How to Make Sausage Using a Grinder

Homemade sausage is one of those food-making processes that many cooks find intimidating, but once you understand the process and see what is involved, you will likely find that making homemade sausage with a grinder is not difficult. The keys to success include a proper balance of fat to meat content (25 to 30 percent of any sausage should be fat), a delicious blend of seasonings and ice-cold ingredients.

Things You'll Need

• Meat grinder with sausage stuffer (stand-alone or KitchenAid attachment)
• Grinder dies (fine or coarse)
• Large bowls
• Kitchen knives
• Cutting board
• 5 lbs. chuck, shoulder or blade roast
• 3 tbsp. coarse salt
• 2.5 tbsp. brown sugar
• 4 tsp. fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 cup fresh parsley (minced)
• 10 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• Casings (10 feet of hog or 20 feet of lamb)
• String
• Drying rack
• Pin
• Plastic container
• Paper towels

Instructions

1. Place the grinder attachments, the bowls and the stuffer attachment into the refrigerator for one hour to chill them before using them.

2. Remove the casings from the packaging and rinse all of the salt from the casings. Place the casings into a large bowl and cover them with warm water. Soak the casings for at least one hour.

3. Fill a large bowl halfway with ice and place a slightly smaller bowl on top of the ice. Cut the beef into 1-inch by 2-inch pieces and place them into the bowl over the ice.

4. Combine all of the spices and seasonings except 1 tsp. of fennel seeds and 1 tsp. of pepper. Add the spices to the meat and mix well. Add the sugar and salt to the meat and mix well. Place the meat mixture into the freezer for 30 to 60 minutes.

5. Combine the liquid ingredients and chill them in the refrigerator.

6. Remove the grinder attachments from the refrigerator and set up the grinder. Place the coarse die into the grinder for a coarse sausage or the fine die into the grinder for a finer sausage.

7. Remove the meat from the freezer and run it through the grinder. If you are using a KitchenAid grinder attachment, set the KitchenAid mixer to speed 4. Catch the ground meat in a cool bowl and then place the ground meat back into the freezer for five to 10 minutes.

8. Remove the meat from the freezer and add the liquid ingredients and the reserved seasonings. Mix the meat and other ingredients well with your hands.

9. Pour warm water through the casings to make them pliable and to make sure there are no holes in the casings. Set up the sausage stuffer on your meat grinder. Attach one end of the casing to the sausage stuffer.

10. Place the meat back in the grinder and begin stuffing it into the casings. Hold the casing as it fills with meat to control how quickly the casing fills with meat. Make sure you leave approximately 6 inches of unfilled casing at the end for tying. Allow the filled casing to coil on the counter as it fills with meat. Continue filling the casing until all of the meat runs through the grinder.

11. Pinch off the links in the stuffed casing. Make the links 6 to 8 inches long and spin the casing to create the links. Tie off the ends of the links with string.

12. Hang the sausages on a drying rack. As the sausages are hanging, use a pin to prick any air pockets you find. Dry the sausages for two hours and then place them into a plastic container lined with paper towels. Place the sausages into the refrigerator.

13. Prepare the sausages the following day or keep them in the refrigerator for one week.

Tips & Warnings

• If you use one of the recommended beef cuts, the meat to fat ratio will be ideal without having to add additional fat to the meat mixture.

References

• Simply Recipes: Sausage