My sausage making journey...

[chopsaw]

Not one thing wrong with the look of that . Very nice Charles .

stuffed the almost 5" casings by hand. Got the chub packed as tight as I could

If you had not stated that I would have never guessed it .
I always look at the chub after it's been cut . I read the " swirl " that comes from a tightly stuffed casing . Helps tell the story of changing something or leaving it alone .

Looks like you had nice even outward pressure . Impressive for a hand stuffed sausage .
Maybe you twisted the ends and spun it up to tighten .
Really nice result bud .

 

[Dave in AZ]

Looks great, glad it tastes great too!

 

[fxsales1959]

Since the first of this year, when I started making sausage, I've been down several paths from basic bulk breakfast sausage to kielbasa to hotdogs to other stuffed sausages.

Something I'd been wanting to try was bologna because I just wanted to, but more importantly is that I have a grandgirl who loves it and I wanted to give her a superior product.

So I ordered the casings from TSM, got a butt, and had all these plans, but then life and Debby threw me curve balls. But I read almost every post on here and enlisted the guidance of Eric SmokinEdge to help. Finally yesterday, the stars all aligned and I was able to get started just hoping that today would bring decent weather to light my smoker.

First was to get help grinding the pork...~2570g. Only available option was my 4 year old grandgirl so I put her to work...
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Ground 2 more times through the ⅛" plate, it was ready to season and stuff. I actually seasoned and mixed between the 2 grinds through the ⅛" plate. I used Eric's recipe here and stuffed the almost 5" casings by hand. Got the chub packed as tight as I could and into the fridge overnight hoping the weather would let me light the smoker today...
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This morning I woke up to no rain so I said, "Today is the day". Lit my Ok Joe and the chub went on at a pit temp of 150℉-170℉...
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After 5 hours of hickory smoke, the IT was about 125℉ so I pulled it and into a 175℉ poach to finish...
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Pulled it out at an IT of 153℉ and hung it to cool. Then into the garage fridge to chill overnight with the plan to remove the casing and slice tomorrow afternoon. The test fry was good and if it tastes half as good as it smells now after the smoke, it will be great. I will update this after we try it.

I'd just like to thank Eric SmokinEdge for his guidance and also putting up with all my questions...

dang that looks good. way beyond my capabilities, but awesome

 

[indaswamp]

Perfectamudo!

 

[SmokinEdge]

Very nice work Charles. The key to stuffing those by hand is the pumping action as you add meat, that helps expel the air. You did a fantastic job. There may be a bubble in there somewhere but don’t worry about it. It all eats the same.

Now where is that pastrami?

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Charles, I missed the stuffing by hand part when I read the thread at first… coarse I had kids saying “Dad, Dad”

Very impressive to have done that my hand brother, nice work indeed!

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Not one thing wrong with the look of that . Very nice Charles .

If you had not stated that I would have never guessed it .
I always look at the chub after it's been cut . I read the " swirl " that comes from a tightly stuffed casing . Helps tell the story of changing something or leaving it alone .

Looks like you had nice even outward pressure . Impressive for a hand stuffed sausage .
Maybe you twisted the ends and spun it up to tighten .
Really nice result bud .

When I got my hands on the casings, I wasn't sure how I would use my stuffer because they are so big. I reached to Eric on stuffing techniques for such large casings, but also commented that I could stuff them by hand. He gave me a lot of advice on either way and I decided to try by hand. Slow and small amounts while pounding on the counter and twisting tight was what worked. Also wet hands helps a lot...

 

[Gonna Smoke]

way beyond my capabilities, but awesome

If I can do it, ANYONE can...promise. Just make up your mind to do it and go for it. Plenty of help on here to get you through...

 

[gmc2003]

Dang that looks good Charles.

Point for sure
Chris

 

[uncle eddie]

Wow! Looks pretty darned good to me.

 

[mr_whipple]

Very nice!

 

[SmokinEdge]

So how did this play out with the grands? Did they help slicing? And how were the sammiches?

 

[Gonna Smoke]

So how did this play out with the grands? Did they help slicing? And how were the sammiches?

Mom was terrified, but I told her I got this...
Everyone sampled some and thought it was fantastic. Sandwiches to come...

 

[SmokinEdge]

View attachment 702400
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Mom was terrified, but I told her I got this...
Everyone sampled some and thought it was fantastic. Sandwiches to come...

That is all fantastic. I’ll be watching for the Sammy’s.

 

[Dave in AZ]

View attachment 702400
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Mom was terrified, but I told her I got this...
Everyone sampled some and thought it was fantastic. Sandwiches to come...

Great pics, I saw it and thought, "Doh! I bet Mom was worried!"

 

[Brokenhandle]

That is priceless !

Ryan