Mixing meat and making sausages


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Mixing Meat And Making Sausages

Mixing meat by hand, or even by commercial mixers, generates heat, so it should be done quickly to extend the life of sausages. It only takes 5 minutes to mix 5 - 10 lbs of meat by hand. If the meat/fat mixture is not mixed adequately (5 to 6 minutes) then the salt/myosin reaction will be minimal and the water holding capacity and the meat binding capacities will be reduced.

If the meat was previously cured, then the salt, nitrite, and sugar was already added to it. Now we have to add the remaining spices. They should be mixed with cold water in a blender, and then poured over the minced meat. The water helps to evenly distribute the ingredients and it also helps soften it during stuffing. We can easily add 1 cup of cold water to 5 lbs of meat because it is going to evaporate during smoking anyway. Water should not be added to sausages which will be cold smoked or air dried.


The meat should be placed in a big container to facilitate mixing it by hand. Like everything else, the container should be made of stainless steel, stone, or food grade plastic.		If you are a fit person mixing of 50 lbs of meat should not present a problem.
The meat should be placed in a big container to facilitate mixing it by hand. Like everything else, the container should be made of stainless steel, stone, or food grade plastic. Tip : remember to taste your sausage now, before you stuff it, since you still have time to implement any changes. Make a tiny hamburger anf fry it, it will take only a minute or two.
		Manual 50 lb mixer from Sausage Maker. Buffalo, N.Y.
There are small hand cranked mixers that can mix 20 – 50 lbs at a time. However, it is easy to mix 20 lbs of meat by hand the way we have been kneading dough for centuries. Therefore, we don’t believe that this type of equipment is a fully justified expense for the beginning sausage maker, unless he has very deep pockets. In this case, a custom gold plated model will look the best.
	110 lb and 220 lb capacity mixers by Koch Equipment, Kansas City, M