Ah yes, the Jalapeno cheddar smokie. So many parallels to my sausage making journey. It's actually the first sausage I made after watching the meatchurch video, I did it with a kitchenaid grinder stuffed into collagen casings, AND I did them on my Traeger too! The only difference is that since I couldn't find the meatchurch rub, I had to find an alternate recipe. Luckily we have a butcher here in Canada that shares all his recipes on YouTube and I've used his ever since.
I will say that after using the Kitchenaid attachment, I quickly bought a dedicated grinder and stuffer. I also switched to natural hog casings as soon as I found a reliable source. Before the switch, I found that I would stuff the collagen casings to what I thought was enough, only to have it expand due to absorbing moisture, or I'd overstuff and I'd get blowouts after waiting too long before twisting.
The others are leading you down the right path. Once you start using recipes, you can taylor the flavors and salt content to your taste. I tend to stick to a total salt content of 1.75% as it's a nice balance between not salty enough and too salty.
Great start all the same!
I will say that after using the Kitchenaid attachment, I quickly bought a dedicated grinder and stuffer. I also switched to natural hog casings as soon as I found a reliable source. Before the switch, I found that I would stuff the collagen casings to what I thought was enough, only to have it expand due to absorbing moisture, or I'd overstuff and I'd get blowouts after waiting too long before twisting.
The others are leading you down the right path. Once you start using recipes, you can taylor the flavors and salt content to your taste. I tend to stick to a total salt content of 1.75% as it's a nice balance between not salty enough and too salty.
Great start all the same!
