Homemade Sausage Making

The wife and I were traveling through a section of town that we both grew up in the other day. Since we no longer live in the city and haven't for some 40 years, it always brings a warm feeling when I do get the chance to travel through the old neighborhood and reminisce. When I was growing up, the ethnic make-up of this section of town was predominately Polish and German, with some Lithuanian on the north side of the main road. In the last 20 years most of the old Polish and German residents have died off, and the young have moved away. Now there have been many a different ethnic make-up of folks taking over the voids left in the old neighborhoods.
The other day as we were traveling through the old neighborhood, I noticed that one of the meat markets that served us for over 70 years, had closed its doors. This immediately gave us a sad feeling, but in some ways was a bitter sweet ending to a landmark that served us, our parents, as well as our grandparents. We indeed hated to see it go, but it was markets like this that also sparked my interest in learning to make good sausages, and became the catalyst for learning how to carry-on the old family recipes, and to seek out those that these markets were known for.
I don't know if it's just laziness, or a lack of understanding as to why young people, even my own sons, don't make their own sausage. They'd rather purchase those pink looking things all sealed in a vacuum sealed bag in a self-serve meat case. It's just something about taking a number, waiting your turn, and all the while looking at all those fresh rings and links in the case, and sampling a slice of lunch meat before ordering that gives a feeling of satisfaction.

I guess the memories that stand out the most, were the smell upon entering the butcher shop, seeing all the workers busy at work cutting meat, stuffing casings and running back and forth to the cooler to get another chub of sausage. It was nice to see all the folks there for the same reason, and to hear the different conversations going on all at the same time in Polish, German and Lithuanian by the little old ladies seeking out the best deals, while waiting their turn at ordering.

Surely something I will miss, but grateful to have experienced.

I know how you feel and share your feelings. I think you can thank the big box stores and the FDA and their many labeling rules for the decline in the small meat markets.

We recently had a politician open a meat market here. He threw a lot of his money and taxpayers money into a brand new building without doing any homework or having any knowledge in the meat business. I was given a walk thru of the complex and just shook my head in wonder of how he was able to jump through all the many hoops so easily yet arrange and design such a dysfunctional processing facility. The doors are closed now and they offered to sell it to me but I have to have a little elbow room to work else I might cut myself or someone else. It appears to me that to make a market work you have to have a thorough knowledge of politics as well as meat.

Amen to the knowledge of politics! That alone can take all the fun out of it!

Its all to protect us from ourselves and for the betterment of society and our freedoms or lack thereof.

Butterbean wrote:... It appears to me that to make a market work you have to have a thorough knowledge of politics as well as meat.

Welcome to "pork barrel" politics? ...that old saw about not wanting to see how political bills or sausages are made?

Let's get a grant to relocate the market to the end of "the bridge to nowhere." It'll still be a bridge to nowhere, but you won't be hungry when you discover that you're still getting nowhere. ...especially if they accept food stamps.

Brought to you by Ducks United Meat Bureau
the same DUMB mission since 1945
("...and proud of it, Man.")

I'm glad - sorry for you - but still glad I'm not living in a vacuum and others see it too. Just got hit with a fine Friday for $460 because I had paid all my payroll taxes properly but did not put a number from page two on page 1. Everything else on all the forms was correct but this one little number was omitted on that one page and it was merely repetitious nonsense but it was important enough for them to send an auditor 100 miles to come see me and waste half my day over something they could have just penciled in on their end had they had any common sense. Its sad.

Butterbean, it looks like your bureaucrat must have taken an upgrading course north of the 49th. We were a small scale egg and meat bird producer but had to fold up the tent because of new rules that we simply could not afford to implement and which would not have changed the quality of our product one iota. Even the smaller meat packing plants have been closing and today you will seldom see a whole carcass hanging in the butcher`s cooler. We live in a rural area and I had to go to five different towns to find a source of backfat that wasn`t in a 50lb. box.

The biggest expense that a small business has to face is the overhead expense caused by regulations. I have had many people suggest to me that I open a business. My answer to them is always that I can't afford to it will cost me too much to make it worth my time and effort.

Not much difference in Australia, Red tape is geared to keep utter lunatics in a job.
Ross is so correct, if he opened business premises, he would have to charge 3 times as much to keep ahead of permits, licences, inspection applications etc etc The list seem to be growing here every week.
Luckily we had a change in Government, they do realise now that Red Tape is stagnating the whole country. If there will be a change remains to be seen but al least they are listening.
Cheers,
Jan.

I live in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's third-most populous urban area. The population of Christchurch City at the 5 March 2013 census was 341,469.

I think that there are two butchers in town that produce traditionally fermentated salami others use addatives to drop the acidity. One of them is GDL (for some reason I get the innitials GDL and GBH [Grievous bodily harm] muddled up) . A few more make cured, cooked sausages. I was amazed about this and started reading up the local and national laws. It is very clear that the legislation is written for the big boys. I have began to get to know thebutchers and the red tape is the thing that causes the problems. I know that safety is the most important rule, but if only the big boys would go for quality and not mass produced sh%^.

Mark

I guess its just the small price of living in a civilized society. Of course it could be argued how a society can be civilized when it has more attorneys than butchers. But maybe its not a civilized thing but a freedom thing since I'm pretty sure its just a myth that one can still smoke in a bar in Russia. Propaganda I'm sure. Dam Commies!

I have to laugh at this post! We seem to all reminisce of times past and how we remember the butcher shops of days gone by. In looking at the various ages of everyone, and I've come to the conclusion that we're just a bunch of old farts not wanting to change with the times! Not wanting to follow the younger generation and to accept the prepackaged commercially made pink sausages in their attractive plastic wrapping, found in the sterile cold meat case at the local grocery store!! LOL
If I could find a small family owned sausage/butcher shop, I'd be willing to work for free one day a week, just to partake of the smells, ambiance and hustle and bustle of the local traffic.
I love it so!

I could elaborate on this subject but I spilled some Cure 1 on the floor and the hazmat team from the EPA has just arrived and we have to get things cleaned up and fast.

Butter beam,
You will have 1 cleaner/worker there, 4 leading hands, 7 supervisors, 12 uni graduates who know nothing and are totally useless, 2 engineers and 1 dept head, these are only the local government boys, now the state and federal boys will also be arriving shortly. A traffic jam for miles around.
Now you know where your taxes go.
Cheers,
Jan.

Since I notice old Chuckwagon is absent, probably out on another extended drunk or out doing some other lascivious and despicable behavior, I will say that I never should have taken his advice and NOT bought the HazMat suit I was convinced in buying by a fella from another board. And they were on Sale and just happened to be in stock!

Um, ya'll post a lot so this will get buried in posts before Chuckie sobers up.