magpies, personally I don't think a class is needed. As long as you're ok with some trial and error and have a bit of culinary sense, I think you'll survive. Before beginning my adventure into sausage making, I read...and read...and read some more. I've been doing it now for maybe half a year and ma...

Here's a link to the grinder I use. I picked it up on Craigslist for $50 which is a steal. Comes with lots of different plate sizes and it's only $106. It's served my quite well for my 5-10 lb batches.

http://www.amazon.com/Weston-Products-L ... B004Y38B8M

Bob, thanks that note is very helpful.

Bob, thanks for the follow up. When you say on the high end, are we talking around 80% RH or so?

Bob, those look like high quality salami!!! How long have they been drying so far?

I seriously need to get a salami going again!

Bob K wrote:A link of kielbasa.

Hahaha ahhhhh

I actually bought some dried skin milk with the intention of grinding it to a fine powder and using it in a batch, but I never did. Geez, I'm glad you didn't use that dried skin! :shock: :shock: Where the heck are you getting your recipes, a medieval guide to witchcraft? Now, if you send me a link ...

Yeah I've never frozen sausages to be smoked and I don't think I would. Here's a shot of the polish kielbasa I just made sliced up. Fried it up in a pan nice and crisp. Delicious!

Ok so now the process. Have you chopped the meat and added the Cure already? Were you planning on grinding and adding the cure to the ground meat? I've numerous times stuffed, refrigerated, and smoked the sausages the next day. As long as the Cure is in there, you'll be find with have them in the fr...

bmeyer, what kind of sausage are you making and what's the process you're following? I ask because the answer will depend on if you're using Cure #1 and smoking, or are you making fresh sausage without Cure and hot smoking?

Thanks Red. I typically don't use binders when I make sausage. I actually bought some dried skin milk with the intention of grinding it to a fine powder and using it in a batch, but I never did. The only thing it gets used for now is in my protein shakes

Thanks Phil. I've gotten pretty good over the last couple batches of stuffing by myself with one hand on the crank and one hand on the stuffing tube with the casings. I put a little pressure on the casings as I crank so they don't just run off the horn with the meat. This technique seems to work nic...

I used this recipe over the weekend to make some polish kielbasa. A very good recipe. I used 3 tbs of garlic powder instead of the fresh garlic. The final product has a nice salt, pepper, and garlic balance in my opinion. Very nice! http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/content/type/61/id/344844/ http://...

Everything looks really great! Wish I had a few bowls of that for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

From what he's told me, it's coming from a friend that hunts often. I'll be sure to inquire more into detail about it when the time comes. Our first plan is to make some venison Andouille though