In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Does anybody here make their own sausage/brats at home?

Discussion in 'The Smokehouse' started by RockyMtnHigh, Feb 28, 2014.

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  1. RockyMtnHigh

    RockyMtnHigh

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    My lady has one of those super heavy duty awesome KitchenAid stand mixers that you can add all the attachments to. My plan is to get the meat grinder/sausage maker attachment and start making my own brats etc. so we can quit giving Johnsonville/the local meat market our life savings.

    Any good recipes? I've ran a commercial sausage machine before when I worked at Whole Foods (the machine said duck on it in huge letters awkwardly enough and the whole process was kind of creepy/sexual in it's own right..) so I'm not new to making them. All our seasonings were pre mixed so I don't know what kind of actual amounts of the ingredients went into them....

    IF any of you happen to have the KitchenAid attachments I'm wondering if they are worth it or if I should buy a separate meat grinder/sausage maker etc.

    Thanks in advance my fellow food loving peeps!
     
    RockyMtnHigh, Feb 28, 2014
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  2. swags

    swags Moderator

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    Oooo good topic. I do I do I do

    Ok now that I'm calmed down, I have the kitchen aid grinder as well, used it for a long time and did a great job. If your just making burger get the nozzle attachment and burger bags. Grind straight into the bags. Really cuts down on the mess. Last year I bought a dedicated grinder and it was a huge upgrade, really cuts down on time a lot. If I had it to again I would buy a bigger one though. Still an upgrade over the kitchenaid. But the kitchenaid will do the job. When I make brats I usually do a big batch so it's nice having a bigger grinder.

    Now for the brats, these I absolutely love. I use venison and pork 50/50, get the pork from a local butcher. Ask for trimmings(what they use for their sausage). It's not cheap but worth it, having pork fat in there really helps cooking and transfer of seasonings throughout the brat. I've tried a few different seasonings and mixed some but the best one I have had yet is the mix from Sausagemaker.com and it's easy. They sell a jar of seasoning that will do 50lb or a smaller bag that does 10lb. The polish mix is awesome too. Anything related to venison I always order from them including the ground meat bags which are a huge timesaver, they have a great selection and good prices. I bought a bucket of real hog casings and it usually lasts for two batches for me. I think the last batch I did was 60lb.

    For the brats I grind the venison and pork separately then mix them together and grind again. Next is mixing in the seasoning really well and add water. About a quart per 10lbs of water. Soak and rinse the casings with water. A stuffer is the only way I have done it and you can get a stuffer on amazon for a good price, I think I paid around $75 for a 5lb stuffer. Two people makes this job a lot easier. One person feeds the stuffer and cranks it down and the second holds the casing and keeps them from blowing out and try to avoid air bubbles. If you get bubbles pop them. Once you have all the meat in the casings you will roll individual brats to the desired length. Pinch them about 5-6" apart and roll the middle piece to separate them. Once you have all the brats rolled you can take a knife and cut the casings in between each brat. Packaging can be freezer paper or vacuum packing. We put 4 in each pack but figure out how many your family will eat in a meal and pack that many. I also do a few party packs with 10-12 in them for cookouts.
     
    swags, Feb 28, 2014
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  3. swags

    swags Moderator

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    swags, Feb 28, 2014
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  4. RockyMtnHigh

    RockyMtnHigh

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    I'll give those a shot. I want to get down to some homebrew recipes as well. One of my first tries is going to be pineapple/teriyaki pork sausage because it's super simple and AWESOME. As I experiment and fine tune my recipes I'll post some up here. We can start a "share your sausage" club, and get your minds out of the gutter already! This is some serious meat business!
     
    RockyMtnHigh, Feb 28, 2014
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  5. Scotty Overkill

    Scotty Overkill Administrator

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    Dang it......you guys like to make me hungry.....
     
    Scotty Overkill, Mar 1, 2014
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  6. RockyMtnHigh

    RockyMtnHigh

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    Yeah, going to get a dedicated stuffer....
     
    RockyMtnHigh, Mar 1, 2014
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  7. Blue Vomit

    Blue Vomit

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    I know a couple guys who do...
     
    Blue Vomit, Mar 2, 2014
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  8. brokenwing

    brokenwing

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    I am going to start getting into making sausage this fall. I got a new grizzly stuffer, but have not had a chance to do it. I did bacon a few years ago, and loved it!
     

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    brokenwing, Mar 5, 2014
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  9. swags

    swags Moderator

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    I love bacon
     
    swags, Mar 5, 2014
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  10. brokenwing

    brokenwing

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    Swags if you ever get a chance and wanted to check out some great sausage and bacon recipes check out the boys over at http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/f/ they are a great group of guys, really down to earth, and have a lot of knowledge!
     
    brokenwing, Mar 5, 2014
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  11. swags

    swags Moderator

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    I've been over there but it's been a long time, they helped a lot when I made my first few batches of summer sausage.
     
    swags, Mar 5, 2014
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  12. RockyMtnHigh

    RockyMtnHigh

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    Me and the lady were at Big R the other day and she caught me eying a little electric smoker. Right as an employee walked by he said "hey are you interested in that smoker?".

    My lady says "he already has a Traeger smoker"
    I said "but I can make bacon and smoke cheese in this one and what if the Traeger is broken and we need meat"
    employee says "smart man, smart man" and gracefully walks away.....

    I wanna make bacon!
     
    RockyMtnHigh, Mar 6, 2014
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  13. RockyMtnHigh

    RockyMtnHigh

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    RockyMtnHigh, Mar 8, 2014
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  14. brokenwing

    brokenwing

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    If you want to save some money, In my honest opinion this is just as good as LEM, and you can save a few pennies. I own a grizzly, and it is well built!
    http://www.grizzly.com/products/5-lb-Sausage-Stuffer-Vertical/H6252

    http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/84075/sausage-stuffers
     
    brokenwing, Mar 9, 2014
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  15. RockyMtnHigh

    RockyMtnHigh

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    Thanks Brokenwing, I like the looks of that one as well and about half the price. Well played sir!
     
    RockyMtnHigh, Mar 9, 2014
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  16. brokenwing

    brokenwing

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    No problem, and a friend of mind told me you can put the Lem metal gears in the grizzly if you ever need to replace them. Anytime we can save a few bucks it is well worth it, with the money saved you can make some extra sausage lol!
     
    brokenwing, Mar 9, 2014
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  17. RockyMtnHigh

    RockyMtnHigh

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    Sweet, after looking harder my only beef with the Grizzly was the plastic gears. In the same token, I'm not opening a butcher shop and I'd imagine those are really hard Nylon gears so it would probably last through homeowner duty for quite some time.
     
    RockyMtnHigh, Mar 9, 2014
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  18. brokenwing

    brokenwing

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    I did a lot of research myself, and the folks have said they have been using them for years, and the nylon gears are still going strong.
    http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/83983/replacement-gears-for-the-5lb-grizzly-stuffer

    http://www.lemproducts.com/product/1470/Vertical_Stuffer_Parts
     
    brokenwing, Mar 9, 2014
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  19. RockyMtnHigh

    RockyMtnHigh

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    I'll have to register on that site, I'm already a member on pelletheads.com and I have done quite a bit of poking around on the smoking meat forums. Good on you for the links, very helpful. Thanks BW
     
    RockyMtnHigh, Mar 9, 2014
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  20. brokenwing

    brokenwing

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    No problem, and they have a chat room where Jerry and Brian hang out in the evenings and many others members. Any questions you can stop in there and them guys will flood you with info. Also read Nepas info he is the sausage king!

    http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/152229/hickory-slim-jims
     
    brokenwing, Mar 9, 2014
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