2026 sasuage and processing thread

Finally wrapped up our meat processing foe the year! Had some upd and downs this year. But to start off ill list what we made. 50 lbs of hot dogs 25 regular 25 cheddar dogs. 100lbs of brats in 4 different flavors. 25lbs breakfast sausage. 25 lbs bacon cheese burger ground burger. 50lbs deer burger. 25lbs ground bacon amd 25 pounds of hot honey pepper sticks.

Now to what went wrong. The hog dog casing last year were a pain in the ass to get kn the stuffing tube we had. So I ordered a new one that is smaller in diameter. We'll they sent the wrong one and the base was too small for our 30lb stuffer. They rushed shipped the "right" one and got it the day before we started processing. Got all of my meat ground and mom brought hers and my stepdads over later friday morning. I had no issues with grinding mine. We'll my mom's wouldn't grind. Took apart the grinder a dozen times before we went and got their small grinder. Everything is ground.

Now to rinse out the casings. I ordered 2 sizes for hot dogs. The smaller ones I did last year 24/26mm and one slightly bigger 26/28 because I wasnt sure if the stuffing tune would be here in time. Open the brat pig casings get them soaking. My dad opened the small sheep hot dog casings and about threw up. They were rotten. Called the company they were very apologetic they said sheep casings have a odor to them but these were way more strong smelling than the size slightly bigger. No big deal I have the back up ones.

Get everything mixed up and go to get the stuffer ready. I get the new tube that showed up Thursday and its too big to fit on the stuffer. I mean we are talking only a few MM. We'll shit. Put the old one on and keep going.

Get everything stuffed and put it in the fridge over night. Next morning start smoking. Everything is fine. Get the first 100lbs done and put on the rest. We'll the pepper sticks had too much moisture in them. After about 20mins in the smoker I went to check and the meat was coming out the bottom. Hurry up take them all off and place them on perforated sheet pans and slide them in the smoker.

All in all it went well and im done! Until next season!
 

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Do you guys package yours freshly stuffed? I feel like if I cut the twists when they’re still raw they won’t stay… and for some reason I feel like I need to smoke mine and give them to people fully cooked 😂 just reheat on the grill or in a pan or whatever. I first tried bear brats and smoked to 160-165 then deep freezer. They were a hit! Did a round of elk brats to that and they were DRY DRY. So I went 140-145 on next round and honestly didn’t even try one I had just ate dinner. They looked way better though.. tips on bratwurst/links welcome lol
That looks delicious!
 
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