Sausages Making Tips

1. Use pork butts. Buy on special.

2. Get a local butcher to grind meat. Supermarkets may not own a grinder.

3. Avoid using leg of pork , too lean

4. Wild game is too lean for making sausages, add pork fat for flavour

5. Order meat in 20 Ib batches at once (makes 4, 5 Ib recipes) Saves on clean up time

6. Always buy your own fresh spices in small quantities at a bulk food store, not pre-made mixes. The small jars of spices at the supermarket are way too expensive and probably very old

7. Test a small sausage patty before you stuff what you've mixed

8. Use natural casings. Use 29mm-32mm works best (Green) from F. Marie Ltd in Canada

9. You don't have to use casings at all. Just make sausage patties. They won't be as juicy but they will have lots of flavour.

9.  If you use casings, flush insides of casings under the tap before stuffing

10. Use fresh unchlorinated water and put ice cups in it. Leave in fridge until ready for use.

11. Spread meat out in a big mixing tub, add half of water, add half of spices. Mix meat with hands (use latex gloves). Turn over meat than add rest of water and spices, mix again. You can add all spices to the water to begin with then add to meat trying your best to add spices evenly across the meat.

12. Two people make the job easier and more fun especially when sampling.

13. Having a glass of wine or a beer when sampling can add to the ritual. (not really necessary)

14. Add a table spoon of breadcrumbs per 5 Ibs to "lighten" the sausage, especially breakfast varieties.

15. Do not use iodized table salt but a coarse sea salt or pickling salt. If you do, product will be really salty.

16. You can buy a sausage pricker or use a big needle or other sharp pointed tool  for pricking the air pockets in the sausage as you stuff them. No needles allowed in finished sausage.

17. After you stuff a length of casing, take both hands to make individual sausages by squeezing each end with your fingers , picking it off the table and using both hands in a circular motion, make the sausage. Do this 3 or 4 times for each link until it feels firm and move on to the next one. Don't overdo this or the casing will break. Prick any air pockets.  You probably won't do this perfectly the first time but the sausage will still taste good even if it looks kind of strange.

18. Let the sausages sit in fridge for a while before you package them. This sort of sets them (firms them up).

19. Don't over cook your sausages and don't prick them when you fry or b-b-que them. How long do they take? About as long as a 1/2 inch pork chop. Do not over cook themor they wiil be too dry. You will want to save the juices. Again this trial and error--you can always cut one in half to test it---great excuse for sampling dinner.

20. Once you get the hang of this by making several varieties, you will become the sausage maker. Impress your family and friends when you invite them over. You migh want to have regular weiners etc for the kids and fussy eaters. Conversion can take a while with some people.

21. Make labels with name of sausage and date made and put inside  each package of sausage because most varierties will look the same when they are frozen.

 Sausage Making Equipment

Don't make any major investments in grinders and stuffers until you really know that you like doing this. At first, just make the patties. If that goes well invest in a small grinder/stuffer sold in most appliance places. It won't be any good and will take you forever--especially the stuffing part. That was the real slow painful part when I first made sausages with Fred Ploder. I decided right there and then that I was getting the right equipment. If you live in an ethnic neighbourhood like Polish or Italian, you might find sausage making equipment  close by. Butcher or Restaurant equipment supply places are good for grinders and stuffers too They may not carry them but they can order equipment in.

As I suggest,buy ground pork especialy at first. It's a lot easier. Later if you have a grinder, you can do this yourself. It gives you total control over what's going into your product.