First time sausage help

[DanMcG]

I think she would freak and stress over cross contamination that will kill people when they eat her Christmas cookies. :D

:eek: :D

 

[murraysmokin]

Sherry raises an good question... What grind? Any takers? Looking to produce a product on the level of store bought so I wager a dual grind, coarse then fine is the way to go.

Here is my general practice for all my noncured sausage I always only grind once on my small plate, mix by hand until really sticky, add extras cheese jalapeno etc, then into the stuffer, once stuffed link them & then water bath them up to at least 155, cool at room temp package in 4 or 5 & freeze.

 

[zwiller]

Good idea to start with mixes and kits first. I have had my eye on some of the AC Leggs stuff. I am eager to do some snack sticks but that will have to wait until I get a good stuffer and small tube. Looking at the Hakka Bros 7lb...

Just assumed you had to course grind first and then fine but can you grind with a fine plate from the get go?

 

[tallbm]

Good idea to start with mixes and kits first. I have had my eye on some of the AC Leggs stuff. I am eager to do some snack sticks but that will have to wait until I get a good stuffer and small tube. Looking at the Hakka Bros 7lb...

Just assumed you had to course grind first and then fine but can you grind with a fine plate from the get go?

I think it will depend on your grinder. With mine I grind almost everything using a 3/8" plate and never need to regrind for making hog or sheep casing stuffed sausages or ground meat jerky. If you have a Kitchen Aid I would imagine you need to grind big first and then grind small so the device isn't too strained.

Also a word of advise on the stuffer. Get one that has a capacity larger than what you normally intend to stuff. They never fill to listed capacity and are usually short 1.5 - 2 pounds of their listed capacity.

So if you normally just do 5 pounds of sausage at a time then get a 7 pound stuffer. If you normally do 10 pounds at a time get one that does more than 10.

I usually do a number of increments of 20 pounds after my annual hunting harvest so I have a 22-23 pound stuffer (10L).
It is awesome to get a whole 20 pound batch done without refilling. Try this with a 5 pound stuffer that really only does 4 pounds and man you are there ALL DAY!

I hope this info helps :)

 

[zwiller]

Possibly the most stupid sausage making question of all time but what grind is typical hamburger from the store?

 

[indaswamp]

4.5mm or 3/16" plate.

 

[zwiller]

Deed is done. Broke down the butt into chunks and got rid of anything that looked CT but surprisingly there was not much. Froze an hour and proceeded to grind with fine plate. All went fine. Only hiccups were butt was a little gamey smelling (that typical?) and I need to redistribute chinks halfway in the freeze.

 

[zwiller]

Followed the Fassett's recipe on 2lbs and added some coriander and brown sugar on another 2lbs. Kept a little under 3lbs plain for later use. This is the Fassett's.

Not the best money shot but sausage was good and no one got sick! LOL

 

[DanMcG]

Only hiccups were butt was a little gamey smelling (that typical?)

No, that's not really normal, but it happens

 

[indaswamp]

Only hiccups were butt was a little gamey smelling (that typical?)

Was this before or after grinding and did you remove the glands in the pork butt?

 

[zwiller]

Thanks. Wife kept making me put off the grind... Next time I won't or I'll do it outside.

LOL before I forget that pic is not of my plate but for my 5YO. I never really get a full plate while I am manning the griddle.

Smell was before grinding. Glands?! Woah. Never heard of that! Thankfully it looks like some the junk I cut off. Glad I was little picky! Sausage smelled totally fine after freezing and during cooking.

 

[chopsaw]

Looks like you got it figured out . Good job .

 

[indaswamp]

 

[indaswamp]

Not all butts are cut the same. you my have to dig between the meat layers to find it, but it is there. just cut it out and discard.

 

[SherryT]

I haven't used a dedicated grinder yet, just my KA, but I'm thinking you're right about the grinder used...I know I didn't want to push the KA too hard (I use it a LOT...her name is Ethel and I love her :D), so I worked my way down to the grind I was looking for (close to what most folks expect from store-bought pan sausage such as Jimmy Dean).

Just thought I'd add some info on my experience with the KA grinder attachment...

Ground up a small butt today (net 2lbs after grind) for my 1st bratwurst (YEAH!) and I learned that it doesn't like the connective tissue...had to pop the ring/plate/knife off a couple of times to sort of "unwind" it & get it out of the way.

Gonna stay with the KA grinder for now until I get the hang of this and THEN I'll spend the $$ for a proper grinder.

Now, off to try out the KA stuffer attachment...I'm going to go ahead and predict I'll be buying a proper stuffer along with a proper grinder...;)

 

[tallbm]

Just thought I'd add some info on my experience with the KA grinder attachment...

Ground up a small butt today (net 2lbs after grind) for my 1st bratwurst (YEAH!) and I learned that it doesn't like the connective tissue...had to pop the ring/plate/knife off a couple of times to sort of "unwind" it & get it out of the way.

Gonna stay with the KA grinder for now until I get the hang of this and THEN I'll spend the $$ for a proper grinder.

Now, off to try out the KA stuffer attachment...I'm going to go ahead and predict I'll be buying a proper stuffer along with a proper grinder...;)

When it comes to a stuffer make sure you get one that handles a couple pounds more than what you normally stuff.
So if you normally stuff 10 pounds of sausage then you want one that holds 11-12 pounds because you lose a pound or two from what they claim. This means you only load and stuff once.
This may not seem like an issue until the day comes you want to do 20 pounds of sausage with a 5 pound stuffer and it takes 5 loads. You will be spending much more time and effort reloading and such.
I also think you will find that if you are going to go through the trouble of making sausage you may want to make 10-20 pounds at a time so you can pull some out of the deep freeze whenever you want :)

As for grinders, get one that is all metal, and IMPORTANTLY one that doesn't run hot.
You see so many instructions like "put all of your grinder parts in the freezer before grinding" because many grinders run hot. Mine never heats up so I don't have to stop grinding which is awesome when I grind 100+ pounds of meat each year after my big hunting trip :)

Best of luck and keep this info in mind :)

 

[zwiller]

The cliff notes of Marianki's book are to use a hand grinder until you start going beyond 5lbs or so but invest in a proper stuffer right out of the gate and this matches what I have gleaned here.

 

[zwiller]

Round 2... Added some brown sugar to this one and glad I did! Much better browning.