How To Host A Sausage Making Party

HOST A SAUSAGE MAKING PARTY!

Sausage Making Parties have been a huge part of our family’s social lives for a very long time. The best thing about a sausage making party is that there is no right or wrong way to do it. You can serve any drinks that you want, allow your guests to add their own ingredients and just have fun with it! It is a great way to make something and then eat it all at the same time!!

First you are going to need a sausage press which is also known as a lard press for inserting the sausage into the natural casings. We prefer the natural casings due to the fact that they are more palatable and we like the traditional way of stuffing sausage. Natural casings should be rinsed out before using to remove the salty brine they are preserved in. Natural casings are sold in what is known as a "hank" and will cost roughly $25 but it will stuff approximately 100 pounds.

Sausage presses can be purchased at many kitchen stores or sporting goods stores and they come in many shapes and sizes. We use antique lard presses that we buy at auctions or antique shops. We spend anywhere from $35 to $300 for ours but you can spend anywhere from $35.00 on up, it all depends on your budget and your passion for sausage.

You will need at least 25 pounds of pork per one bag of Caldarello spices to make our product and of course you can substitute any kind of meat that you would like. We mix our spices with everything: Turkey, Venison, Bear, Elk, Boar, Chicken and one time even made it with Mountain Lion! When we do use other meats we usually cut it 50/50 with pork because most wild game is too lean for us.

You can go to your local butcher and ask him to grind any cut of pork you like, we prefer a course grind because we like a meatier bite but it is a preference thing. We also recommend Boston Butt because of its flavor and fat content.



Once we have our 25 pounds of meat, we mix it with the spices and about 3 cups of warm water for moisture and it helps to keep your hands from getting too cold while you are mixing it in the sink or a nice big tub. It also helps it go through the press easier. Be sure to mix it thoroughly so you don't have any concentrated areas of spice in the sausage; it is spicy enough when it is mixed. Mixing the spices with the meat is fun but you will more than likely sneeze and your eye's will water, the garlic powder and the pepper will get you!

Next, you need to rinse your casings in cold water by holding one end open under cold running water and just flush some water through the whole thing until it comes out the other end. This will give you an idea of how long it is and how much meat it will take to fill it. The fun part is threading it on to the nozzle on the press. You should rub a little pork fat on it before to make the nozzle more receptive to the casing. While you are putting the casing on just wait for the comments, this is a great conversation starter.

Once you have laughed your way through that process, fill the bucket of the press with sausage and begin turning the handle until the sausage begins to fill the casing, make sure that someone is tending the nozzle so you don't burst the casing by filling it too much.

You should end up with a nice coil of sausage when it is all said and done. Immediately take some of it over to a nice hot skillet or BBQ grill and prepare it for all your guests. Repeat over and over until you everyone is full!!

Don't forget to ice down some beverages and have some nice crusty hard rolls on hand so you can cook some up on the grill for all your friends that have come over to see this wonderful phenomenon!