making sausages

[torakris]

My husband really wants to make his own sausages and he asked me to pick up a sausage maker/stuffer on my trip to the US. I haven't been able to find one in stores anywhere and just now looked on ebay and there are tons there, I have no idea of what exactly I should be looking for.

Are there any goods brands?

anything I should know?

I really don't have much more than $40 to spend....

[winesonoma]

Do you have a Kitchen aid stand mixer? You can get the meat grinder sausage maker. $40 is not a lot for what you want to do.

[Mayhaw Man]

Cabela's has these. I have the big boy and the thing is great. Incidentally, they sell a kit to add a motor to the thing if he just goes crazy playing with his Sausage.

They really are well made and for the price you won't do much better. Incidentally, I know that you were going to the midwest, but you might take a look at the retail locations to see if one is near you. The stores will blow you away. Nothing, anywhere, not even Japan, will prepare you for the targeted (sports and outdoors) retail experience at Cabela's. I hate to shop and would drive a couple of hundred miles to go to one. Unbelievable.

[Carrot Top]

It is possible to make home-made sausages with only the requirements of a good sharp knife and some caul fat (which is a membraneous thin layer of fat that will dissolve and baste the sausage when you cook it). Unless he has some good recipes already that he likes and is ready to make a lot of sausage, this is a good way to start. Low expense, and not a lot of production of sausages that may not be to his or your liking.

Otherwise, I vote for the Kitchenaid addition.

It used to be one could buy hand operated meat grinders, but now you will only find them once in a while at flea markets, as far as I know.

[winesonoma]

Cabela's has these. I have the big boy and the thing is great. Incidentally, they sell a kit to add a motor to the thing if he just goes crazy playing with his Sausage.

They really are well made and for the price you won't do much better. Incidentally, I know that you were going to the midwest, but you might take a look at the retail locations to see if one is near you. The stores will blow you away. Nothing, anywhere, not even Japan, will prepare you for the targeted (sports and outdoors) retail experience at Cabela's. I hate to shop and would drive a couple of hundred miles to go to one. Unbelievable.

Just placed an order this morning. Great Supplier.

[fiftydollars]

The hand-powered meat grinders make a gnarly squishy sound as the meat is ground and also when stuffing the casings… Speaking of which, you might want to pick up some casings while you’re at it.

Anyone ever use the soy casings that Alton Brown mentions in his show on sausages?

I’ve always used natural casings (pork… I only make pork sausages… not that I’m opposed to other sausages. Just that I like pork so much I haven’t gotten around to anything else), but I am intrigued by casings with an almost infinite shelf life like the soy ones. I have often been moved to make sausages, but just didn’t have the casings on hand and abandoned the project because of it.

Sure the ones packed in salt last a really long time… but after a couple of months I get suspicious and invariably toss them out. I have also seen the ones packed in brine, but they come in packages too large for my meager purposes…

So anyone try the soy? Do they cook up well?

[maggiethecat]

Sure the ones packed in salt last a really long time… but after a couple of months I get suspicious and invariably toss them out.

I think these have sat in the meat drawer of my fridge for ( ) almost a year, been pressed into service, and yes...I'm still alive!

The money I spent on the KA meat grinder/sausage-stuffer attachment was one of the two or three best investments I've ever made in kitchen equipment. Seriously.

[jenifresh]

I can report that a meat grinder by a company called Villa Ware is a great piece of equipment. I use mine for hamburgers, and sauage making and stuffing. It's versitile and very easy to use.

It is very sturdy and well made, with all metal mechanisms. I paid $80 new.

Good luck!

[torakris]

unfortunately I don't have a kitchen aid ...

I will check out Cabelas, there doesn't seem to be a store near us though.

A lot of the things I saw on ebay were combination meat grinders/sausage stuffers, we will probably be making not too large amounts at one time, is this what I should be going for?

I also assumed we would use pre-ground meat...

bad idea?

I was thinking of using the sausage amker just for stuffing the meat into the casings.

I too would love to hear more about these soy casings, especially where to get them as I am sure sure of the availability of the pork ones in Japan.

[Andrew Fenton]

The money I spent on the KA meat grinder/sausage-stuffer attachment was one of the two or three best investments I've ever made in kitchen equipment.  Seriously.

Word to that! I bought my KA grinder/stuffer about six months ago, and it's been seriously groovy. Definitely worth every penny.

As to the pre-ground meat. I'd avoid it: grinding your own is really easy and fast, you have more control over the product, and it's cheaper. I've only bought ground hamburger once since I got the grinder, and have been very happy about that. So I'd say that a grinder/stuffer is exactly what you should be looking for.

I've never seen soy casings, but would be interested in trying them. Usually I just use hog casings, but I have friends who don't dig on swine, and I'd like to be able to share chicken sausage with them...

[Mild Bill]

I made one solid effort a few years ago...

I'll do it again, I want to get a recipe perfected that I've had in my cabeza...

Adding fat to the grind is the hassle I ran into...

The meat went thru the grinder no prob, but the more elastic, stretchy fat and fatlike tissue kinda bunched up at the disc...

Unscrew and pull away clog... Unscrew and pull away clog...

My sausages were tasty but tooooo lean... I threw them away (three years ago) and my wife's still is mad at me...

She liked them...

It was rash and inconsiderate of me but I didn't wanna sign my name to that first failed effort...

I bought a whole pork "picnic" and used it all, but it wasn't enough fat... I guess...

My question is... do you buy fat separately to add to the mix?

If so, wha?

Here's a pic of my effort...

It LOOKS like there's enough fat there, but it didn't taste like it...

Edited July 21, 2004 by Mild Bill (log)

[col klink]

Pre-ground meat isn't the best idea. Most commercial sausage has been ground too finely and thus you loose a lot of what makes an artisanal sausage good (i.e. texture, besides flavor). Besides, you can usually find larger cuts of meat for less per pound (or kg) than pre-ground meat. Not only that, you have the satisfaction of having a better idea of what the hell is in your sausage.

I also add what I call "adjunct" fat. Legally (in most jurisdictions) a sausage cannot be more than 50% fat and nor should you want your sausage to contain that must fat. However, let's say you're making a susage out of pork shoulder which is 20% fat and low and behold it's almost too lean.

Usually most people use pork as an adjunct to whatever meat they're using to add more juiciness which is especially true of venison sausage. But even when I was making kielbasa which was pork and lean beef, but mostly pork, I shot for a fat content of 30% to 40%. Anything less, regardless of how you cooked it, would've ended up dry. Maybe not on everyone's scale, but certainly on mine. In my book a sausage should be plump, i.e. juices should be flowing and bites shouldn't take moisture from you or require a sauce to be esculent.

[fiftydollars]

Here are the collagen casings:

http://www.butcher-packer.com/pg_sausage_collagen_edible.htm

It looks like they have a whole lot of other sausage making supplies. I've never purchased from them, but they were the first thing google pulled up when I searched for collagen casings.

Alton Brown used the 36mm casings. They are $6.00 at this site, but the shipping is $7.00. I'm not sure I like that...

[jsolomon]

I will check out Cabelas, there doesn't seem to be a store near us though.

Torakris,

I live in an area with a growing immigrant population in the central US. Most of the grocery stores here, the large warehouse type, have hand-cranked grinders for ~$20. They would work reasonably well for the first go around. I'm not sure whether they have the sausage tube in the package or not, though.

Another place to look would be froogle.google.com if you have made up your mind on a brand and model, or have your short list prepared.

Also, I have to jump in Mayhaw Man's camp. Living in Nebraska, I've been to the original Cabela's, and several others. They are simply amazing stores to go through.

Best of luck!

[Richard Kilgore]

The meat grinder/sausage stuffers that MayhawMan suggests at Cabela's can also be found at BassPro Shops if you happen to be closer to one. Similarly overwhelming big box outdoor stores.

You can also check the restaurant supply houses where you are. As I recall Ace carries them.

[Bux]

I prefer to chop or mince the meat using a food processor. Some people seem to feel that the heat of the fast moving blade has a negative effect on the flavor. Others, myself included believe the cleaner cut of the processor balde more closely approximates hand chopped meat and that pushing meat through a grinder has a negative affect on the texture. It's just not as sharp a cut on a grinder and someone in this thread has noted problems with the fat. In any event, the meat should be cubed first. I have used ground pork I've bought at the butcher shop, but I prefer to chop my own for several reasons. I get a better piece of meat; I can adjust the proportion of fat to lean; and I often want to combine other kinds of meat or poultry with the pork and pork fat. I prefer to buy very lean pork and make up the fat with fresh fat back which I freeze and cut into small pieces if I want it well distributed. You can make great really fine sausages as well as excellent rough cut country sausages, but the more control you take, the greater the variety you can make. One third fat is about the right amount for me. Sometimes I use less as when using some rich meat, such as liver, in the mix, or more when using game that is very lean.

We use the KA grinder attachment to stuff the casings, but it's not ideal as it's a bit tricky to operate without the cutting disc in place. Nevertheless, we used to use it to grind meat and we have one, so we use it. You might want to take a look at something like this stuffer. Be sure it comes with a stuffing funnel for the casing. I found many suppliers on the net, and I'm not sure this is the least expensive model or supplier. You might want to google further. I've never used one of these, but it looks as if it would be ideal and allow a smoother filling of the casing than a stuffer. That may depend on the volume of the gadget and how much air gets caught between pushes. I'd like to hear from anyone who's used one.

I thought this was a good reference page for those starting out. It has some good information that is not recipe specific. The obvious problems for beginners are sausages that are too lean, or too fatty, sausages that are stuffed so tightly they burst when being cooked and sausages with air pockets. you can grill, saute or poach sausages. It's best to let them sit for a day for the seasonings to blend and it's often convenient to poach the sausages and then reheat and brown them on a grill or in a pan another day. This allows you to prepare them further in advance and have less cooking time just before dinner. A really good sausage is as good as pate when eaten cold as well.

[gus_tatory]

Kristin--

hope this finds you super-well.

i have successfully made "rustic" sausages with only a Porkert meat grinder (about 20$ at any "old-fashioned" kitchen goods store) and the sausage attachment (a metal cone that looks like a small trumpet, about 5$).

the meats/seasonings/etc. mixture was fairly small-cut and homogenously mixed before i started, and i used rinsed pork casings. i would do this more often, but *really* cleaning the meat grinder takes about 45 minutes before, and another 45 minutes after.

good luck!

[Varmint]

I just received my KA grinder and sausage stuffer. Experiments to come (after burgers for tonight, however!).

[Andrew Fenton]

I prefer to chop or mince the meat using a food processor. Some people seem to feel that the heat of the fast moving blade has a negative effect on the flavor. Others, myself included believe the cleaner cut of the processor balde more closely approximates hand chopped meat and that pushing meat through a grinder has a negative affect on the texture.

I've used a food processor to chop meat as well, mostly to make hamburger, and mostly before I bought the KA grinder. What I like about the processor is that it offers more control than the grinder, and as you and others have mentioned, fat doesn't get stuck in it. I've found that when I use the KA to both grind and stuff sausage, it's worth it to grind all the filling, then thoroughly clean out the grinder before stuffing.

What I don't like about it is that I've had problems with uneven texture; or when I'm not paying attention, over-processed meat. It definitely requires more effort and a little more technique. But when I set out to make country paté, I plan to use the food processor rather than the KA.

The obvious problems for beginners are sausages that are too lean, or too fatty, sausages that are stuffed so tightly they burst when being cooked and sausages with air pockets.

My last batch of sausages had a few in which the casing was thick and rubbery, almost impossible to bite through. I believe that that was because of that particular length of casing (rather than an error on my part); a little bit disconcerting, however.

[TJHarris]

I will check out Cabelas, there doesn't seem to be a store near us though.

If you are still in Cleveland, the nearest Cabela's store is in Dundee, Michigan. It is at exit 17 on US-23. About 2 hours and 40 minutes from Cleveland Hts.

[TJHarris]

I know that it is a little pricey but Waring makes a grinder that has a sausage tube available, about $100 at Bed, Bath and Beyond on Chagrin Blvd. in Beachwood. Question though, is Japanese electricity 110v, 60h or do you need a converter/transformer?