Sausage question

klosurdo said:

What ratio of fatback to lean pork would you suggest?

yep, I make sausage 4x per year (90 lbs at a time) and bone in pork shoulder, untrimmed is what I always use.  What's interesting is that when it's cooked, it's still juicy but not overly fatty.  people have even commented on how lean the sausage I make is yet it's not lacking in flavor or juiciness. 

BUt getting fatback can be tricky. if you run out of options, there are several places online where you can order it from .  I've never tried this but before discovering that the bone in pork shoulder with the fat cap already on it is perfect to for sausage, I did search for it online.

one other thing-if you make shoulder for pulled port, I ALWAYS trim the fat off of it.  many bbq experts say no but in my experience, the trimmed pork shoulder has plenty of fat to keep meat moist.  plus, if you take that outer layer off, cleanup afterward is much easier.  I freeze the trimmed fat and add to beef sausage or to other leaner pork sausage for flavoring.

attached is a pict of some Italian sausages I made (ground spiced and cased) and then cooked on the BGE.  nice color in the peppers up top too!

just an FYI

My experience with sausage is at least 80-20 ratio. Egg temp no higher than 174 deg, or the fat will melt out of it. Pull it at an internal temperature of 153-155 deg and right into an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Generally takes about an hour and a half for 5 lbs.

I struggled with dry/crumbly texture until I read this in the Charcuterie book. Using this method, it comes out great every time. The hard part is to hold the egg at under 175 deg. I use the A-Maze-ing pellet tray for smoke and just a couple of charcoal chunks for heat. I have been looking for a more accurate way to hold temp but so far it is just watch it closely.

Enjoy. There is nothing better than fresh smoked sausage.

do you put the spices on the shoulder BEFORE grinding it or do you mix it in after it's ground.  I've read about advantages and disadvantages of each. I use a LEM #12 grinder and it can handle just about anything i throw at it without stopping, and a 5# piston-driven hand crank sausage stuffer (i should've gotten the 15# for another $150). I've not yet invested in a mixer and even with the quantities i make, I've had no problem with even spice distribution.  So far it's been Italian (red pepper flakes, fennel, salt and garlic), brats (allspice, cinnamon, white pepper, salt, marjoram and mace and caraway seed) and some French spring sausage  with a premade mix of herbes de provence. 

I grind it up and then mix the spices in, but I've been tempted by the idea of covering the uncut shoulder with the spice mix and then running it through the grinder.

i grind my own hamburger too but there's no spicing that up!

Any ideas you have would be appreciated.

canman said:

My experience with sausage is at least 80-20 ratio. Egg temp no higher than 174 deg, or the fat will melt out of it. Pull it at an internal temperature of 153-155 deg and right into an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Generally takes about an hour and a half for 5 lbs.

Enjoy. There is nothing better than fresh smoked sausage.

Lindley said:

westernbbq said:

yep, I make sausage 4x per year (90 lbs at a time) and bone in pork shoulder, untrimmed is what I always use.

...

attached is a pict of some Italian sausages I made (ground spiced and cased) and then cooked on the BGE.  nice color in the peppers up top too!

just an FYI

I also make my own wild pork and venison sausage. Pork back fat is excellent. Keep it COLD when you grind it. It should come off the grinding plate in nice well defined chunks and NOT smear or appear greasy. Place fat in the freezer for a bit to firm it up if need be. You can also cool your grinder parts in an ice bath or freezer too. 70% lean meat to 30% fat makes a good sausage in general. Trim and weigh separately to get an accurate measure. But as others have stated, a Boston butt was born with the perfect ratio, a gift from the Sausage Gods really.

Off topic: westernbbq, please tell us more about your stone and grate setup.

Thanks in advance!

no problem Lindley

The platesetter had a hairline fracture in it about 6 mos after I got my first BGE- (an XL), I sent the photo in and they replaced it within a week.  I kept both but stopped using when I got the spider and stone setup for both the XL and L BGE's.  I was trying to come up with four levels so I could make 12 racks of ribs but to get the spacing, the adj rig would just rest on top of the ribs in the basement on the stock grate and sort of weigh down on them. So, I stood on the cracked platesetter, legs down and it gave way.  I stacked two pieces on top of one another in three locations and set the adj rig on top and BINGO, I had my clearance, Clarence, roger Roger, what's our vector Victor?   (Airplane!)

I tend not to move the ribs around while cooking as I am not a purist but I did put up some foil as a heat shield.  All 12 racks came out perfect.  awesome results.

Underneath the drip pan sits the XL Spider (inner ring down into firebox)  and the XL spider stone. 

BBQ guru set at 210, beer in the drip pan and five or so hours later- BBQ rib perfection.

Lindley said:

Saaaaaweeet!! Thanks for the details. Very creative way to fill your egg. Those ribs look mouthwatering! I'd like to try something similar with a pile of slow smoked sausage.

Now... Back to the main topic. Thanks for the tangential info!

you know, you just gave me a great idea.  I can smoke a LOT of sausage at one time with this setup!  thanks for the lightbulb! 

I was thinking a lot of chicken breasts, multiple spatch chix, four brisket flats, babybacks, spare ribs, or even a batch of smoked burgers which are sublime.  now i'll do the sausage!  stay tuned for future photographic evidence.