Do you think that making fresh sausage can only be done by professionals? If you think that, then sadly you are mistaken.
Making sausages can be done very easily just by using a meat grinder. If you don’t already have a meat grinder in your kitchen you can choose a manual or an electric one from our website. Here you can find our 10 best meat grinder reviews.
When you make your own sausages, you are creating food that is fresh, delicious, and healthier. You are controlling all the ingredients when the grinder is allowing you to make your personal sausage.
If you love sausage, then you will be pleasantly surprised to see how easy it can be done and after that first bite, you will never purchase store-bought sausages again.
In this article:
Making Sausage With Meat Grinder in Just 10 Easy Steps
The first step in making sausage is having a quality meat grinder and your favorite meats. You can use beef, pork, and venison meats. Follow these easy steps:
Step 1
Take the meat, rinse it off, and place it in a bowl. Take the boning knife, remove some of the fat, and cut the beef, pork, or turkey into smaller cubes.
Put the cut-up product into the freezer for approximately thirty minutes to an hour. The meat to be somewhat frozen as this will assist in the grinding process.
Step 2
Set up the grinding appliance, but take the cutting blades and place them in the freezer for approximately thirty minutes. It is important that the cutting blades to be cold to the touch, so nothing doesn’t stick the blades causing them to jam or clog.
Step 3
Select the grinding plate. When making personal bratwurst or kielbasa make sure the grinding plate to have the holes smaller. The smaller holed grinding plate will make the grinding fine, but if you want the food to have a coarser grind try choosing the larger holed grinding plate.
Step 4
Take the natural casings and soak them in a bowl of icy cold water. Always try to take the casings to soak for approximately thirty minutes. After thirty minutes of soaking, just pour this water out and add fresh ice-cold water to the bowl and the casings and then soak them for an additional thirty minutes.
After the second soak, take a casing and place it under the faucet, turn the cold water on, and pinch off one end of the casing. Run cold water inside the casing, then empty the water, then place it into a clean bowl. Continue to do this until all of your casings are ready to be stuffed
Step 5
Check the meat that you have placed into the freezer to make sure that it is cold enough to start grinding it. One easy way to tell if it is cold enough is to take a piece and place it into your hands.
Does it hurt your hands with the cold temperature and do your fingers feel slightly numb? If the answer is yes, then the meat is ready.
Step 6
Now you are ready to start making your sausage. Grind the beef, pork, or turkey and once all the meat is done and always take your seasonings and meat and place them into a large mixing bowl, and thoroughly mix the seasonings thoroughly into the food.
You don’t want too many seasonings in one area of the food over the rest. Once the meat and seasonings are mixed thoroughly, then you can start stuffing the meat into the casings.
Step 7
Get the sausage stuffer, paper towels, and vegetable oil together. Take a few paper towels and soak them with vegetable oil.
You don’t want the vegetable oil to be dripping off the paper towels, but just enough vegetable oil that you can coat the sausage stuffer with the vegetable oil. Doing this step will assist you in taking the casings off the sausage stuffer with ease.
Step 8
It is easier to stuff the creation into the casings if you have a helper, but one person is able to do it too. Take a casing and close one of the ends off with a butcher twine and if you don’t have a butcher twine, then you can just tie a small knot into the casing.
After the knot or butcher twine is done, then take a toothpick and place a small prick into the bottom of the casing. Doing this will force any air that is in the casing to escape.
Step 9
Start stuffing the creation into the casings with the grinder. As the meat is passing through the sausage stuffer and entering the casing look for any air pockets that pop up and if one is seen, gently just take the toothpick and prick a tiny hole so that the air is forced out.
Once the sausage is the length that you want, then take the link and turn it a few times, then start on the next one. Another helpful tip is to always turn the link the opposite direction. This will keep the first sausage that you have just made from unraveling.
Step 10
Once all the sausage has been filled into the casings, then place each one onto a tray that is lined with parchment paper. If the finished product will need to be frozen, then take the ones that need to be put into the freeze after you place the sausage links into a vacuum sealed bag.
This will keep the sausage from getting freezer burnt and it will also keep the sausages fresh and frozen until they are ready to be cooked.
Cool The Meat And Fat
The meat and fat should be cooled prior to the grinding process. The beef, pork, and turkey that you will be using should be cut into smaller pieces, then stored in the freezer for approximately thirty minutes to an hour.
Remember, you should not remove all the fat from the meat as the fat will keep them moist while cooking it and it will also add flavor to the sausage.
Seasonings
Using fresh seasonings will make the sausage taste better. Fresh herbs and seasonings is always a better choice. If someone in your family is watching your salt intake, then you can use “No Salt”, which is a salt substitute.
There will be very little taste difference in using the “No Salt” substitute.
Smoked Sausages
If you want smoked sausage, it can be done by placing the sausages into a smoker. Cooking fresh sausages is done very similarly to store-purchased sausages. You can cook them in the oven at a temperature of 165 degrees for about thirty minutes or they are fully cooked.
Important Tips
- A 15-pound to 20 pounds of pork shoulder roast will make approximately 35 to 40 sausage links if the sausage links are approximately eight inches in length.
- The casings are edible. After you have cooked them up they are totally safe to eat.
- If the sausage casings are loose, unfortunately, the problem is there are not putting enough sausage into the casings or there could be air in the casings. This is an easy solution. Just add more sausage and prick the end of the casings to remove any air that is in the casings.
- Freshly made sausage can be kept in the refrigerator uncooked for three days. If they have been cooked, then it is safe for up to one week in the refrigerator.
Conclusion
Making sausage is an easy task when a grinder appliance is being used. Freshly made sausage is healthier, tastier, and more affordable than purchasing them pre-made at the grocery store. Learn here how to make summer sausage.
Try to be creative when you are making your personal sausage as they can be made sweeter or spicier. Just experimenting with different recipes will have you being a professional sausage maker in no time at all.
