Homemade Sausage - Two versions both great for breakfast!

This is the year for my hubby Troy and I to add sausage making to our skills and sustainability. We were very excited to receive the sausage extruder and casings from my sister for Christmas this year. Troy bought me the grinder attachment for the KitchenAid previously but we have been having trouble find the other items here in town. So our adventure begins.

We purchased the "Home Sausage Making" book and got to work on our first project, "Basic Breakfast Sausage". I would highly recommend this book because it explains how to handle raw meat, issues with cleanliness, and bacteria.

The first part of the recipe deals with the casings. Hog casings which are the type that we are using are packaged and stored in salt and must be soaked and then rinsed before you can fill them. Here is a link to purchase the Hog Casings. The casings look weird when you first open the package but once they soak for the 45 minutes while you process the meat they stretch out and become pliable. You will need to run water through the casings. In the book they say to run it under the facet but we used a straw at one end to flush through the water which seemed to be more sanitary.

Here is the recipe for the Breakfast Sausage:

Renee's Italian
 Spice Blend

Basic Breakfast Sausage

2 1/2 lbs lean pork butt
1/2 lbs pork fat (we ask the butcher for this)
1 T. kosher or coarse salt
1 1/2 t. dried sage
3/4 t. freshly ground white or black pepper (fine grind)
3/4 t. brown sugar
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. dried marjoram (we used Renee's italian blend)
1/8 t. ground cloves
1/8 t. crushed red pepper

Prepare the casings.
Cut the meat and fat into 1 inch cubes. Freeze the cubes for about 30 minutes to firm them up before grinding.
Grind the meat and fat together through the coarse disk of a meat grinder.
In a large bowl, combine meat, salt sage, white pepper, sugar, thyme, marjoram, cloves, and crushed red pepper. Mix well, using your hands. Freeze the mixture for 30 minutes.
Grind the seasoned mixture through the fine disk of the meat grinder.
Before you start to fill your casings fry up a small patty of the mixture to make sure that it's seasoned the way you want it. 

Hog Casing

Stuff the mixture into the prepared casings...

Prepared Casing - slide the 4 ft of casing on the extruder tube. The key is to stretch with one hand and slide it on with the other. Once all of the casing is loaded on the tube tie a knot at the end of the casing. Begin filling the casing and letting the sausage fill the section as much as you can without blowing out the casing. This will take a bit of practice, but you will have 4 feet to practice!

Prick air pockets once all the sausage has been extruded through the machine. Twist off into 3 inch lengths and cut the links apart with a sharp knife or kitchen scissors. 

Homemade Breakfast Sausage 

Place the links on a platter, cover, and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight to meld the flavors. Use within 2 to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Up next Chorizo!