Making Fresh Sausage at Home
The best sausage comes from knowing exactly what goes into the grind. Once you understand the relationship between temperature and texture, you can move away from store-bought logs and build your own flavor profiles.
Temperature is your primary ingredient
If your fat warms up, it will turn into a greasy paste rather than distinct white flecks in the meat. Keep your grinder parts, blades, and meat in the freezer until the exact moment you are ready to process.
- Meat grinder with coarse and fine plates
- Sausage stuffer or grinder attachment
- Digital scale
- Large mixing bowl
- Natural hog casings
What goes in.
- 3.5 lbpork shoulder (butt), cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1.5 lbpork back fat, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 40 gkosher salt
- 15 gcracked black pepper
- 10 ggarlic powder
- 100 mlice-cold water
Mixing until tacky
After grinding, add your seasonings and water, then stir the mixture by hand. You are looking for the meat to turn pale and develop a sticky, web-like consistency that clings to your fingers; this ensures the sausage stays juicy after cooking.
The method.
Chill everything
Place your cubed meat and fat on a tray in the freezer for 45 minutes until firm but not frozen solid.
Grind the meat
Feed the meat and fat through a coarse plate. Keep the bowl sitting in a larger bowl filled with ice to ensure the fat stays firm.
Season and bind
Add the salt, pepper, garlic, and water. Mix vigorously by hand for three minutes until the texture becomes noticeably sticky.
Stuff
Thread the casing onto your stuffer nozzle. Fill slowly, keeping the casing taut but not so tight that it bursts. Twist the stuffed log into individual links.
Rest
Refrigerate the links for at least four hours before cooking to allow the seasoning to penetrate the meat.
Other turns to take.
Italian Style
Add 20g of toasted fennel seeds and a pinch of red pepper flakes during the mixing phase.
Breakfast Blend
Incorporate 10g of ground sage and 5g of dried thyme, skipping the garlic.
When it doesn't go to plan.
Soak your casings in warm water for at least 30 minutes before stuffing to make them pliable.
If the grinder begins to clog, your meat is likely getting too warm; stop and put everything back in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Fry a small patty of the finished mixture before stuffing the casings to test the seasoning level.
The ones that keep coming up.
Why did my sausage turn out dry?
Usually, the ratio of fat to lean meat was too low, or the fat smeared during the grind because it wasn't cold enough.
Can I use a food processor instead of a grinder?
You can, but it is difficult to keep the fat from turning into a mushy emulsion. Pulse in very small batches and keep the blades chilled.
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