Homemade Sausage Making

tried to make my first batch of kielbasa stix. I have a vertical stuffer from grizzley tools,it has the plastic gears but it seems like a fairly good stuffer for the price of about $80.00 I beleive ,anyhow I made up a 5# batch and after soaking the casings for a hour tried to put the casings on the tubes .Well I could barley get them opened and when I did they tore ,so after 20 minutes of that I got out some hog casings and just made them.is there any tricks for using these and if so please share.photos would be a nice touch.Thanks in advance orf...

Hi orf.

Here is some information on stuffing small casings. I think you need small tube, and more water in the mix.

http://www.lemproducts.com/product/3306/stuffing_tube

Hey Orf,

I think I have the same stuffer as you. I made Kabanosy once with 22-24mm casings and the smallest stuffing tube that came with the stuffer still made it a tight fit. So I can only imagine what you had to do. You can buy smaller tubes, thats what I did. Also, try a slightly larger sheep casing. The 22-24 was good for kabanosy.

First measure your stuffing tube. If its not smaller than 19MM your going to have a real hard time getting those casings on. So now if you have them on and you start stuffing you will find it really hard to crank that handle because your trying to force the meat through a very small opening. Thats where the extra water come into play. Helps with stuffing as the meat is not set to hard. Go slow till you get used to the casings, they will blow out on you real easy but if you take your time and don't over stuff you will be just fine.

I saw the smaler tube on lem and was going to order it. thought I'd wait to here from some of you'se first though. and how do you get them opened,my fat little stubs had a hell of a time.

If you cut the end with sharp scissors, its a little easier to open it.

From one of my sausage making friends who has made more sticks than i will ever, told me that its a lot easier if the meat is at the end of the stuffing tube to thread the casings on. Never tried this out but he said it works better this way.

For casings that size, you really need the 3/8" SS stuffing tube that LEM sells.

I agree with your friend Devo. I do it like that too. I also first blow some air into the casing, it forms a bauble. At the end, the air escapes.

Baconologist wrote:For casings that size, you really need the 3/8" SS stuffing tube that LEM sells.

I ordered one of those after my first try (using the smallest diameter plastic tube that came with my 5 lb. LEM), and it was still extremely difficult for me to get the sheep casings on the tube. Did the snip-off-the-end trick. I got a little better at it as I went along, but it was still too slow and frustrating for me. Finally switched to collagen....what a breeze.

I've still got a package of sheep casings in case my patience miraculously improves. Ha! OR if I learn some great tricks on this forum (more likely). If I ever buy sheep casings again, I will get the pre-loaded type! Stuffed 10 lbs. of kabanosy Sat. night...can't imagine how long it would have taken with my sheep casing skills.

I wouldn't even think of stuffing sheep cases with out my 3/8 ss stuffing tubes, and I got a 1/2 inch one for hog cases, throw those plastic tapered tubes away.

is there any secrects to getting the ends open? I've cut it straight but am still having a hellofa time with them. I ordered a 3/8 tube from lem. are they a recommended company that you folks buy from? I diddn't see any 22mm casings on that site.

I usually order from the sausagemaker.com in Buffalo NY

Orf, not sure what you mean by getting the ends open. When I make fresh sausage with hog casings, I just grab the end and blow it up like a balloon or run water thru it to open it up. Also, a tip I found is make sure you have about 1/2 in. of meat left out of the end of the funnel, as this makes starting them much easier.
BG, how's that moose coming along.

I also have that 5 lb. vertical stuffer. It's inexpensive and works great. I use 22/24 mm sheep casings from Stuffers (they're local to me).

As you noticed, sheep casings are more delicate than hog casings but are easy enough to use if you just handle them with care. I use the recipe for Sage, Ginger & Garlic Breakfast Sausage from Ruhlman & Polcyn's "Charcuterie" (using heavier spice levels than they call for). I use the smallest of the stuffing tubes that come with the Grizzly stuffer. I let them soak for at least a 1/2 hour (or more).

To open up the lumen (i.e. centre hole) of the casing, I do it under a light stream of water such that when it starts to open, the opening fills with water and finishes the job. Now that the end is open, i let 20 ml or so of water into the casing and let it flush the entire casing. After this, the end of the casing is just started onto the small stuffing tube. I pour a tablespoon or so of pure olive oil down the stuffing tube into the casing. The olive oil is the trick to loading the casing onto the tube as it provide splendid lubrication. I load the casing onto the stuffing horn in the sink so the mess is contained.

When ready to stuff, I thread the plastic nut over the casings on the horn and attach the loaded horn onto the stuffer. When stuffing the sheep casings, don't stuff them really tight as they'll burst when you turn them into links.

Since I usually make 15 lbs. of breakfast sausage at a go, I bought a second set of stuffing horns from Grizzlie and have two horns loaded with casing, rather than having to reload the stuffing horn half-way through the process.

Lubrication and a bit of delicacy works for me. (As the actress said to the bishop.)

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Cheers,
Rob