Sausage Making Weekend

	INTRODUCTION
	This is a sort of a play-by-play look back on a weekend of sausage making, from buying the meat to smoking. It was my first time making sausage and I wanted to share the process with you. I am a beginner, but while doing research into how to do this I realized that it doesn’t take a pro, so good news for me and maybe you. This isn’t an exhaustive tutorial, it wasn’t meant to be. But, I learned from folks that know a lot about this stuff prior to and during the process, and had the unrivaled sausage making book, Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by the late Rytek Kutas at my side, so I would like to share what I have learned from all these sources on each subject.
	Instead of checking the time every couple minutes and documenting exactly when we ground the meat or untangled the casings or loaded the meat into the cylinders, we decided to give the estimated time it took us for each process. Where we could, we had pictures taken, if they were readily available through sausagemaker.com or a reference site, then we linked to the appropriate pages (to see what is being described click the blue linked text, and to return click BACK on your browser). Before trying this on your own, a few suggestions: 1.) Have Time, the process is long and cutting corners will either hurt the final taste or hurt your health. This is supposed to be fun, take your time! 2.) Have ALL equipment ready, clean and in safe condition. 3.) This can be done alone but, I can not imagine why you would want to… plan a family sausage making weekend or invite a friend(s) over (Disclaimer: They may want a cut of the finished product). A lot of processes go much more smoothly with a partner. This can be a great team-building exercise or the start of a great family tradition. I hope this tutorial is helpful in getting you started in sausage making, I had a lot of fun and so did everyone involved. If it’s your first time, make a checklist of items you need for the whole process so your not looking for them (or having to go out to buy something) during an important step. See Our Checklist. *If I recall other things that we did or something that may be helpful, I will be sure to keep this updated.
	GET MEAT 30 MINS In the afternoon we went to our local deli, a small place that is always packed with people, a good sign of quality meats. We had already decided to make 25lbs of sausage and sausage sticks, not exactly what kind yet but we would decide later. (Note: Double-check that you have all the ingredients for your recipe, if using a prepared seasoning then read the ingredients to make sure you aren’t duplicating an already included ingredient). We ordered 25 lbs. of Pork Shoulder (or “Butt”) which is great as it has just enough fat in it to help bind the meat, give it our desired taste and consistency. The gentleman behind the display counter asked if we wanted it ground, we declined; we want to have control of the meat through as much of the process as possible.
	CLEANING 30 MINS We arrived back and got our gear ready for the meat preparation step of the process. First, we clean. Clean EVERYTHING that may come into contact with the product: Grinder (inside/out), knives, tabletops, food lugs, sinks and of course hands (wash hands often, be safe). I did not wear latex gloves while working with the meat, although I washed them between every process and kept a sanitary environment the USDA would be proud of, I understand there are people who are a bit germiphobic so if it makes you more comfortable using gloves then by all means do. We didn’t sell any of the sausage we made and I don’t wear gloves when I prepare food that I am about to eat, but that’s me.
	CASINGS 1-1/2 – 2 HRS Many recipes, including some for Polish Sausage call for using a larger diameter hog casing (our recipe called for a 35 - 38MM) but we decided on the Natural 29-32mm Hog Casings which would make the sausage a little tighter and thinner. Anyway you go with hog casings; they are typically bought packed tightly and covered in salt to prevent spoilage. It is important to note here that if the casings are in the open for a little while they begin to give off a quite an odor, they are not spoiling but, put them in the refrigerator and the smell should go away, you can keep them there almost indefinitely without spoiling. So, now comes the casing preparation step. We kept them in the container they came in (Pic#1) put them into a compact food lug and into a sink and thoroughly saturated them to more comfortably untangle them (and they were TANGLED). We untangled them one-by-one standing over a sink... (Bad idea, only use the sink to occasionally flush or moisten) I would recommend you place the entire bunch on a counter or table, sit down and start the untangling. Once you get one untangled, loop it and put it aside from the rest and begin flushing out the interior (Pic#3) and do the same with the rest. Flush by getting an untangled piece, opening one end and putting water in directly from the faucet, when you see a “water-sausage” forming (Pic#4) stop filling and gently lift up the previously opened end and lightly force out the water with thumb and pointer, letting the water drain through and flush the rest of the casing, pouring out the other end. Then we put the casings into a plastic container with water, a little part of an end sticking over the top (to easily find it later, Pic#5). If you come to an impenetrable knot don’t get discouraged or take too long on it, cut off the casing, you will likely have more than enough casings anyway, don’t sweat it, move on. It took us a long time to untie, untangle, and flush the desired amount of casings, always prepare more than you “think” you need. When the casings were untangled and in the container we placed them in the refrigerator for later use. The casings that you don’t use can be saved almost indefinitely by packing them away in a sealed plastic bag with a liberal amount of Purified Salt, do NOT use Iodized. (Note: For the Sausage Sticks we used 19MM Smoked Collagen Casings, they are minimal maintenance, ready-for-stuffing, don’t burst as easy when stuffing, permeable enough for smoking…etc. If the natural casings process freaks you out a little, buy some 32MM Smoked Collagen Casings if you plan on smoking the Sausage later, if not use Fresh. We did it the old fashioned way because we wanted softer casings that the Natural would provide but also to have the full experience; mistakes and victories.
	Picture#1	Picture#2
	Keep the Plastic Container, NOT the Plastic Bag	A nice amount of heavily tangled 29-32MM Hog Casings
	Picture#3	Picture#4
	Starting the Flushing	Notice the snaking “water-sausage” in the food lug, I put a bit too much water in this one but it’s alright, no harm done.
	Picture#5 Casings in water and ends sticking out, no problems securing the top on the container when transporting
	While preparing the casings, equipment and cleaning everything, the meat was chilling in the refrigerator to keep the fat as cold as possible before grinding, this will make cutting and grinding much more efficient, it also makes cleaning the grinder’s innards (auger, plates, knife, housing) easier.
	MEAT GRINDING/SEASONING 1HR. We cut up the pieces into bits that would snuggly fit into the throat of the hopper (Pic#6). We used a FTS-12 Electric but, any grinder will do. And we Grind! The grinding was probably the easiest part of the entire process, although we did have an electric grinder and were processing only 25lbs. What we did was guess how much was the 15lbs for the Sausage and 10lbs for the Sticks, put them in food lugs, weighed them (remove/add as necessary for specific recipe) and separated the two(Pic#9-10). The ground meat is then ready for seasoning (Pic#8-9). The seasoning we used, Roasted Garlic, has a label with instructions for making 10lbs. and we were making 15lbs of the Sausage, so a little basic math and the desired amount was put on the meat, (same goes with the InstaCure). We added about 2 cups of water to better work in the seasoning while mixing in thoroughly for about 5 minutes per recipe. Once the Roasted Garlic, the Pepper Dried Sausage Stick Seasonings and InstaCure were applied it was time to head over to the final destination for the best part, stuffing and smoking. We recommend not letting the meat sit too long between the mixing and stuffing stages. Also, refrigerating the meat prior to stuffing may cause it to harden and be unnecessarily difficult to stuff into casings.
	Picture#6	Picture#7
	Prepping the Meat for the Grinder	Grinding away…
	Picture#8	Picture#9
	More Grinding...	Weighing the ground meat for each Recipe (Roasted Garlic, Pepper Dried). This shows the 15lbs for Roasted Garlic Sausage
	Picture#10 Granted it does not look pretty but, next time you see it, it will be going into the cylinder for stuffing!
	STUFFING PREPARATION 30MIN It was about 6:00pm by the time we got the next equipment ready, cleaned it thoroughly. Poured ourselves some drinks and put on my favorite Polka CD (kidding about the polka...or am I?) The stuffer we used is a 15lb. Capacity Vertical (but, as with the grinder, any will do) with a 1/2” Diameter Plastic Stuffing Tube for the Sausage Sticks and a 1” for the Sausage. First, we put the meat in the cylinder with every two-handed load we pushed it down (with half-opened fists) tightly to reduce any air pockets that may have formed and make good use of the cylinder space (Pic#12). Note: Do not put in too much meat, it shouldn’t be to the brim, its best when the whole piston can get in and then make contact with the meat. Make sure that the o-ring on the piston and the inside of the cylinder is lightly lubricated with food grade lubricant towards the top (this will prevent the o-ring from coming off and will provide a smoother stuffing session…say it don’t spray it!). Once the meat is loaded and you’ve prepared some room for the stuffing area its time to load the casings on the tube. The casings should have been in a container with water and in the refrigerator since flushing them earlier. Before inserting them on the tube, give them a quick once-through with water, the casings should be thoroughly wet inside and out as your putting them on the tubes, otherwise it will likely be difficult to slide them on the tube. (Pic#13)
	Picture#11	Picture#12
	Crankman Steve, and Me	Packing the meat into the cylinder tightly, it’s the 18th of January and yes our tree is still up
	Picture#13
	Notice the casing is so wet it’s dripping on the tray. The casings should be near the front of the tube (closer than shown).
	STUFFING 1-2 HRS And we Stuff! With about a half-inch of the casing hanging off the tube, start cranking (much easier if you have a partner for this operation). Start slowly so you can get a feel of how much comes out and if you can comfortably feed the casings out to keep up. The person cranking should be aware that if he/she goes too fast or if the person at the casings side is having trouble catching up, blowouts will be inevitable. Good communication between the casings feeder and cranker is essential. Another hint that may reduce blowouts, when using natural casings don’t push the casing all the way to the back of the tube, keep it fairly close to the front. We had the casings blowout 3 times, but since this was my first time making sausage I didn’t feel too bad, and neither should you. When they do blowout though and there is only about a links worth stuffed, we emptied the casings and put the meat aside, later we will put it back in the cylinder, no waste. We also tossed some of the meat straight into a pan and fried it up for a quick snack during the stuffing. If there is more than 2 or 3 links worth, just cut it before the break and put the stuffed sausage on a tray with the rest of the good ones and put the meat that fell out aside for re-stuffing later. You should now be better able to judge when the casing is too tight and when to feed more casing to compensate. We didn’t make ours into links but if you want to, it is advisable to use measuring marks to make the links a consistent length and when linking, to switch from clockwise to counter-clockwise for each link. When we finished the Sausages, the Buffalo Sabres had already scored their 3rd goal of the first period, when all was said and done they had broken their 10 game losing skid with a 10-1 win over Atlanta. But, there was still work to be done; we still had 10lbs of the Dried Sausage Sticks to stuff. This turned out to be very easy, the casings were the 19MM ready-to-stuff Smoked Collagen Casings (do not have to flush/water) and while stuffing, the force of stuffing simply pushed the casing forward leaving me the job of overseer and not so much feeder (Pic#18). The sticks were done in half the time it took to stuff the sausage. Now the only bad part of this great evening, clean-up time. Granted we only made 25lbs of sausage and we did the grinding at another location but still, cleaning and storing everything took a little while. We left the sausages in a closed food lug in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning the sausage is ready to be cooked, eaten and enjoyed. But, not by us, because tomorrow is another big day, for tomorrow we Smoke!
	Picture#14	Picture#15
	Go Crankman Steve, GO!	Starting a nice coil.
	Picture#16	Picture#17
	Getting Bigger…	The Book with the Sausage it helped us create.
	Picture#18 The Book and Beverage was never out of reach.
	SMOKING / COOKING 6 HRS The temperature outside was in the high teens and expected to drop, this would be a good test for our smoker, a 30 Lb. Capacity Country Smoker (Pic#20-21). First, we set the temperature to 100°F to get the insulation warmed up and ready to go, after a half-hour it was ready for the first batch. When putting the sausage on the dowels its important that you first gently spread the meat away from the point where the casing is in contact with the dowel, this will relieve some tension when it bends over and possibly prevent the casing from breaking while smoking. (If you linked the sausages, simply loop it at the links) We coiled the sausage and the sticks around the wooden dowels and put them on the top row (not all of them though, we wanted to try some Sticks with Cherry Sawdust later to see which we like more) (Pic#20). It is very important to have two thermometers for smoking, one should be for the internal temperature of the smoker and the other should be inserted into the meatiest sausage furthest away from the heating element (if that piece gets to the right temperature, 152°F, then the rest did also). We put the sausage in the smoker at 120°F without sawdust and dampers open fully to dry the product before smoking/cooking (always use a Smoke Diffuser or Drip Guard when smoking, it will prevent flare-up due to fat drippings and will disperse the heat and smoke evenly, Diffuser Recommended). The drying process is important, the sausages will not take on that appealing smoky color unless the product starts off dry, but be patient, we had to wait about 45 minutes before the outside was dry to the touch and ready for smoking. Then we thoroughly dampened the Hickory Sawdust with a spray bottle set on mist, and sprayed it while mixing it around to get the water distributed evenly. Three points to check its the right wetness 1.) No visible water collecting on the bottom of the pan. 2.) All the sawdust is now a darker color. 3.) When you pick up a little more than a pinch and squeeze it in your fingers, it shouldn't drip with water. If you applied too much water it isn't a big problem, just let it airdry for a couple minutes before inserting into smoker. Also, it is recommended to put a cone shaped hole in the middle of the sawdust for more efficient smoke output. As for how much sawdust; ours was slightly above the rim all the way around and packed fairly tightly. We inserted the sawdust and in less than 5 minutes it was smoking, we set the temperature in the smoker for 130°F and would continue to turn it up 10° every hour until we get to 165°F (we did not go past 165°F, you have to assume the Temp. Control will go plus-minus 10°F each way, we checked on ours every half-hour). Do not let it go past 170°F, this high temperature will cause the fat inside the meat to melt and start dripping, you want that fat in the sausage because without it the sausages will be tougher and dry, keep those juices IN. After about 3 hours of heavy smoke the Hickory Sawdust stopped smoking and we decided to remove the sawdust pan (it will only impede the cooking now, use an oven mitt!). We simply liked the color it had taken and didn’t want to over-do-it with Hickory but, it is entirely up to an individual’s tastes, you can smoke to your hearts content until the internal temperature is correct. While removing the sawdust pan, we put the meat thermometer into one of the sausage sticks because they would reach 152°F much sooner, and they did in about an additional hour, we removed them and cold-rinsed them under the sink. We put the thermometer probe back into the Sausage. It was getting late and the outside temperatures were in the single digits, so our group decided to speed up the cooking process by steaming the meat (this is perfectly acceptable and does no harm to the sausage). To steam, we simply took the sawdust pan, emptied it, scraped it clean a little, poured a medium sized glass of water into it and placed it back on the heating element without the Diffuser present (you can pre-heat the water to speed up the process, too). What is important here is getting a consistent steam and not letting it escape (close dampers all the way, stuff a small hand-towel through the top of the damper to prevent the steam from escaping, crank the temperature to high, and watch the internal meat temperature climb steadily. One pan evaporated completely in about 10 minutes, then we quickly (but carefully, its very HOT) switched it with another pan of water. Be extremely careful when putting water into the smoker, heating elements are not made for direct contact with water, and neither is the wiring underneath them... Well, the meat reached its magical temperature of 152°F we removed the sausages (still on the dowels) and took them for a 3 minute cold shower rinse under the sink, No Bath. Drooling, we had to eat some the sausage right then and there; warm, freshly-smoked, juicy, savory, a complete success! The rest we divided amongst ourselves and packed in brown deli paper. Many people, especially if they make large amounts, use a vacuum sealer machine to keep the sausage as fresh as possible for as long as possible… we made enough to eat heartily, off and on for two weeks and for that we simply wrapped the finished product in the paper and put it in the deli locker of our fridge.
	Picture#19	Picture#20
	Bitterly cold, yet sunny day in Buffalo, NY. Sausage Sticks and Sausage enter the smokehouse.	Another snapshot of my ugly mug and the great looking Sausage.
	Picture#21	Picture#22
	This baby will smoke and keep a steady temperature in very low temperatures; this was in 15°F.	Another shot of the Smoker in Action.
	It tasted like victory! But honestly, it was the best sausage I have ever eaten, laughably better tasting than anything bought in a shrink-wrapped plastic mystery meat package, or even a deli... remember, this is the product of your patience, hard-work, enjoyment and pride. Our group made plenty of mistakes along the way to our finished batch: hunching over a sink to untie casings, bursting casings during stuffing, getting paranoid about what was going on in the smoker and opening it a little too often (this only made the process longer than it had to be). It was our first sausage-making weekend and it was supposed to be filled with amateur flaws and beginners mistakes but, what we all remember is a very fun time with family and friends and a hockey game that was filled with 10 encouraging shouts that made that weekend so enjoyable. Plus, we had delicious sausage for two weeks. Planning another sausage-making weekend is already in the works, we will be making sausage for the Easter Holiday, and I’m sure one for the Springtime, maybe Birthdays (at least mine), 4th of July falls on a Friday (perfect), and anytime we can.
	I am a complete and total novice. For 90% of the process I either asked my father (whose done this before) what to do next/how much/how long...etc or I got the information from the “bible of sausage-making” book written by a family friend I endearingly called my Uncle (actually it would have been “wujek”) Rytek Kutas, “Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing”. It was either being referenced by me, someone else or close-by throughout the entire process, indispensable. This was a photo-tutorial for anyone interested in making sausage for the first time, like me. I know very little about the intricacies of sausage-making, curing, and definitely not about what meat or spices to use for what. I am an employee of The Sausage Maker, Inc. The company gave me an opportunity to make sausage using all the materials I needed from them, I did a lot of reading and researching so I wouldn’t be walking into this blindly, plus I had professionals I could ring if I hit a snag...so my situation was of course not like most peoples. But, I can honestly say that I enjoyed the process from the deli to the delicious finished product, and hope to continue this new tradition with my friends and family for a long, long, time. Regardless of where you buy your supplies, I hope you make sausage-making a tradition, hobby, or activity and I really hope this tutorial shed some light on the fading art of sausage-making. We will be making more Sausages for Easter plus curing and smoking hams, so stay tuned and Happy Grinding/Stuffing/Smoking/Eating!
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