[slay]

Gotcha
Yep, I have a hand grinder my wife bought me a few years back and an old Oster electric one somewhere in my house.
It's been years since I ground my own. That's what happens when the kids grow up, you get lazy.....lol

[scdeerslayer]

I was given a doe by my brother and bought some of the Hi mountain prairie mix. I need to know if it matters if the bacon is smoked or not. Also what brand of bacon? I am a picky bacon guy. Some bacon I dont like. I was thinking maybe some Sugardale thick sliced bacon with black pepper. Does that sound like the ticket? Not sure about the salty stuff. So I guess I need to just buy some ground pork (no fat) and add it with the bacon to get it right?

I never made sausage before, but man this sounds good.

The bacon is mostly just to add some fat into the meat so that it sticks together better. Smoked bacon could add a little flavor but I always try to get just market-style bacon. If you're worried about adding several pounds to it so you'll have enough for a packet of seasoning I would just use some fat ground beef and skip the bacon.

[slay]

I finnaly got around to making a batch of this today and learned a few things.

12 pounds of ground meat in a bowel looks like 40.
At least 6 pairs of rubber gloves should be available.
Put your seasoning on your cubed meat before you grind it.
Fine grinding is not necessary.

I was fairly happy with the way things turned out. I had to regrind it cause I forgot to add the seasoning. That sucked. lol
The flavor was pretty good, yet the texture from fine grinding gave it that "processed" meat experiences that I dont like it. Kind of the texture of a cheap hot dog. Very mushy. Not much I can do about that now. It does need some oil in the pan to cook. It is very lean and wants to burn the bottom of the patty before the inside gets a chance to cook. I didn't add an onion, though eventually I will grill a few and put some pepperjack cheese on them with an onion topping.

Thanks for all the help, next year I will have it down to a science.

[Mjn1979]

Slay, I just read how you forgot to put your seasoning in and had too regrind. Figured I would give you a tip I always have used with great success, and that is I never freeze my sausage with any type of seasonings mixed in. Unless you are going to eat it in a few days from when you make it, I have always waited till I am ready to cook before I put in any seasonings.

[slay]

Sounds a bit inconvenient to wait till your ready to cook. But what the heck, to each his own.
Thanks for the tip.

[scdeerslayer]

Why do you need gloves and why did you have to regrind because you forgot to add seasoning? It does help a little to put some seasoning on before grinding but if I were to put it all on there before grinding it would probably make a big mess. Most (if not all) of the seasoning goes on after I grind and it is then mixed. Mixing by hand is a bit of a hassle but I definitely think it is less of a hassle than adding all of the seasoning before grinding, and it would still need to be mixed anyway to make sure it's mixed consistently.

If you're planning on mixing sausage in the future you can buy a mixer that works with up to 18 or 20 pounds for a little over $100. Next to the grinder that is the best purchase I've made for processing.

[slay]

I found it a messy affair, so I used the gloves that's all. I've field dressed a lot of deer bare handed in my day, yet I wouldnt have minded a few pair of surgical gloves in my fannie pack back in the day.

Seat covers arent necessary in a car either, but it's nice to have something sop up the coffee should the worst happen.