Sausage stuffers

Now, this is where you moderator will step in.

who SAID this was only a Q forum. You use a CS don't you. There, 'nuff said. Start talking...

Besides, unlike other forum where everyone starts talking via emails, we share here. We're all about sharing.

You wanna talk about sausage, you go ahead. I think we talk Q so much because it's the most popular, but if you want to jump forward at a Sausage Maker, I for one, would be happy to learn anything and everything you're willing to share.

For Example, Andi is becoming a great source for fish, now I know a sausage person. You can help with Sausage.

If we do it in a CS, we talk about it.

So, when are you doing the Sausage 101?

LOL

Welcome Sausage Man!

Smokin'

Charlie,

I love to do sausage in my smoker. I don't quite have your energy. I typically use HiMountain Jerky's sausage seasonings.

I have used several sausage stuffers and my thought would be to buy the most expensive one you can afford. I have a hand stuffer that is a real pain in the back to both use and clean. However, it does a nice job.

HiMountain sells an electric stuffer/grinder. I haven't tried it myself, which the owner of HiMountain tells me works great.

I also have a jerky shooter. It works great, since you are not using casings it might be fine. I have shot 12 pounds of jerky through it before and it wasn't bad.

With that said, why don't you use casings? And what is your favorite type of sausage to do?

What is a jerky shooter? It sounds like someone who is shaking badly while she fires a gun.

Donna

quote:

Originally posted by Charlie:
[qb]I have had my CS several months now and have smoked up brisket, chicken, butts, jerky, etc. They have all been exellent. However the thing I primarely do with my CS is sausage. I have been making up 10-12lb batches of various sausage. Some execellent products have emerged from the smoker. [/qb]

Charlie, would you share your favorite recipes with us? And maybe some more about times, techniques, etc.? Now that you are

Sausage Man!

Donna

Ok Smokin, I have been properly chastised, put away the whoop'n stick, I will keep it in the forum. I definitely have enjoyed the fish theads that Andi has participated in. She sure knows her stuff about fish from her region.

Now I don't know about being ready to be "THE" Sausage Man (but since you brought it up I think I will change my forum name to Sausage man because that is what I like to do best with my CS).

I still consider myself a newbe in the sausage making area. But if you will file the sausage posts away for awhile then when we get some acumulated I might be able to help with putting something together. But for the time being I am reading everything I can find on the internet about sausage and learning something new each time I make a batch.

I will try and help anyone I can with their questions but I still have a lot of questions I will be throwing out there myself. But I am learning.

Stuart,

I used the High Mountain jerky blend that came with my CS to make a batch. It was good but I split it into three batchs and added extra spices to two of them to see what would happen. I definately like my spices so the batches that were kicked up a notch were the best for me and most of my family. Some of my friends liked the lesser spiced jerky best but they don't count.

I am trying to avoid the hand stuffer because I figured that it probably would be a pain. I have considered the crank stuffers that hold 5-10lb of sausage at a time. They cost several hundred dollars but might be a good way to go. I was wondering about them moving around the table unless you clamp them down. That can be done but is a strike against them. The water powered stuffer that is made out of what looks to be PVC is supposed to be a hands off operation. But does it work good?

I could go with a combination electric grinder/stuffer but since I use ground meat from the grocery I would rather spend the money on a better stuffer. However for the money that may be the way to go.

The jerky shooter is something I might go ahead and get anyway as a second device just because they are cheap compared to a stuffer.

As far as casings! Well I have nothing against casings. I had originally planed on using them but I found out that you don't have to have them for most sausages. I have eaten many sausages with casings and will eat more in the future. But, since they are mainly use as a convinent way to hold everything together and are not totally necessary you can save a small amount by not using them and they are the least tasty part of any sausage IMHO.

Donna,

Good one, but a jerky shooter looks like a caulking gun. It's got a tube about the same size as a tube of caulking like you use around a tub or sink to seal it. You put a stuffing tube on the end and fill the tube with the sausage mixture then put it into the gun. grab the pistol grip and squeeze the trigger with all of your fingers. this forces the mixture out the stuffing tube. You can put a casing on the tube or just lay the mixture out in strips.

As far as my favorite sausage recipes I am still searching them out. I have found many recipes on the net and have gotten them from friends and I purchased one sausage book so far "Eldon's Sausage & Jerky Handbook". I am definately still in the learning stage. However I just took my latest creation out of the smoker this afternoon and it is delicious. It's a summer sausage. I combined two recipes with a couple additions of my own. This one is a keeper in my recipe list.

10lb ground beef (should be no more then 70% lean)
5ts tender quick
5ts kosher salt
1 1/2ts powdered hickory smoke flavor
3tbs corn syrup solids
2tbs sugar
2tbs ground mustard
2tbs white pepper
1ts ground coriander
1 1/2ts garlic powder
1tbs sesame oil
1/2 cup dehydrated bell pepper
1/2 cup dehydrated jalapeno pepper
2 cups non fat dry milk
1 cup water

Mix well and form into two inch rolls and cure in refridgerator for 2-3 days. Smoke at 175 until internal temperature reaches 155. Remove and let sit on a rack until they come to room temperature. Slice and enjoy. Keep in the fridge or freeze.

As far as techniques, etc. I am still learning myself but here are a few things that I have learned about sausage making.

1. It's easy, almost as easy as putting some Q into the smoker.
2. The most important thing is good sanitation with your equipment and ingredients.
3. Mix your dry spices well before applying to the meat. Spread the meat out and cover it with spices. Mix together then spread it out again, add more spices. Repeat until all the spices have been added into the mixture. During this process add the liquid ingrediants a bit at the time.
4. You cure sausage that you are going to smoke but you don't have to cure sausage that you are going to cook. By cooking I mean using a high heat source (stove or grill) and no smoke. When you add smoke to the equation be sure you have cured the sausage mixture first. The smoke takes away the oxygen and this closes the circle of events that can lead to food poisioning.
5. Sausage is done at about 155 degrees. 160 won't hurt but 150 is the minimum I would go from a health standpoint.
6. Well I am sure there is a number 6 and more after that but its late and my brain is closing down on me so I quit for now.

Sausage Man

I have a kitchen-aid with the sausaage stuffing attachment.I find it vey easy to use and with the speed is easy to control.
I suggest you go to this internet site and browse their on line catalog a lot of good items and ideas.WWW.ALLIEDKENCO.COM.
Hope this helps I also use a sausage seasoning mixes from the above site Ihave used all they sell all are good and quick.

Sausage Man,

I have seen the water powered stuffers, but have not used them. So, don't really know how well they work. One thing I have found, including the crank type is that they need to be mounted or they are a harder to use.

I like your thoughts on casings. I hate dealing with them, but had never thought about them not be nessecary. Think I will play with that a bit this weekend. Kids have been yelling for some slim jims...

Hey SM.

Seeeeeeeeeeeee.

We do more than Q. Thanks for the info. Mrs. Smokin' loves Summer Sausage, we may have to make some.

FYI, I moved a copy of your Summer Sausage over into the recipe area.

Thanks for the info.

Smokin'

Pork Rules, Thanks for the response. The Allied Kenco site has a lot of great comercial equipment that I would like to have but it is way more that I need for my use. I am considering a unit like the Kitchen Aid as a possiblity because I might get into grinding my own meats someday. But at this point I am happy with the ground meats that are available at my local groceries. I can get beef, pork, veal and turkey anytime already ground. This really eliminates a major labor step in the sausage making process and is why I tell everyone sausage making is easy.

I have tried several sausage spice blends from another company and they are fine and probably would be great for most people. However I am one of those people that just need intense flavors to satisfy my taste buds. I eat a lot of hot pepers and this has most likely eroded my tounge over the years. The sausage blends include a lot of salt which I like but if you add more then the called for amount to perk up the flavor it becomes to salty. So I have to add additional individual spices to get it where I want it and if I am doing that it is just as easy to blend my own from scratch.

Charlie, aka Sausage Man

I'll vouch for the 6 qt.Kitchen Aid Mixer with the grinder/sausage attachment. It's a great piece of equipment and very versatile.

Only downside, stuffing the casings is somewhat time consuming. 10 lbs will take you 15-20 minutes. Clean-up's a breeze.

A couple of folks I know that do sausage on a regular basis recomened the manual stuffers. The horn style, says it gives them more control.
I've just started playing with sausage and I'm using a KitchenAid for grinding, do have
stuffing unit but have not used it as yet.
Jim

Stuart,

I have made all of my sausages so far without any casings and everyone I have let try some was suprised that I didn't use them. They all thought that you have to have casings but they also all argeed that they liked it better without them.

The casings just help hold things together. There are some sausages out there that will have to have a casing because they use such a corse grind of meat or have rice or chunks of vegtables and will fall apart otherwise. But most sausage can be done without a casing.

Be sure that your meat is very cold when you start to mix the spices into it and form the links. If you grind your own meat be sure and cool it back down after grinding. The cold temperature helps bind everything and hold the shape of your link until you can get them back into the fridge to set up and cure.

My last batch of sausage, the summer sausage recipe I posted above was actually formed into about 3" rolls instead of the standard 2" size. I did that so it fit a sandwhich better when sliced. My other sausages were done up into about 1 1/2" rolls. This was only because that was as small as I could get them without a stuffer to compress the mixture into a smaller diameter. That is why I am so interested in a stuffing device. I made some snack sticks and I would have liked them to be about about 1/2" for a better presentation. They tasted good but didn't look like snak sticks IMHO.

Let us know how your expermenting this weekend turns out. I believe that if you use a stuffing device of some kind that you should be able to turn out 1/2" size links without casings. The trick would be to catch them on a tray that could then be covered with plastic wrap and stuck into the fridge for setting and curing. Leave them like that until you are ready to smoke. They should be firm enough them to gently transfer to racks for smoking.

SM

Thanks Jim & TC for you replys. So far it looks like the KitchenAid maybe the front runner. I sure wish somebody that has tried the water powered stuffer would answer up with a consumer report.

In fact I am putting out another call right now for any of our forum members to speak up. We have about 800 members now and surely there must be more of you out there that have and interest in sausage. If you have made any, tried to make any or just think you might want to make some someday then speak up. I am interested in Sausage equipment, technics, problems, ingredients, favorite recipes, etc.. Come on and speak up, I want to learn.

Besides this information will be filed until a sausage 101 can be built around it. IMHO the 101's are a great source of condensed information for all newbe's to get them started. I know I've used them and although the same information and more is avaiable in our posts its hard sometimes to dig out what you want from all these posts.

So jump in folks. We all have a respect for others opinions on this forum and Smokin won't let the waters get deep around here, so you won't drown.

SM

Pleeeeze tell me this thread will be ongoing until I get back!!!!! Sausage making is a passion of mine! When the fish is done, it's sausage time!

Keep it going, everyone!

I've got the KitchenAid setup, as well as a stand-alone stuffer, and used to make quite a bit of sausage. Nothing serious, though, it was more like "I wonder what this combination would taste like?". Some decent stuff, some pretty plain.

Made the best breakfast sausage by adding a bit of cinnamon(?) to the mix...

I've made patties, but have always used casings for link-type, rolls, etc. Never even thought to try without them! Might just have to, now.

Sausage Man - what is the purpose of the corn syrup solids and the dry milk?

And what form are the dried peppers in? Granular? Diced? Powdered? I do a lot of dehydrating, too, to make my own minced onion and granulated garlic, dried herbs...all that. Even made a few attempts at chipotle peppers without success - but now with the CS, results should be much better!

Anyway, I'd be interested in making my own dried pepper mixes for sausages, but how? Cut into strips and dry, then chop after?

Joe, I'm with you on the experimenting with recipes. I take a basic recipe and always add my own ideas to it. I made a breakfast sausage that called for nutmeg & ginger but not cinnamon. I will add it to the next batch and see what happens. So far I have been able to eat everything I have made even the not so good ones.

Corn syrup solids replace some or all of the suger in a recipe. It adds sweetness and is also a binder (this helps to keep the sausage from falling apart). Non fat dry milk is a binder too but also helps hold in natural juices which gives you a more moist product. There is a product called Flavor 86 that is sold by Eldon's that does the same thing but it only requires half as much of the Flavor 86 to do the same job as the dry milk.

The bell peppers are diced dehydrated 1/4". I buy them by the 1/2 lb bag. They appear to be 1/4" diced fresh peppers that are then dehydrated down to about 1/8" pieces. After I sliced into my summer sausage the pieces had picked up enough moisture from the sausage to swell back up to their 1/4" size.

SM