AllyB Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I posted this as a response to someone in 'Can I have' area. But now I'm thinking it's more of a cooking question. So apologies for posting twice.... We went to germany this past summer and had some sort of sausage or weiner every day. They were awesome! After that, I was determined to make my own. But so far only tried once and it was mixed results. I would love to hear from people who have made their own sausage or weiners (stuffed in a casing) to learn how to get them right. I bought a grinder off amazon and it was really difficult to use....or perhaps I wasn't using it right? The plates kept getting wrapped up with meat 'strings' and it was basically extruding my meat instead of cutting it into chunks. It was a Kitchenaide plastic grinder that fits my Kitchenaide mixer. The blades didn't seem very sharp to me.... We have our own cows and sheep, so I'd love to make sausage or weiners out of the meat. In my first attempt, I was following a bratwurst recipe (I think it was). The flavor of the brats was really good, but they were very dense and a bit dry. So I'm thinking that I didn't add enough water (yes, I am guilty of not following the recipe _exactly_ ) And perhaps my meat was too lean because it was grassfed? But my main complaint was I wasn't happy with the way my grinder performed. I kept having to take it apart and remove the strings and put it back together. Someone mentioned that maybe my meat wasn't cold enough? I'm not sure. Any tips would be greatly appreciated! I was thinking next time of doing more of a weiner type recipe where you use a blender or food processor to get a very fine textured meat. It took me and my daughter several hours to produce 12 links! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anzadel Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I have not made sausage tho it is something I really want to try when I have time and the extra funds to buy a grinder etc. I do have a few books on the subject and one thing they all stress is you need to keep the meat COLD. Your grinder dies need to be COLD. As in put them in the freezer cold. The problem you are talking about sounds like the meat got too hot--it not falling off the grinder is a sure sign. The meat becoming hot during the grind can cause it to seperate from the fat resulting in the texutre issue you are talking about. http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Craft-Salting-Smoking-Curing/dp/0393058298 I have this book and it's FANTASTIC. I've read it cover to cover and they do not reccomend using the kitchen aid attachment but buying a stand alone grinder. Seriously the book is great. I was just reading it last night to get some ideas. I really want to get a grinder and scale so I can get started. Sadly I already have too much kitchen equipment and I promised myself NO MORE until I reorganize what I have (and get rid of some stuff too) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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