Sausage Newbie!

[thebigman65]

Hey all
Been on the forum for a while and have done plenty of smoking and bacon making....wanted to branch out and try sausage making.....so far I have this:

- Great sausage making and meat curing by Rytek Kutas... good book!
- 7lbs vertical sausage stuffer with 16mm 20mm 32mm and 38mm stuffing tubes
- large food safe container for mixing
- cure and all spices

Questions:

- what's the best casings to use...I want to start with making some spicy semi dry snack sticks/pepperettes and some fresh breakfast sausage.
- are collagen casings good for anything?
- in the book I have, lots of the recipies call for adding dry milk powder or soy powder to maintain moisture....is this required?
- The book also calls for using something called Fermento in certain recipies....what is this?

Thanks for any help provided!

TBM

 

[SmokinAl]

Collagen is good for the snack sticks, but for breakfast sausage I use sheep casing.
The use of soy & or milk powder helps retain the moisture in the sausage.
Fermento gives the sausage a tangy flavor, much like dry cured sausage.
There are many suppliers of sausage making products. For me personally I use TheSausageMaker.com.
They have everything you need to get started.
Al

 

[thebigman65]

Thanks for the info! I have been to the Sausagemaker.com, but unfortunately they don't delivery to Canada....they do recommend another dealer near me so i will look into that.

 

[jimmyinsd]

I am fairly new myself. I will offer my 2 cents based on my own experience and preferences.

Casings,

Collagen: for snack sticks and ring bologna other than that I dont think they compare to natural casing and in some sausages they actually kind of ruin the product for me with their rubbery texture. In fairness to the collagen casing crowd, I have only used LEM casings from the local sporting goods stores and have heard that buying them from a place like sausage maker would get me better casings.

Fiberous: for summer sausage.

Hog: for the rest. (I would include sheep here, but I have not ventured into that pool yet as I just used up my fresh collagen and havent needed to make any more breakfast links yet) Natural make better links, and I think they cook up nicer with a much better snap and chew than collagen. They take some getting used to and you really neeed to buy better quality casings, ( dont go with the little packs.. they suck) *Dont rush the soaking process!* it seems the longer I soak the casings the easier they are to work with and the more forgiving they are.

NFDM, Its my experience that this is a good thing to use, especially if you are making sausage with less than ideal fat ratios. Its a bit of a pain to work in, but the end result is worth in moisture retention. I think it also gives you a little room for error in your cooking temps as it grabs onto and hold moisture and fat if you get your temps a little to high. some use special powder from a sausage maker or other, i just buy the NFDM powder at the grocery store and run it through the food processor to reduce the granule size for better mixing into the meat. I add this to my meat mixture right before stuffing and not in the water/cure/ seasoning slurry that I use with my initial mixing. I did it once the other way and didnt like the goop i ended up with as a result of the milk powder drinking up the watery mixture.

Fermento, I had one recipe that called for it and I substituted powdered buttermilk and I was very happy with the results.

I would say get your casing skills down with fresh sausages like breakfast links and brats and then get into the cured and smoked products. Like everything there is a learning curve and the time is always longer than you anticipate... and with fresh stuff the payoff is that much quicker!

This is a great source for information, keep asking questions and you will keep getting helpful answers. I cant begin to say how grateful I am for this forum! Best of luck.

 

[thebigman65]

Thanks Jimmy...great info. I was thinking the same thing with regards to casings. I have seen the hog or sheep casing on plastic tubes so that they are easier to put on the stuffer, etc. Has anyone had any experience with these?

 

[piker]

I have been making sausage etc. For many years. Read books and all info L could find. Ryan Kutjas book is all you really need plus all the help on theses forums. I did a lot of experimenting at the start found what I liked and kept that as a favourite. BUT I still experiment with everything in my spice cabinet and still keep coming up surprises. I have not thrown anything out Ken Piker

 

[thebigman65]

Got my stuffer today and was wondering about the tubes... I have seen others on here with much longer tubes on their stuffers....are the shorter tubes ok?

 

[JckDanls 07]

shorter tubes are fine... just can't get as many casings on it as you would longer ones...

 

[indaswamp]

Yep. What he ^^^^^^said...
Now, are you familiar with the best way to load the casings? Make sure the stuffer tube is full and let the meat paste stick out ~1/8" so the casings do not catch on the end of the tube. And remember to fill the casing with about 2 tsp. of water, load casing onto tube straight from a bowl of water....

 

[crazymoon]

TBM65, Here is a good read ,
Best practices for sausage making
Also search for Boykos thread on casing prep..

 

[thebigman65]

Thanks guys!....as always this forum is awesome!

 

[Gwanger]

TBM65, Here is a good read ,
Best practices for sausage making
Also search for Boykos thread on casing prep..

I always lube my stuffing horn with veg. oil.It keeps casings sliding off of horn which will cause casings to stick to plastic horns.