meat grinders

[fishingbouchman]

What all did you come home with?  Disney for grownups..  Get some new fishing gear?

[sparky]

What all did you come home with?  Disney for grownups..  Get some new fishing gear?

I got a 1/2 hp cabelas grinder, hog & sheep casing, cabelas hat and coffee mug.  very cool place to hang out.  I think I found my next sausage smoker there also.  I told my wife that were going to need a scale, tubs, mixer.  she just walked away shaking her head.  my stuffer comes tomorrow.   

[TentHunteR]

Good for you Sparky!  You're going to get many years use out of that grinder.

[Tenpoint5]

Be on the lookout in the stores for either an 18 or 20 quart electric roaster. They come in handy in the sausage making process

[TMB]

What all did you come home with?  Disney for grownups..  Get some new fishing gear?

I got a 1/2 hp cabelas grinder, hog & sheep casing, cabelas hat and coffee mug.  very cool place to hang out.  I think I found my next sausage smoker there also.  I told my wife that were going to need a scale, tubs, mixer.  she just walked away shaking her head.  my stuffer comes tomorrow.   

Let me know how it performs, I'm looking at grinders now and been picking Cliff's and Chris' brains on what to buy

Now just need to save up the $$$$$$$$

[Tenpoint5]

Sparky forget about the mixer. You have two of them located at the ends of your arm!! The mixer has brass fittings that will wear. Can you guess where the metal shavings are going to end up? Not in my sausage. Buy you a pair of the cheap brown chore gloves. Put them on then put rubber gloves on over them. Helps protect the booger pickers from the cold and you can mix a whole lot better than with a spinner thingy. Of course if Momma isn't looking you can use her kitchen aid with a dough hook to do the mixing too

[TentHunteR]

Sparky forget about the mixer. You have two of them located at the ends of your arm!! The mixer has brass fittings that will wear. Can you guess where the metal shavings are going to end up? Not in my sausage. Buy you a pair of the cheap brown chore gloves. Put them on then put rubber gloves on over them. Helps protect the booger pickers from the cold and you can mix a whole lot better than with a spinner thingy.

I second this advice.  I just use cheap plastic wash tubs and a pair of cotton gloves with nitrile gloves over top.  I find mixing 5 - 10 lbs at a time is very doable this way. Tubs are a whole lot easier to clean too!



The Mixer/Dough Hook for fresh sausage where you don't care about fat marbling is fine. I wouldn't recommend it for anything where you want good fat marbling though.  I think Rick (Nepas) ran into this very issue with fat smearing when using a dough hook. He mentions mixing by hand in quite a few of his threads.

Here's one:
Jalapeno/Cheese SS

[sparky]

should I get any sausage making books or just use you guys?  I think that we are making some great hamburgers today.  just get chuck roast to grind up?  right?  nothing else to it.  course grind then find or?  and when I do make sausage am I just using boneless pork butt to grind up?  when do you every add fat?  and where do you get the fat from?  can you just ground up bacon for fat?  all good questions.  help a lost newby sausage maker folks.   

[Sailor1]

For pork sausage I buy the boneless pork shoulder and cut it in slices that will fit the throat of the grinder and grind away.  For my taste the fat ratio is perfect without having to add more fat.  For fresh sausage I like the texture of a medium grind.  For summer sausage I like the texture of a fine grind.  I only grind once then I add the spice mixture and hand mix.  The great thing about making your own is that you can experiment and make it to your liking. 

I would recommend that you keep a log and write down what you did and how you did it and what you liked or disliked.  That way when you hit the home run you can reproduce it time and time again. 

[CDN Smoker]

should I get any sausage making books or just use you guys?  I think that we are making some great hamburgers today.  just get chuck roast to grind up?  right?  nothing else to it.  course grind then find or?  and when I do make sausage am I just using boneless pork butt to grind up?  when do you every add fat?  and where do you get the fat from?  can you just ground up bacon for fat?  all good questions.  help a lost newby sausage maker folks.   

Here is another good place start, http://www.sausagemania.com/index.html

When do we get to see it

[fishingbouchman]

What all did you come home with?  Disney for grownups..  Get some new fishing gear?

I got a 1/2 hp cabelas grinder, hog & sheep casing, cabelas hat and coffee mug.  very cool place to hang out.  I think I found my next sausage smoker there also.  I told my wife that were going to need a scale, tubs, mixer.  she just walked away shaking her head.  my stuffer comes tomorrow.   

Let me know how it performs, I'm looking at grinders now and been picking Cliff's and Chris' brains on what to buy

Now just need to save up the $$$$$$$$

Me too.  Been wanting to do this for a long time.  Just need $$$ 

[MossyMO]

Plenty of knowledge and help here with the members of Let's Talk BBQ, I'm confident with this crew any question you have will be answered. But I really think anyone doing sausage should have Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing book by Rytek Kutas as it is loaded with great information for anyone interested in sausage making, novice or experienced. It is often referred to as "The Sausage Making Bible".

[tatonka3a2]

Be on the lookout in the stores for either an 18 or 20 quart electric roaster. They come in handy in the sausage making process

Ok, have to ask... what do you use the electric roaster? 


We have done a TON of sausage making and there is a lot of great tips here.  One of the most important things in my opinion is the log book!!  Keep track of the amount of pork vs beef/venison, amount of seasoning, casing type and size, and smoking procedure as well (times, temps and wood flavor).  There is a lot of little notes I make after we are done and try the product a couple of times.  Would I add more pork, is the grind the right texture, would I add more of a certain spice.... and so on.  We take a lot of kits or store bought mixes and will add in say more garlic or pepper or heat for example. 

I agree with the no mixer.  We have one and have used it but it is a royal pain to clean - to big and bulky! Not to mention if you are not doing full batches in it, it doesn't mix well. So a lot of times you won't even use it.

[TentHunteR]

Be on the lookout in the stores for either an 18 or 20 quart electric roaster. They come in handy in the sausage making process

Ok, have to ask... what do you use the electric roaster? 

They're great for poaching small batches of sausages to the final temp.  While smoking the sausages, fill the roaster with water & set it for 160°-165°, smoke your sausages to about 130° - 140° then poach them (in the roaster) to the final temp of 150° - 152°. Then into an ice-water bath to stop the cooking and bring the temp to below 120°.

I am looking at getting one of the Sous Vide controllers and using it with an electric hot plate and large stock pot to do the same thing.

[Sailor1]

Be on the lookout in the stores for either an 18 or 20 quart electric roaster. They come in handy in the sausage making process

Ok, have to ask... what do you use the electric roaster? 

You can speed up your smoke by hours and hours.  I did a 10 pound load of Kielbasa yesterday.  Smoked for 3 hours and then pulled them and put them in the preheated roaster at 165 degree water and they came up to IT of 152 in about 30 minutes.  I dried the casings for 1 hrs then 3 hours of smoke and 30 min of poach for total time of 4.5 hours vs 8 to 9 hours of finishing them in the smoker.  I have had problems with my hog casings getting tough if I finish them in the smoker and the hot water bath keeps them nice and soft and the finished sausage is plump and juicy.  I don't use the hot water bath on everything but do use it on a lot of stuff.