Sausage Making for a Newbie

[tex_toby]

With Father's Day coming up, my wife has been hounding me on what I want. I've been kicking around the idea of making some sausages for a while, but with no experience at all, it's hard for me to make the jump. This would be a good opportunity to get a meat grinder/sausage stuffer, but I don't want to sink a lot of money into it before I really know it's something I will enjoy doing. I can tell you this - I love grilling and I love eating sausages, I'm just not sure about the "making it" process. I really have a love affair with jalapeno-cheese summer sausage.

Can anybody point me in the right direction for some affordable starter equipment? I don't need anything fancy. If it's something I really enjoy doing, I wouldn't mind upgrading to something a little nicer. I saw at Gander Mountain the other day a #10 meat grinder/sausage stuffer for $29 kinda like this http://www.amazon.com/Eastman-Outdoors-10-Meat-Grinder/dp/B0000CAQ16 The price is right, but I don't want to buy something so Mickey Mouse that it turns me off from the process, ya know? Would I be better off with something like this http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0029507516666a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCHFEAT_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=meat+grinder&sort=all&Go.y=7&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&Go.x=19&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1 It is $99, and there is a refurbished one for $69. I know refurb is another word for used, but I have bought some refurb things (ex. ipod for son) and it has been just fine. That said, I would use the meat grinder for other things (like grinding my own chili meat).

I make Father's Day really easy on my wife and send her a link online to exactly what I want. (I wish she would do the same! )

Thanks for your input.
tex
_________________
20" x 40" Party Gator Pit
Char-Griller Smokin' Pro w/SFB, Side-burner & Rotisserie
Char-Griller Wrangler - My camping grill

[Harry Nutczak]

I would suggest a hand-crank grinder to start, A very decent new unit will be around, or considerably less than $100.00. If you find grinding your own meat is not for you, the lost money will not be that bad.

And I would also start with nothing smaller than a #22 size. I currently use a #32 size manual grinder. I looked at Non-commercial electric models for the last 3 months, and I finally decided on a manual just to lessen the chance of having problems with it being underpowered or overheating.
I got a #32 from Grizzly, the blade was so dull it was unusable until after a good hour of gentle honing. So stay away from that model if you want something to work right out of the box!

The 5# Stuffer from northern tool, and grizzly industrial is nice for a small home stuffer. and only about $70.00. I have had no complaints about the stuffer. 5-pounds of brats is a lot of brats for any small family. So unless your processing deer for others, I see no need for anything larger for personal home use.

A good read for making summer sausages is at Len Poli's site, and at www.sausagemaking.org

Summer-sausage and other dried & cured sausages take some special ingredients, talents, and a proper place with regulated humidity and heat to mature them safely. You are relying on fermenting the meat (that's the tangy flavor) with hopes of the correct bacteria overpowering harmful bacterias, this can be helped along by using a starter culture and a slow-acting cure (#2 cure) and commercial starter cultures.

I live in a climate where I can age and dry cured sausages in the winter with a little help from a small heat source and humidifier to keep conditions right. If you are in a warm climate, you could rehab an older refrigerator to make an aging cabinet to keep things colder than ambient temps and humidity correct.

I just made 5# of brats seasoned to my liking, and 5# of Italian the way I like them and the GF was giving me the stink-eye about home sausage making until her first bite of the Italian sausage just off the grill. Now she is all for it!
I also smoked 5 pounds of buffalo chubs that she absolutely loves too, But was upset about seeing casings and curing meat in the fridge until that point.

BTW, did you know that the word botulism is derived from the Latin word for sausage?? That is why it is imperative you do alot of reading and learning before attempting fermented and dried meat sausages. There is alot that can go wrong if procedures are not followed correctly.

Do some research, ask questions and above all, Have fun with it!!!
_________________
Just remember that the toes you may step on during your climb to the top will also be attached to the a$$es you'll be forced to kiss on your way back down!

[tex_toby]

Wow - thanks for the detailed response. That's a lot to take in. I don't know if I should run scared or take the bull by the horns! I'm going to let that marinate for a bit and see if anything sticks. I appreciate the info.

tex
_________________
20" x 40" Party Gator Pit
Char-Griller Smokin' Pro w/SFB, Side-burner & Rotisserie
Char-Griller Wrangler - My camping grill

[bigdad]

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200333527_200333527

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_36989_36989

Heres what I have. I started with a hand grinder and that lasted all of one 10lb batch.I also had a horn stuffer and again that last as long as the hand grinder. I got the bigger stuffer because I figured if I have to get every thing out and clean every thing I might as well make enough to put in the freezer as well. Both products work well. The grinder isnt the fastest in the world but it beats cranking.
_________________
free is better than cheap!!

[Harry Nutczak]

[TyCobbEtx]

I bought the 1hp grinder from Cabelas. I can't say enough about it. It's freaking awesome. It's a little pricey but I saved for it, and drooled over them for a few years. I got mine right before they jumped the prices up and caught it on sale also. I also have a Cabelas CC and had some points to knock some off the price. So I got it for $250. If you hunt its a really a great deal. I ground an entire deer in less than 15 min. I also went with the 1hp because its the lowest hp with a reverse. I love hot links and I only found one processor that made good ones. He made them in giant batches with combined meat from a lot of customers deer's. I did not really like that idea. Its also pretty good as a stuffer, not GREAT, but pretty good. I think the 1/2 hp is $329 but if its the same quality as the 1hp it would be a good buy. If you wanted to go cheaper, Cabelas has it's Pro Grinder for $170, its the same as a Waring MG800 which normally goes for $200. I have seen people wear out the cheaper $80 plastic cased grinders.

[nes_matt]