Just received a new 6 quart pro kitchen aid. I make sausage 6 pounds at a time. What would work best for mixing meat, spices and cure the paddle or the dough hook?
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I've always found when making quantities like yours that any mechanical mixing produces an undesirable consistency. I think it tends to liquify or break up the fat too much. I use my hands.
I usually mix sausage in 40lb batches. I have a mechanical mixer that attaches to my 1 hp grinder. I haven't used it in years. I get a better mix by doing it by hand with less smear. The same goes for the stand mixer, if you were to use it the paddle would be the way to go. You might find that the stand mixer will smear your fat and not give you the texture you want in a good hand made sausage. A six pound batch would mix up real quick by hand.
Too much friction and thus heat with any mechanical method. You could do a 6 pound batch by hand in a huge bowl. If you were gonna use the mixer (I have the 6 qt. also) I would say put the paddle and the mixing bowl in the freezer overnight, put your meat in the freezer for a bit to get it extra cold. Then take everything out, assemble the mixer parts and do the job fast. By hand would be the best way.
If you do use the mixer, you can always add Ice water (with some ice still in it) at the rate of 2 oz per pound of meat to keep things cool. Also, pre-freezing your mixing paddle would help, not to mention your grinder parts.
Cold everything is your friend while grinding and mixing.
Cold everything is your friend while grinding and mixing.
i use the dough hook with a spatula scraping the sides etc. i do 5 lbs batches. the paddle just pushes it around where the hook folds it in on itself. i use the slowest speed.