newbies 2nd experiment.. fresh sausage ..hot italian..help would be appreciated

[islandgirl]

So... I want to make fresh hot italian sausages.. using moose.
Do I need to add a cure?
Are hog casings the standard choice for fresh sausage?
I have both pork and beef fat.. what is best, and I don't mind using up lots of moose since I have lots of trim.

If anyone has a recipe they are willing to share I would appreciate that.
I like spice, both hot and flavour, lots of garlic too.

[KevinG]

You only need cure if you're going to smoke or try to make a dry sausage. Hog casings are pretty standard, cheap and easy to work with, but sometimes blow out if you try to stuff too tight or are too dry. I prefer pork mixed in at a 80%/20% ratio, but some do more or less. I almost always use HM kits and just add a little here or there.

[Habanero Smoker]

As Kevin pointed out you don't need a cure for fresh sausage that will be cooked at high temperatures, but if you like the flavor that sodium nitrite adds to meat you could add it. As for myself, most of my sausages I prefer fresh.

[classicrockgriller]

And they don't have to be stuffed.

You can make patties and freeze them in that state.

You can also stuff them in to the 1lb storage bags and cut patties from that.

(like store bought fresh sausage)