Ingredients (for 10-12 lbs):
7-9 lbs beef (any cut, but Chuck is a good bet)
2-3 lbs pork butt (fat and all)
1-1/2 Cup Fermento (for me, maybe a touch more....I like it a bit more tangy)
1-2 teaspoon granulated garlic (I like lots....maybe even 3 ts)
6 Tablespoon kosher or plain salt (try to avoid the Iodine-stuff for sausage and rubs)
1 Tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
4 Tablespoon powdered Dextrose (the recipe calls for Dextrose, but you could substitute with around 3 Tablespoons table sugar in a pinch)
1 Tablespoon ground coriander
1 Tablespoon ground mustard
2 teaspoon Instacure #1 or Morton's Tenderquick
Grind all the meat together through a coarse plate. Mix in the ingredients thoroughly. Pack the meat down firmly, cover, and refrigerate between 35-40 degrees for 2 days. After 2 days, regrind though a fine plate and stuff tightly into fibrous casings, avoiding air bubbles. (tip: soak the fibrous casings in warm water for a few hours before stuffing) Tie off the casings and hang at room temperature for a couple hours to dry.
* 'fess up note: as stated above, I got no pictures of this part of the process. I got a new 3-lb hand plunger stuffer, and MAN, was it hard to stuff. Ya see, when you grind sausage stuffing and mix in the salt and seasonings, it immediately starts to "set up" and get really firm. After the 2 day curing process, this stuff was FIRM....even after regrinding. If you're making regular hog-casing type sausages like italian sausage or kielbasa, you can soften up your stuffing by adding a bit of water before you regrind it. Since this sausage needs to be very dry, I didn't want to risk messing it up. Next time, I'll probably do the regrind and stuff on my electric grinder. (though I may burn out the motor during the stuffing process....) Either that, or do both grindings in one sitting and stuff while it's still very wet. (*sigh*, now I gotta save up for a 5-lb stuffer with a good hand-crank)
Hang in your smoker and apply a heavy smoke for 4-5 hours at 140-160 degrees (hickory is a natural choice...pecan, cherry, and oak are good as well). Then, bring your smoker temp up to 170-180 until your sausage reaches 145 degrees internally (do not pull it off any sooner than 145 internal or you're risking food poisoning...in fact, I give you permission to bring it up to about 155).
Immediately pull off the smoker and give it a cold shower with tap water (or even better, an ice-water bath) until internal temp of the sausages reaches 120 or below (reduces the dreaded "shrinkage"). Then, hang it in the kitchen at room temperature for a couple hours while it cools and blooms. (avoid drafts during this period or your bloom will be blotchy. Longer bloom equals darker color.)
Yes, refrigerate it unless you're eating it immediately. Yes we've used cure, and yes we've used smoke, and yes we've reduced the moisture.....but it is still a "perishable product" and will spoil if you leave it out. It tastes better after a day in the fridge anyway and will firm up a bit. (tip: also, remember that your fibrous casings are porous, so they will keep losing water and drying out as it sits in the fridge. Depending on how long you plan to keep it, you may want to consider a plastic-wrap at this point. I have a summer sausage "baseball bat" to prove it;)
Let's see now....the name-brand stuff goes for about $30 per 3-lbs and we've just made 12-lbs for less than $30........and I KNOW that there aren't any cow lips, pig snouts, eyeballs, hooves, or "other" animal parts in my sausage. I think we did pretty well. Just think of all the gift opportunities you now have. My address is............
Enjoy!