My First Sausage

[Worble7]

Trying Sausage for the first time SmokinEdge educate me Please.
So I will be using a Kitchen Aide for grinding and LEM for stuffing,
Looking for the best casings to use? Also how do you judge the meat to fat raito.
Thanks Jeff

 

[mike243]

You probably should cut the fat off and weigh it out but I use the WAG method and it works fine, unless there is a lot of fat cap I just grind it all together and mix the fat up evenly as I mix the spices in. good luck it's addictive, I like to make Italian and just make patties for burgers, with brats I like more fat in them and not sure the ratio but probably 30-35%

 

[SmokinEdge]

Well Jeff let’s unpack this. First off I recommend locating a high quality meat shop. Can be a restaurant supply or a Costco type or wherever you buy high quality meats. Buy a pork butt With a fat cap. These usually will yield a solid 80/20 meat to fat and if your lucky you may end up with closer to 70/30 all good for sausage and takes the guess work out. Technically the lean meat should be weighed and the fat or fatty portions weighed to get your desired mix ratio, but a good quality pork butt makes life easy for pork sausage.

Now if you want a beef sausage then brisket can be a great choice as a packer for all beef sausage and flexibility on fat content. You can use the fatty parts of the pork butt mixed with lean or flat of brisket for a mix. Chuck works too, I think you get the idea but I like to always add pork fat as that base.

As to casings, your best casings will be by the “hank” and will be in a solution not just packed in salt like the “home pack” which is shorts and end pieces and makes about 25# of sausage in 32mm. A hank will stuff around 100# at 32mm and go up to 150# at 40mm. Lots of sausage but we will show you how to properly store those casings for a year or more so no worries on waste. You’d be surprised how fast you go through a hank trying different sausage. This advice is especially true for sheep casings for breakfast links, they are a bit delicate to begin with so buying good quality to start and storing properly are essential.

Here are a couple good suppliers for sausage and curing.

Butcher and Packer:
https://www.butcher-packer.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=85_94_96

Walton’s:
https://waltons.com/categories/natural-sausage-casings

I currently have some sheep casings from LEM, they are in a solution and are good.
https://www.lemproducts.com/category/sausage-casings

There are some things to get this party started. Others will be along and have great input as well. This will be fun for you because this community will support you on your journey. Lots of experience here and they are all willing to share. We will walk you through the process.

 

[Worble7]

You probably should cut the fat off and weigh it out but I use the WAG method and it works fine, unless there is a lot of fat cap I just grind it all together and mix the fat up evenly as I mix the spices in. good luck it's addictive, I like to make Italian and just make patties for burgers, with brats I like more fat in them and not sure the ratio but probably 30-35%

Thanks mike243 yes I have read that also a lot of different opinions on this from 15-30% of fat.

 

[SmokinEdge]

To make a good quality sausage you need at least 20% fat, but 30% is better, more is not better, so 20-30% should be the target range. This should also be good quality fat a harder fat, soft fats are not a replacement.

 

[SmokinEdge]

This has potential to be a long very informative thread.

 

[Worble7]

Well Jeff let’s unpack this. First off I recommend locating a high quality meat shop. Can be a restaurant supply or a Costco type or wherever you buy high quality meats. Buy a pork butt With a fat cap. These usually will yield a solid 80/20 meat to fat and if your lucky you may end up with closer to 70/30 all good for sausage and takes the guess work out. Technically the lean meat should be weighed and the fat or fatty portions weighed to get your desired mix ratio, but a good quality pork butt makes life easy for pork sausage.

Now if you want a beef sausage then brisket can be a great choice as a packer for all beef sausage and flexibility on fat content. You can use the fatty parts of the pork butt mixed with lean or flat of brisket for a mix. Chuck works too, I think you get the idea but I like to always add pork fat as that base.

As to casings, your best casings will be by the “hank” and will be in a solution not just packed in salt like the “home pack” which is shorts and end pieces and makes about 25# of sausage in 32mm. A hank will stuff around 100# at 32mm and go up to 150# at 40mm. Lots of sausage but we will show you how to properly store those casings for a year or more so no worries on waste. You’d be surprised how fast you go through a hank trying different sausage. This advice is especially true for sheep casings for breakfast links, they are a bit delicate to begin with so buying good quality to start and storing properly are essential.

Here are a couple good suppliers for sausage and curing.

Butcher and Packer:
https://www.butcher-packer.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=85_94_96

Walton’s:
https://waltons.com/categories/natural-sausage-casings

I currently have some sheep casings from LEM, they are in a solution and are good.
https://www.lemproducts.com/category/sausage-casings

There are some things to get this party started. Others will be along and have great input as well. This will be fun for you because this community will support you on your journey. Lots of experience here and they are all willing to share. We will walk you through the process.

Thanks SmokinEdge I'm Still lost on how to do the fat percentage. When I do things I like to be precise I'm sure ypu have noticed this :) So theres fat in the meat also you can never get that percentage. So you just cut the fat cap off or just roll with whats on the meat. Most of my meat will come from Costco I love this place but never leave with a bill less then $400. So the next question for the day and the last as I need a rest woke up at 4am.
What should I do first snack sticks or sausage? I like hot snack sticks not like burning where you cant taste anything. Thanks everyuone for the help

 

[mike243]

I would go with sausages first, the sticks can be tricky and a little other practice will help lol

 

[SmokinEdge]

Thanks SmokinEdge I'm Still lost on how to do the fat percentage. When I do things I like to be precise I'm sure ypu have noticed this :) So theres fat in the meat also you can never get that percentage. So you just cut the fat cap off or just roll with whats on the meat. Most of my meat will come from Costco I love this place but never leave with a bill less then $400. So the next question for the day and the last as I need a rest woke up at 4am.
What should I do first snack sticks or sausage? I like hot snack sticks not like burning where you cant taste anything. Thanks everyuone for the help

That’s why I mentioned a quality pork butt with fat cap. Cut it all up and grind. This will yield a 20-25% fat to meat. This is perfect. Otherwise you can divide up meats as class #1 class #2 and class #3 then add back fat. This is old school butcher style and takes a steep learning curve. I’m trying to put you on a faster track with quality results.
As far as sticks vs sausage as a first, I would suggest the sausage first so you get the hang of it before diving into stick. I’d rather get you first knowledgable about the process and comfortable there then dive you into sticks. See you tomorrow.

 

[DougE]

I just grind a whole boston butt, fat cap and all, then mix it up a little to get the fat sort of evenly distributed if I'm not using the whole grind for a single batch. I get wanting to be exact, but this will give you about a perfect fat to lean ratio for sausage.

It is super important to keep the meat/grind really cold throughout this process to keep from smearing the fat. You want the meat and fat particles to remain separate.

 

[indaswamp]

Do a 5# batch fresh sausage first. Get a feel for chilling the meat for the grinder, the grind size, mixing up the mince for protein extraction, and play around with stuffing some links. Get a feel for the basics of making sausages. With a double pack of butts, you should be able to do 3 batches- maybe 4. You can make a few different flavors if you like. Then after a few rounds of fresh sausages, you will be ready for a small batch of smoke sausages. Small because it'll cook more even, and if you have fat out, it will only be a small batch.



Get through that learning curve, then move on to sticks.

 

[Fueling Around]

Sausage is a better start.
If you want to start with a dry packed in salt package of casings then simply rinse them well and jar pack in a 3% salt solution for many weeks. They take a long time to soften.
If someone mentioned this tidbit I apologize.
Cut the meat into feed able strips for your grinder. Par freeze, meaning the outside is froze and the center is very cold to almost frozen. It reduces the fat smear.

 

[tallbm]

Thanks SmokinEdge I'm Still lost on how to do the fat percentage. When I do things I like to be precise I'm sure ypu have noticed this :) So theres fat in the meat also you can never get that percentage. So you just cut the fat cap off or just roll with whats on the meat. Most of my meat will come from Costco I love this place but never leave with a bill less then $400. So the next question for the day and the last as I need a rest woke up at 4am.
What should I do first snack sticks or sausage? I like hot snack sticks not like burning where you cant taste anything. Thanks everyuone for the help

Hi there and welcome!

The guys are giving great info. I figure I'll chime in a little too.

1. A pork butt/boston butt/pork shoulder (but not the picnic shoulder) that has the fat cap will be 80/20 meat to fat ratio or better. So you just grind the whole thing without separating fat from meat and when you mix it all up you have 80/20 meat to fat.

2. Now for precise measures of 80/20 it's 4 pounds of basically just meat and 1 pound of fat (8 pounds meat and 2 pounds fat). You could remove the fat cap and any big chunks of fat from a pork butt and weigh it out and get a more precise number. Do that a couple of times and you will likely verify your meat/fat ratio and then never do it again lol.

3. I second getting a Hank of natural hog casings. First time around I wouldn't fool with Sheep casings as they are more delicate and often a pain to feed. ALSO, if you get a Hank of "tubed" casings they are pretty easy to work with. Finally, casing prep is a real thing and the instructions on the casing packaging are like the bare minimum. Soak your casings in cold water in the fridge for 5-7 days, changing water every 2-3 days before you use them and they will work with little issue.

4. I to agree with going with sausage 1st and then sticks sometime after you get your sausage down well (maybe 2-3 sausage iterations).


Finally, I'm an 80/20 meat to fat guy. I hunt and bring home very lean venison and pork (wild pigs are often lean). I buy trimmed pork backfat to make Brats, Franks, German Bologna etc. with that meat. I use trimmed brisket fat to mix with the venison for certain beefy products, and I also do a pork/beef Texas Hot Link that can have pork or beef fat thrown in it as needed.
I never go wrong with 80/20 for the sausages and sandwich meats I make.

Getting good casings and prepping them well, getting a pork butt with a fat cap, and getting a good seasoning/recipe (store bought seasoning is far form full proof) will get you a long way.
At that point you will basically just be fighting with your process and doing/learning the proper sausage practices like:

-Test fry some meat to check for too much salt or blandness
-How to streamline stuffing and do linking properly (a matter of practice but prep helps a ton)
-The proper sausage smoking temp management and process (raise temps over time), etc.

You are asking the proper questions, keep it up and you will have a good go :D

 

[jimmyinsd]

I concur with those suggesting fresh sausage first, I would even say just play around with some bulk sausages, like breakfast ( lots of options there) Italian sausages or whatever you think, to get your grinding process down. like another has said, cool/par freeze the meat ahead of time. try different grinder dies to see what kind of texture they create, mouth feel is pretty important to any finished product. also mess with mixing your seasoning and meat, some season the meat before grinding, some after, some grind once, then season, then back again through the grinder for another pass. note that the more you mix, the more protein you extract and that changes the final product as well.

Casings add a new element, I would start with larger diameter casings I would still focus on fresh sausages like brats.

Finally smoked sausage adds another element.

add an element once you are comfortable with each step. Its not terribly tough, but sometimes things happen that make things go sideways and the less you have planned the more enjoyable the process still is when things go badly. (gives you time to make adjustments and play around with adding more seasoning, moisture, test fry, etc, and still maybe have a usable product in the end.)

Good Luck, ask a lot of questions, and dont be afraid to say screw it and try things, just always be mindful of food safety practices in any of this endeavor.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

They got ya covered so no need for me to say anything cept.

Smoke On.

 

[Worble7]

Thanks Everyone..........Wow my mind is in over load lol. lots to take in and think about but that's a good thing :) I always worry about safe handling and bacteria When cooking I wash my hands maybe 20 times and change out the hand taowk as it is soaked lol
So I only have a few question's at this time as a friend (he will be here in 3-4 week) and I will be doing this as the old lady is no help at all.

1. I have heard that you can't freeze and thaw out meat and re-freeze it but only after its cooked.
so semi freezing the unthawing and refreezing is ok?

2. Has for the casings what size for breakfast size links for the 3/8 10mm size tube?

3. I read that a hank of Casings is hundred yards of casings wow thats seams like a lot but room for mistakes.

I'm sure I will have more questions as I get closer to the day and I will post as to what I will get and be using for this adventure. Thanks Jeff

 

[tallbm]

Thanks Everyone..........Wow my mind is in over load lol. lots to take in and think about but that's a good thing :) I always worry about safe handling and bacteria When cooking I wash my hands maybe 20 times and change out the hand taowk as it is soaked lol
So I only have a few question's at this time as a friend (he will be here in 3-4 week) and I will be doing this as the old lady is no help at all.

1. I have heard that you can't freeze and thaw out meat and re-freeze it but only after its cooked.
so semi freezing the unthawing and refreezing is ok?

2. Has for the casings what size for breakfast size links for the 3/8 10mm size tube?

3. I read that a hank of Casings is hundred yards of casings wow thats seams like a lot but room for mistakes.

I'm sure I will have more questions as I get closer to the day and I will post as to what I will get and be using for this adventure. Thanks Jeff

1. You will be fine with semi frozen. Hell I do all mine just really really cold and never have an issue. My grinder also does NOT heat up so I don't have any issues from a hot grinder either.
In general, as long as temps are safe with the meat you can freeze, thaw, re-freeze quite a bit. Now texture may suffer some due to water crystals forming/thawing/forming which can do a little number on the meat but the meat won't go bad on you if at proper cold temps. Plus if you are grinding it, it's going to get mushed anyhow :D

2. Breakfast sausage casings are usually 19mm or slightly bigger. I would go with the biggest stuffing tube is under that size that allows for easiest working of the casing and stuffing.

Weird detailed answer aye?

Well if you have tube that doesn't give enough room for the casing to easily be put on and worked off then you will have a bad day.
If you go with a tube that is way smaller, you may have an issue cranking a large mass of meat through a small tube.
I have a 22-23 pound stuffer and to stuff a hog casing takes 1 grown ass man to crank and 1 to feed casing while the sausage is coming out.
This is with 32-35mm hog casing with the biggest tube that works the way I describe. Smaller tubes = more of a work out for the cranking person, and cranking is already significantly tough.

A smaller 5 pound stuffer would be more ideal for doing smaller diameter sausages.
You'll begin to learn all about this as you get some hands on experience :D

3. Yeah a Hank does a lot but they will store properly for a looooong time. Also the purpose of getting the Hank is to get the "good" casings, where the little plastic home packs are the pathetic scraps that are not good enough to go into hanks.

If it helps, I am providing a ton of info blow broken into some categories for you to consider getting schooled on so your sausage making process and experience isn't missing anything big.

1. Meat and Sausage Recipe Planning
   
   • Meat/Fat ratio for the specific sausages you are doing (mine are all 80/20 but if doing Mexican Chorizo I would go quite a bit more on fat). I think you have good questions/answers for this.
   • Recipe/Seasoning - online recipes are almost always lacking and disappointing unless you get some good trusty people (like many here) to verify them for you.
     Also, store bought seasonings are notorious for being too salty or too bland and their measuring is by volume instead of weight, so can be hit or miss.
     In either case there are good practices to get educated on how to ensure you end up with something tasting good (i.e. fry testing before stuffing, common amounts of salt by weight for amount of sausage, etc.)
   • Cure #1 vs no Cure sausage and knowing the right amounts of Cure #1 to use
   • Enough Seasonings if following or making up a recipe
   • Casings vs No Casings - using castings of type: natural/collagen/fibrous/cellulose/meat bags/none at all.
2. Equipment and Space Planning
   
   • Dedicated grinder that is worth a damn
   • Dedicated stuffer that is worth a damn
   • A fridge with space you can work with
   • At least a couple of Meat totes/tubs to work with for the amount of sausage you are making
   • Scales that measure enough pounds (20 pounds of meat?) and scales that do grams for seasonings and cure measurements
   • Best meat mixing equipment and approaches (I prefer by hand or 13amp drill with mud mixing paddle in a cooler. Had and cant stand the box crank meat mixer it was a complete waste of time and a nightmare to clean)
   • Stuffing tubes, Meat Grinding plates (I think I use a 3/8 plate with single grind for everything I do)
   • Space related - Cutting boards, tables (kitchen or foldout?), table clothes, latex/rubber gloves, paper towels, and working space (kitchen/dining room/garage/etc.)
   • Loose sausage bags, bag tape sealer, bag sealer tape (I do not recommend hog rings)
   • Smoking on racks or hanging dowels? Need smoker setup to use dowels, 1 inch untreated oak dowels work well from the hardware store. Make a dowel holding mods well before time if planning to hang sausage
3. Grinding Prep
   
   • Cold/Semi-frozen meat and fat
   • Chill grinder parts if your grinder tends to get hot (mine does not so I skip this step)
   • Proper grinding plate identified (I use 3/8 and 1 time grind. My seasoning mixing into the meat breaks down the sausage even more so no need for a double grind, I always get pretty fine meat but not emulsified, however it is closer to emulsified than not)
   • Clean empty Meat totes/tubs to hold ground meat while grinding
4. Stuffing Prep
   
   • Case prep (rinse and soak natural cases for 5-7 days before using and swap clean water every 2-3 days, this makes them easily workable and unlikely to break/pop) - each casing type has different prep, except cellulose which is plug and play
   • Clean empty Meat totes/tubs to hold stuffed sausages while stuffing
5. General Sausage Processes and Steps
   
   • Meat Grinding Processes
     • Cut meat into cubes or strips before feeding to grind (usually 1 person job) or cut and feed into grinder as you go (smaller 1 person batches or 2 person job) - I usually start with enough cut up to feed and continue cutting while it's grinding
     • Season before or after grinding (I do mine after because I work big batches and I mix in a cooler 10-15 pounds at a time with a drill and meat paddle. 10 pounds or less I mix by hand)
       • DO A FRY TEST!!! Before stuffing taste your ground meat by frying a little up in a skillet and seeing if it tastes good. Simply check for good taste, not too salty, and not too bland. IMPORTANT: It will taste different once smoked or grilled so fry test simply lets you know if it is good or not.
         Stop seasoning when you think "It could use a little more salt, or a little more of this/that". That thought is the indicator that it needs no more as flavors will increase naturally as the meat sits or is cooked the real way!
         Fail to do this and discover the pain of stuffing 5-20 pounds of not-so-great sausage and then kicking yourself after all the time and effort.
   • Sausage Stuffing Processes:
     • FRY TEST BEFORE STUFFING (yes it's important enough to be listed twice)
     • 1 person vs 2 person stuffing job (more meat cranked through a smaller tube = 2 person)
     • Sausage linking process (how to twist, or how to do chains if you want to be fancy, can do coils or single loops as well if not wanting to really do links)
     • Loose sausage bagging (loose sausage stuffs right into bags and then tape seal for storage)
     • Makes sure casing prep is done well enough in advance (5-7 days for natural casings, 30-60 min with other casings, etc.)
   • CURED SAUSAGE SMOKING PROCESS!!! (this is super important)
     • Put sausage in at like 100F degrees for 1 hour with NO smoke so it dries up some
     • At 1 hour increase the smoker temp 15F degrees or so
     • Hour 2 apply smoke and increase temp 15F degrees or so again
     • Every hour'ish after (I often do 45 min) raise temp 15F degrees or so until you hit no higher than 170F smoker temp. Most people don't go over 165F, but my smoker is so tightly temp controlled i go to 170F.
       (I've proven my setup can go up to 180F temps for applications like if I had questionable game meat or bear meat or something like that, I can bring those specific sausages to 165F internal temp for safety reasons)
     • Let sausage go through this cooking process until it hits like 152-153F Internal Temp (IT) then pull it
     • Apply smoke for how ever many hours you like (I do 40 min for Franks, but like 3 hours for my TX Hot Links)
     • Pull when hitting the IT and immediately ice/cold water bath the sausages to stop them from cooking AND to ensure they don't get wrinkly or get casing/meat separation
     • Dry and "bloom" sausages at room temp for desired time (a couple hours is what I do, if I do it much at all)
6. Storage
   
   • Vac seal or not? You can stuff, link, cut, and vac seal uncooked cured OR fresh link sausages no problem.
     You can also link, smoke, cut, COOK, and vac seal smoked cured sausage as well.
     You can thaw and smoke cured susages no problem.
     Your call.
     I'm not a fan of butcher paper wrapping but you can go that route, or zip lock baggy and squeeze air out, but nothing beats vac sealing for quality and duration of storing.

Wow that was a lot! But it goes to show how much is involved and if you can check off being prepared for most of this then you will greatly increase your chances of success vs a nightmare.

Ask any questions about any of it :D

 

[DougE]

1. I have heard that you can't freeze and thaw out meat and re-freeze it but only after its cooked.

Oft repeated myth, but it is just that. It's perfectly safe and fine to refreeze raw meat.

 

[SmokinEdge]

1. I have heard that you can't freeze and thaw out meat and re-freeze it but only after its cooked.
so semi freezing the unthawing and refreezing is ok?

There really is no safety issue here as long as the meat stays below 40*F. What we are doing in par freezing is just getting the meat chunks as cold as we can before grinding. That little bit of hard froze feel on the outside just helps keeping it all cold during grinding. We want to keep meat in that 32-35* range. This helps us get a clean cut in the grind and stops fat smear which happens when the grind gets to warm. Lubricating the back end of the auger where the bushing is in the grinder head is most helpful in reducing heat as well.

2. Has for the casings what size for breakfast size links for the 3/8 10mm size tube?

I like 20-22mm sheep casings for b-fast sausages. The LEM stuffer should come with 3 stuffing tubes, small, medium and large. The small one will work just right for sheep casings. The 3/8” tube is just for snack sticks, I like 15-16mm but sometimes do 19mm for that you need the small tube.

3. I read that a hank of Casings is hundred yards of casings wow thats seams like a lot but room for mistakes.

A hank is about 100’ not 100 yards or 300’. Lol.

 

[cptnding]

Great thread!
I recently bought a real meat grinder and plan to try stuffing sausages soon. Thanks for all the detailed information guys!