Homemade Sausage Making

It's another cold Alberta weekend, which means tinkering and sausage making until it warms up in the afternoon to go X country skiing. I've made Landjaeger a few times and just press it in a meat lug. I had this big chunk of racquet ball flooring I was going to use for a cutting board but went with plastic instead, that I wanted to put to use. I will use a piece for the bottom and lid, and lampine for the sides. When in use I line it with plastic, layer the sausage and cover each layer with a piece of cloroplast. Lastly I fold in the plastic, press the lid down then ratchet down further with ATV tie downs. Pictures to follow!

Here she is. Putting it to use tomorrow.

Great idea, so will just place weights on the lid as required? I'm in the process of preparind a prosciutto, need to press it, and leaning in the direction of threaded rods for the pressure. I'm quite useless when it comes to carpentry, can't even nail a couple of 2x4s together.

Red, I put a block on top of the lid to make it stick above the sides then I use ratchet tie down straps from the eye hooks on the bottom of the box to suck the lid down. They will exert a lot of pressure and squish them good. Would also work as a ham press or other press.

Nice job!

What are the dimensions and how much landjaeger do you think you'll be press at one time? Will you be finishing/sealing the wood?

Usable space inside is 18" X 12" X 9". I can do 25 pounds for sure. I did apply a wooden bowl\spoon oil to the inside and outside.

Red, after putting the 12 pounds I just made in the press, I can easily do a batch of at least 40 pounds.

fatboyz wrote:Red, after putting the 12 pounds I just made in the press, I can easily do a batch of at least 40 pounds.

How long are you pressing and are there any holes in the bottom of the box?

Brican. I line the box with plastic to catch the juice. It will be pressed/fermented for 2 days then cold smoked.

fatboyz wrote:Brican. I line the box with plastic to catch the juice. It will be pressed/fermented for 2 days then cold smoked.

I was wondering as I make 40kg at a time and know how much liquid can come from the pressing, just a though it is usually best not to let them sit in the liquid as it could turn your sausage

How long do you leave yours in the press, and what temperature? Does your press hold the whole 40 kg at once?

fatboyz wrote:How long do you leave yours in the press, and what temperature? Does your press hold the whole 40 kg at once?

Usually between two to three days depending on my work load

Temperature is usually about 20c or just under

Yes my set up holds between 40kg to 50g although I normally do 40kg batches once a month

After listening to discussions here about using threaded rods to press Spressatta I did some modifications and sopressatta in the press right now fermenting.