Sausage Sausage Sausage Sausage

DMW

Been busy all weekend. Spent all afternoon yesterday dicing the meat and mixing the spices/seasoning. Portioned everything and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

I gave them a few hours in the freezer just before grinding.

Did 7.5# Bratwurst

5# Spicy Italian

5# Sweet Italian

and just over 3# Mexican Chorizo.

My folks came over this afternoon and my dad helped me with the grinding and stuffing of all but the Chorizo. They also brought their 5qt Kitchen Aid. Along with our 4.5qt KA, it went fine. I was really glad for the 2nd mixer on the larger batches.

I was just finishing grinding the Chorizo when they got here and it is a loose sausage, so that just got food saver-ed and frozen. It was a huge help having a second set of hands. SWMBO would have helped if I needed her to, but she really would not have been into it. And I got to spend time with my dad, always a good thing.

Grilled up some of the Bratwurst with some sour kraut for supper tonight. Raised Direct around 350*. Once color was set, I moved them to above the sour kraut to stop the direct heat. Nice simple, and oh so good. 

I sent a sampling of each kind home with my folks.

These were all recipes from Charcuterie. Again, if any of you don't have this book, go buy it. But, get ready for a decent size investment to follow the book, but it is worth it and you can proceed at your own pace.

I'll do a few things differently next time that should increase my efficiency. I think I'll dice all of each kind of meat at once, rather than just a butt at a time as I went. Then I'll have diced butt, diced veal, and diced back fat in the fridge ready to mix and season. I think I'll tweak my kitchen layout a bit, and use a power strip for the grinder and the mixers, as we had to keep unplugging and plugging stuff in as we went.

Anyway, I should be set on sausage for awhile, will keep these notes as I'm sure I won't remember come next time.

Dyal_SC

Yessir!! I'd be all over that. Nice work!!

cazzy

Good stuff man! I just stuffed my face today! :P

Mickey

Why can't you live next door?

boochsr71

nice looking job

Canugghead

Look absolutely fabulous!  I've that book too but never tried any sausage recipes yet.  I occasionally make Anglo-Indian pork sausages, very similar ingredients to Moroccan lamb sausages.  Love your stuffer, what's the capacity?  Thought about getting one like that but can't justify, too many toys.  btw, I was at Costco today, all Pelicans gone :(( but also glad they made the decision for me!

TTC

Love the book, but have yet to go all the way with it. Looking at your productivity I think that may change real soon

Biggreenpharmacist

I bought the book but have yet to try any of it. I gotta find the time.

DMW

Thanks everyone.

@Canugghead That is a 5# stuffer. It works really well. I like the hand crank, as you can vary your pace based on how it is filling the casing. I never tried stuffing right from the grinder, and I'm glad I didn't because I have a feeling it would have led to frustration. Both the stuffer and grinder were ordered from Northern Tool. Based on further research after the impulse purchase, I wish I would have got a stuffer with all metal parts. This one has nylon gears. So far, no problem, hopefully with the volume I use it for, they will last for awhile.

DMW

Biggreenpharmacist said:

I bought the book but have yet to try any of it. I gotta find the time.

Just reading it makes you a better cook IMHO. There are lots of simple ones in there. For pork chops, try the spicy pork rub, including the brine. I like that rub on pork loin/tenderloin as well.

yzzi

I just got the book. I also inherited a fridge from a coworker that's being converted into a meat locker shortly. Your post makes me envious.

Biggreenpharmacist

@DMW I keep intending to make a list and order some of the ingredients/curing stuff and just forget to do it.

DMW

@yzzi Are you adding a temp controller and humidity controller to the fridge to be able to use it for a curing chamber? That is on my wish list, I think I have a spot for it in my basement.

Eggcelsior

Sausage sausage sausage

yzzi

DMW said:

@yzzi Are you adding a temp controller and humidity controller to the fridge to be able to use it for a curing chamber? That is on my wish list, I think I have a spot for it in my basement.

Yes. I just ordered the humidity controller yesterday. I'm trying to space out any purchases as my wife isn't too found of the project. I'm going to rig up the humidity control first and just use the fridges temp control at first to do some dry aging, then I'll rig up the temperature control for some curing. I spent a while yesterday cleaning and sanitizing the fridge, and the controller comes Tuesday so I hope to have some time this weekend to do some work.

Phatchris

Awesome

apinion

Anyone like chicken sausge? HEB sells some bomb chicken, cheddar, and poblano sausage.

DMW

@Mickey‌

NPHuskerFL

@DMW‌ Brats & Kraut! Dude this makes me want to purchase the attachments for my KA artisan. Awesome!

SGH

@DMW‌
Awesome job my friend. Looks excellent.

PNWFoodie

Will you adopt me?

Griffin

Man! You were busy. Nice job. I wouldn't worry too much about the stuffer. Just take it slow and don't force it and those gears should hold up fine. If you are worried, maybe see if you can buy some replacement gears now before you ened them.

How was the chorizo? I really want to make some. Wife isn't happy with the store bought stuff and we use it alot. Breakfast tacos, boracho beans, mussels...

tulocay

Looks great.

GeorgeS

That is some fine looking sausage you got there! Ok that's the last time I ever say or type that!

Cymbaline65

I need to just take a day and make some sausage. Have not yet and it seems something always gets in the way. Looks great!

HendersonTRKing

Turns out what they say is wrong:  I absolutely DO want to see how the sausage is made!  That looks awesome.

kthacher

Nice thread.  I too have the Charcuterie book.  So far the biggest hit has been the Smoked Chicken and Roasted Garlic Sausage recipe on page 160 (if you ignore the bacon).  Smoked over Cherry for about 4 hours - just awesome.

Being new to sausage making, I decide to keep my entry costs down, so I bought a relatively inexpensive unit from Cabellas that grinds and stuffs.  The stuffing is pretty easy, and I find that it works at a rate where I can easily control the process.  I may get a dedicated stuffer one day, but for those on the fence who just want to try this out, then one of these combo units do a good job of getting you going.  

Excuse the sausage chaos in this photo, as they needed to make way for a rack of lamb part way through.  I am not sure if I will ever return to store bought sausage, as knowing exactly what is inside is a great feeling.  You guys with the book, need to get off the fence and give this a shot 

 Making sausage from scratch has been one of the best things about my new Egg.  

DMW

@Griffin I'm not sure yet on the Chorizo, I haven't tried it yet. I know I should have fried some after grinding to see if it needed adjusting, but I didn't bother... I'll let you know. Looking forward to some breakfast burritos soon.

DMW

Something I see I forgot to mention. When it was time to get the egg filled and lit Sunday night I was still up to my elbows stuffing the bratwurst. I knew there was no way SWMBO was going to attempt it. I asked my big guy (10 years old) if he thought he could. With a big grin on his face he says "Really? Yes!"

He topped off the lump to the top of the firebox, lit the XL with the electric starter, removed the hot starter to the unused gasser, and brought the temp to 350* with me just watching carefully from the patio door.

To say I was a proud papa would be an understatement. Wish I could go play catch with him now but I'm a few thousand miles away....

Canugghead

Sweet, you should be more than proud!

SGH

@DMW‌
You should be very proud of the little guy. I don't even know him but the fact that he is only 10 and already firing a smoker up, heck I'm proud of him! I have a 23 year old who couldn't build a proper fire in the egg if his life depended on it.