Got tired of store sausage finally

[MaryB]

Got tired of store bought breakfast and hot Italian sausage finally and bought 20 pounds of pork butt. AC Legs #10 for the breakfast, and same brand for the Hot Italian(and it has some heat!). Trimmed and deboned the pork Wed and mixed the cubed meat with the seasoning then stashed in the fridge overnight because my back had enough for the day(I had carried in 4 40 pound bags of wood pellets for heating the house...). Ground and vac bagged the Italian yesterday, and ground and pattied the breakfast sausage in 1/4 pound patties that were also vac bagged for the freezer. Fried a sample patty of both and so much more flavor than what the store bought has turned into! Back is hating on me for all the standing in one spot but I have enough for 6 months now!

To make my back really happy I packed 202 pounds of grass fed organic beef into the freezer today... and had a ribeye steak for supper! $3.39 a pound this year! And that price is cut, wrapped, and delivered to my front door!

[snowwolfe]

Once you made your own sausage you never will buy it again. Pork butts have almost a perfect ratio of lean to fat (70/30) for sausage making. I pay attention to the local sales and can pick them up for $.99 a pound. Have 5 in the freezer as I type this. They are already vac sealed in a heavy duty plastic so they freeze well. Tons of recipes online so a person can go from mild to sweet to extra spicy or anywhere in between.

[MaryB]

I broke down and bought a decent grinder finally. The Northern Tool 1hp one that goes on sale for $99. Added on a $20 off coupon so it was $79

[JBinMN]

We use pork butts to make our ground venison burger (70%deer-30%pork) usually but we have made it a little leaner sometimes & a little fattier sometimes but that is a close ratio for us. Sometimes we add spices to make our sausage too. But even though we have the stuffer, we rarely make it into links. It is kind of a pain in the butt, particularly if ya try to do it by yourself, so we just make patties most of the time.

We do make our own pork only sausage too, and we use just about any decent cut for it like butts. Lots of times we used those country style ribs for that too as they go on sale on occasion around here. It is cheaper & easier to grind our own & clean up the grinder than it is to buy the stuff already ground by the meat market or grocer. BTW, we just make up our own spices for italian and breakfast. We buy the spices in bulk and that is a savings also.
:)

Also, your beef prices are about the same as ours. We just bought some in January & it was about the same, but we had to drive 20 miles round to get it when ready. Thats where my friends Virg & Mary (<no pun , that is their names. LOL ;) ) took the last couple beeves to butcher. Known them for 20+ years and I help them most times with load ups, so the price is a bit cheaper than what is sold to others. These are "organic fed" Hereford cattle & actually have names like ,"Roast" & "T-bone" & "Chuck". All sorts of names like that, although there are a few that have names that describe their looks. Kind of fun for his grandchildren to name them anyway. LOL
:)

Well, Glad to hear ya had a good time with your food "putting up" chores & had a nice steak to finish the day!
:)

`P.S. - Hopefully my son or I or both can get a deer tomorrow, as it is the last day, or we are gonna be hard up for that sausage I mentioned this year... Gonna give it hell trying though.
:)

[WebMonkey]

+1 on the leggs.
Have a half dozen "styles" fresh and cured I enjoy often.

Bologna is always at the top of the list.
Throw some jalapeño in the mix sometimes.
;)

[Shopdog]

We're sort of in the country,although "sprawl" is heading this way.

What's interesting,with just a hint of political correctness?.... there are grocery stores near the more upscale parts here,that don't seem to have the appetite for pork like us more rural folks.So,it's easy pickens to slide by these stores on the way outta town.Thursday,bout lunchtime is when those beautiful big honkin pork butts N roasts go on "red tag" sale.If you are"doin it right",catching a dbl red tag gets bonus points.

Mary,got 4 grown up boys.All real successful businessmen,yadayada.Bunch of bow hunters,lovers of life...all good.But it is an all out war on the grocery store red tag pork.Other species don't seem to carry the weight of pork on sale?But oh man,will the text messages start to fly when they get a deal at the food store.My wife of 35 years can't cook a pop tart....so,I was/am the exec chef.What's so interesting is,all my boys have the same outlook on cookery.

Great job on the sausage.Shopdog

[dverna]

Made our first sausage yesterday. Yum was it good.

[MaryB]

More and more of the grocery store sausage is so full of chemicals these days(not talking any cure, the preservative ****) that I can taste a chemical aftertaste from them now. Plus god only knows what mystery meat goes into them! Using pork butt from my butcher I know I am getting good meat without the salt water injection the stores pump into it. Only 1 grocery store near me carries plain old pork with nothing added. And they seem to think fat is bad and trim it all off!

I needed a pork butt for the smoker last summer so I asked the store butcher for a whole one. He brings it out and before I could stop him he had most of the fat cap off. He was not happy when I told him I wanted it in the cryovac and he just ruined a pork butt and I can't use it. Then his boss walked in and asked what the problem was... yeah he is no longer employed there. Because I had told him I wanted it whole in the wrapper. Not trimmed to death. His boss is a huge fan of smoked ribs and pulled pork and knew me well. When I was doing my annual BBQ's I would buy $400 of meat at once.

[vzerone]

More and more of the grocery store sausage is so full of chemicals these days(not talking any cure, the preservative ****) that I can taste a chemical aftertaste from them now. Plus god only knows what mystery meat goes into them! Using pork butt from my butcher I know I am getting good meat without the salt water injection the stores pump into it. Only 1 grocery store near me carries plain old pork with nothing added. And they seem to think fat is bad and trim it all off!

I needed a pork butt for the smoker last summer so I asked the store butcher for a whole one. He brings it out and before I could stop him he had most of the fat cap off. He was not happy when I told him I wanted it in the cryovac and he just ruined a pork butt and I can't use it. Then his boss walked in and asked what the problem was... yeah he is no longer employed there. Because I had told him I wanted it whole in the wrapper. Not trimmed to death. His boss is a huge fan of smoked ribs and pulled pork and knew me well. When I was doing my annual BBQ's I would buy $400 of meat at once.

I love homemade Italia suppresota!!!!

[Lostinidaho]

Made duck/pork hot Italian sausage on Saturday. Wife said it was a little to hot. I thought it could have been a little warmer.

Homemade sausage is the best. Makes store bought look a little sad and pathetic.

[tinhorn97062]

I also can’t stand the store bought sausage...without going into detail, I’m generally in the bathroom within minutes of consuming any mainstream breakfast sausage. And I don’t know just what exactly is wrapped around those breakfast links, but it looks like a contraceptive device. Disgusting.

I’ll be in the “grind your own” camp shortly.

[Blanket]

grind a home raised on dirt hog pork butt 50/50 with a white tail, seasoned for breakfast sausage and your talking some fine eats

[MaryB]

My favorite use for venison is summer sausage, mixed 50/50 with beef chuck roll and if needed some extra beef suet ground for more fat(some chuck rolls can have a thick fat cap).

[Grmps]

We use pork butts to make Fleetch-key, my bohemian grandmother used to make for us.

[Lance Boyle]

I did some a few months ago.

I didn't grind it fine enough and I'm still looking for the right breakfast sausage recipe. I'm looking for the flavor of the diner breakfast sausage in the northeast. All the recipes are spiced like the southern state varieties.

I even bought meat processing books from amazon trying to find something close. No luck yet.

[DougGuy]

Leggs #10 is what I use too! What did you use other than leggs in the Italian sausage? I -really- like that liquorice/fennel flavor that good Italian sausage has but can't ever seem to get mine to get that taste even if I use a lot of fennel.

[WebMonkey]

Anise

[Lloyd Smale]

leggs or whits for me. Pork but is just about right. Is a bit lean and needs a tad bit of oil in the pan to cook but its FAR better tehn those store bought white fat rolls they call sausage today.

[high standard 40]

Leggs #10 is what I use too! What did you use other than leggs in the Italian sausage? I -really- like that liquorice/fennel flavor that good Italian sausage has but can't ever seem to get mine to get that taste even if I use a lot of fennel.

Let the fennel seeds soak in some warm water for a while before including in the sausage mix. This has worked for me to get a better fennel taste into the meat. Add the water into the mix along with the seeds.

[JBinMN]

Anise/Aniseed works as well as Fennel, if ya have it. Same sort of "licorice" flavor. I have used both & still do. Most folks would not know the difference I would think, even though they are different plants. Many recipes for sausage I have read call for for aniseed, rather than fennel , but fennel is slightly cheaper I think & perhaps easier to find on store shelves.


Coriander is another spice I add to our sausage lots of the time. It, & the fennel I add with peppercorns & put them in a pepper grinder & use that to crush the seeds/corns to add to the mix. Another good one to know about.
:)

Oldest son shot a nice 8 point buck on Sunday week ago around Noon. Butchered it up that night & next day wrapped & froze. Picked up some pork for grind yesterday & am grinding later today as a matter of fact. Looking forward to enjoying it.
:)

[high standard 40]

Grinding fresh peppercorns adds a much bolder black pepper taste to sausage than you get when using store bought ground black pepper. I like the taste much better grinding my own pepper so that's what I always do.

[Electric88]

I broke down and bought a decent grinder finally. The Northern Tool 1hp one that goes on sale for $99. Added on a $20 off coupon so it was $79

Which one is that? I only see the 1/2hp model on sale for $94

[Boaz]

I have a 1/2 hp from Cabela's , it grinds as fast as I put the meat in . I have been perfectly happy with it .

[MaryB]

It was the 1/2hp one... typo on my part https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200451267_200451267 it is the one most food and BBQ forums recommend for light home use.


Which one is that? I only see the 1/2hp model on sale for $94

[MaryB]

To get more seasoning flavor in your meat cube it to fit the grinder then mix your seasoning in then into the fridge overnight. Lets the flavors soak into the meat.

[Lloyd Smale]

had two. First one I wore out second one I gave to dad when I bought my big grinder. They work fine if your only grinding up 30 or 40 lbs of meat each year but where they suffer compared to a big one is when you have to grind meat twice. Its a very slow process in them. My big grinder you can about dump a 1/2 of ground meat at a time in the throat and do it about as fast as you can feed it. This is the one I have now https://www.meatprocessingproducts.com/08-3201-w.html but you have to grind a lot of meat to justify a 700 dollar grinder and its a VERY HEAVY puppy. Id bet it goes north of 75lbs.
It was the 1/2hp one... typo on my part https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200451267_200451267 it is the one most food and BBQ forums recommend for light home use.

[6bg6ga]

I buy my sausage from Fairway stores and its always perfect. I should probably point out that the guy that makes the sausage at the store I frequent makes the store sausage the same way he does his sausage at home. So, there is no need for me to invest in bulk meat or a grinder when I can buy perfect sausage.

[Electric88]

It was the 1/2hp one... typo on my part https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200451267_200451267 it is the one most food and BBQ forums recommend for light home use.

Awesome, found my Christmas present I think!

[Rick Hodges]

I use pork butts with venison...but only about 20% pork, just enough to give it moisture and hold it together, for breakfast sausage. I like it on the hot side, and there is nothing like it store bought.

[PB234]

When one makes their own sausage one knows what went into it and the cleanliness of the place that produced it in addition to its is cheaper to make your own, it usually tastes better and there are many varieties to make. Next up is to make my own scrapple.

[6bg6ga]

I can't beat $1.99 a lb especialy when I figure my time and trouble.

[Lloyd Smale]

I keep my venison scraps for summer sausage and burger. I like fresh sausage made from just pork buts. I buy it a 100lbs at a crack when I find it below 1.50 a lb. Big meat sale once a year that its down around a buck a lb and I try to stock up then. At that price I cant even justify the venison that cost me gas money go and shoot. Good lean burger goes for about 3-4 bucks a lb so I makes using venison for it economic sense. Pork buts for this guy and the fattier the better.
I use pork butts with venison...but only about 20% pork, just enough to give it moisture and hold it together, for breakfast sausage. I like it on the hot side, and there is nothing like it store bought.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Next up is to make my own scrapple.
"SUBSCRIBED"!!!!
Great thread folks!
I've been wanting to buy a grinder and to make/grind my own, as I have no doubt the 'grind' I buy at the store is full of "nasties".
Very eager to get started on this.
(But speaking of 'Scrapple', is anyone familiar with "Jersey Pork Roll"? and the process of making it at home?)

[MaryB]

Recipe for it from ChefTalk. I have never tried it so can't comment

Pork Roll (Taylor Ham) ingredients: 7lbs. pork butt
3lbs. bacon
kosher salt 34 grams,
dextrose 18 grams,
cure #1 10.5 grams,
white pepper 11 grams
Port wine 2 Tblsp.,
Encapsulated Citric Acid (ECA) 17 grams - 34 grams.

1. Partially freeze bacon and pork
2.Grind bacon and pork through medium plate.
3.Mix pork,bacon & all spices,cure & port- except for (ECA).
4 Regrind the mixture with a fine plate (3mm)-if smoother consistency is desired.
5. Add (ECA) & mix well before stuffing.
6. Fry a sample,& adjust seasonings if necessary.
7. Stuff into muslin sacks(cloth casings) I bought them through Butcher Supply Company,Inc 1040 3rd Ave. South Nashville,Tn. 37210 you should be able to find thier website online . Smoke: Prewarm smoker to 120 degrees . Hang chubs for an hour or so to dry. Smoke at 130-150 degrees for 3-4 hours until it reaches 125 degrees or higher



"SUBSCRIBED"!!!!
Great thread folks!
I've been wanting to buy a grinder and to make/grind my own, as I have no doubt the 'grind' I buy at the store is full of "nasties".
Very eager to get started on this.
(But speaking of 'Scrapple', is anyone familiar with "Jersey Pork Roll"? and the process of making it at home?)

[Lloyd Smale]

I grind mine with the spices added and let the ground meat sit in the fridge overnight before I either stuff it into sheep gut link casings or package it bulk. I actually prefer it in link version. I use most of my bulk for making sausage gravy. Once you make it yourself out of good pork but youll never want store sausage again. If I have a good year killing deer I will maybe add some venison to the mix but never more then 20 percent because it gets to dry and looses flavor in my opinion. Same with brats. They need pork fat to taste right and I wont add any venison to those.
To get more seasoning flavor in your meat cube it to fit the grinder then mix your seasoning in then into the fridge overnight. Lets the flavors soak into the meat.

[dverna]

GFS normally has pork butt at $1.49/lb IIRC.

[Lloyd Smale]

most places around here have it on sale occasionaly for 99 cents a lb. I like picking the ones out with the most fat showing

[snowwolfe]

Mix your seasonings in water then pour the slurry throughout the meat. Much more effective.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Mary, thank you very much, that sounds pretty good!