Brats

I ground out about 5 lbs of brats last night- sausage making is hard work! I ended up stuffing them through the coarse plate, 'cause the fine plate was taking too long. They're not too shabby for my first attempt, if I do say so myself. I used one of the recipes from the files section of the site- from that huge pdf of sausage recipes. I'll have to print out the rest of it at work today . . .

xczar: The filling is a little coarse, but not too bad all things considered. The wife has got the camera as she's visiting her family in TX, so I don't have any pics. I'll get pics of the next batch for sure.

Jim: Thanks for the tips; I was wondering about just taking the grinding plate out. The guy at the butcher shop where I picked up the casings said to grind through the fine plate, which is why I tried it. It seemed to be getting clogged up with connective tissue that wouldn't quite go through. I'd probably be a lot better off grinding through the fine plate solo, then taking it off and stuffing.
I've got a few jalapenos coming on in the garden. I might try some hot links . . .