1st Sausage A Success So Far

[Norwester55]

I picked up 18-19 lbs of chicken thighs on sale earlier this week , deboned ended up with a tad under 15 lbs. I decided that tropics chicken Italian sausage would be the way to go. Used McCormicks Italian seasoning (4 tbs) because I keep forgetting to order marjoram and they want an arm and a leg for it at the store. I cut back the salt by a little more than a 3rd and added MSG and amesphos. And a tsp of #1 cure because why not? Plus a cup of Merlot. 1st 5 lbs I went with regular sausage and the second 5 lbs I added a couple tsps of crushed red pepper. I'll adjust that up or down next time probably up. The 4 lbs I had left over I was going to add more fennel and garlic and use for spaghetti but its tasty enough that I may eat it as breakfast sausage. Thanks to reading everybody's stories, tips and advice here it went pretty smoothly. I was disorganized enough though that I didn't take pics nor chew gum.
I'll let it sit in the fridge overnight and try it tomorrow but the patty I cooked up in the air fryer was really good!

 

[chopsaw]

Very nice . Richie's recipe is my go to for chicken sausage . I like it fried in a cast iron grill pan , then finished in the oven .
Just FYI , chicken sausage likes to expand when cooked ( depending on the moisture ) , so a good twist on the ends goes a long way .

Great job on that .

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

Those look incredible. Big Like!

 

[Norwester55]

Very nice . Richie's recipe is my go to for chicken sausage . I like it fried in a cast iron grill pan , then finished in the oven .
Just FYI , chicken sausage likes to expand when cooked ( depending on the moisture ) , so a good twist on the ends goes a long way .

Great job on that .

Thanks, Maybe I'll twist a little more but I tried not to overfill the casings so hopefully they'll be OK. It was a learning experience for sure!

 

[drdon]

Nice work. Did you use the cure for the first 5 pounds, or the entire 14? Lookin' for the cookin' shot.
Don

 

[tropics]

Nice job on the sausage links look great.Thanks for the mention.Likes
Richie

 

[chopsaw]

It was a learning experience for sure!

It gets easier . I do mine over a couple days now . Make sure you have what you need as far as mixing lugs / bowls , fridge space , and clean as you go .

 

[Norwester55]

It gets easier . I do mine over a couple days now . Make sure you have what you need as far as mixing lugs / bowls , fridge space , and clean as you go .

Yeah, I'll do it that way next time. Grind and mix the 1st day. And the chicken does really expand. Twisted some more but still had a little squirting out. Oh well, it tastes good and another lesson learned! Fridge space? Haha! I've got a pork loin in Pops brine right now and 20 lbs of Tillamook Med cheddar that was on sale for $3.98 for a two lbs block awhile back sitting in there waiting for cooler weather to smoke. I need a mini fridge!

Nice work. Did you use the cure for the first 5 pounds, or the entire 14? Lookin' for the cookin' shot.
Don

I used it for the whole batch Don. I figure better safe than sorry. I didn't get a cooking shot as of yet, wasn't real pretty as I had some squirting out the end. I'll try twisting the links a bit more and see if that helps.

 

[chopsaw]

I actually cooked up the last four links I had tonight . It's really good . Kids love it .
How did you cook it ? Mine don't push out the end as much now . I dry under a fan after I stuff . I leave it linked , then freeze . After froze I cut the individual links and vac pack .