My first time making sausage


 

tjkoko

TVWBB All-Star
I ordered a 10# boston to be ground by my local butcher. I used the Brown Sugar Maple seasoning from the Sausage Maker. In mixing, I placed an 8 qt stainless bowl into a 13 qt bowl with ice in order to keep the mixture cold. The 8 qt bowl allowed me to mix only about 4# at a time with an occasional piece of meat flying onto the counter. Just a small piece. And so I had to mix the 10# in two batches and then finally mixed both batches together. Should I have used a lug or just proceeded like I did. This is a bit of work and it took about 5-8 minutes of mixing/squishing the meat to activate the myosin to the proper texture. Methinks I'll get another 13qt bowl to replace the 8 qt into which I mixed the meat, in order to mix the entire 10# at once.
 
Interesting info but IMO not important. Mix till blended (couple of minutes max so it won't warm up too much) in a suitably-sized container. And that lug ain't it. Waaaaay too big. Got a KA? Use that and a paddle on low speed. Assumes the 5 lb will fit.

This is simple stuff. Don't over think it.

I use a different mixer to mix the spices in (some sprinkle the spices over the cubed meat before grinding). I make sausage both ways--stuffed into casings and just form the meat into patties. The meat has never "failed to 'get sticky' ". It forms up like 'store-bought' sausages, just tastes a whole lot better.
 
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Seasoning the meat before grinding is the way to go if you're using a KA. The grinding process mixes the spices very thoroughly. Mixing spice and liquid in by hand after grinding is like getting frostbite (and we've had enough of that here in Jersey this year).
 
I purchased a jar of teh Sausage Maker's Maple and Brown Sugar Sausage cure, followed their directions and made some of the best ever sausage that I ever ate. This stuff rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Len, I take exception to your comment that myosin development is interesting but not important. Myosin is what makes sausage, sausage. If you don't think myosin is important try grinding your warm meat with a warm grinder and smearing the fat. Fat smeared sausage will not bind with myosin. Tell me if you like the texture once its cooked...

Anyway Len it sounds like you do develop myosin in your sausages when you mix it with seasonings with your mixer.

For batches 5 lbs and less the KA is fine but it's in my opinion a pain in the arse to clean. Using a large arcylic bowl from Restaurant Depot I can hand mix any size batch of sausage up to about 15 lbs in less than 10 minutes. Usually less than 5.

That much weight would take three batches in the kitchen aid, would make a huge mess, and would require me to batch out seasoning too as I don't season pre grinding. Then all three batches should ideally be mixed back together for uniformity.

The only problem with mixing by hand is that if the meat is cold enough a large batch will really start to hurt your hands by the time it's fully mixed and the myosin is developed. But it's good pain that comes with the satisfaction of doing something the old fashioned way. Like digging out a stump with hand tools, it's manly.

The only time I use my KA mixer for sausage anymore is to make emulsified sausage like hot dogs, weisswurst. That forcemeat needs to be whipped if you don't have a buffalo chopper. For anything else mixing by hand is way easier and faster.
 
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I agree, fat and myosin coupled with proper mixing defines sausage for the most part.
I do mix by "hand" but I use a lug and spoonula (no hand ache).
I don't usually make huge batches because I don't like to keep sausage in the freezer very long.


~Martin
 
I agree, fat and myosin coupled with proper mixing defines sausage for the most part.
I do mix by "hand" but I use a lug and spoonula (no hand ache).
I don't usually make huge batches because I don't like to keep sausage in the freezer very long.
~Martin
Please provide link to lug that you use. It hold how many pounds of raw meat??
 
I live in Norway, where everything basically is cold, except from a couple of summer months.
Sausagewise, that's good. Mixing for five minutes to release some proteines (myosin) is not needed here, but most of you live in a warmer climate than I do.
This is not a biggie, you can see it in your mixer when it happens. The ground meat gets sticky and behaves in a totally different manner than before. Take a sample between your fingers, and you can feel it, too.
So, to keep everything as near, but above freezing temps is nice. I made several batches of spongy textured sausages before I became aware of the temperature issue.
 
Sure. After buying almost all of the local made sausages from butchers here in Norway, whenever I can get some, there are almost no such shops left, I've noticed that not all professionals are able to get the texture perfect every time, either.
I take that as a sign that it is quite difficult to "hit" the right blending period and temperature.

I guess that's easier to accieve when you make very large batches in a factory where you have 100% control over every detail in your production. But then, the taste suffers. Most suppliers earn their vages by making and selling bland sausages as cheap as possible. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not what I'm looking for.. :)
 
Sure. After buying almost all of the local made sausages from butchers here in Norway, whenever I can get some, there are almost no such shops left, I've noticed that not all professionals are able to get the texture perfect every time, either.
I take that as a sign that it is quite difficult to "hit" the right blending period and temperature.

I guess that's easier to accieve when you make very large batches in a factory where you have 100% control over every detail in your production. But then, the taste suffers. Most suppliers earn their vages by making and selling bland sausages as cheap as possible. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not what I'm looking for.. :)

Funny but I have the same experience in the very deep southeastern United States. The pork is barely cured and not much smoked. The local producers make it taste untreated and that's the reason why I began making my own sausage and bacon. A d*mn shame if you ask me. Here, this is the heart of pork country and they're attempting to cut costs and maximize profits. 8(
 
Anything worth doing is worth doing right...at least in my opinion. Sausages in the grocery store are machine made in huge vats. So if you want grocery store tasting sausages, just buy grocery store sausages and skip the work of custom ground, hand crafted sausages.
I want to feel the meat stiffen as I hand fold in my spice mixture. When the tackiness develps properly, my hands tell me it is ready. Machines don't tell you this....they just mix til you hit the kill switch.
I personally like to use meat lugs and mix all at once time. Typical lugs can handle a 20 pound batch per session. Instead of a high priced lug, I use busboy dish trays sold at places like Sams Club. Good capacity at low prices.
 

 

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