First attempt at pork sausage

[snadamo]

Tried my hand at making pork sausage from scratch. Took 3 total days to make, and took pics along the way. A few minor mistakes along the way, but overall they turned out better than I expected. I had one of those handheld stuffers, and as soon as I needed to refill mid-casing...I decided to get a bigger one (7 lb on order lol)


Took a 3.6lb pork shoulder and cubed it up in about 1" ish

Next, I added my seasonings and curing salt, mixed and let sit overnight in fridge

The next evening I ground the meat with 10% ice by weight via my kitchen aid attachment I bought two years ago but opened the day before(not pictured).

I cased them in pig casings after a rinse and flush with a small hand stuffer

All cased up. Not too terrible. An air pocket here and there, and busted 2. I linked them along the way as opposed to all at the end. This is when I decided a larger stuff would be more appropriate. I left them uncovered overnight in the fridge.

This morning, I threw on my pellet smoker hoping I'd acchieve 150 or less in temps. That didnt work, but my pellet tube sure did the trick!

After 6 hour "cold" smoke, I threw them in an ice bath for 20 minutes and stored them in the fridge.

Busted 2 out for dinner along with the biggest franks I have seen

My GOD...these exceeded my expectations. Definitely room for improvement on the casing technique, but for my first attempt I am overwhelmingly pleased!

What's that you say? There's a sausage TD going on? What a coincidence! :razz:

I plan on shooting for Italian sausage next. Either way this was really fun and WAY tastier than store bought. Thanks for looking!

 

[sudsandswine]

Looks good, I was never really a store bought sausage fan but ever since I started stuffing my own I’ am. It’s a great way to turn trimmings from ribs and brisket and such into something delicious.

 

[creek bottom]

Those look great! We make a lot of sausage, usually out of venison and pork mix. My family loves it!

 

[Stingerhook]

If you have any extra Adam I am waiting.

 

[BuffettFan]

Looking good!

If you're like me, now you're hooked!

 

[Fooball]

Those look like they were made by an old pro. Very tasty looking in the last shot. Good job!

 

[ModelMaker]

Great fun ain't it? I can't beleive you stuffed using that hand thingie, what a pain.
A strong grinder and stuffer make the job so much easier.
So far I've made polish sausage, breakfast sausage, brats, hot dogs, snack sticks. All were good but each had it's own needs for next time. The breakfast, and brats I leave fresh (no smoking) just package and freeze.
Ed

 

[Clasko2]

Those look awesome. Well done. Started same way with my KitchenAid. I now have 2 dedicated grinders and 2 dedicated stuffers. Haha. You'll get hook. And like you said, you'll find ways to improve the process, that's half the fun.

If I'm smoking and using a cure, I'll grind all my meat then mix all the spices and the cure and stuff and let the links sit in the fridge overnight for about 12 hours to let cure work. Just my process and works for me.

Thanks for sharing, look forward to seeing more creations!

 

[snadamo]

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback! Hopefully when I get back out in the field, I can do the same to my game meat instead of taking it to a processor across town.

Wife requested brats next, so we'll see.

Oh, I already ordered a 7lb vertical stuffer for the next batch

I thought the kitchen aid did a good job of grinding the meat, but the hopper seemed small and the larger chunks had to be pushed down etc. It will suit my needs...for now. If I am going to buy a grinder, it's going to be a beefy one (no pun intended)

 

[Connor_Macleod]

Congrats - those look great! When you guys make sausage, is it always cured, and are there any rules of thumb on how coarse/fine of a grind is optimal?

 

[ronbrad62]

That is a great looking first attempt that looks like you have done it before. They certainly turned out nice!

 

[ssv3]

Looks awesome Adam! Best part about homemade sausage is knowing what exactly goes into it. You don't have 700 species in one sausage. :-D

 

[ModelMaker]

Enthused by your post, I decided to grill up some of my fresh brats. Threw them on the gasser, flippity fliped a few times till and nice color and around 212 .

Slapped them into a buttered, top cut bun with cheese, onion slivers, and honey mustard.
Finished up with some Puffy Cheetos, and a diet Coors.

Works for me!!
Ed

 

[SmokinAussie]

Very impressive. Winter here in Aussie Land. Might break out my gear soon.

 

[Happy Hapgood]

Mighty Fine Sir!

 

[Clasko2]

Congrats - those look great! When you guys make sausage, is it always cured, and are there any rules of thumb on how coarse/fine of a grind is optimal?

Generally speaking, if you're going to smoke sausage it's usually done at lower temps over a longer period of time. Adding the curing, helps mainly with food safety and gives it that characteristic pinkish color.

If you're doing fresh sausages, you generally don't need cure because those are grilled or cooked at higher quicker temps, so it's not in the "danger zone" for very long.

That being said you can make versions of each. I make both a fresh polish kielbasa and a smoked kielbasa. Both are amazing and have very distinct flavors and characteristics.

As far as grind sizes, you can play around and find whatever you like best. For most of my fresh sausage, I use a double coarse grind. For whatever reason on most of my smoked, I'll do a coarse grind followed by a fine grind. I just happened to like the end result that way. That's not to say you couldn't do a double coarse grind or even a single coarse grind on a smoked. Texture and appearance would be different.

That's most of the fun with it all and the "mad scientist" aspect of it as my family refers to it when I play around with all that stuff. :-D

 

[Learning to BBQ]

Well done Brother! Especially with the equipment you had. You must have had a lot of patience. I've made sausage a couple of times with my crap grinder and stuffer. Was a total PITA, and haven't made any since. I need to upgrade my tools too so I can get back to sausage making.

 

[cowgirl]

Looks delicious!
If you get bored... there are some good recipes to explore here. I tweak em to suit my taste buds. http://web.archive.org/web/20010214020112/http:/home.att.net/~g.m.fowler/frame/Sausage1.htm