Lil' old sausage maker me

[GusRobin]

So decided to try sausage making. I started with Italian Sausage.
The only casings I could get locally were natural ones. Don"t know if collegan ones are better and if I should order them online.
Advice?
Got this grinder (their picture not mine)


Problems- clogged a lot. Ground a cut up butt using the 8mm plate, then again with 4.5mm plate. Meat clogged a lot in the holes and almost looked like emulsified meat when it came out. I think it could be one of 2 things or both. I didn't trim all the sinew and silver skin. Did a lot but not all. Mainly because I don't have a very good boning knife (now on Christmas list). Also, I may have been stuffing it down the to auger too fast and hard. I cooled the meat prior to grinding but maybe I should have done it longer.
Any advice?
Stuffing went okay. Had 2 bust outs early on but then got the hang of it. Quickly got the hang of it but see where a Stuffer would be much better than a grinder used as a stuffer (stuffer on Christmas list).
Didn't get too many pics because I was busy since I did it by myself. Also only attempted about 4-5 lbs since it was my virgin flight.
But here is the finished product:


Homemade sausage,homemade sauce, and homemade pasta (ok, I bought the pasta, but I did cook it)



Add some parmesan=dinner:


Overall the sausage was as good as what I buy at Publix. Next time I'll make it a little hotter, and a little more spicy.
Any advice from the resident experts would be appreciated.

[Up In Smoke]

Don't know that i can help with advice, but i can tell you that is one good looking first run!

[ArnieM]

The sausage looks good Gus.  Nothing like home made.  You know whats in there.

[KevinG]

It looks like it came out good in the end. You are right, trim that silverskin an sinew off, and clean the head out regularly - especially since that looks like a small machine. Keep the meat as cold as you can without actually freezing. Work in small batches and pieces small enough for that grinder to handle, and don't cram it in the grinder, let the grinder pull it in. All in all, I thing you did an excellent job!

[KyNola]

Congrats GR.  I only hope when I try my first hand at sausage that they look that good.

[Tenpoint5]

Great Job Gus! To help with your grinding cut your meat into strips not chunks then partially freeze them. The grinder will pull the strips in and you wont have to try and force the chunks down the hole. How many times did you hear "There's a reason they call it a Grinder and not a Stuffer" during the whole process? ;D ;D Nuff said on that.

Here's a couple that I have that you can try:

Italian Sausage


5 lbs pork butt
2 Tbl salt
1tsp black pepper
2 tsp cracked fennel seeds
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp garlic pwd
1 Tbl crushed red pepper--this isn't very hot.

Grind twice thru coarse plate or once thru medium.

Italian Style Sausage


INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon Italian-style seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3/4 teaspoon crushed anise seeds
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
2 teaspoons salt
2 pounds ground pork



DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, combine the ground black pepper, parsley, Italian-style seasoning, garlic powder, crushed red pepper flakes, anise, paprika, minced onion flakes and salt; mix well.
Place pork in a separate large bowl and add the spice mix to it. Mix this thoroughly with your hands.
In a large skillet over medium high heat, sauté the seasoned pork for 10 minutes, or until well browned and crumbly.

[GusRobin]

Thanks for the recipes

How many times did you hear "There's a reason they call it a Grinder and not a Stuffer" during the whole process?

Not so much heard it as mumbled it to myself in between curses, that and "yep, gonna order a stuffer".

Did have one question if anyone can answer.
I stuffed the casing, twisted it into small links. So I end up with a long sausage twisted into say 8 links. How can I separate the links without having them unravel? it is easy to do when I cook them, but if I wanted to freeze in small quantities it appears that if I cut it into smaller qty of links the end ones would unravel. Do I need to tie the ends where I cut with string?

Also, what do folks find "better" -- natural or collegan casings?

[Tenpoint5]

Gus you should be able to cut them apart with out any problems. I would suggest flash freezing the links before you vac seal them. This will help prevent the vacuum from pulling the meat back out of the sausage.

[BuyLowSellHigh]

Good looking stuff, GR !

[SouthernSmoked]

Congrats GR... The sausage looks great. 

How was it??

[Keymaster]

Looks awesome Gus!!! We were standing over the same grinder/stuffer this weekend, Clean up was a real treat  ;D Lots of hot water!!

[GusRobin]

Looks awesome Gus!!! We were standing over the same grinder/stuffer this weekend, Clean up was a real treat  ;D Lots of hot water!!

The grinder is not too bad, but I definitely am going to buy a stuffer. Probably the 5lb LEM seems to be the sweet spot for my limited volume of sausage making.

[KevinG]

I alway use natural, collagen are too expensive and harder to find out by me.

[smoker pete]

Congrats GR.  I only hope when I try my first hand at sausage that they look that good.

Ditto ... Great job!!!  Reading Rytek Kutas's book right now while waiting form my grinder and stuffer to arrive.

[NePaSmoKer]

Nice snausages  ;D