netspyman wrote: I do have one question is it better to leave the meat mix sit overnight in the fridge then stuff the day i smoke or stuff and then leave in the fridge?
Difficult to say which is "better" since both methods are acceptable. Sometimes it just comes to how you manage your time. And some guys just grind, mix, stuff, set/dry for a couple of hours and smoke. Nitrite works fast, especially if you have a finer grind but you still need to condition the sausage before smoking just to make sure. Read Stan Marianski's explanation here:
http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-making/drying
Stuffing the day before and setting in the fridge is OK, but ideally the sausage should be hung, rather than laying on a tray, since it may lose shape and dry unevenly. And if left too long, it may actually dry the casings too much and toughen them. Your frost free fridge is actually a dry environment with that fan kicking in regularly to prevent condensation. And you can't transfer it to the smoker directly from the fridge. You have to hang it at room temp for 1-2 hours to let it warm. Placing cold meat in the smoker will cause droplets of water to form on the casings and prevent it from taking on smoke uniformly.
Leaving the prepared farce in the fridge overnight will definitely condition it, but it will be slightly more difficult to work with, since the the mass will have stiffened considerably by then. A stiffer farce may result in air pockets in the sausage and if you are making a small diameter sausage like snack sticks, turning that crank on the stuffer can be a chore.
I still like to make sausage the old fashioned way, take my time and work carefully through each step. I have ruined more than one batch when I was making sausage and trying to do other things at the same time, or tried to take short cuts. I cut my meat into 1 -2 inch cubes, weigh it, add the appropriate amounts of salt and cure mix with the meat and refrigerate for 24-48 hours. On the evening before the day that I will be making the sausage, I weigh out and prepare the spices. This sometimes takes a while since I have to calculate the exact amount for the weight of the meat, peel garlic, and toast and grind some of the spices. I also place the grinder tray and auger assembly into the freezer before going to bed. In the morning everything is ready and I grind the the meat, mix and stuff. Cured chunks of meat grind much nicer than uncured meat. The meat is much stiffer and there is none of that watery exudate, since it was all absorbed back into the meat. The sausages then dry at room temp for a couple of hours. In the meantime I preheat the smoker and clean up. In following this routine, my sausages are usually ready by evening.
