Sausage Makers - How fine do you grind?

gtr · Nov 15, 2012

Just curious to see what others are doing and why.

I grind with a KA mixer attachment. Lately I just grind through the coarse plate once, which seems to give a decent texture. I do this for both bulk and link sausage.

So what do y'all do, and do you do the same for bulk and link?

chad · Nov 15, 2012

It depends on the sausage, but most get coarse grind. I use a KA for grinding, too. the important thing is that you like it.

Swamp Donkeyz BBQ · Nov 15, 2012

I grind my regular sausage pretty coarse.

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BobBrisket · Nov 15, 2012

I only grind it once and that's a course grind.

Brother Matt · Nov 15, 2012

Depends on the sausage for me. I do try to only grind once, regardless of size, otherwise it starts to turn into paste. For loose sausage like breakfast I like the fine plate, which on my machine is 3/16". For brats and other cased sausages I typically run the coarse plate, which is 3/8". I just did a big run of breakfast sausage and used Alton Brown's recipe. It looks pretty strange at first blush, but it is the best breakfast sausage I've made yet.

cholloway · Nov 15, 2012

Coarse. Especially chili meat but includes hamburger, ground beef or pork and sausage. I did modify the fine plate to open the sides for sausages that have rice in it. I don't like the rice ground up much.

GARNAAL · Nov 15, 2012

it all depends on what ype of sausage you want to make...

for hotdogs and typical emulsified sausages you use a fine plate 1/8 to 3/16 inch (grind 1x or 2x) or you can even grind the meats in a kitchen machine with a rotating knife until you get a fine emulsified paste..

for Salami types and typical cured/air dried sausages you use the larger plates , 3/8 inch or 10 mm.. and make sure you partly freeze the meat and fat to get a nice clean and rougher cut without smearing the paste ...

for our hamburgers and gyros I grind with the 3/8 inch plate..

boatnut · Nov 15, 2012

for sausage, I mostly use the 6mm plate which is close to 1/4" holes.

GARNAAL · Nov 15, 2012

it all depends on what type of sausage you want to make...

for hotdogs and typical emulsified sausages you use a fine plate 1/8 to 3/16 inch (grind 1x or 2x) or you can even grind the meats in a kitchen machine with a rotating knife until you get a fine emulsified paste..

for Salami types and typical cured/air dried sausages you use the larger plates up to 3/8 inch or 10 mm.. and make sure you partly freeze the meat and fat to get a nice clean and rougher cut without smearing the paste ...

for our hamburgers and gyros I use the 3/8 inch plate..

bigabyte · Nov 15, 2012

I use a KA grinder, and in most cases just a coarse grind is what I want. If I want the sausage to be a smoother then I run it again through the fine plate. It's generally a judgement call as I'm making the sausage as to what texture I want, but it's not all that often that I run it through twice Most of the kinds of sausage I make are meant to be coarse.

Wallaby · Nov 15, 2012

I use a coarse grind for breakfast sausage, but fine for pepperoni, summer sausage, baloney.

Mike

The_Kapn · Nov 15, 2012

Coarse grind for sausage and ground beef.
By the time I "handle" it some for further processing, it is effectively smaller.
Works for me.

TIM

BobBrisket · Nov 15, 2012

The_Kapn said:
Coarse grind for sausage and ground beef.
By the time I "handle" it some for further processing, it is effectively smaller.
Works for me.

TIM

True. If you do some more hand mixing to it, it breaks the grind down even further.

IamMadMan · Nov 15, 2012

For smoked Kielbasa I use an 8mm or a 10mm plate

for other fresh sausages or summer sausage I use a 6mm plate

For Mortadella, Bologna, and frankfurters I use a 3mm Plate grind twice then emulsify with crushed ice before stuffing.

DougMorford · Nov 15, 2012

I do a course grind for fresh sausage. If I'm adding fat, I'll grind that by itself first, then mix it up into the cubed meat and seasoning. I pre-grind the fat so it's more continuous throughout the sausage. I don't like the texture as much if it's ground more than once.

bluetang · Nov 15, 2012

IamMadMan said:
For smoked Kielbasa I use an 8mm or a 10mm plate

for other fresh sausages or summer sausage I use a 6mm plate

For Mortadella, Bologna, and frankfurters I use a 3mm Plate grind twice then emulsify with crushed ice before stuffing.

Exactly the same here.

cowgirl · Nov 15, 2012

I use a coarse grind for most sausages.
Getting ready to grind some venison for brats if I can stay awake long enough tonight. :grin:

Cabin Fever · Nov 16, 2012

Since were on the topic of grinders, does anyone know where I can find a fine grinding plate for the Kitchen Aid? Both of the plates the attachment came with are pretty coarse and I'd like to try my hand at making hot dogs and bologna once I pick up a stuffer. Online searches really haven't come up with much.

gtr · Nov 16, 2012

Cabin Fever said:
Since were on the topic of grinders, does anyone know where I can find a fine grinding plate for the Kitchen Aid? Both of the plates the attachment came with are pretty coarse and I'd like to try my hand at making hot dogs and bologna once I pick up a stuffer. Online searches really haven't come up with much.

I am not aware of where to find one, but you can emulsify the meat with a food processor.

IamMadMan · Nov 16, 2012

Cabin Fever said:
Since were on the topic of grinders, does anyone know where I can find a fine grinding plate for the Kitchen Aid? Both of the plates the attachment came with are pretty coarse and I'd like to try my hand at making hot dogs and bologna once I pick up a stuffer. Online searches really haven't come up with much.

For the current Kitchenaid grinder attachment I see only 1/4" and 3/16" plates available.

If you have an older model there is a 1/8" plate [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Grinder-plate-Vintage-Kitchenaid-grinder/dp/B008KLOQBA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1353066556&sr=8-6&keywords=kitchenaid+grinder+plate"]Here[/ame]

To get a finer grind you can partially refreeze the product after the first grind and then regrind when partially frozen.

An other alternative is to go to a machine shop and ask them to make a plate with smaller holes similar to the plate you have. Just make sure when you reduce the size of the holes in the plate that you will have many more smaller holes or the grinder can back-up and possibly damage the drive. Grind with a larger plate then use you smaller plate.

Also on a web search I see that the "Oster" plate look similar to "Kitchenaid" grinder plates, I am not sure what their product line contains.

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Sausage Makers - How fine do you grind?

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