Italian Sausage time!

When making sausage, the more fat you can get in your meat, the better. If you are using a leaner beef or pork, add bacon so you don’t end up with a tough/dry sausage. It is absolutely key to have your meat very cold and grinder parts chilled. The process will be way easier if you take this advise, otherwise it can back up in the meat grinder and leave you frustrated and discouraged.  

Ingredients:
6 pounds pork shoulder cut into 1 “ cubes

3/4 cups Red Wine

1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar

3 tablespoon coarse salt

9 cloves of garlic finely minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoon Ground white pepper

3 tablespoon cayenne pepper

5 tablespoon whole fennel seeds

3 teaspoon crushed red pepper

5 teaspoon sweet Spanish paprika

1 tablespoon onion powder

Natural hog casing

Instructions:

• Place meats on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and freeze 30-90 minutes.  Should be very firm, not frozen solid. Place all meat grinder parts in freezer and refrigerate mixing bowl at least 30 min prior to using.
• Rinse casing well to remove salt and run warm water all the way through the casing. Let casing soak in warm water (90˚F water) for at least 1 hour or until soft and slick. Keep casings in water until ready to use.
  
     
• Remove 1/3 of meat from the freezer, dice into 1/4 thick pieces with a sharp knife and transfer to your chilled mixing bowl. Chop remaining meat into 2" pieces so that it can easily go through the meat grinder. Set up your meat grinder and grind meat into chilled bowl.
  
  
                 
  
  
• Sprinkle seasonings over meat and toss by hand 30 seconds to distribute then add 3/4 cup red wine and 1/4 cup red wine vinegar and mix meat by hand for 1 minute just until a light film forms on the outside of the bowl and the mixture binds to itself and can hold a patty shape. Cover and refrigerate your sausage mixture while you clean your grinder and set up your sausage maker attachment. Seasoning Tip: To test your meat for seasoning, form a small patty and saute it on a skillet to sample.
  
  
• Lightly oil the outside of your sausage tube attachment and thread 1 sausage casing over the tube leaving a 6" -8" tail hanging off the end. Do not tie the end - you want the initial air that comes through to escape.

            

• Remove ground meat from refrigerator, add meat into hopper, pushing down with the plunger and adding more as you go. Use one hand to stuff the meat through and one hand to guide the filled casings.  Or have an assistant :) Fill firmly but do not overstuff, especially if making sausage links. Take care not to let big gaps of air into the tube. 
• If you get air bubbles - no problem - you can poke the sausage casing with sausage pricker as you go.  Let the sausage come out in one long coil until about 6" of casing remains at the end then start with the new sausage casing.

***Pinch, twist and spin to make small sausage links or coil the sausage for the classic kielbasa look. Tie off the ends or tie with kitchen string if desired. Prick with sausage poker about every 2 inches, especially where you see air pockets, to prevent the sausage from bursting. Sausage can be baked, grilled or sautéed right away or can be refrigerated or frozen for later. Keeps well in refrigerator for 3-5 days or frozen up to 3 months.

             

             

Recipe Notes

*Important: Use meat with high fat content. Bacon should be added if your meat is leaner.

***If meat starts looking pink/pasty as it enters the casing tube, it's likely clogged and you should quickly clean your grinder before proceeding Grind the bacon last (if using) - this is less likely to occur if using well chilled meat.

**Casings can be purchased online or at your local butcher. Leftover salted casings can be resealed in their bag and stored in the refrigerator for many years.