I spent Friday evening and most of the day Saturday grinding, mixing, and stuffing four varieties of sausages (over 30 lbs worth). Flavors include venison/bacon bratwurst, Tom's venison/pork sausage, venison/pork chorizo, and pheasant/goose/duck hunter-style sausage. I like the bratwurst the best so far.
Testing some of the sausages:
Back in November, some friends and I went in together on a Cabelas Commercial 3/4hp grinder. Outstanding piece of equipment! As with any grinder, it's not the absolute best thing for stuffing, but it does work. With a little practice, you can turn out some decent links. I think before I process that amount again, I'll buy a stuffing press. The grinder gets fairly warm after 15 minutes of work, and this heat transfers down the shaft and neck to your meat, which isn't good. So between batches, I put the whole assembly in the freezer to keep it cold. It also means that I can only do one operation at a time, whereas having a press would allow someone else to stuff casings while I grind the meat.
Next on the agenda are Italian pork sausage, smoked pork Kielbasa (Polish) sausage, and a pork Andouille smoked sausage (a Cajun sausage that's really good in gumbo and jambalaya). I found some good sales on meat this weekend, but the freezers are getting full. What to do, what to do???
Testing some of the sausages:
Back in November, some friends and I went in together on a Cabelas Commercial 3/4hp grinder. Outstanding piece of equipment! As with any grinder, it's not the absolute best thing for stuffing, but it does work. With a little practice, you can turn out some decent links. I think before I process that amount again, I'll buy a stuffing press. The grinder gets fairly warm after 15 minutes of work, and this heat transfers down the shaft and neck to your meat, which isn't good. So between batches, I put the whole assembly in the freezer to keep it cold. It also means that I can only do one operation at a time, whereas having a press would allow someone else to stuff casings while I grind the meat.
Next on the agenda are Italian pork sausage, smoked pork Kielbasa (Polish) sausage, and a pork Andouille smoked sausage (a Cajun sausage that's really good in gumbo and jambalaya). I found some good sales on meat this weekend, but the freezers are getting full. What to do, what to do???
