not only do you control the quality of ingrediants especially the meats used, you know they are yours, but aside from that fact which is main reason i make my own you also get to tweak the recipes to your own families likings, ie more pepper or sage for example. when mixing we always fry some patties before stuffing to ck and last minute adj can be made. i just checked at the most reputable butcher that i wud even remotly trust in my area who processes venison and 25 lbs is the smallest bach he will make. in december i made sausage using elk,antelope,and deer and made 6 varieties which are my favorites, most batches were 10-15 lbs. so i have(or had its gettin thin in the freezer already) a nice variety of sausage to choose from. and maybe its just me, i like venison, have not boughten beef other for imediate fresh use on the grill, but i remember back in the day where we would make sausage and it was all one kind and it was great but after a month or two it didnt go as fast. change it up and you will not be sayin sausage again(even tho its great). commercially made sausage is exactly that. in my opinion there is no place i could take my venison and pork that there would be the attention given to it that i provide when i make my own. and it is like anything else the satisfaction of being able to say i made this myself, and ending up with something far superior is incentive enuff. i also hang onto the past a bit, i still have all the stuff my parents and grand parents used and is kind of neat to get it out every once in a while and make some sausage.