syrup
1/8th cup salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1/8th cup bbq seasoning
1/8th cup steak seasoning

Grind meat/trim twice through medium plate. Mince the veggies, add ingredients and mix well, fry up some for taste test, stuff into fresh hog casings.


Enjoy.
 
Big Guy said:
you can get by with using a stuffing horn on your grinder
Click to expand...


My friend is a sausage maker by trade, he has always said it is better to use a real stuffer vrs the grinder with a horn, the reason is with the grinder it has a tendency to "mush" the meat as it is being turned out with the auger, where a stuffer just pushes the meat out.

Don't get me wrong, the grinder will work, and it will still taste great.
 
Bobster said:
My friend is a sausage maker by trade, he has always said it is better to use a real stuffer vrs the grinder with a horn, the reason is with the grinder it has a tendency to "mush" the meat as it is being turned out with the auger, where a stuffer just pushes the meat out.

Don't get me wrong, the grinder will work, and it will still taste great.
Click to expand...
Wouldn't using a course grind plate on a grinder help rectify the meat mushing a bit?



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Meat mushing (smearing) is caused by too high a temp in the meat and or a dull grinder knife or a non flat plate in the grinder.
 
Big Guy said:
Meat mushing (smearing) is caused by too high a temp in the meat and or a dull grinder knife or a non flat plate in the grinder.
Click to expand...
It's also caused by the grinder head not being tight enough and tendon plugging the plate. I've seen crushed ice used to firm up the meat for stuffing, but was wondering if a course grind plate is more appropriate for sausage making and stuffing with a grinder.



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Once the meat has been ground and you want to stuff the casings you should remove the grinding plate and stuff using a stuffing plate. Its a plate with two or three big holes.
 
When I used to use the grinder for stuffing I just took the Knife and plate out. I had a thread on home made tools and linking a few years ago I wonder if it's still around.

Rich
Found it but the pics have disappeared.

Big Guy said:
Once the meat has been ground and you want to stuff the casings you should remove the grinding plate and stuff using a stuffing plate. Its a plate with two or three big holes.
Click to expand...
 
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gitrdun said:
Well, I was looking at a stuffer at TCR, it's a vertical tube with a presser plate that is driven down by a set of right angle gears. The only problem is that the gears are plastic and the lady said that it shouldn't be used for pepperoni sticks. Then there's the 5lb unit at Princess Auto, no gears, it uses mechanical leverage but retails for $34.00
Click to expand...

If you get the Princess Auto unit, get the 8 lb ,in fact get 2 .They make a much better boat anchor with two of them:p

Rich
 
Super bowl Smokies.

5lb Bambi
5lb lean pork butts.
5tbs salt
.5 tbsp cure (if smoking)
500ml canned tomatoes blenderized.
1.5 tbsp black pepper
5tsp marjoram
1tbsp fennel seed
1tbsp mustard seed
150ml powdered skim milk (binder)
3 cloves garlic.

Dry on racks before smoking or just toss 'em on the Q and enjoy.
 
I usually make smaller batches and to save a bit of cash I will go and talk to the meat dept. at the local IGA and ask them for 5 lbs of pork fat. If they are given enough time they will save some for me at no charge. Some stores may not give it to you but it is worth a try.
 
recipes looks good you guys :)
i make an average of 17 diffrent sausages every hunting season
plus pepperoni Yummmm
have a ton of recipes for almost every kind of sausage wont clog up the page with all them but ill post some very yummy ones later on if your all interested :D
 
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