Sausage noob - how to get into it??

If you can get one buy the stuffer it makes it so much better. You can stuff with that grinder but not so much fun...You can probably learn more about sausage making here than any book you can buy..You just have to go thru alot of material. Plus here you can ask questions when you have them...Good luck..

Do like I did and talk people into getting you a grinder and stuffer for X-mas then grind up a pork butt, stuff it and grill the sausage to find out the butt was too lean and your sausage is really dry. Then buy some bacon fat and re-grind the leftover sausage and continue to eat your mistake feeling really good knowing you learned a lot on your first time!!! (Sorry I couldn't resist it)

I have the Kitchener 12# and though I've only used it once, errr twice, it seems like a very good low cost grinder. I also have a Grizzly 5# stuffer and have used it a few times and it works Great! It has the plastic gears but I think as long as I'm careful with it I won't have any problems and if I do, Lem sells metal gears that will fit it. The Grizzly also has a standard O-ring that will be easy to replace if needed, some stuffers have a strange expensive hard to find O-ring.

Tried to stuff with my 1/2h Cabelas grinder what a pain that was invest in a stuffer you will never regret it IMHO Good luck and let us know.

TeeBob, this is the best book that I have found.

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing

And of course, right here.

Tom,

Northern Tool usually runs a $20 off $100 and $10 off $50 purchase coupon special every month or two.  That's how I got my #12 Kitchener grinder and 5 pound stuffer in December.  For an entry level both work great, and there are a lot of people here that use them (or the Grizzly model which appears to be identical and replacement metal gears are available if needed).

I could not find a current discount code and the ones I have expired the end of January.  Should see new ones in the next week or so and I'll send them to you and post on SMF if I get them.   Also with Northern if you have a local store and they don't stock the stuffer, just do free ship to store when you order and avoid paying shipping charges. Most stores stock the grinder on the shelf, but if not, just order it shipped to store as well.

I lucked up in December and bought mine when both were on sale and used the coupons on top of that.  Got the grinder for $75 and the stuffer for $59 after all discounts if my memory serves correct. 

I'm very satisfied with the #12 Kitchener grinder and believe it will handle my needs for quite a while to come.  I almost bought a LEM from Bass Pro on sale for over $300 but after using the Kitchener I'm very happy with what we bought it instead.  Unless you are going to grind massive amounts of meat on a regular basis (like whole deer, etc...), the Kitchener will work fine.

First grind was about 15 pounds of chuck roast into ground beef that we vacuum packed in 1 pound bags. Took me longer to cut the roasts into 3/4" square long strips than it did to grind.  Cut into 3/4"x3/4"x however long strips, the Kitchener sucked the strips in as fast as I could feed them (cut so they would go down the throat without stomping, some people cube, but I liked the long strip as it's less cutting). The roast was 1/2 price at Kroger as it was at the "sell by" date and that ground beef has some of the best flavor.  Best part is we know what's in it instead of taking whatever trimmings and other parts the store would have had on hand the day they ground theirs.  80/20 ground beef is hitting $4 a pound here and I can still get normal priced chuck roasts in bulk at Sam's club for about 2.39 to 2.59 (varies) and grind my own all day long.  I can trim it as lean as I want also. Now we are constantly on the watch for 1/2 price "sell by date" markdowns and have ground up beef, chicken and pork for various items and sausage.

teebob2000 said:

Dave - thanks tons!!  Fellow noobs, unite!!

So sounds like you got a separate stuffer?  Is there a reason why you decided not to use the grinder for stuffing?

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Yes!

You can easily overwork the meat and have the fats start to smear when using a grinder as a stuffer, and it's easy to over emulsify the meat (for grinds where you don't want it emulsified).  And if you use encapsulated citric acid (ECA is how you will see it in a recipe usually) it will break open the fat capsules and make the meat turn whitish and mealy.  Plus a grinder used as a stuffer is harder to control the feed rate on as most grinders have one speed, "ON". I can crank my manual stuffer as fast or slow as I want.  Go too fast and you can over stuff the casing and have blow outs.  Also feeding once ground meat into the hopper of a grinder will require more effort than dropping in strips of cut meat. The once ground meat tends to want to clump up in the feed tube from the tray and you have to use the stomper to work it down into the auger.  I can see where you would need about 3 hands to work the casing, feed and stomp the meat all the while trying to keep up with the output of the grinder (one speed - "ON"), and and add another hand or two to curl your sausage onto you tray and keep it from sliding off the tray.

If you do use a grinder you need to get a stuffing plate and spacer so you can run it without the blade.  The plate keeps the auger centered in the bore of the housing and the Kitchener #12 does not come with the plate.  I know it comes with stuffing tubes and you would think it was made to stuff, but if you use those tubes all your spices, cure, etc... *MUST* be mixed with the meat before your grind it. Otherwise if you grind, mix, let it sit in the fridge for the cure to work, etc... and then regrind/stuff you run the risk of overworking the meat and having the sausage come out more like hot dog texture instead of home made sausage.

Like I said, for the price of the Kitchener 5# (or Grizzly) stuffer it's worth it to have the greater level of control.  Let the grinder do what it does best, which is grind and let the stuffer do what it does best also.

Not saying you can't use a grinder as a stuffer, but I think you will be much happier if you don't.   Pretty much everybody here uses a stand alone stuffer.

I started making my own sausage on the cheap. I used my wife's Kitchenaid mixer with the grinder and stuffer attachment. This worked ok until I really got into it. Invested in a good grinder so I wouldn't burn out the Kitchenaid. (Would have caused me more grief than I was willing to deal with!) Since really getting into sausage making, having a good grinder and stuffer, even a manual stuffer, is well worth the investment. I probably make 30+ pounds of sausage per month. Although most of my main ingredients consist of wild game, you can do the same will purchased butts or most other meats. I would suggest trying the prepared kits from Hi Mountain or Lems to get started. You can always tweak these mixes to taste, but they come with the spices and cures you need for a wide variety of sausages. After you get comfortable with the process, there are sources out there for all the spices and cures you would ever need. I currently make breakfast style sausage, Italian, both mild and hot, hot links, brats, snack sticks, summer sausage,and boudin. Must be doing something right, because friends bring me their wild game to process for them. Actually had a guy drop off an entire deer this last season. Said to keep what I wanted as long as he got a few pounds of summer sausage! One warning. Making your own sausage will become addicting! I have lots of fun making sausage for friends, and experimenting with different blends and spices. My 3 boys eat it all, so I never have a problem with overproduction. I would encourage anyone to jump in and try this. You'll soon be making some delicious food, better, cheaper and healthier than the stuff you buy.