How To Make Homemade Sausage

By Food & Wine
Updated June 15, 2016
Making sausage at home is a fabulous project well worth the effort. Here, some great recipes, tips, tools and shortcuts.
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Credit: Photo © Antonis Achilleos
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Testing Tip:
Before stuffing sausages, test the filling's flavor and consistency by frying a small patty in a pan. Imperfect batches can be used for pasta sauce or chili.

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Step One: Season Your Sausage Filling

Credit: Photo © Antonis Achilleos
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Spread the meat and fat strips on 2 large rimmed baking sheets. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, dry seasonings and spices and sprinkle the seasoning mixture all over the meat and fat. Refrigerate the meat and fat for 15 minutes. Drizzle the liquid ingredients all over the meat and fat. Freeze the seasoned meat and fat until very firm, about 45 minutes.

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Step Two: Prepare the Sausage Mixture

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Chill the bowl of a stand mixer and the meat grinder's parts in the freezer. Set up the grinder with the coarse grinding plate; place the bowl below. With the machine at medium-high speed, gradually drop in the meat and fat. Add any liquid on the baking sheets to the ground meat.

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Step Three: Work the Meat

Credit: Courtesy of TestEquipmentDepot.com
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: Put the ground meat in the freezer again to keep it at 32° to 40° (at 45°, the fat begins to melt, ruining the texture of the sausage). Using clean hands or the paddle of the stand mixer, knead or beat the meat until a sticky mass forms, about 50 seconds; be careful not to let the meat get too warm. Refrigerate for up to 3 hours.

The Fluke 62 measures meat temperature with a laser. $90; testequipmentdepot.com.

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Step Four: Soak the Casings & Stuff the Sausage

Credit: Photo © Antonis Achilleos
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Meanwhile, soak the pork or sheep casings in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain the casings. Working over the sink, gently run warm water through each casing. Pinch both ends and lift up the water-filled casing. Look for any spots that leak and cut out those portions.

Place the sausage stuffer in the freezer for 15 minutes. Set up the sausage stuffer and slip all but 6 inches of a casing onto the tube, leaving the trailing end untied. Tightly pack the sausage mixture into the canister. Start cranking the sausage stuffer very slowly until the meat emerges from the tube. Now tie a knot at the trailing end of the casing. Slowly crank the sausage into the casing, using your free hand to regulate how tightly the sausage is packed; make sure not to overstuff the casing. When the casing is nearly stuffed, tie off the end.

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Sausage-Making Tools: Stuffer

Credit: Photo courtesy of The Sausage Maker
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The vertical canister holds up to five pounds of meat. $126; sausagemaker.com.

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Sausage-Making Tools: Tongs

Credit: Photo courtesy of OXO
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Use them to handle sausages to avoid puncturing the casings. $12; oxo.com.

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Sausage-Making Tools: Drying Rack

Credit: Photo courtesy of HouseholdEssentials.com
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A simple clothes-drying rack doubles as a place to air dry sausages. $22; amazon.com.

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Complete Sausage Recipes

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Hmong Spicy Pork Sausage (photo)
This recipe is based on a version by Hmong cookbook author Sheng Yang.

Provençal-Style Chicken Sausage
"Pork fat is the gold standard of charcuterie," says Hank Shaw, thanks to its neutral flavor and perfect melting point. (Poultry fat melts more easily, making it hard to work with.)

Fiery Moroccan Lamb Merguez
With this spicy merguez from North Africa, adjust the seasonings to vary the flavor intensity and heat.

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