Long time ago I decided I was gonna make sausage, and oh boy have I been procrastinating. I looked up my order history at LEM and I bought this stuffer and tubes almost 3 years ago. I was just being a sissy about stuffing it by myself thinking I couldn't both crank and hold the casing. Said screw it..
So what happened? I thawed a butt to smoke last Saturday but the weather told me that was out. I decided since I just bought the new grinder that some bulk Italian was the plan. That all changed when I saw the bottle of cane syrup from
indaswamp
family sausage recipe thread. I bought in on Amazon with every intention of making it. Procrastinators unite... tomorrow! I was just going to make it in bulk and freeze 1 lb bags for patties etc. Well I screwed up when making it. After going over the thread and checking the measurements I came down to 1/2 TBS of syrup per pound. I had 6 lbs 3 oz so i figured that six half tablespoons of syrup would be a great starting point. Well... I grabbed the tablespoon, not the 1/2 and yep... 6 TBS of cane syrup into the mix. Fried up a test pattie, and it browned just a little/lot more than I cared for... great flavor but the sugar was burning. I tossed it in the fridge and decided that now was the time to link up some sausage. If I'm gonna fail lets go big. The only casings I had were purchased from the sausage maker. The smallest quantity they had was the home pack of hog casings 32-38mm. Didn't wanna buy a large batch until I figured this out.
I normally smoke my brats and italians etc on the pellet pooper up to temp so they never see direct heat / flame so the sugar excess wasn't going to be an issue.
So this is how it worked out. I flushed / rinsed the heck out of the casings several times and then soaked overnight in the fridge with some baking soda mixed in the water. Had zero trouble getting the casings on the horn. It was touch and go at first but my left hand finally got the hang of it. I had to work the two ropes a little after stuffing before tying off to even out the size, but seems to me it worked out in the end. Pricked out the air pockets and then gave them an overall stabbing with the sausage pricker.
Ok... my linking needs work, but even those fat looking ones didn't burst on the smoker so I'm calling it a win.
Threw them in the garage fridge overnight. Wow did the whole garage and fridge smell awesome.
Cut them apart and there's the finished product. Looks like I'm a virgin no more and now it's game on.
I tossed a few on the pellet pooper with some wings last night and they came out perfectly. I have a pic somewhere of that, but thats far more typing than I do in a year. If you made it this far, thanks for looking and happy Friday.
So what happened? I thawed a butt to smoke last Saturday but the weather told me that was out. I decided since I just bought the new grinder that some bulk Italian was the plan. That all changed when I saw the bottle of cane syrup from

I normally smoke my brats and italians etc on the pellet pooper up to temp so they never see direct heat / flame so the sugar excess wasn't going to be an issue.
So this is how it worked out. I flushed / rinsed the heck out of the casings several times and then soaked overnight in the fridge with some baking soda mixed in the water. Had zero trouble getting the casings on the horn. It was touch and go at first but my left hand finally got the hang of it. I had to work the two ropes a little after stuffing before tying off to even out the size, but seems to me it worked out in the end. Pricked out the air pockets and then gave them an overall stabbing with the sausage pricker.
Ok... my linking needs work, but even those fat looking ones didn't burst on the smoker so I'm calling it a win.
Threw them in the garage fridge overnight. Wow did the whole garage and fridge smell awesome.
Cut them apart and there's the finished product. Looks like I'm a virgin no more and now it's game on.
I tossed a few on the pellet pooper with some wings last night and they came out perfectly. I have a pic somewhere of that, but thats far more typing than I do in a year. If you made it this far, thanks for looking and happy Friday.