# Sausage 2012



## Redsmacker (May 21, 2008)

Had our annual sausage grind weekend. This year we made about 440lbs of deer/wild pig/pork sausage:

200lbs Jalapeno & Cheese
100lbs Regular Smoked
50lbs Andouille
90lbs Pan Sausage

Seems like every year this gets bigger, we were grinding and stuffing yesterday from 830am until 930pm.


----------



## txbigred (Aug 7, 2007)

Looks good.

Dave


----------



## Tommy2000 (Mar 23, 2008)

Where's ours??


----------



## Profish00 (May 21, 2004)

Any Chance I can get a invite next year, looks great!!!


----------



## atcNick (Apr 7, 2005)

Nice!! Is this a family event?


----------



## Tyler (Jun 18, 2004)

Wow that looks great!


----------



## meatatarian (Feb 24, 2010)

Looks great! How long you smoke it?


----------



## sotexhookset (Jun 4, 2011)

Looks good but I did'nt see any beer in the pictures. :brew:


----------



## Redsmacker (May 21, 2008)

We'll put it on for about 30min at 150 with no smoke to dry the casing, then 3-3 1/2 hours at 175 with smoke.

@atcNick - I do this each year with 2 of my hunting buddies - we combine our take from the season and split the work, expense and finished product. It works out pretty good because if one of us has an off year we still get some sausage. This year after purchasing all supplies it cost us $1.65lb to make it. Some years we have a lot more wild hog meat so we dont have to buy pork butts and the cost to make is less. We shoot for a 60/40 ratio of deer to pig, then add 20% pork fat to that. A 50lb batch is 24lbs deer, 16lbs lean pork and 10lbs fat. When finished the sausage is fully cooked and ready to eat but also has a little extra fat so when it is reheated on the grill it will not dry out.


----------



## Jeff SATX (Jan 18, 2011)

do you have to cook the sausage in the smoker because of the cheese or can you cold smoke it and still have it "raw" for throwing on the pit later? do you use any pink cure in your seasoning? the cheese holds up okay running it through the grinder? 

y'all have more patience than we do working that long! jalapeno cheese looks **** good! we made some pork jalapeno this year but we're still testing out the whole cheese thing.


----------



## Redsmacker (May 21, 2008)

Jeff SATX said:


> do you have to cook the sausage in the smoker because of the cheese or can you cold smoke it and still have it "raw" for throwing on the pit later? do you use any pink cure in your seasoning? the cheese holds up okay running it through the grinder?
> 
> y'all have more patience than we do working that long! jalapeno cheese looks **** good! we made some pork jalapeno this year but we're still testing out the whole cheese thing.


We fully cook ours but the fat ratio is high enough that it will not dry out when reheated on the grill. Our mix has the pink curing salt added, so I suppose you could cold smoke it but we've never tried. I prefer going fully cooked because I use a good bit of our regular smoked sausage as an ingredient for jambalaya, read beans & rice, gumbo, etc...so it's easier to work with. The cheese I got is a hi-heat cheddar that is already diced 1/4 inch so it goes through the grinder mostly intact. We used shredded cheese in past years but it would mix in the grinding and stuffing process and when cooked it melted so you got the flavor but not the appearance.


----------



## Jeff SATX (Jan 18, 2011)

very nice! makes sense about having it precooked and on hand when you're cooking. 

do you order the cheese locally or from some place online? fresh or pickled jalapenos?

we (a few old high school buddies) make anywhere from 400-800lbs a year, we really save time with the grinder, and if you've never used a big grinder, it's worth the investment, especially if you keep making more and more. we borrowed the 1.5hp cabela's brand grinder for the first few years and then three of us split the cost on the 1.75hp cabela's grinder and the thing is a beast. really saves time, we grind our sausage twice and it makes quick work.


----------



## Redsmacker (May 21, 2008)

I get the hi-heat cheese and jalapenos at Allied Kenco. The jalapeno is dehydrated chopped jalapeno and is sold in 1lb bags for $20. Half a bag is plenty to season and give heat to 50lbs of sausage. The good thing about the dehydrated jalapeno is it reydrates during the cooking process and absorbes the excess fat in the sausage. Be careful when you open it and pour into the mix, the dust inside will mess you up!


----------



## Jeff SATX (Jan 18, 2011)

Thanks for the info! We may have to make a quick 50lb batch of jalapeno cheese axis/pork sausage to see how it turns out so we'll be ready for next year. Thanks again.


----------

