anyone make their own link sausage?

[DanielB89]

I am wanting to know what you guys do that make your own link sausage.. I have been wanting to try my hand at it, but I just have not done it yet.

[RGKulas]

I do it all the time. Ask away. What sort of sausage do you want to make?

[DanielB89]

well, I have some pork I was wanting to try it out, but don't really know where to start..lol.  I know you start at the grinder, which I have as well as the stuffing tubes, etc.  

I however, do not have a smoker, but could try to rig something up to smoke it.. Just needing a little guidance.

[RGKulas]

I posted this link sausauge making thread that may help.

 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=000657

Figure out what sausage (there are many types of fresh pork or pork and venison sausages out there) you want to make and we can narrow it down. Go to the link to Frisco spices in the thread I posted and look at all the types of sausage making cures and mixes they sell. THen you will have an idea of what you need to do and then come back here and im sure I and others can answer your questions.

[DanielB89]

that was a great thread.  Thank you for sharing it.  I am wanting to use primarily pork.  I was wondering if the wild pigs we kill will work.  What I mean by that, is that the pigs you kill in the wild have very little fat on them as compared to one bought at the grocery store.  


would this affect anything?

[RGKulas]

Yes, the sausage would be a bit drier due to the meat being lean. Ive never used wild pork but I'll assume its common to do so.

[DanielB89]

i am going to supplement in some fat from a local store.

What types of casings do i need to use?  
I noticed there are quite a wide variety.

I can get the cheese I want, but I can't seem to find any Jalapeno's to mix in.  

Ideally i want some with cheese and jalapeno's.  

Could I just cut them up myself?  What about the cheese?  Could I just slice some up or does it need to be a special kind?

[RGKulas]

You cant use store bought cheese you would buy to eat. You have to use the high temp sausage making cheese or you will be very disappointed.

You can chop up your own peppers. Thats not a problem. Casings are a person pref. Made made are easy to use but dont twist well or hold that twist (links). Hog and Sgeep cassings come in a "hank" (unit of measure for casings) and seed to be rinsed because they come packed in salt (lots of it). I use both tpyes of casings depending on the sausage im making.

[DanielB89]

so if i want to make some links, what would you recommend?  

Is there a different taste?  

I really appreciate all your help!

[RGKulas]

You wont taste the casing regardless if it collagen or natural. If you want to link I suggest natural casings. Natural casings hang better and twist better and actually cook better but collagen casings require less prep and are more consistant and they keep well and wont spoil.

[DanielB89]

When you refer to cooking, are you referring to the smoking of the meat or the actual cooking?  I am wanting to try to smoke the sausage if that matters..

[RGKulas]

Cooking as in making ready to eat such as boiling and frying and grilling the finished fresh sausage. Natural casings also hange better during smoking.

[Mint]

I make sausage out of wild hog all the time so here are my tips:

1. use 25% pork fat to meat ratio. It looks like a lot of fat but that's what you need. If you go below 20% they will taste like sawdust stuffed balloons.

2. Use natural casings and soak before using. Then put the sink faucet on a slow steady stream and run water through the casings to open them up.

3.Put a little vegetable oil on the stuffing tube before sliding the casings on.

4. pop air bubble with a pin and don't overstuff.

5. before stuffing the links fry up a sausage patty to make sure you like the taste and if you need to add more spices or salt.

6.I cube up my meat and fat then add spices and let sit overnight. Then put in freezer to get real cold and stiff then coarse grind once only and then right into the casings on the grinder. Or into a stuffer. I don't grind twice.