need advise on my first sausage attempt

[sparky30_06]

Going to make my first sausage or snack stick attempt.  Any advise on what I should try??

 

[SmokinAl]

I don't know what kind of equipment you have, but the first sausage I made was fresh Italian sausage patties. No cure & no casing. It gets your feet wet, then next try fresh sausage in casing, then finally cured sausage. Do you have a grinder & a stuffer?

 

[sparky30_06]

I do have a Cabela's Pro Grinder with stuffer tubes.  I know it's not the top of the line but should be able to get me into enough trouble.  I also have the Cabela's Jerky Blaster for stuffing snack sticks.  I'll be using a Cookshack MS008 

 

[solaryellow]

What sausage do you like the most?

 

[sparky30_06]

i would have eto say answer "D' all of the above.  Don't think I've tried a sausage that I didn't like, except for maybe blood sausage.  

Top on the list would be a summer sausage and some jalapeno snack sticks or something like that.  I'm game for trying almost anything just don't want to do something that's like expert leveel smoker for my first time and feed it to the dog only to have him not even eat it.

 

[solaryellow]

Here is a pretty good summer sausage recipe to try. I have never stuffed with a grinder but I do know stuffing snacksticks can build up some pressure in my stuffer. I would hate to think what it is going to do to a grinder. Plus, summer sausage is easy to stuff even by hand.

Omit the liquid smoke. Add some dried jalapeno and high temp cheddar cheese for something even more special.

http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/beef-summer sausage smoked-.pdf

 

[straightupnobs]

Can't go wrong w/ the good old traditional Polish Kielbasa. Best all around sausage from my experience.http://www.sausagemaker.com/91120-10polishsausageseasoningmakes10lbs.aspx

 

[smokeamotive]

I would start with a fresh sausage. For one thing they are easy to make and you can "Sample" your work right away. Then move on to cured sausage. Shooter Rick has a very good Itailian recipe and an awesome brat recipe. I've made them and let friends and family sample them and they're already after me to make them some. Heres the links.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/81090/shooters-1st-hot-italian-with-pics

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/100076/shooterricks-attitude-brats-recipe-and-pics-on-the-grill

 

[bobdog46]

The summer sausage kits from Hi-Mountain are great to start off with to get your feet wet. It comes with everything you need except the meat. I use these kits and add jalapenos & cheese to the mix.