Homemade Sausage Making

Those look great!

Here is some pictures from my recent sausage making escapades!

Nice job on everything, that was a lot of work!!!

Look good enough to eat! Nice job.

Very nice and a lot of good work.

Love the pics. Nice job!

Thanks - It was allot of work but well worth the effort I learning allot from my mistakes and from everyone on this forum For the most everything came out as expected. But I did struggle with the Hot Dogs They came out OK but I struggled with the emulsification process and the mouth feel of them is a little grainy?

Nice pics! Hot dogs are on my "To Do" list. What was your meat to fat ratio? I've found that not enough fat can leave the meat with a grainy or crumbly texture.

Hi John,
You wrote:

I struggled with the emulsification process and the mouth feel of them is a little grainy?

Great lookin` sausages and excellent photography ol` friend! May I offer a couple of cents worth of my suggestions? We`ve just got to steal you a vertical stuffer somewhere. It will take so much of the work out of stuffing you won`t believe it. Worth every penny - believe me. Next, what kind of food processor are you using for emulsification? Hopefully, you have a direct-drive (geared) model with no belt-driven mechanics. Now, sharpen the blades - one side only please! Leave the flat side... flat! Put a new edge on the "topside" of the blades. This will enable your machine to incise or cleanly cut the meat rather than tearing or ripping it apart. Add icewater to the mixture to relieve some of the strain on the motor and process the ground meat until it forms the primary bind. Be careful not to over-develop the actomyocin proteins or the meat will be rubbery.
The grainy problems may be one or both of two common mistakes:
(1). You need to have at least 25% fat in the sausage. Your mixture looks a little lean. If you don`t wish to add pork fat, why not try "Fat Replacer" - a product made from oats.
(2.) If the sausage is not a "fresh-type" sausage and it`s prep-cooked above 160°F., you risk breaking the fat. If the fat turns into liquid, there is no saving the sausage. Orange-colored oil will run out of the sausage leaving behind a grainy, awful tasting "sawdust" texture. The solution is to cook your "smoked sausages" very slowly over several hours - eight hours if needed. Raise the temperature of the smokehouse only a couple of degrees every twenty minutes. There is nothing wrong with stopping at 145°F.IMT, then cooling them until they are grilled. (Note that trichinae are killed at 138°F.) When grilling, simply finish cooking them to the finishing temperature of your choice. You should have a plump, juicy, sausage with great texture, if the fat has not been broken, and if it contains a little fat.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Nice job & THAT certainly is quite a bit of work! But it sounds as though you're very pleased with the results. Its always rewarding after hours of hard work to look back and say, "Y'know, these taste great! It was worth it!"

I've decided NOT to use my big processor anymore for emulsification of meats. I've done it several times: doing small batches bit by bit, add ice chips or ice water to keep the fat from separating, trying not to burn up the motor, not over-heating the mix, and not overdoing the emulsifying.
Instead, I now grind, mix and re-grind using a fine plate (3mm). I've done this hot dogs, bierwurst and recently, bologna. The results have been quite good-very smooth, uniform, even-even better than anticipated, and its also a much quicker process.

Kevin

If you made these sausages all by yourself, you must have worked your butt off.
They look great and they also look juicy on the photo. Were they?
I am trying to make some that are very juicy with a real SNAP in them.
Congratulations.
Regards,
Jan.

Hello all

Dutch wrote:What was your meat to fat ratio? I've found that not enough fat can leave the meat with a grainy or crumbly texture.

I think that was part of the problem (Meat to Fat Ratio) I made a small test batch and ended up adding some pork back fat (that seemed to improve it slightly) I probably should have added some more but was a little unsure (Good Learning Curve)

Chuckwagon wrote: We've just got to steal you a vertical stuffer somewhere.

Chuckwagon old friend, That is at the top of the Priority List (Honey I want wish list ) for my Sausage making equipment (Next is making a cold smoke generator).

I used a small direct drive unit called an Oscar to emulsify and that's what I have been leaning to as a big cause of the part of the problem. "blades not sharp enough" and second not the best unit to utilize for what I was wanting to accomplish! (The wish list keeps growing )

I also am considering NorCal Kid suggestion of regrinding it a second or third time with the Fine 3mm Plate Any and all feedback of this option would be great!

Overall the missus (aka BOSS) and I are happy with how everything turned out and she is looking forward to watching me do a two and a half day marathon sausage making session real soon (I think she likes it because I stay out of her Hair )

Thanks for all the help, encouragement and comments,
John

Hi JBK,

Using a grinder to stuff sausage you do a fantastic job!

Then as Chuckwagon (and you) said, if you could get a vertical stuffer, it will make your life a lot easier.

Bubba,
Thanks for the kind words . I am learning more with each batch that I try but still not where I want to be yet

I think I got the Boss talked into a Vertical Stuffer that I have my eye on but now I just have to get her to sign and release that Purchase Order request

Some areas that I still need to get some experience in is the Handling of the Casings! I have not found a good method of handling them without getting them all tied in a knot.

Also learning to better control my smoker temperatures. Which I am sure that over time and use that I will get better at.
John

Hi John,
Sausage skins are always a problem to me. Some of them seem to be a mile long and knot easily if you are not careful. Just cut them in more manageable lenghts like I do before you wash the salt of them.
Oh yeah, and watch the plughole in the sink.
A proper sausage stuffer does make this job much easier as CW and others said.
I always coat the piston seal with vegetable oil for obvious reasons.
Try and make some of snagmans csabai, you will become a convert like me.
Best Regards,
Jan.
Brisbane.