Made my first order last night!

[Midwest_kc]

Can’t wait to get going down the road of sausage making and meat processing. I had a Weston Pro Series 22, but needed a few other things to get started.

What else do I need? I wanted to make my own seasonings, so I skipped out on those , and I think I want to get the bigger sausages down before I start playing with snack sticks, though those will happen soon.

Some things I’ve thought about - additional plates/knife, other cheeses (I have some ideas that I’ll need the other flavors for), but I want to see if there’s anything I’m missing from my list to get started making brats, kielbasa, and my own recipe for disaster creations.

Thanks!

[kyle]

Midwest_kc maybe you have them already, but meat tubs are real handy to have. I have a shallow one I use to run the meat in under the grinder, and have several deep ones for mixing by hand(ECA and cheese), and just to carry meat in. One thing I really like about them is they are super easy to clean.

[Midwest_kc]

I have a couple but we store them at our commissary for when we’re taking meat out to the smoker for catering and such. Good call. Thanks!

[JoeB]

Midwest_kc I would give thought to pairing up knives with your plates. They mate, wear and stay sharper… Less smear. I’d also get a spool of cotton twine used to tie up your casings

[JoeB]

Midwest_kc Thoughtful list. When it comes to the meat lugs, i used plastic rectangular deep dish pans for years, and still use them for small batches. They hold about 25lbs of ground meat, cover easily with foil, and fit well in a refrigerator. Best part is they are cheap… About $3 ea. at Walmart. 1 for the cut-up meat, 1 for the grind, and 1 after mixing for batch. 1 more to hold the stuffed sausage for refrigeration. The big lugs are good, and you can stack them w/lids, but they are expensive, and may be over kill for a starter, and oh ya… Did i say they’re CHEAP, easy clean up in a kitchen sink, and stack well for storage

[Midwest_kc]

JoeB Good call. I also was considering just using foil pans, as I always have tons of them on hand.

[JoeB]

Midwest_kc Foil pans are not the best choice because the aluminum will react to the salt in your batch and you’ll get a metallic taste in your sausage. Chef, our chem guy could explain it better. I only know you want a passive, non reactive container when working with meat.

[JoeB]

Midwest_kc

There you go Midwest, i have about 10 of these. Use them for everything, and will hold 25lbs. Note that i pre weighed them so i could zero tar my scales. I recommend this site for its wealth of information: https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-making

and this book which i consider the sausage makers bible. I’ve used it for years as a reference. The site and book are one in the same

https://www.amazon.com/Home-Production-Quality-Meats-Sausages/dp/0982426739/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=ur2&tag=wedlinydomowe-20&linkId=4RKCWF4CVSKUSLLD

Enjoy my friend… Joe

[Chef]

JoeB Midwest_kc Correct about the aluminum reacting. Any acidic food will react with the aluminum and form aluminum oxide, which does impact the flavor of food, even at small levels. It has also been linked to Alzheimer’s. In Alzheimer’s patients, it has been discovered that they have an excessively high presence of aluminum. That’s enough for me to stay away, I have enough problems as it is LOL.

When I wrap a tray or pan with aluminum, I always put a layer of plastic wrap over the food first. Restaurant grade plastic wraps are fine with aluminum over it even in the oven up to 400’F.