I picked it up today. It’s a big, 50-lb. cast iron monster that was built generations ago. It has a good amount of rust that I’m taking a wire wheel to, then it will get a fresh coat of paint and a lube job. I will also re-finish the wooden crank handle.
I made some Polish kielbasa at a fund raising event last week, which put the idea in my head of getting myself one of these stuffers. I think I’ll try some spicy Italian sausage for my first attempt.
Do any of y’all have one of these? Or have you made homemade sausage before?
I have a sausage stuffer that I have never used. It’s a tiny little plastic one though. It’s An attachment for 30 year my inherited stand mixer. Actually It’s an attachment for the meat grinder which is an attachment for the mixer so it’s an attachment squared or an attachment-once-removed technically.
My grandma who was a German farm woman used to make her own sausages, damn they were good.
I haven’t, but I’ve always kinda wanted to learn so I could make them in the shape of balloon animals; invite a few folks 'round for dinner and have a sausage poodle turning on a spit over the barbecue.
I bought one a couple months ago - just a 5 lb one - and it’s been great! Homemade sausage is incredibly easy to make, and really tasty. I can do a 5 pound batch in less than 2 hours of leisurely work, and it freezes well so I have 'em around all the time.
I highly recommend Michael Ruhlman’s Charcuterie for recipes. It’s a dangerous book, though - first it’s fresh sausages, next you’ll be doing duck prosciutto, and then on to dried & cured sausages.
I second everything Athena says. I picked up a 5# crank-type one used, and it is pretty easy. Actually, if I had a better meat grinder (mine was free, but also small, dull, and pretty much impossible to sharpen) I’d use it more often. So far, I’ve done the basic garlic sausage from Charcuterie, and Jagerwurst and Calabrese, which I hot-smoked, so I haven’t used it all that often, but I don’t regret the purchase. Sausage does freeze rather well, fortunately, so I’d go ahead and just do a shit-ton at once; getting the meat cold and ground and all that takes enough initial investment that it’s worth just making extra.
This seems like a good place to ask about … ground turkey.
They want ludicrous prices for ground turkey at the store, but they often have whole turkeys on sale for like 1/4 the price per pound. Seems to me that one can become the other and still be a lot less.
I have a food processor, a stand-mixer with a grinder/stuffer setup, and an old hand-crank grinder (very small & dull).
Am I crazy, or can I just debone the turkey and grind it up? What would be the best method? Anything I should know?
I think I need a copy of that book. I’ve been reading lately about making bacon & corned beef & pastrami & such, and I’m really wanting to give it a try.
I don’t have a grinder. My plan is to have the butcher grind the meat that I purchase.
I was at the local butcher shop this morning picking up their kielbasa for Easter. I bought 11 lbs. and it came to $71. Then I looked over at the pork butt that I will use for my sausage and saw it was $1.99 lb. Add a bit for the casings and seasonings and I’m still way ahead financially (to say nothing of the multiple other advantages of…er…stuffing your own sausage).
I’ve been thinking about that myself. back around thanksgiving when turkey was on loss-leader I picked up some frozen turkey breasts(2 just breast, and two single breast with ribs and back) I still have one of the breast onlys in my freezer, which cost 4 bucks for 3 pounds when I got it. It’s usually $8 for the three pounder.
packaged Ground turkey is usually 4.99 a pound here!!
So I might thaw that it out and see what I can do about some healthy chili.
Make sure you don’t go stuffing your sausage before you finish the lube job. For best results make sure the wooden crank handle is firmly positioned in place. Be sure to wear a glove.
Oh Mr. Johnny Grubeck
How could you be so mean?
We told you you’d be sorry for inventing that machine
Now all the neighbors’ cats and dogs
Will never more be seen
They’ve all been ground to sausage, in Johnny Grubeck’s machine
I recommend making your own Mexican Chorizo. The stuff you buy in the store is usually really low-grade pork meat and glands and organs. But you can make your own with pork loin and pork shoulder. It is delightful. I just made some following Rick Bayless’s recipe a couple of weeks ago and they are awesome.
Seinfeld laughs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAUP1wsmqUU