Are you making sausage, do you want to make sausage?

[Pork Belly]

I see several posts about "putting sausage on the grill" or "I cooked some sausage" I make my own, is anyone else? If your not and want to get started I can talk you through it. It is not that hard, there is some financial investment but than can happen in steps. Let me know if your interested.

 

[DivotMaker]

Brian,  I'm interested in learning more.  I was looking at B&P, and I noticed they don't list ingredients in there seasonings.  My main concern about most of the prepackaged seasonings is MSG.  Do you know if they use it in their sausage seasons?  It's a major migraine trigger for my wife, so I have to be careful about not including it in anything I smoke (or cook).

 

[Pork Belly]

I do not know about the MSG, however I do know that they are willing to answer questions over the phone or emails. I have had great service and product from them. I learned about the from a Chef that has a craft meat and charcuterie shop. Give them a call. Feel free to PM me so I don't miss a response on this link.

Another thought is you do not have to use mixes, there are several fantastic recipes in Michael Ruhemelin's book Charcuterie. In our house we call it The Meat Bible.

 

[Smokster]

Those look absolutely amazing. You have my attention and I am interested and willing to learn from you.

I'm from Canada and we don't always have access to the same products that you do in the US, do you have any suggestions for a homemade seasoning mix? Alternatively we do have a Bass Pro Shop up here.

 

[Pork Belly]

Are you a reasonable driving distance to Detroit Michigan? Butcher and Packer is in Detroit. I just looked at their website they wont ship to Canada. You can get a good LEM #8 grinder and a 5lb sausage stuffer at Bass Pro.
You can get started with a grinder that attaches to a kitchen-aid mixer but a stuffer is important. They are about $125 USD.
Butcher and Packer has the best tasting spice mixes. LEM mixes are sold at Bass Pro, They are not bad, just not as good. You should be able to get the casings somewhere in Toronto. I have friends that don't buy as much bulk as I do and buy from the local butcher. you can make anything with a good grinder and stuffer. I recommend getting the book Charcuterie by Michael Ruhemelan I likely spelled his name wrong. Lots of information and recipes in it.

 

[NDKoze]

Hi Brian,

My family and I have been making and smoking our own sausage (primarily Venison based) for about 10 years now. We make Ring Sausage, Summer Sausage, Pepper Stix, Muscle Jerky, and just this year we experimented with making ground Venison Bacon (see post in the Bacon section). The Venison Bacon turned out "alright", but I doubt that we will do it again.

We have our own ring sausage recipe that basically consists of TenderQuick, Pepper, and Garlic. But our pepper stix and summer sausage mixes are all made by Excaliber.

Before you smoke any sausage, I would "strongly" encourage you to get a James Jerky Dryer. These Smokin-It units are so air-tight (usually a good thing for butts/Brisket/Ribs/etc.) and the sausage is so moist that the moisture is not able to get out of the smoker and you it ends up steaming the sausage instead of smoking it. The Jerky Dryer helps suck the moisture out of the smoker.

I haven't got my Jerky Dryer yet, but I will not be trying anymore sausage until I get one. They are back-ordered right now, but Steve says that he has some more coming in.

I am glad to see another sausage maker joining the forum!

Tony, I get all of my Excalibur sausage mixes directly from my local butcher, but I have also bought some other Excalibur seasoning from Waltons. I did a quick look on their website and found a ton of mixes that specifically stated that they do not contain any MSG. I haven't tried all of these, but here are just a few of the many that my search turned up:

Snack Stix - http://www.waltonsinc.com/p-2375-willies-snack-stick.aspx
My favorite rub - http://www.waltonsinc.com/p-3518-smokehouse-bbq-no-msg-163-lb.aspx
Ring Bolgna - http://www.waltonsinc.com/p-2344-ring-bologna-unit-no-msg.aspx
Polish Sausage - http://www.waltonsinc.com/p-2338-polish-sausage-no-msg.aspx
BBQ Pepper Stix - http://www.waltonsinc.com/p-2381-bbq-smoked-stick.aspx
Smoked Bratwurst - http://www.waltonsinc.com/p-2314-blue-ribbon-bratwurst-no-msg-seasoning.aspx

There are many more, but these are a few that caught my eye. I have tried both of the snack stix mixes and they are both very good. The BBQ one is actually fairly sweet, but we liked it.

 

[Pork Belly]

Is anyone using the sausage bars in their smoker, if so whats your opinion?

 

[DivotMaker]

Thanks for the info on the Waltons spices, Gregg!  I'll check them out.  So many of the packaged spices have MSG.  It doesn't bother me, but it's "instant migraine" for the wife!

 

[jdiver]

Looking at the Bratwurst spice from Walton's. It does list MSG as an ingredient.

My wife and I made several types of sausage a few years ago. Was lots of work, especially getting used to dealing with the casings we had. But we liked the product and want to try again.

 

[NDKoze]

Hi JD,

I looked on the site and only found two of their brat seasonings that specifically called out that they used Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).

Here is the link to all the brat seasonings:
http://www.waltonsinc.com/c-44-bratwurst-seasoning.aspx

That being said, only one of them specifically calls out that is it does NOT use MSG, which is this one:
http://www.waltonsinc.com/p-2314-blue-ribbon-bratwurst-no-msg-seasoning.aspx

I would call them and ask if the seasonings that do not specify that they use MSG contain it or not if you want to try any of the seasonings that do not include MSG in the ingredient list, but do not specify that it does not contain MSG.

BTW, I have no affiliation with this company. I just have had good luck purchasing seasonings from them and am a repeat customer.

 

[jdiver]

I'm lucky that I'm not bothered by MSG. But I know many are.  Likely they'v had enough call for NO MSG.

 

[DivotMaker]

JD, MSG is a huge trigger for a lot of migraine sufferers (my wife included).  That's the one ingredient I have to be very careful to avoid.  Strange, but if she eats just a bite or two of something with MSG, she has a whopping migraine within an hour or two.

 

[Smokster]

Are you a reasonable driving distance to Detroit Michigan? Butcher and Packer is in Detroit. I just looked at their website they wont ship to Canada. You can get a good LEM #8 grinder and a 5lb sausage stuffer at Bass Pro.
You can get started with a grinder that attaches to a kitchen-aid mixer but a stuffer is important. They are about $125 USD.
Butcher and Packer has the best tasting spice mixes. LEM mixes are sold at Bass Pro, They are not bad, just not as good. You should be able to get the casings somewhere in Toronto. I have friends that don't buy as much bulk as I do and buy from the local butcher. you can make anything with a good grinder and stuffer. I recommend getting the book Charcuterie by Michael Ruhemelan I likely spelled his name wrong. Lots of information and recipes in it.

Brian, I just noticed your response.  I am approximately 4 hour drive from Detroit, but I drive down to Akron Ohio twice a year and often ship items to my relatives.  I can have them ship to Ohio. My father also has the LEM grinder while I have been using the kitchen aid for smaller batches. 

I will check out their website and the book you mentioned.  Thanks for the info.

 

[jdiver]

I'll just count my blessings that I don't suffer nor does my wife suffer from MSG induced migraines.

 

[DivotMaker]

I'll just count my blessings that I don't suffer nor does my wife suffer from MSG induced migraines.

Me either - love the stuff!  But I definitely have to look out for the better-half!

 

[Thesneakyzebra]

I like Ruhlman but his Charcuterie book is actually pretty off on a lot of things so be careful, most of the sausage recipes are good, many lack in flavor but this is a good place for a beginner to start. Anyone serious about smoking and sausage really needs to pick up Marianski's book Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages, this is hands down one of the best books out there.

I have found that the SI do not allow for optimal airflow when smoking sausages, I have not used the jerky drier, and have yet to buy one since I have put a lot of money in my #3, but I would suspect that this would give a much more optimal airflow for properly smoking sausages.

I have done a few hotlink recipes and they have struggled in the SI but are successful by other modes of smoking, maybe I should just get the dryer, or make my own.

Speaking of making your own, I have found there is no need to purchase the sausage rack/bar as you can easily pick up something at the hardware store that works just as good for half the price. I have been using untreated wood/dowels for smoking for about a year now, pretty cheap. I would like to see more smoked sausage on here, including from me I just need to work out the airflow issue.

Cheers!

 

[Pork Belly]

I agree with the moisture issues, I haven't run a batch of sausage in my SI yet but will be using the Jerky fan when I do. That little thing moves a lot of air.

I considered but haven't purchased any dowels, what size did you go with? I have used 1 inch stainless S-Hooks off the top rack in a Bradley with good results.

While I love the Charcuterie book and have made a lot of the things in it, I have not used his sausage recipes. I do want to try his Jagerwurst, a dried hunters sausage. Would you consider posting your hot link recipes?

I will check out the book you mentioned, thanks.

 

[Thesneakyzebra]

Brian,
I forget the sized dowels off the top of my head, sorry. Ruhlman has some great stuff, but there is a world beyond him and it is a beautiful world. You will not be disappointed in Marianksi!

 

[Muttley]

I generally make my own, brats, hot Italian, breakfast, andouille, and if I'm feeling a little crazy chorizo.  All venison based.  I might try some harder sausages soon, fall is here and my wife tells me there's too much venison in the freezer from last year.

I have a manual meat grinder/stuffer and an attachment for a KitchenAid.  I'd really like a 5lb stuffer as the dual purpose appliances don't really stuff all that well---it's a lot of work. 

 

[NDKoze]

I have a 15lb stuffer and can tell you that it is night and difference over using the grinder. Goes so fast.

This is the 15lb stuffer that I have for $229.99:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200425065_200425065

But they have a 5lb stuffer for $99.98 too:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200449319_200449319

These stuffers from Northern Tool are just as high of quality as the LEMs and are cheaper. I have had mine for about 5 years now and still works as well as it did when it was new.

If you can afford the 15lb one, I would go for it. This upgrades you to steel gears instead of plastic which is a big upgrade especially if you make snack stix, because it puts a lot of pressure on those gears to push the meat through the small 21-22ml tube for the snack stick casings.