Cost of Making Sausage

JZ · January 30, 2012, 09:39:46 PM

After looking at the posts on this thread I am thinking of making some sausage and started checking out costs. I found some sausage kits locally and they are about $23 (close to $26 after taxes) and the meat that I think I would use is around $4 / lb. So it looks like the cost of the kit and meat is going to be around $5 - $6 per lb plus the cost of pucks.

I can get some decent sausages on sale around here for less money. So the question is ----- does the homemade sausage taste that much better or is there a less expensive way to make it? Am I missing something?

Scotty-G · January 30, 2012, 10:40:01 PM

In a word - YES!
Kits will run you more but there are several recipes out there that don't require a kit - only the tools to get going - casings, seasonings, etc. and this route may costs less. While you can buy store bought, home made lets you control what and how much actually goes into the sausage and you get make your own flavor combinations - chicken, basil and roasted garlic was a hit when I made that, but have not seen anything like it locally.

Am currently reading up on weisswurst recipes as I can not find it locally and shipping means frozen or not entirely fresh.

Also, home made cold smoked cheese, smoked sausage and smoked nuts platters make great gifts.

And - have some friends for various (religious?) reasons don't eat natural animal casings so collagen is way they go

JZ · January 31, 2012, 07:52:16 AM

Thanks Scotty-G.

Kinda what I thought the response would be. I never thought about using chicken and I am sure that would be a hit. Also less fat - better for my cholesterol.

Looks like I am getting a meat grinder and a kit, at least to start with. Heading into the big City today to do our shopping and will hit Princess Auto - I see they have sausage making equipment and their prices are usually pretty good. Plus they have a satisfaction guarantee that is superb. Hope I don't forget anything as it is an hour drive each way.

I know I will have lots of help here if (or maybe I should say when) I need it lol.

3rensho · January 31, 2012, 08:30:01 AM

I never use kits just the needed spices, salt, etc. My sausage meat I can get for less than four bucks a pound even here in Switzerland. In France or Germany prices are a lot better. My sausage still costs more than retail sausage from the super market BUT I can tune the taste exactly to my liking, make sausage types that are not (here) available commercially and I know exactly what went in to the final product. That, to me, is worth the slight price difference. Also, stuffin' them suckers is fun.

watchdog56 · January 31, 2012, 09:59:07 AM

I use my own seasoning also. Lots of great recipes here. I buy the bigger containers at Sam's club and save a lot of money that way. If you plan on doing sausage I would highly recommend a PID to help control temps, sometimes the temps can swing +/- 15 degrees without one.

wyrman · January 31, 2012, 10:01:09 AM

I have never calculated out the cost of making my own sausage because to me, it just doesn't matter. You really can't compare homemade to store bought because they're totally different.
I know everything about mine down to what I feed my animals that I raise.
My sausage is much leaner than anyhting you can buy in the store, my coworkers attesst to that.

CoreyMac · January 31, 2012, 10:09:05 AM

The sausage kits are not that great a deal, if you buy bulk casing and spices you will get a fairly good saving over store bought. I switched to bulk spices (sausage maker) and get casing locally, over the holiday I made a bunch of fresh beef/pork sausage and figure I had it down to about 3-4 bucks a pound. But I don't use pork shoulder butt, I just go to Costco and get their ground meat. Its usually on the order of about 2 bucks a pound. Fat content is real nice and makes great fresh and smoked sausage. Plus the grinding is done.

Just my opinion

pensrock · January 31, 2012, 10:53:28 AM

I like to make my own cause then I know whats in it. I can make it as lean or fatty as I like. I have never bought a kit, its a waste. You can buy mixed spices for sausages or buy the individual spices and mix your own. You will need casings and cure plus spices.

Sailor · January 31, 2012, 12:05:57 PM

I use boned out pork shoulder for my sausage and here it is going for $1.89 a pound. Hog casings run about $.32 per stuff pound. Then you have the spice's and figure $0.20 per pound on the high side. So the cost per pound is around $2.41 for pork sausage. This is based on doing a simple Italian sausage. Compare that to store bought at $6.00 to $7.00 per pound. Plus the store bought has lots more fat content than what you get out of using a pork butt.

If you are making snack sticks using 80/20 we pay around $2.90 per pound. The casing run around .65 to stuff a pound then the spices say .20 per pound on the outside. That's $3.75 per pound. Cost you around 2 bucks for the pucks for 2 hrs of smoke. So you have around $5.75 a pound for sticks. If you do a 5 pound batch you end up with about 50 6" sticks and you have spent around $28 which is one heck of a lot cheaper than buying Slim Jims ;D

As the others have said, you know what goes into your sausages. Never will I buy store sausages again when I can make my own and they are soooooooo much better.

pmmpete · January 31, 2012, 12:09:05 PM

I make sausage because it's fun, and I like to know the contents of what I eat. If my primary concern was saving money, I wouldn't make my own sausage. I'd buy sausage at the closest available grocery store. Even if I amortized the cost of my sausage-making equipment over ten years, and ignored the cost of the ingredients and supplies, the cost per pound of my sausage would be pretty high. I shot two antelope and two deer this year to have meat for making sausage, and I process the animals myself, so I know the meat is clean and lean. But if I calculated just the cost of the driving required to get those animals, at the IRS mileage rate of $.55/mile, that would be pretty expensive meat. So saving money is not one of my motivations for making sausage.

pikeman_95 · January 31, 2012, 12:10:10 PM

JZ
I see you are from BC. All you have to do is get into sausage making and let it be known that you are doing it. You need to get a few recipes that you are happy with so that you can make good sausage. I used to make sausage for friends that hunted but they did not like the commercial sausage stores. I would buy the pork and they would provide the wild meat. We would split the cost of the spices and the casings and I would smoke it. We then would split the sausage. We both worked together to make the sausage with my equipment. We had a good time and we both got sausage out of the deal. They got their own meat back and they knew what was in their sausage. I am going to guess that I had less money in the pork then they had in their wild meat. The last time we did something like this it came to 1.72/ # split 2 ways.
Kirby

pmmpete · January 31, 2012, 12:26:26 PM

Another reason I make my own sausage is because I don't want to give my game meat to a commercial processor to be turned into sausage, because in most cases commercial processors don't make a separate batch of sausage with your meat. They toss your meat in a bin with other people's meat, and give you a pro rata share of the sausage produced from the meat in the bin. I am careful about how I shoot and process my game, and I don't want it mixed with meat provided by people who are less careful.

viper125 · January 31, 2012, 01:48:29 PM

Me too! I make sausage because:
1. I like to do it.( started as making jerky as a kid,)
2 I know whats in it.( I buy good quality meats and no fillers i don't want.)
3. I love the taste.( now my family would settle for no less)
4. I control the fat and salt content. ( today's meats are a lot of excess fat and salt)
5. I make it cheaper. (I use wild game,Buy turkeys cheap on holiday sales .59 this year, Pork butts are 1.20-1.60 a lb, Bought tons of boneless country ribs for 1.19 after new years. Also chickens are under 1.00 a lb. I watch for any meat below 2.00 a lb and stock up.)
6. I love smoked sausage or any smoked meat. LOL

JZ · January 31, 2012, 04:47:22 PM

Yeah I guess it is kinda like fishing. The wife and I go ocean fishing every year and don't really like the taste of salmon unless it is smoked or canned. If I factored all my costs for this annual event I would probably be around $500/Lb for the fish. Sure not doing it to save money especially since we don't really like salmon.

Anyways I got a grinder and a HM Summer Sausage kit today. I was going to try Mike's Kielbasa but couldn't find a place to buy the cure and casings only. So I had to get the kit. Maybe after some phone calls I can locate a place to get this stuff. But for now I am going to follow the instructions in the kit.

One question though. The kit calls for 12lbs of ground beef to 3lbs of ground pork. I bought 7.5 lbs of each, which is what Mike uses in his Kielbasa recipe. Can I use a 50/50 mix of the beef /pork or should I follow the kit exactly?

smokeNcanuck · January 31, 2012, 05:28:00 PM

QuoteOne question though. The kit calls for 12lbs of ground beef to 3lbs of ground pork. I bought 7.5 lbs of each, which is what Mike uses in his Kielbasa recipe. Can I use a 50/50 mix of the beef /pork or should I follow the kit exactly?

I would give'er. It will just change the texture and flavor a bit. I would not worry, that is the joy of making it your self.
If you don't like it change it up next time. Odds are that it will be good enough to eat ;)