Homemade Sausage Making

Hey all,

Finally got around to making some sausage for the first time this weekend with my new gear that I got for Christmas. I made up some Bratwurst and I think it was successful.

Here we go:

Ground up the meat; pork butt, beef chuck, and bacon -


Then I mixed with seasonings -


Working with the new stuffer -


Starting to look like sausage -


And finally, the fruits of my labor -


All in all, I'd say not bad for a first run. I made up 10lbs. and I split it 3 ways for three different varieties; regular, cheddar, and jalapeno cheddar. The recipe I used was a combination of one I found on here, and two that I found on the smoke ring. I had one mistake, in that I forgot to put the garlic in it, but otherwise they taste pretty darn good. The only other issue was the casings seem pretty tough to me, not really snappy, but that could have been cause the grill I used was on the verge of going out and I didn't feel like adding coals. I just cooked up some of the really short end pieces and one that had a blowout on the stuffer.....I'm hoping when I actually set to cook some of these, that time will help and I'll use a hotter grill. We'll see.

Here's my recipe:
7lbs. Pork Butt
2lbs. Beef Chuck
1lbs. Bacon
3 Cloves Garlic Minced (oops!, I forgot to add )
1T Black Pepper
4T Kosher Salt
3T Sugar
2t Ground Sage
1/2t Ground Nutmeg
1/2t Dried Thyme
1t Coriander
1C Flat Lager Beer
1C Heavy Cream (I used half and half)
2 Large Eggs

Grind through 8mm plate, mix thoroughly and stuff in natural hog casings.

In this version, once the meat was mixed, I pulled out 3lbs and stuffed them for regular. To the rest I added 1lb of sharp cheddar that I diced in 1/4" cubes. I then stuffed half of that mixture and to the remaining I added 4 jalapenos that I seeded and deveined.

Thanks for looking
Ed

There is one little step that most of us use. We fry a small taste test patty before we stuff. That would have caught the missing garlic. Other than that they are wonderful.

Thanks Ross,

I had planned on doing that, but had a couple other irons in the fire and got distracted....

Lesson learned and at least it wasn't a disaster...

Ed

Cat797,
If you add chopped garlic, make sure you stew it in some water to soften up first.
The garlic tastes batter and not so harsh. I do it this way all the time now without regret.
Your sausages look great, keep up the good work.
Take a photo of a fried sausage with the cheese, I like to see how it's melted so I can copy you.
Congratulations.
Jan.

Cat 797,
Use the garlic water as well as the sofetened chopped garlic. I forgot. Sorry
Jan.

Thanks Jan.....

I had planned on using the already minced garlic that you can get in a jar at the grocery store. Do you think that you would steep that as well?

Been a while since I been to Brisbane. I need to get back there....what a beautiful place! I could sure go for a meat pie about now...

Cheers,
Ed

Great tip from Jan; I do it that way all the timenow. It's a beautiful flavour, and I've just harvested the best garlic ever from the garden. Must be time to make that lovely Csabai recipe again.
Ursula

Cat797, that is gorgeous lookin' sausage. Those links look really professional. Hey, you'd better watch out though... this ol' stuff will get into your blood and you'll get hooked on your new hobby! Nice to have you with us Cat!

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Cat797,
The garlic in a jar has a completely different flavour than the fresh bulbs.
The additives to keep it looking good in the jar changes the whole flavour profile.
Try fresh, you will never go back again to the bottled crap.
Good Luck Mate,
Jan.

Cat797, those sausages look awesome! It's a foregone conclusion from here on that friends and family will keep asking for some.
Your new hobby will get additive.

I also read the part where you mentioned the casings being a bit tough.
The night before I stuff sausage, I remove the casings from the storage container, wash them thoroughly to get all the salt off then refrigerate them in clean water. That seems to help. If there are any casings left over in the clean water after you have stuffed, you can store them in the salt storage container again.

Ron

Good looking sausages. I made some notes on your spice combination as I am a fan of brats. Did you use high temp or regular cheddar?