My first German Frankfurters, with pictures (thanks for the help, Kirby!)

[pmmpete]

I've wanted to make sausages for years, but making sausages is complicated and takes a lot of equipment and know-how.  I had some of the equipment for making sausage (a grinder and a smoker), but didn't know anybody who knew how to make sausages and had the rest of the equipment.  Then I met Kirby, a/k/a Pikeman.  He helped me make a 60 pound batch of summer sausage earlier this fall. Since then I have read a couple of books on sausage making, bought one of Kirby's hydraulic sausage stuffers and one of his mixers, I picked up a turkey roaster for cooking sausages, I made or bought a variety of other items of sausage-making equipment, and I bought casings, spices, and other supplies.  And I shot more animals than I usually do (two antelope and two deer) in order to have sufficient meat for sausage making.  Last weekend, with the help of several phone calls to Kirby, I made a twenty-pound batch of German Frankfurters by myself.

I ground the meat, which was 50% lean venison and 50% trimmed pork shoulder.



I untangled and rinsed many yards of hog casings, which was quite a challenge.



I mixed the spices and cure into the meat.



I mixed the meat with the mixer which Kirby made for me, but didn't get any pictures of that.  I only have two hands.  Then I loaded my 12 pound capacity "Kirby Cannon" hydraulic stuffer with meat and casings.



Then I started shooting sausages, while my wife looked on with dismay at the mess I was making in our kitchen.



Here's a couple of the sausages.



Then I hung the sausages in my smoker.  The sausages didn't smoke evenly; I'm thinking of putting a circulation fan in the smoker.



Here are the sausages after being smoked for a couple of hours.



Then I cooked them while monitoring the water temperature and internal temperature with digital thermometers.



Then I cooled the sausages in a cold water bath, and left them out to dry and bloom for an hour.



Then I wrapped them in plastic wrap and hit them with a heat gun to tighten the wrap.



Then I put them in the freezer.



I cooked a couple with sauerkraut, potatoes, tomatoes, green peppers, and some sliced green olives, and was quite satisfied with them.



Thanks for the help, Kirby!

[Keymaster]

Very Impressive, I remember my first try at hog casings thinking "what did I get myself into". Then it got a lot easier after that ;)

[squirtthecat]

Awesome!

The look on your wife's face is priceless....

[Sam3]

Any thoughts on why the sausages didn't smoke evenly? Just curious. Nonetheless, they look great.

[3rensho]

Those look great!!  Is there a website for these plastic stuffers???

[Sailor]

Great job for being your 1st.  Now that you have your 1st batch under your wing you are hooked on sausage making.  I find it interesting that my wife has the same look as yours when I dig out my stuff to make sausage.   :o

[Caneyscud]

Those look great!  If I knew where you lived, I'd invite myself over for lunch today!  Great job.  My main question - did you clean up or did your wife get the duty?   As far me, I know my limitations.  Per Harry Callahan (a.k.a. Dirty Harry): A good man always knows his limitations. 

[pikeman_95]

Great Job Pete.
You did a great job. I will keep an eye out for a fan for your smoker.
Pete is my Pike spearing partner and he kicked my butt this year. He is quite and outdoors man. I am sure we are going to see more post from him. Now I have to keep his wife from killing me. That look on here face says everything.

Kirby

[ghost9mm]

Well for someone with not alot of experience, you did one heck of a job making them german frankfurters and your picture presentation is excellent...very well done my friend...

[SouthernSmoked]

Great job Pete!

It does get easier.....

Heads up: this can become a very expensive addiction I meant habit..... ;D

Wouldn't have it any other way!


Need to look into the Kirby Experience. Hmmmm!

[KyNola]

Way to go Pete!  You have definitely committed yourself to sausage making.  They look great.

[viper125]

Very nice!  Id like to taste one of those. And the money shot was killer.

[cobra6223]

Don't worry about the dimayed look on the wife's face, mine looks like that very time I mention making more sausage so it must just be a woman thing !!! :D, the sausage look very nice.

[pmmpete]

In answer to various questions:

1.  If you want to get a "Kirby Cannon" hydraulic stuffer, contact Kirby at Pikeman_95.  The same controls can operate barrels of different capacity, so you could buy more than one size of barrel.

2.  The smoker does a good job with fish on racks, although I do need to rotate the racks to get the fish smoked evenly.  It did a good job on hanging sausages in the areas between the smoke generator and the vent, but I think that all the sausages and the drip/steaming tray blocked the smoke from circulating evenly to some areas in the smoker.  Taking out the drip/steaming tray and adding a circulating fan ought to help.

3.  With respect to cleanup, the policy in our house is "you mess it up, you clean it up."  Although Colleen did pitch in on some parts of the cleanup, probably out of a concern that my cleanup would not meet her high standards.

[viper125]

Im lucky that way. My wife can't sit down and she's always happy to help stuff or grind or any thing I do. I always make the mess and she cleans it up. Cut three trees down this year and she helped clean brush and limbs. She is a god send to me.