Fresh Sausage
Homemade Breakfast Sausage
Butcher Series Grinding Meat
Stuffing Meat
Stuffing Meat
Meat Block
25 lb of Untrimmed Pork Butts (Fat % between 20-30%)
1 Bag of Holly regular Pork Sausage Seasoning
Equipment
Walton’s #12 Meat Grinder
Walton’s 11 lb Sausage Stuffer
Process
We need to break this down into pieces that our grinder can handle; we are using Walton’s #12 grinder, so we need to make the pieces small enough to fit down the throat; the larger grinder you have, the larger pieces it can handle. For this grinder, our throat size is about 2.5 inches, and while pieces that size could be stuffed down there, for the ease of the grinder we will try to keep them in about 2-inch pieces. Grind all meat twice, first through a 3/8" plate and then through a 3/16th plate to get the desired consistency. If you want you can mix in your seasoning between grinding, but we prefer to do it after.
Casings
Now, if you are using the 22-24mm sheep casings, you will need to rinse and soak them before using them. The easiest way to do this is to turn on a faucet at a slow stream and hold the casing underneath it; let the water find the opening, and it will fill it for you, much easier than trying to find and separate the opening with your fingers. Once they have been rinsed soak them in warm water for 30-60 minutes prior to stuffing. Or you can just use collagen casings, and all you have to do is take them out of the plastic package and load them on your stuffing tube.
If you are making a ground product use a meat bag and the 38mm stuffing tube that comes with the Walton’s Sausage Stuffer.
Meat Mixing
Because this is a fresh product, meaning we did not add any cure, we do not need to achieve noticeable levels of protein extraction; all we need to do is ensure our seasoning is thoroughly mixed into the meat. You can do this with your hands or use a meat mixer.
Sausage Stuffing
Since we are using smaller casings we will be using the 16mm stuffing tube, so we will load our casings onto the tube and then pack the stuffer canister. Once your stuffer is loaded, begin cranking it down using the top gear. Try to keep an even and steady pressure throughout. While one person cranks, another person should be down at the tube end holding the casing lightly enough that the casing flows off the tube with the meat but with enough force that the casing is filled.
Note
A great and inexpensive way to seal your meat bags is with the Poly Bag Sealer.
Thermal Processing & Smoking
Simply cook in a pan or griddle at medium heat until the internal temperature is 160°.
Cooling
If you want to vacuum pack your bratwurst make sure you put it in the freezer for a while first. If you try to vacuum pack fresh sausage without it being frozen the pressure from the chamber will crush your sausage, and it will lose the classic shape.
Wrap up
Making Breakfast Sausage is a very simple process; with just a Grinder and a Stuffer, you can take a whole muscle cut like a pork butt and have high-quality breakfast sausage in under an hour.
Additional Tips
Make sure your Grinder Plates & Knives are sharp, in good condition, and lubricated with
White Oil before you start your grinder.
You can make Breakfast Sausage with just a Grinder by using the stuffing attachment on your grinder or just a stuffer by buying ground pork from the grocery store.
Other Notes
If you like making breakfast patties, you can stuff them into
Ground Pork Bags, then cut them into patties as thick as you want. The form won’t be perfectly round, but it is a very easy way to form a patty.
What is Breakfast Sausage?
Breakfast Sausage, or as it is sometimes called Pork Sausage, can be stuffed into casings to make link sausages, formed into patties to be added to breakfast sandwiches or you can use it as a ground product and add it to other dishes. Most Breakfast Sausage Seasonings will contain Sage as an ingredient; if you do not like the taste of sage Locker PSS Special No Sage is one of the few Pork Sausage Seasonings that does not have any sage.
Watch WaltonsTV: Basic Breakfast Processing
Shop waltons.com for Breakfast Sausage Seasoing
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Shop waltons.com for Boning Knives