New Years Sausage Making

[---k---]

I've been stock piling pork trimmings from ribs, butt, and belly for the last 6 months with the intent of making sausage. I was up to 13# before we were almost out of room in the freezer. I've made sausage twice before using the Kitchen Aid Grinder / Stuffer kit. The grinder works well. The stuffer is works but is awkward and slow. I had been holding out for a real stuffer. So, for Christmas, my amazing wife got me a 5# Sausage Stuffer from Northern Tools. It helps when the flyer shows up with it on sale for $79 and you circle it with a note that says, "The Brethren recommend this as a great Christmas Gift" :-D http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200449319_200449319


I made up 5# of Italian and 2.5 # of Polish using Rytek Kutas's book recipe and 3# of thirdeye's Farm sausage and 2.5# of Garlic Sausage from http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage recipes.htm

Anyway, here is the obligatory pron:

After my brisket came off last night, I threw one link of each in for my sausage tasting menu. :wink:

The Italian has been a winner every time! Such a simple recipe of salt, sugar, pepper, and fennel seed. I made 8 1/4# patties and 12 6" links (about 1/4# each). It was good pan fried and last night off the smoker after 1 hr @ 250 was really really good. Has a very light, fresh taste. Highly recommend.

The Polish I'm struggling with. I think I'm not reducing the recipe from 10# to 2.5 correctly. I'm also using fresh garlic and maybe not getting the amount right versus the what I think is dried in the book? When I fried some up it was too heavy on the garlic. I doubled the pepper and thought it tasted better fried after that, but not great. But off the smoker last night it was much better and everyone seemed to really like it. It had bolder flavor than the Italian, but not overwhelming. It wasn't as strong / bold as a Chicago Maxwell Street Polish. I can't place it, but it is still missing something. I'm not a mustard guy, but eating it I was thinking how good spicy mustard would complement it. :shocked: We won't have problems eating it (as long as it is off the grilled / smoked), but I'm going to look for another Polish recipe.

Thirdeye's Farm Sausage. I was a bit shocked at the volume of spice that went into this one, especially compared to the two previous. Probably 5x to 10x as much as the Italian, with 1/4 cup of onion and parsley. I had in mind wanting Polish, not breakfast. This was a concession to my wife who wanted breakfast sausage. But man, once I got a little patty fried up it was really good. I really liked it. Thirdeye's description is exactly correct. Great fried up for breakfast, but would also be good on a bun! Off the smoker it was great. I will be keeping this recipe. :thumb: The recipe is here: http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1998/02/sausage-recipes.html


The Garlic Sausage was a disappointment. Two Brethren said they had made it and it was good. I have a suspicion it was all me. The recipe calls for dry white wine. I've never developed a taste for alcohol. Usually this isn't a problem with cooked food. But when I fried a small patty up, it was overwhelming white wine flavor. My wife, who does drink wine, agreed. I tried to throw some some more spices in to balance it out. But, it wasn't working. We decided it wasn't worth stuffing. Having seen the difference in flavor of the polish smoked versus fried, I wish I would have.

So that is all. Sausage is really easy. Everyone should try it! The Northern Tool stuffer worked well for me. The biggest challenge is keeping everything clean as you go, which is multiplied when doing 4 different recipes. 15# of one recipe would be so easy!

 

[LM600]

Very cool!

Everyone should make their own snags at least once.

 

[stin187]

once the pastrami is done sausage is next on my list. thanks for the post and the tips :thumb:

 

[Phrasty]

I have the same stuffer! Works great! Congrats & great looking links!

Cheers

 

[Chickenbone]

I'm wondering if you might get better results after burning off the alcohol. Try measuring out twice the amount of wine and reducing same in a super hot pan to get the amount you need.

 

[KnucklHed BBQ]

Nice write up K! I've been eyeballin' that same suffer for a while wondering if the plastic gears would hold up, it seems like the folks that have had problems with them are the ones that aren't paying attention when the stuffer is empty and they try to crank it any ways... I've definitely had enough of the suffer attachment on the kitchen aid... Only golf makes me more frustrated than that thing!

I've also been looking at the grinder from northern tool, seems like everyone has really good luck with it, and the ones that don't obviously have the cutting blade backwards...

$100 ain't bad...
http://m.northerntool.com/northernt...Id=151342&categoryId=&path=&productName=false

 

[---k---]

I'm wondering if you might get better results after burning off the alcohol. Try measuring out twice the amount of wine and reducing same in a super hot pan to get the amount you need.

It wasn't so much the alcohol but just overwhelming wine flavor. Maybe it wasn't a good wine to cook with, maybe I didn't measure out quite the right amount. I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure it was me.

Nice write up K! I've been eyeballin' that same suffer for a while wondering if the plastic gears would hold up, it seems like the folks that have had problems with them are the ones that aren't paying attention when the stuffer is empty and they try to crank it any ways... I've definitely had enough of the suffer attachment on the kitchen aid...

I've only used the stuffer once, so I can't say to the durability yet. But I must say it was effortless to crank. I had to use very little pressure. I can't see how the plastic gears would wear out with occasional use. It's light, so it needs to be clamped down. I just clamped one side and it was good.

 

[chicagokp]

What you did looks great. This is something else to add to my already long list. Geez I need a deep freeze....

What kind of casing did you use for the link sausages? Is it just easier at this point to use butchers twine? Will you freeze the sausage and then thaw and smoke as needed? Or smoke it and then freeze? Just curious on your long term storage plan?

 

[---k---]

I used the "fresh" collagen casings from www.SausageMaker.com . The first time I made sausage, I used the casings from Bass Pro Shop, because they were local and easy to get. The casings worked fine, but are a little thicker. Our friend's 4 year old had trouble biting through them. I didn't have a problem, but the "fresh" are better. I think Bass Pro's are probably the same thickness as the "Smoked" from SausageMaker. They are thicker to allow hanging. A natural casing is better, but more work. Once I perfect my flavors and techniques, maybe I'll move up to natural casings.

Butcher's twine is sort of a pain in the butt. But, I'm not sure of a better method.

This is all fresh sausage, no curing agents. I vac sealed up two sausages in a pint bag and into the freezer. I'll defrost and grill indirect heat or on the smoker as needed. The patties will get used up for breakfast, Italian dishes, fatties, etc. Some will be given away to family and friends. Should keep for a good 6 mo.

I too need a deep freeze, but got no place to put it.

 

[chicagokp]

Thanks for the info! I will continue to research and watch before I attempt...but I'm getting antsy to get some sausage made!

 

[Rich Parker]

I made 6lbs of Thirdeyes farm sausage recipe yesterday and it was awesome.

 

[Arlin_MacRae]

Perfect timing, k! My casings arrive tomorrow and I'm psyched!

 

[bigabyte]

At least you had some successes in there. Keep at it.:thumb: Most of the failures are still pretty good eating really.