Sausage Making Day At Casa TX: 2 Flavors Of Italian (W / Lotsa Pics)

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tx smoker

Legendary Pitmaster
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Apr 14, 2013
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Lago Vista, Texas
When I went to the freezer the other day to get the Italian sausage to make the lasagna I came to a horrible conclusion: this was my last package. No links, none in bulk, no sweet, and no spicy. Time to get off my lazy a$$ and make some. Tracy was headed into town yesterday morning with a planned stop at Costco. She picked me up a 16.4# double pack of boneless butts. As soon as she got home I immediately set about making some sausage. It's the sin of all sins for us to be out of Italian sausage!!

Here's my butt....well not really :emoji_wink:
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All the tools needed for cutting it up
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First pan cut up. I always go 2 oz over to make up for the wad of meat that always gets stuck in the grinder
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Second pan
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Both pans ready to go into the freezer to chill
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Will be stuffing some and bagging some in bulk. Since it's small batches being stuffed, was not worth getting the big stuffer out so used the jerky cannon
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Spices all mixed up. Spicy on the left and sweet on the right
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Got a section of casing soaking
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I add spices to the meat in layers as it's grinding. Makes mixing much more efficient
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First batch all mixed up
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Jerky cannon loaded, casing onto the stuffing horn, and got my measuring table out. We're ready to go
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I run these in 13" links, hold the casing at the 6 1/2" point and massage the casing to move the meat around before twisting. This greatly reduces the chance of a blowout. I get two 6" links, which are perfect for sausage sammies. Fuzzy pic....sorry.
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Three double links of both flavors. the rest will be vac sealed in bulk
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All done. Total I got 14 meals of sausage for a cost of just slightly over $20. When pork butt goes on sale for $.99 a pound, you can pretty much cut that cost in half.
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This is one of the many incredible, life-changing things I've learned from this forum. It's fun to do and there's just no comparison to store bought. Now the jerky cannon has a bit of a history but to keep it short, I bought one that used the same diameter base for the stuffing horns as the big stuffer. When doing small batches though, it's just not worth the time it takes to clean the big one so I use this. Yes, I have to fill the tube 3 times for each flavor but that's a LOT less time and work that cleaning the big one. Over the past couple weeks I've made these, a batch of breakfast sausage, and a batch of smoked Cajun sausage. It had been a while because I was on a massive sausage making binge for a long time and we had a stockpile of stuff that was a bit over the top. Then all of a sudden I look up and we're running out. Not a good thing once you get used to having it readily available.

Oh well....I've eaten up enough bandwidth....again. See y'all on the next one

Robert
 
So smart using the jerky cannon for smaller batches! So many times I have talked myself out of stuffing sausage into casings because I don't want to clean my big 10 pound stuffer.

Sausages look great btw. Can't wait to see what you make next!
 
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Looks real good! No wonder you ran out of them. That wouldnt last long at our house thats for sure!

There's only 2 of us and I have about 200# of other sausages in the freezer. That makes for a pretty vast rotation so no single one gets eaten a lot. It'll last us a while when added to the rest of what's in the freezer.

Robert
 
So smart using the jerky cannon for smaller batches!

When I got the jerky cannon I made sure to get one that used the same diameter base for the stuffing horns as the big stuffer. The actual reason I bought it was because my big stuffer has a large 90 degree elbow at the bottom and a lot of meat stays in there after the piston bottoms out. I got tired of wondering what to do with that meat so got the jerky cannon and would just take the stuffing horn off the big one, attach it to the jerky cannon, put the remaining meat into the jerky cannon, and shoot it into the casings. It actually serves multiple purposes

Robert
 
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Looks good I used a Jerky Cannon for years, just got the LEM 5# Mighty Bite
Richie
 
Those are beautiful!! I’d eat those up for sure. I may have to get me one of those jerky cannons. I’ve learned how to do breakfast sausage and German Brats on here I’ve been just making into patties. I’d like to do some Italian links for sure.
 
Great Post and some fine looking sausages...JJ
 
Wow Robert! Thanks for sharing. I've got about 5 pork butts in the freezer right now. Need to clear out some room for turkeys! I haven't gotten into sausage making yet but would really like to learn. We don't eat a whole lot of links and I don't have the equipment anyways could I just grind the pork butt and add the seasonings like you mentioned and freeze in 1 lb packages for ground or patties?
 
We frequently just make Sausage Patties. Another option, Corn Husks, like those used for Tamales. Wash and use paper towel to blot excess water. Take 2 and overlap the wide ends by about a Half inch or do. Roll your sausage meat inside and tie the small ends. They are a bit of work but smoke up nicely...JJ
 
Appears to be a fun thing to do and your good at it.

Thank you!! Every little bit I've managed to learn about making sausage was learned from the good folks here....and yes, it is a lot of fun to create really good stuff :emoji_blush: On the rare occasion I go to a grocery store and make the mistake of walking through the sausage section, I just shake my head and keep going.

Sausage prima donna,
Robert
 
Those are beautiful!! I’d eat those up for sure. I may have to get me one of those jerky cannons. I

Thank ya....thank ya very much. The jerky cannon is a great little tool but if you're doing 5 or 10 pound batches you may want to consider a vertical stuffer. They can be a pain to clean up but it's more efficient doing larger batches that way as opposed to a jerky cannon. There are folks here who consider a 25 pound batch to be "small" and I couldn't even fathom stuffing that much sausage with a jerky cannon :emoji_laughing:

Robert
 
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I haven't gotten into sausage making yet but would really like to learn. We don't eat a whole lot of links and I don't have the equipment anyways could I just grind the pork butt and add the seasonings like you mentioned and freeze in 1 lb packages for ground or patties?

Yes sir John, you absolutely can do that. I don't stuff breakfast sausages. I found a burger press that makes smaller than average burgers and I use that to press sausage patties. You could do the same with Italian sausage for subs and so forth. If you decide to pull the trigger, shoot me a PM and I'll send you the recipes and walk you through it if you have questions. Heck...these recipes are fantastic. If anybody wants them, just say so and I'll post them.

Robert
 
Robert, I gotta jerky cannon last year for Christmas. Specifically so I could make Richies kielbasa. Free time hasn't been on my side lately so the kielbasa still hasn't been made. Thanks buddy for adding another item to the list. Your sausage looks and sounds really tasty.

Point for sure
Chris
 
Do I detect a certain note of sarcasm here?? :emoji_wink:

Just wondering,
Robert

Compliment only, and maybe just a tad bit of envy. I need to find/make some free time in my schedule to start the items on my smoking todo list. At this rate I'll be 105 before I completed it, and that's if I don't add anything else to it.

Chris
 
Nice piece of work and great looking links! The jerky gun looks to be a great way to do small batches, clean-up after big batches is a pain. RAY
 
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