[markaberrant]

Because of the mess and the amount of cleaning involved 15 pounds is a minimum for me.  We did about 60 pounds of sausage one night in September for our Oktoberfest.

Yeah, if you are going to go through the effort, might as well make at least 15-20lbs.

[bluesman]

Because of the mess and the amount of cleaning involved 15 pounds is a minimum for me.  We did about 60 pounds of sausage one night in September for our Oktoberfest.

Yeah, if you are going to go through the effort, might as well make at least 15-20lbs.

+1

If you're not serving right away then vacuum seal and freeze the excess.

[MDixon]

We made about 80 lbs (maybe more) of sausage on the Grizzly in less than an hour including all cleanup in between 4 different batches. 80 lbs on the KA would take me pretty much all day, of course The Professor says he could do it in 80 min. 

[robertpreed]

Speaking of the KitchenAid........

My KitchenAid meat grinder attachement came with two plates, a coarse (which is 1/4 inch) and a fine (which is 3/16 inch).

I see many recipes that call for using the "medium" blade and I assume that is for stand alone meat grinders only.

What would be the KitchenAid equivalent, running it through the coarse twice?

I think the only time I would be using the fine plate would be for some brats.

Thank you all.

[The Professor]

We made about 80 lbs (maybe more) of sausage on the Grizzly in less than an hour including all cleanup in between 4 different batches. 80 lbs on the KA would take me pretty much all day, of course The Professor says he could do it in 80 min. 

You're not far off.   Seriously... it wouldn't take much more than that.   The most I've ever made in one shot was about 30 lbs...but the math works out.

BUT...again...it depends on the type of sausage.  A coarse ground sausage (Polsh kielbasa, Hungarian Kolbasz, Italian sausage)  would present no problem.
 
I agree that the  Grizzly would indeed be quicker with sausages requiring a finer grind of meat.  (I've not used a Grizzly, but HAVE used an old stuffer of the same type)

[MDixon]

You're better than I. To grind 80lb in the KA would take me an hour or two (not what we are discussing) and to stuff would probably take me 3 hours or more. On the Grizzly I can stuff by myself at 20-25 rpm and it would only take minutes to empty.

[bo]

The KitchenAid mixer is just that, a good mixer. The attachments are Mickey Mouse in my opinion.

[The Professor]

The KitchenAid mixer is just that, a good mixer. The attachments are Mickey Mouse in my opinion.

LOL.  That's probably a fair description if you're comparing it to a dedicated grinder/stuffer unit.  No argument there.
The KA gets the job done, certainly, but if someone is making lots of sausage on a regular basis  then I would agree that it would be better to invest in something purpose made.   But for doing medium sized batches of tubed meat every few months,  it's perfect. 
The KA worked out great for me since I already had the mixer (I couldn't imagine not having one in my kitchen).   The grinder/stuffer attachments were not at all expensive, and the only things  I had to add to the kit were a few custom made grinder plates to allow a coarser grind for some sausages.

[euge]

Anyone using rusk? I didn't know about it and assumed my sausage would be 100% filler free. Now I dunno. The rusk sounds like it's needed.

[The Professor]

Anyone using rusk? I didn't know about it and assumed my sausage would be 100% filler free. Now I dunno. The rusk sounds like it's needed.

I do use rusk when making British or Irish style 'bangers'. 
For those little beasts I think you definitely need the filler in there  for the authentic texture (breadcrumbs, cracker meal, or matzo meal all work equally well).  A decent amount of fat is also important.

I don't use it in any other sausage types I make, though.   

[MDixon]

Euge - get the Rytek Kutas book, his recipes will let you know what you need for almost any type of sausage...

[tygo]

Made up 16 lbs of sausage today.  Got a whole pork shoulder, broke it down, and ground it up with the kitchen-aid and stuffed it with the 11 lb stuffer.  Worked like a charm.

[The Professor]

Made up 16 lbs of sausage today.  Got a whole pork shoulder, broke it down, and ground it up with the kitchen-aid and stuffed it with the 11 lb stuffer.  Worked like a charm.

Looks great...what kind of sausage did you make?

[tygo]

I guess you'd describe it as kind of a breakfast sausage.  It's a family recipe.  My dad has the recipe which was handwritten out by my grandfather.  I thought it was the only kind of sausage there was until I was about 12.

All of the spices on the recipe were measured in "hands per inch" of pork.  I estimated how much salt I thought would be right for the volume and then scaled the rest of the spices based on that.  I've made the mix before for patties but I've never stuffed it until today.

[euge]

Here's a pic of the 6# of sausage I made last night with Ruhlman's & Polcyn's master sausage recipe:



It was pretty easy handling and stuffing the casing. Thought it would be more slippery and out of control. It wasn't!

Here's the recipe:

Fresh Garlic Sausage:
2.25kg boneless fatty pork shoulder
40g kosher salt
10g fresh cracked pepper
54g minced garlic
250ml good red wine- chilled
3 meters hog casings

My pork was over 6# so I compensated the salt amounts by a couple grams. As it is the sausage is very flavorful and the wine really makes a difference in the overall flavor. I was quite surprised. Next time I will scale back the salt a bit per my tastes since I think it could do with less and still be plenty salty.

Certainly can see using port or brandy as part of the liquid component. I have some that needs using.

And I bought a pound of the casings for $7.99. Looks to be a lifetime supply. They are well wrapped and resting in the freezer.