cost of making smoked sausage

[cal1956]

has anyone ever tried to calulate the real cost of making sausage ? it can be a real challenge due to the intangables such as electric/gas/wood then there is the cost of equipment and of course meat,spices, cure and the like .most of us do it because we enjoy it so cost isn't really what drives us . but it might be an interesting /enlighting topic of conversation

 

[torp3t3d0]

I don't make my smoked sausage to save money but to capture the flavors I want and the fun of doing it!!!

 

[cal1956]

and I DO believe thats why most of us do it but there is a cost to it that would be interesting to try and calulate, sometime in the next couple of months we will be making a large batch of smoked sausage and i am trying to gather everything needed and i figure its going to cost somewhere in the $ 400.00- 500.00 range to make approx . 150 lbs, but even that number doesn't factor in the intangables

 

[woody1951]

I don't make my smoked sausage to save money but to capture the flavors I want and the fun of doing it!!!

You can never compete moneywise with an industrial process. Just like when I used to brew, it's a labor of love. And when you finally get everything right you have a superior product to anything you can buy at the grocery. I had a friend that gave me some deer trim. I made a jalapeno, mesquite sausage with that,

 

[crazymoon]

C1956, I know that I could buy store bought sausage cheaper than I can make mine . My sausage is 10 times better than store bought so worth every penny ! :)

 

[Brokenhandle]

Plus the fact if you make your own you know exactly what's in it. I'm not sure you can put a price on the pure enjoyment and a great big smile when a batch comes out just perfect!

Ryan

 

[DougE]

I'm not sure you can put a price on the pure enjoyment and a great big smile when a batch comes out just perfect!

I don't believe you can!!!
On the other side of that, nothing always comes out perfect, but my every now and then mistake is usually still edible, although not the quality it should have been if I did everything right.

 

[indaswamp]

$2.14/per pound....that includes everything, even the propane. But only when I use 50% wild hog and buy commercial pork butts for $0.99/#.

 

[DougE]

It really depends on the type of sausage I'm making as to whether it's cheaper to make or buy. Some cost more than buying similar in the store; some less. The main thing about making my own is that I know what's in it, I can adjust spices to our liking, and the overall quality of what I make is way above commercially made sausages.

 

[chopsaw]

I sure don't see the more money to make your own . My sausage stuffer and grinder were paid for long ago . Get butts on sale around .99 to a buck 50 . Bulk seasonings I use for more things than sausage . Even a pre mix only cost
$10.00 or less .
Good butcher shop sausage around here is around 6 bucks a pound .

 

[pushok2018]

I don't make my smoked sausage to save money but to capture the flavors I want and the fun of doing it!!!

I know that I could buy store bought sausage cheaper than I can make mine . My sausage is 10 times better than store bought so worth every penny !

I couldn't say any better!

 

[jimmyinsd]

for those of us that are using wild game.. kind of hard to say its cheaper going to a store as the lockers have gotten very expensive for turning venison trim into the various products.... and there is always the question of whose meat you get back and how was it cared for prior to processing? I know that I am saving money doing my own vs having a locker plant do it, hell half the meat is essentially free where if you bought commercial sausage you would be buying all the meat. now if you want to factor in the cost of the hunting license, gun, ammo, time, etc... but at some point you just have put the costs out of your mind and do it just because its what you enjoy.

 

[Brokenhandle]

That's true! Otherwise you'll have to start figuring out how much your time is worth while you're sitting watching TV. Can't put a price on hobbies you enjoy.

Ryan

 

[Sven Svensson]

I had an old friend calculate the cost of his fish per pound after he bought a new bass boat and a ton of new gear. It would have been cheaper to make bratwurst!

 

[poacherjoe]

In the past I would take my wild game to a processor and have them cut and wrap and make SS and pepper sticks. I always took clean carcasses to them and I saw some very disgusting deer and elk hanging in there that I didn't want mixed up with my meat when making SS or sticks and they all told me that mine would be done with just my meat ! What a lie that was , You could taste the gut shot meat in those sticks and most of the butchers had helpers that helped themselves to my chops and tenderloins too. I had a kid work for me that had worked at one of these butchers and he told me how much he and his cohorts took home . That being said I purchased everything I needed to do it myself and I wish I had done it sooner. It's WAY cheaper in my opinion to make these things yourself and to your own standards for taste. The last time I was in Nebraska it was 5 bucks a pound for them to make pepper sticks and 15 bucks to do the same in California. That was 15 years ago so it's got to be double that now.

 

[atomicsmoke]

I haven't calculated how much is costing me to make sausage, but I did that for smoked fish and charcuterie. I included my time at straight rate (vs 1.5x or 2x overtime - real rates in my line of work). It came out more expensive than high quality store bought products. Some a lot more expensive. So I went thru my portfolio of products I make regularly and took a bunch out; I can buy a variety of fermented sausages imported from France, very good products (better than my fermented sausages), reasonable prices, so that was an easy decision. Italian coppa from Costco, also better than mine - another one down.

I still smoke (cold and hot smoke) fish since I can get a variety of good fish (coho, king and sockeye salmon) which are not common as commercial smoked products.

For other products such as smoked duck breast, basic cold smoked sausage (fresh or dried), bacon, smoked backfat, organ sausage, headcheese I will continue to make them even if they are not worth from a cost perspective; couldn't find commercial products that are as good as I make them.

Friends have asked me to make charcuterie for profit, after eating my products at our gatherings; when I told them how much I'd have to charge to make it worthwhile they said they were not interested.

 

[woody1951]

for those of us that are using wild game.. kind of hard to say its cheaper going to a store as the lockers have gotten very expensive for turning venison trim into the various products.... and there is always the question of whose meat you get back and how was it cared for prior to processing? I know that I am saving money doing my own vs having a locker plant do it, hell half the meat is essentially free where if you bought commercial sausage you would be buying all the meat. now if you want to factor in the cost of the hunting license, gun, ammo, time, etc... but at some point you just have put the costs out of your mind and do it just because its what you enjoy.