The second example looks good. Can these be done in collagen casings or do I need to use middles? I need to get some Cure #2 on order, so might as well get the right casing to go with it. To me, since I won't be eating the casing either way, seems like a collagen one is the right way to go?

So I've let it run for a day or so and it seems pretty stable. I have the dehumidifier in there, haven't but the humidifier in as they seem to fight each other. When the freezer kicks on, it drops the humidity as a result of the coid coil. I think I will run it with just the dehumidifier at first. T...

Yikes. Can we make that a link instead of an embedded image??? Some folks may not be ready for that!

Hope you get back in top shape soon!

Yep, that was going to be the plan, just get through the outer skin and see what there is to see.

I can't feel any warm spots on the sides, which usually happens when they run through the cabinet. Also, when I had it on its back in the truck, the coils were located on the bottom. Biggest problem I have now is that it appears it has a new gasket on it, but it doesn't fit well. There's a gap in th...

Found a Frostless Kenmore on Craigslist for $50 last weekend. Got a friend to help me move it, and now I've got it set up in the shed and running to see how the numbers end up hovering. Took forever to start cooling, but it's on the way down now. *whew* http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l95/sleebusj...

You found a good spot! Welcome.

I'm with Rezed on the 20% fat. I know that pork shoulder/butt is generally assumed to be 20% fat, and when I make sausage, I chuck the whole thing in there and the fat level comes out to my liking. I'd go with 480g wild hog (Class I) 400g pork butt 120g back fat Also, in my extremely short career as...

Found an article with a video you may want to watch http://chicolockersausage.com/2013/11/06/did-you-know-there-is-such-a-thing-as-purple-meat/ I've bought dark cut meat before without knowing what I bought. It was fine, but it definitely acted like they described: even when cooked, it was still pur...

Looks great!

Cool, glad you liked it. The addition of the Chipotle and Jalapeno flakes sounds really interesting. What kind of cheese did you use? I do like a cheesy sausage from time to time. Anything special I should know about putting cheese in sausage?

I think you'll like it. I've taken the cured/smoked version over to parties and it's been really well received. Fresh version is tasty too.

Welcome aboard!

I've been really happy with how this one turned out. Equally good fresh (leave out cure) or smoked (leave in cure)

Pork 75.00%
Beef 25.00%
salt 1.75%
pepper 0.38%
Crushed garlic 1.00%
water 3.13%
Cure #1 0.25%
Mustard seeds 0.10%

Made 9# of breakfast sausage this morning, used 1.5% instead of the recommended 1.8%. I liked it better...1.8% seemed a bit much. However, 1.5% was at the lower limit of how low I'd go. Wouldn't reduce any further than that.