Making Sausage

[Savannahsmoker]

I would like to know how to made sausage and I have been advise, thank you, to just asked so I am asking.

[NePaSmoKer]

I would like to know how to made sausage and I have been advise, thank you, to just asked so I am asking.

What kind do you want to make.

[Tenpoint5]

Basically you need a grinder with stuffer tubes, a recipe, and casings. Them is the basics, after stuffing sausage with a grinder once or twice you will understand why they call it a grinder and not a stuffer. So therefore I would also suggest a stuffer. For a starting place I would suggest looking at this site to get some ideas of what you want to make and go from there. Sausage Formulations

[Savannahsmoker]

Well Napan back when I was in high school I worked for a butcher and we made summer sausage and I have no idea how it was made.  So I guess just some basic country sausage.

[KevinG]

I'd help you out Savannah, but I've only done fresh or smoked, never dried. I could probably figure it out and walk you through what I suspect should happen, but it would only be conjecture.

[Savannahsmoker]

Thanks KevinG and I am thinking smoke sausage would be a great to learn how to make.

[KevinG]

NePas is probably the guru here, you might want to ask him any questions.

The easiest way to start is with a kit, that way it's a lot harder to mess up. The Hi Mountain sausage kits are great, they have everything you need except the meat. All the instructions are included too, so it makes life a lot simpler. When you master that it's not that hard to move up to your own creations. I really like their Italian Sausage mix.
The first place to start is to figure out how much sausage you want to make. 30 lb batches are usually typical to use all the ingredients in the kit, but they have breakdowns for smaller quantities. I use pork butt for meat (and usually venison, but it's not necessary).

Note: Always keep everything clean and your meat cold, cutting and grinding warm it up so you may need to put it back in the fridge, or freezer for a few minutes to get it cooled down. I also use three rubbermaid meat tubs one for the meat and fill two with ice, one for on top and one for underneath. That way if I need to break I can just put the tub I'm working on in an ice tub and cover the tub I'm working on with the ice filled tub. (This may not be necessary for you, I live in hot Arizona, so it's hard to keep things chilled)


Before you start, soak the casings in a container of cold water, then when you are ready to use them, open them up and flush the insides out with water and rinse off any salt on the outside. Placing the casing on the horn is made easier if you leave some water in the casing when trying to slide onto the horn.

Step 1 - Dice all your meat into 1" cubes (or whatever your meat grinder can handle)
Step 2 - Grind the meat through the blade of choice. For Italian, I use the 1/4"
Step 3 - Mix all the cure and seasoning in water and then pour over the meat (per the instructions for how much meat you have), you can just put the mix on the meat and then pour the water on, but it usually distributes better the first way.
Step 4 - Mix the meat and ingredients well
Step 5 - Stuff the mixture into casings (should be a firm pack)
Step 6 - Refrigerate overnight
Step 7 - Bring sausages to room temp (about 1 or 2 hours)
Step 8 - Place on racks or hang in smoker
Step 9 - Cook for 1 hour at 120 F or until skin is dry to the touch
Step 10 - Start smoking and turn temp up to 160 F (2 hours and 30 minutes of smoke total) Cook at 160 for 30 minutes
Step 11 - Turn temp up to 180 and cook until internal temp reaches 156 F.
Step 12 - Cool sausages quickly when done by submersion in cool water, dry and pack.

Now please note, these are not hard and fast rules, and I'm sure there will be plenty of debate on different methods, but this does work and it produces good results. Also note that the temperature may stall and you can bump it up, but you really want to avoid temps above 200 F or the fat in the meat will start to melt and your sausage will become dry and brittle.

[Savannahsmoker]

Thanks KC and one this looks like a lot of work but also fun.  Two I might just have to purchase another smoker because smoke temperate in a Traeger is erratic at best.