Shed-Headz Grill Masters

Homemade sausages can be crafted using a variety of meats from straight pork, beef, and blends of those and any other game meat you harvest. Every fall we process our own moose, our ground meat comes from quality trimmed meat with grizzle and moose fat removed. This makes for a much higher quality and better tasting end product without a noticeable loss in quantity.

I use a Kitchen Aid meat grinding attachment on my wife's 575watt mixer and some of the crew use an inexpensive Princess Auto electric meat grinder. Both products have been working very well and reliably for years.

Often we grind our meat as we are processing our quarters so for sausage making it's already to go. We weigh bags as we fill them, 2lbs in Medium freezer bags and 5lbs in large. This makes calculating quantity needed at sausage making time a breeze. Care is taken to squeeze all air from each bag as we seal them which prevents freezer burn. 

We have used a number of Outdoor Pros Sausage making kits over the years, all with great success. We have also developed many of our own recipes, check them out under Recipes on the Grill Masters page.

For sausages we use a meat mixture consisting of 60% ground moose to 40% lean ground pork from Costco. This is the most affordable place for lean ground pork and is always great quality. Pork adds some fat and extra flavor without compromising the natural flavor of moose.

When using pre-packaged spice kits I recommend measuring out the amount specified on the instructions on the kit but then add about 3/4 of that recommended amount to the meat mixture starting out. Sometimes the kits are salty, if you do this, mix, and test fry you can add more seasoning to increase flavor without getting too salty.

We have also played with extra ingredients including jalapeño peppers, cheese and wine. Don't be afraid to experiment in small batches, check out some of our creations under Sausage Recipes on the Grill Masters page.

We always mix thoroughly by hand. Mix a little longer than you think is necessary to ensure there are no pockets of concentrated seasoning. Next I pack the hopper of my sausage stuffer.

Most meat grinders have a stuffing attachment which I used on my first ever batch of sausages. Do yourself a favor and invest in a manual stuffer, it makes the job so much easier and better quality epically if you are by yourself.

Casings are strung out then slid over the stuffing tube nice and firm to get as much on as possible. Don't forget to tie a knot on the end of the casings.

Slowly crank the handle and use your other hand to pinch the casings as they come off. The amount of pressure you apply controls the fill rate. Too tight loads too much product and the casing will burst, not enough and they come off too fast and will be way under filled.

I find 3/4" casings great for pan fried sausages and 1" awesome on the grill.

Matt French is a great hand at spinning links together like a butcher. I'm not that great and I like nice even lengths so I twist and cut mine individually which takes a little longer.

I always package my sausages in meal size portions in vacuum sealed bags. This maintains a higher quality product if they're spending a few months in the freezer.

For optimum flavor, let the packages rest in the refrigerator for 24 hours so spices fully break down and absorb into the meat before freezing.

Sausage making is very rewarding and pretty straightforward without a huge investment of equipment. Keep your eye out for sales and pick up the tools required (meat grinder, sausage stuffer & vacuum sealer) in the off season, once you start you'll be glad you did.

Cheers, Mike

Copyright © 2011 Michael Smith