Homemade sausages can be crafted from a variety of meats including ground pork, beef, moose, game birds or any blend 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 volume.

I use a Kitchen Aid Pro meat grinder attachment for our Kitchen Aid Mixer while some of the crew use the inexpensive Princess Auto 2/3HP Meat Grinder. Both products have been working very well and reliably for years.

We make our ground while we are processing the quarters. While packaging we weigh each bag as we fill them, 2lbs in Medium size bags and 5lbs in large. We used to use Ziploc bags but switched to vacuum sealed bags as they do not leak.

We have used a number of Outdoor Pros Sausage making kits over the years (2025 note: still available via the Scale Shop in Mount Pearl), all with great success. We have also developed some of our own recipes, check them out under Recipes on the NL-GSBu 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. Depending on price/sales we have also purchased pork butts and run them through the grinder with great success.

When using these pre-packaged spice kits I recommend weighing out the amount specified on the instructions on the kit but then add only about 3/4 of that recommended amount to the meat mixture starting out. I use the recommended amount of water which is important for the seasonings to break down and combine with the meat, and too dry of a mixture is hard to run through the stuffer.

Since we weigh our bags off moose ground as we package it and we know that the Costco ground pork is sold in 6lb packages we use that to determine the amount of seasoning required for each batch.

Mix thoroughly by hand repeatedly turning over, pressing down and squeezing the ingredients together. The more thorough you mix the better your sausages will be.

Next is the most important step - the test fry. Sometimes these kits are salty, adding 75% of the flavoring is usually enough, however if it is not you can add more seasoning to the mix. If the flavor is too strong or salty the only solution is to add more ground meat.

We have also played with adding 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 NL-GSBu page.

Most electric meat grinders have a stuffing attachment which I used on my first ever batch of sausages back in 2018. They are impossible to operate on your own, you can only control the fill rate by the amount of mixture you throw into the feeder. It's difficult even with someone helping to get a consistent fill in the casings. Do yourself a favor and invest in a manual stuffer as pictured below, it makes the job so much easier and much better quality epically if you are by yourself.

This is my 5lb stainless steel sausage stuffer from princess auto, they are also available in 10lb and 20lb models. Casings (my favorite are 19mm or 3/4") are slid over the stuffing tube nice and firm to get as much on as possible.

Before you tie the knot in the casing, turn the handle slowly to purge air from the machine until meat mixture reaches the end of the filling tube.

Slowly crank the handle and use your other hand to pinch the casings where they come off. The amount of pressure you apply along with the speed of turning the handle controls the fill rate. Too tight or fast loads too much product and the casing will burst, not enough and they come off too quickly and will be under filled. Practice will make perfect in short order.

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 press and cut mine individually which takes a little longer but are pleasantly consistent.

Halfway through this batch!

I package my sausages in meal size portions in vacuum sealed bags. This maintains a higher quality product if they're spending months in the freezer. I've cooked sausages as much as three years later having been vacuum sealed.

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 so glad you did.

Cheers, Mike

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith