Homemade Sausage Making

I am looking for some suggestions here....the last batch of sausages I made ended up with too many air pockets between the meat and casing, as well as a few inside the sausages. Any ideas on the cause or a solution? Could it be from too coarse of a grind?

Thanks,

Travis

Hi Travis,
The trick is to eliminate most of the air right up front by really packing it into your stuffer with your fist. Put the meat into the cylinder with a little force and add more by pushing it down with your fist until it is really packed in there. Next, make sure the "air escape valve" on top of the stuffing piston is free and working. Stuff the casings uniformly, twist the links, and then inspect them carefully. Use a needle to deeply penetrate the sausages in several places. This allows trapped air to escape and the hole will actually seal up again before it is cooked. Don`t be afraid to really stab the sausages in several places. I use a tool with 4 needles attached. Trapped air is an invitation to anaerobic bacteria. Good luck pal - use a needle.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

The only thing I would add is that the stuffing if the casings may be a bit loose. Or if it is a very course grind it might be a bit dry. A little more liquid would help the meat stuff a bit tighter and prevent air bubbles.

One question that I'm surprised no one's asked yet is what kind of stuffer are you using? If you're using the KitchenAir attachment then good luck, because not much else save Chuckwagon's needle recommendation will save you.

If you're using a cylinder style stuffer I've found, much like Chuckwagon said, the key is how it's loaded. I add my sausage mixture to the cylinder a baseball-softball sized handful at a time. I throw it down into the chamber quite roughly so that it flattens out and traps no air below. Normally the only time I manipulate the mixture by hand is at the end when I'll make the top of the mixture slightly concave so that the piston slowly moves the last bit of air at the top come to the center and out the release valve.

Another thing that can introduce air into your sausage in putting the casing on the stuffing tube incorrectly. You should have product to the end of the tube, 6" or so of water in the casing and the casing lightly squeezed between your fingers as you thread the casing onto the tube. This will prevent air getting into the casings on the tube. And like all have said previously, pack it down pretty darn hard to eliminate as much air in the product as possible.

sausagemaneric wrote:6" or so of water in the casing

I'm trying to visualize this aspect of properly setting the casing on the tube. If the casing is laid out in front of the tube on the table the water will seeks the lowest point, ie at table level away from the tube. If so, I don't see the dvantage of the water.

What I do is:

Getting started: just pin prick a few holes in the end of the casing air or water will escape

And what CW said :make sure the "air escape valve" on top of the stuffing piston is free and working.

Unscrew it and clean after each use stuff gets stuck in the spring...or you will have problems.

Don't loose any parts down the drain...AW sh.....ucks.

I always have my casings in a large shallow bowl with reasonable amount of water in the bowl and 6 or so inches of water in the casing I am going to slide onto the tube. I put my finger and thumb near the water that is, say 12" from the end of the casing, then I take my other finger and thumb and squeeze lightly and run it to the end of the 12" of casing, pushing any air. Then I slide it on the tube. Hope this makes a little more sense. I don't think one can keep from getting some air in the sausage, but this is the best way for me.

V465

I pretty much load the casings in the same manner as sausagemaneric states. I like to keep the casing loaded to the front inch of the tube where the sausage exits into the casing, thumb and index finger guiding the feed. I've had a 4-pronged pricker for years that I've never used, don't seem to get air in my sausage. I saw this video the other day on youtube and after stuffing this guy thought it a common practice to prick the entire length of the sausage every couple of inches before twisting into links. My sausage is usually stuffed a lot tighter into the casing than what this guy shows so I don't get that large space between the links like he does, which at times would be desirable. I'd never heard of anyone pricking the entire sausage before linking, it's right at the 15 minute mark of the video. Is this a common practice? RAY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPQP4TC3E1w

Hi Ray,
I usually never prick fresh sausages but when I made salamis down south with Italian friends, they always used to prick the skins where you actually could see air pockets.
The casings were the cattle "Appendix" casings with one opening.
This pricking the airpocket practice was everywhere in the region when it was salami time and was passed on from grandfather/mother onwards.
Too old to participate, they always sat on a chair watching us like hawks to see if we didn't
skip a step or stuffed up somewhere.
I learned a lot from these old folks. All terrific people, generous with passing on their knowledge.
Cheers Mate,
Jan.

Thanks all of you for the suggestions. I lost track of this thread when it moved and didn't know anyone had replied!

I am using a big commercial vertical SS stuffer which works real good, but I do think I could do a better job of packing the stuffer tightly so I'll see if that helps in the future. I also think my mix may have been a little dry so a little more moisture might help as well.

As for loading casing onto the tube, this is where I may have really gone wrong. Frankly thought, I'm not sure I really understand the method being described above!

Another area I was struggling was with linking and tying my sausages. I wanted to each ring to be tied off on the ends where I could hang them by the string. My best guess to accomplish this was to knot the casing at one end, stuff the link, then tie off both ends with a string. This was a difficult and tedious process and there surely has to be a better way!

Thanks,

Travis

Might have been said but it sounds like your air is coming from the mince being too dry. Add water when grinding and mixing.

To link. Twist every other link - in same direction - I twisted away from me. This way you will finish twice as fast and all twists will be correct direction. When finished, tie ends and lay the sausages in a cooler for a day. During this time the meat will bind and the refrigeration will dry the case a little and cause it to draw tight and hold. If this fails you are left to tying each but you shouldn't have to do this if the meat binds as it should.