Homemade Sausage Making

And the new baby is way way larger than I expected it would be!



My plan was to house it in the butler pantry with the rest of my sausage gear, right between the kitchen and dining room



This thing isn't going to fit comfortably anywhere, and Mrs G is frowning at me. I'd have gotten the smaller model if I'd have had any idea of the size of this thing. The 19lb porkbutt I put into the fridge to thaw on Sunday night isn't quite ready to process so I guess I'll have to wait till tomorrow to break it in. Weather looks good for smoking on Friday, chicken-Italian-dried tomato-black olive sausage slated for the rainy weekend. Looks like there's a opening today to play a little pai gow!

Very nice! You will have to let us know how you like it

In the mean time you must start building an equipment cabinet worthy of all of that great stuff.

I think he should provide all of us with a cigar, or at least some sausage samples!

This is the first beautiful baby I've ever seen in my life. Congratulations!

CrankyBuzzard wrote:I think he should provide all of us with a cigar, or at least some sausage samples!

Let me know if you are ever coming out my way! I would be honored to host you to a fine Arturo Fuente Churchill, a glass or three of 18 year-old single malt, and all the sausage you can handle. I'm taking this baby for her first ride tomorrow morning. The porkbutt is deboned, chopped into pieces, and in the fridge, all the spices are premeasured.

The cards weren't falling my way so I left my wife at the table and walked over to a slot machine about twenty feet away, threw in a $20 bill, tax-form jackpot. We picked up and came home after being there for less than a hour, stopped at the bank to make a nice deposit. My wife isn't frowning at me anymore! RAY

Ray said:

a glass or three of 18 year-old single malt,

It's a beaut Sawhorse! I'm glad your wife is smiling again. But please..... Don't drink and drive! ... all those cops are all alike! No sense of humor whatsoever! And the test for DUI is a som beech! You have to recite the alphabet backwards, twice, first in Italian, then in German... in less than 15 seconds, while hopping on one foot, with one hand over your heart, and all without blinking!

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon AKA (Swervy Wagontrack!)

Not everything always works out the way you think it might. After stuffing 16.5 pounds of Polish sausage at five this morning and getting the load in the smoker and everything all cleaned up, I had to admit to myself that I didn't particularly like using the vertical stuffer. Using my grinder for over five years now I just seem to have way better control, never have any air-pockets like I did this morning, and didn't really like having to lift the canister into place on the base of the stuffer, not easy on my neck. The stuffer is all boxed up and will be headed back to Cabelas as soon as the smoker temp hits 165° so I can take a little ride. RAY

Wow Ray, I figured it would have been the opposite reaction.

It does take some getting used to for sure.

If I ever get to the left coast ill take you up on the stogie and beverage!

Charlie

I'm keeping the thing, my wife says I'm just being crabby due to a bad arthritis day. Beefeaters and pills are helping, I'll give the stuffer another shot Saturday and learn how to use it better. Just a bad day, I hurt all over, Mr Beefeaters will help. RAY

sawhorseray wrote:I'm keeping the thing, my wife says I'm just being crabby due to a bad arthritis day. Beefeaters and pills are helping, I'll give the stuffer another shot Saturday and learn how to use it better. Just a bad day, I hurt all over, Mr Beefeaters will help. RAY

If I might give a suggestion... Start off with half full container. My neck form the middle of my shoulder blades to the base of my head is stainless steel and titanium with a LOT of cadaver bone fused in the middle. I understand the neck issue.

Also, when stuffing the stuffer with meat, place it as close to the frame as possible, and use a step stool to look down into it while filling. My boys gave me a hard time about me doing that until I had them fill it a couple of times. Even their healthy bodies complained. My stool is only about 8" tall, but it helps a LOT when spooning in the meat and pressing it into place.

You'll learn to love it since it'll make stuffing a bit easier in the long run and it doesn't tend to smear the fat or change the texture of the meat like using the grinder with a stuffer attachment does.

Just my thoughts.

Charlie

Forgot to mention... Beefeaters, and Crown, tend to make for some STRANGE sausage recipes! The pills make it even MORE interesting! Don't bother trying to write down the recipe the beverages and pills provide, you won't understand them in the morning!

I made beer once under the influence of Crown, pain pills, and muscle relaxers! Best batch I ever made! Problem is, I have no clue what all I put into the fermenting keg...

Hang in there bud. If you need surgery for the neck, I recommend it 100%... It's a bitch at first, but the end result is getting your life back...

Charlie

Thanks for the advice CB! I just picked up a two-foot step-ladder that will be perfect for your suggestion about getting "up" for the job. Degenerative disc disease and arthritis were just really teaming up that day in a effort to spoil my stuffer debut, and it turned out to be a REAL long day. Things started out OK as I'd done the deboning and added spices the night before.



My initial grind thru the 7mm plate took about 90 seconds to go thru the 16.5 lbs of butt



Running the batch thru a second time using the 3mm plate turned into a real chore, must have taken me 20 minutes. There was a lot of pushing and effort to get thru that, the grind seemed kind of mushy, and I still can't figure what was wrong. I was thinking maybe I'd dulled my knife blade on the grinder, or maybe the meat had warmed too much?



As it was 29° outside I set the meat mixer up on the sawhorses next to the smoker in the backyard to get everything chilled back down



Oh, and you're right about the pills and booze gourmet deli delight. I really don't remember a darned thing about how it all came out, but it seems the next morning I had a nice load of smoked Polish in my fridge



Alls well that ends well. I'll try getting better accustomed to using the new stuffer Monday or Tuesday on a 22lb batch of chicken-Italian-dried tomato-black olive sausage. RAY

PS: Between my back, neck, hips, knees, and shoulders I figure if they start cutting on me they'll never stop, so I ain't letting them start. Besides, gives me a great excuse to get a nice buzz on!

What a difference a day makes! I started out noticing my stuffer tube had a glitch in it so I replaced it with the one I used on my grinder, fit perfect, no more popped casings.



Sprayed some Pam on my hi-temp gloves and mixed the wine in with the seasoned chicken thighs, loading the stuffer was a piece of cake after heeding CrankyBuzzards advice, (thanks again CB). Higher up was better, way better.





I stopped trying to fiddle with the individual sausages as they were coming off the tube and went back to just filling the casing and twisting the links afterwards



About the only slip-up was me forgetting to grind and add the dried tomatoes. Once I got into the groove of things the vertical stuffer was a dream to use, easier and faster than my grinder. Time for some around the house chores. RAY

I call my step stool the QC Perch!

Glad it worked out for you and hope you make lots more sausage with it!

Now, about forgetting one of the ingredients in a mix! Oops! We've all done it, and will more than likely do it again!

Charlie