Greetings all,
I have been following this forum for about five months, too timid to chime in until now! I retired last month as a Toolmaker for a plastic injection manufacturer. They produce tableware for parties and caterers. They are AIB Certified, and therefore, I received some very beneficial training for this hobby.
We have tried some great recipes, and already learned many new techniques, such as freezing the meat before grinding. We are particularly fond of Devo`s "Kielbasa My Way" recipe.
Jean and I have been making sausages for over twenty years. We started because of the expense with processing venison. Having sausages made by a butcher doubled or even tripled the cost of deer processing. My brother owned a Kitchen Aid Mixer; we bought a grinder attachment for it, and mixed up a batch of fresh polish. It wasn`t very good, but we were hooked!
As the years have gone on we improved greatly. But we are still learning; always. Just a month ago we tried our first Bacon using ssorllih`s method and recipe. It got a little dried on the edge but it tastes divine. About a year ago we made our first attempt at Canadian bacon; several more followed.
We are on our fourth smoker, a Bradley Digital, and due to batch size have upgraded to an electric #12 grinder. We still use our first and only 5# stuffer. As a family, we make over 200# of sausage. We get help from the youngest son, and from the oldest son along with his wife. Even the granddaughter helps out.
I want to learn Fermented Sausage methods, and eventually how to develop my own recipes for all types of sausages. Just yesterday, the last of Stan`s books arrived. I now have the full set!
I/we are excited about being a part of this great sausage making family!
Jim
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