Okay, all done. Excellent results for our first try! Btw, I say "our," as this really takes two people to make happen quickly and easily. Okay, so first, grinding the meat I've had seasoning. First time using the grinder, recipe called for fine, works perfectly. All metal items had been in the freezer, and you'll see the bowl I ground into is sitting in ice.
Next, the "primary bind." Added roasted, minced poblano peppers, cilantro, one cup ice cold water. Let mix for one minute or so, until it amalgamates well.
All mixed:
Next, we made a little patty and fried it to check taste. You can always re-mix with more seasoning if needed. It was great, so time to stuff it into the hopper of the sausage stuffer:
Slide several feet of hog casing on, and time to actually make my first sausage:
You can see the hog casings floating in water in the bowl and I think this shot gives a good view of the action. Here's my first full casing. I was packing the meat too tight so the casing burst at one point. No problem, I just filled the rest, squeezed some meat out at the burst, and tied it off and put the meat back into the hopper. You can see the knots. The other two casings filled without incident, as now I have the feel of the thing.
Here's all the sausage, nicely linked. Will sit overnight in the fridge to dry, then will freeze most of it, leaving just enough in the fridge for Monday's dinner
(but only after you wash your hands)
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