# Whoops.



## DPittman (Dec 14, 2022)

I'm making a meat grinder plate for stuffing sausages. I am using a slice of 4140 because it is what I have and it was close to the needed end size. It is pretty tough machining for my little equipment but it can be done slowly and the finish turns out nice. 

Normally the holes on such a plate are kidney shaped to allow maximum opening with little restriction.  I however do not own a rotary table or the cutters to achieve such holes.  So I figured I'd just put in as large of a hole and as many as I could.  My original "plan" was 5x25mm holes.  However just before drilling of the holes I decided to use 30mm holes as I had a backup cutter in that size  if my first cutter failed (which I was expecting).  I went to cut the second hole and realized that 30mm holes are not going to fit very well in my "plan".  I went ahead and cut them all anyhow.

I had to use my drill press as I did not have a vice large enough to hold the piece properly on my milling machine, so rigidity was less than ideal. I used some horrible little carbide tooth hole saws I bought cheap of Aliexpress or Amazon.  If you do not have any of these, keep it that way and buy something else if you can afford it.  However if you are like me and figure you can't afford good annular cutters here are a couple of things to help make the cheesy ones work.  

First replace the little 5mm set screw that holds in the drill bit with a decent screw.  The originals do not hold the bit in tight and the head of them stripes out causing all sorts of frustration. 
Second, do not try to cut more than about 3/16" thick mild steel as the saw does not evacuate the chips very well and you have to do constant plunging to clear chips.  As well if you cut through much thicker stuff the donut hole that gets cut out is very difficult tk remove from the hole saw.
Third, the bits in these saws are also very poor.  I predrilled a pilot hole in my piece and that helped.
Fourth, really try not to buy these if you can.

Having said all that....I was drilling through 3/8" 4140 and I did eventually get the job done.


----------



## TorontoBuilder (Dec 14, 2022)

30mm holes... WTH you grinding, whole bodies?


----------



## 140mower (Dec 14, 2022)

TorontoBuilder said:


> 30mm holes... WTH you grinding, whole bodies?


You price out a divorce recently?


----------



## DPittman (Dec 14, 2022)

TorontoBuilder said:


> 30mm holes... WTH you grinding, whole bodies?


No the meat is preground and you want a plate with minimum restrictions.  The grinder is just used to stuff the sausage casings.  It works rather poorly in my experience but if you don't have a sausage stuffer it is a way to get it done.  The plate is not for myself but someone else.


----------



## TorontoBuilder (Dec 14, 2022)

DPittman said:


> No the meat is preground and you want a plate with minimum restrictions.  The grinder is just used to stuff the sausage casings.  It works rather poorly in my experience but if you don't have a sausage stuffer it is a way to get it done.  The plate is not for myself but someone else.


ah I see, this is just the stuffer plate....

I dont even have a plate in my stuffer, just a large opening. I made mine from PVC pipe, a piston of hard maple and o-rings and some water fittings to a foot switch


----------



## phaxtris (Dec 14, 2022)

Looks good, ive have used my grinder to stuff sausage in the past and it worked fine, I'm sure it'll work great once you get the knack of kt


----------



## DPittman (Dec 14, 2022)

phaxtris said:


> Looks good, ive have used my grinder to stuff sausage in the past and it worked fine, I'm sure it'll work great once you get the knack of kt


I have a stuffer for myself and prefer that over the grinder/auger method by a long shot.


----------



## phaxtris (Dec 14, 2022)

DPittman said:


> I have a stuffer for myself and prefer that over the grinder/auger method by a long shot.



Yea I've heard that before, I'm guessing it depends on the grinder.
I have only used my big Cabela's one to stuff, so my experience may be skewed as it's one of those 50lb 1hp deals (I don't recall Wich one exactly, I'm not home to check)


----------



## 6.5 Fan (Dec 15, 2022)

Mmmmmm sausage.  Pork, deer & pork, beef, moose, moose & pork........so many options. Where do we start?


----------



## Aliva (Dec 15, 2022)

I made a stuffer using a 4" aluminum hydraulic cylinder. Its water powered so no cranking. Holds about 6 pounds.


----------



## DPittman (Dec 15, 2022)

6.5 Fan said:


> Mmmmmm sausage.  Pork, deer & pork, beef, moose, moose & pork........so many options. Where do we start?


Start with a good recipe!  I've been wanting a good BREAKFAST saussage recipe but haven't found one I really like.  Do you have any you'd share?


----------



## TorontoBuilder (Dec 15, 2022)

DPittman said:


> Start with a good recipe!  I've been wanting a good BREAKFAST saussage recipe but haven't found one I really like.  Do you have any you'd share?


I have a good breakfast sausage recipe...
I had it posted on a facebook sausage group and got great reviews. I'll find it for you. its on back up hard drive


----------



## DPittman (Dec 15, 2022)

TorontoBuilder said:


> I have a good breakfast sausage recipe...
> I had it posted on a facebook sausage group and got great reviews. I'll find it for you. its on back up hard drive


Awesome I look forward to reading it and hopefully trying it!


----------



## TorontoBuilder (Dec 15, 2022)

DPittman said:


> Awesome I look forward to reading it and hopefully trying it!


The following can be stuffed into links, made into patties or fried in bulk for things like sausage gravy and biscuits, my personal favourite. Ground Pork butt, ironically from the front shoulder and neck, yields about 22% fat content which renders beautifully to provide the perfect based for roux for gravy...

My bulk breakfast sausage recipe:

4 pounds pork butt (get your butcher to grind it fine if you don't have a grinder)






Mix together the following herbs and spices
4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage leaves
4 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Blend in a stand mixer until its all gooey and sticky as hell and spice mixture well distributed. OR by hand... I start with just the salt and let this "develop" before mixing in the balance of the ingredients. This develops the proteins so it isn't dry and crumbly.






Fresh herbs preferably







stacked and rolled sage leaves up to "chiffonade" them into long thin strips that I then chopped...












Thyme is harder to chop...







Spice blend must be mixed thoroughly






Like so...











Who wants a bonus pork pic?

Yeah I thought so... Pork Butt also makes an excellent cured bacon product... leaner than strip, far fattier than Canadian Bacon from the loin. Perfect for breakfast sandwiches. This is my cured butt ready for multiple rounds of cold smoking...four 12 hour sessions.


----------



## TorontoBuilder (Dec 15, 2022)

sorry I could not find a few more photos and videos with more of the key steps and the final video of the sausage frying up 3 ways.  This is old and the facebook archives dont download is a nice neat order so finding any past content and the linked media is hard


----------



## DPittman (Dec 15, 2022)

TorontoBuilder said:


> sorry I could not find a few more photos and videos with more of the key steps and the final video of the sausage frying up 3 ways.  This is old and the facebook archives dont download is a nice neat order so finding any past content and the linked media is hard


Hey that's looks like something I might like. I'm going to try it.   Thanks very much for sharing.


----------



## TorontoBuilder (Dec 15, 2022)

DPittman said:


> Hey that's looks like something I might like. I'm going to try it.   Thanks very much for sharing.



It is a good solid breakfast sausage recipe... one that will appeal to most palates. When I can get it I'll replace the brown sugar with maple sugar, and add a few drops of liquid smoke.


----------



## Dan Dubeau (Dec 15, 2022)

I make a sweet and hot venny sausage, with maple syrup and habaneros (or whatever hot peppers I grow that year), that is pretty damn good.  I haven't hunted much in the last 3 years though, so I'm all out.  I've always used the kitchen aid mixer/grinder, but after burning up her mixer during the last deer, she bought me a dedicated grinder with stuffer attachment that Christmas.  I say it's cursed, because I haven't got a deer since lol.  I usually do few different flavours when I make them, like traditional Italian, and honey garlic in a natural casings.  Next time I'm going to make some smoked pepperettes.  

I don't do recipes, but it's just maple syrup, peppers, and some dried onion, garlic and citrus peels (we dehydrate that stuff ourselves).  The longer they sit and mingle, the better it tastes. The combination of sweet, heat, and citrus....mmmm... They don't last long.


----------



## Aliva (Dec 15, 2022)

My breakfast sausage: 
1 lb. ground pork
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon dry sage
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
mix all ingredient's and adjust to taste.
Let sit over night and stuff into  sheep's casings.
Increase ingredients for every pound of  pork  e.g. 5 lbs. x by 5


----------



## TorontoBuilder (Dec 15, 2022)

Dan Dubeau said:


> I make a sweet and hot venny sausage, with maple syrup and habaneros (or whatever hot peppers I grow that year), that is pretty damn good.  I haven't hunted much in the last 3 years though, so I'm all out.  I've always used the kitchen aid mixer/grinder, but after burning up her mixer during the last deer, she bought me a dedicated grinder with stuffer attachment that Christmas.  I say it's cursed, because I haven't got a deer since lol.  I usually do few different flavours when I make them, like traditional Italian, and honey garlic in a natural casings.  Next time I'm going to make some smoked pepperettes.
> 
> I don't do recipes, but it's just maple syrup, peppers, and some dried onion, garlic and citrus peels (we dehydrate that stuff ourselves).  The longer they sit and mingle, the better it tastes. The combination of sweet, heat, and citrus....mmmm... They don't last long.


I love all sorts of sausages, cured meats and dry sausages... yum. But I don't hunt any more so it usually use pasture raised heritage pork, and selected cuts of beef for Braseola

I meticulously document my efforts to refine the taste and make it repeatable. It is also necessary when dry curing meats to ensure people dont get poisoned.  I make huge batches because yeah they dont last long when you make regular meals of charcuterie. This is why I need to start making cheese too


----------



## TorontoBuilder (Dec 15, 2022)

Aliva said:


> My breakfast sausage:
> 1 lb. ground pork
> 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
> 1 teaspoon dry sage
> ...


ginger eh... interesting. I dont think I've ever put ginger in a sausage. I shall have to try that


----------



## TorontoBuilder (Dec 15, 2022)

well this thread has been hijacked so I may as well add one more off topic post...

I make crackers too because this style is so damn expensive and goes so well with cured meats.

First you bake the loaves... and then freeze them almost solid.






Then you slice the loaves super thin and then bake the crackers to make crisps. Then you gorge on them... Below are with figs pistachios, pumpkin seeds and flax seeds for nutty and fruity flavour


----------



## DPittman (Dec 15, 2022)

TorontoBuilder said:


> well this thread has been hijacked so I may as well add one more off topic post...
> 
> I make crackers too because this style is so damn expensive and goes so well with cured meats.
> 
> ...


Who would gave thought a metal working forum was a good place to trade recipes!?!?   Haha I love it!  We are just such a damn diverse bunch of folks.


----------



## Aliva (Dec 15, 2022)

TorontoBuilder said:


> ginger eh... interesting. I dont think I've ever put ginger in a sausage. I shall have to try that


If your interested here's my mild Italian sausage mix:
20 lbs. ground pork
7 Tbsp. granulated garlic
7 Tbsp. kosher salt
6 Tbsp. ground black pepper
1 cup water
Add all ingredients into a bowl add1 cup of water and mix with the immersion blender,   once mixed add to meat and mix by hand
Cook a small portion to taste and adjust if required.
Let the meat sit over night
Then stuff into Natural hog casings. 30-32 mm

Approx. 3 feet of casing per pound of mix
28 sausage average for 5 lbs. of mix
44 sausages average for 10 lbs. of mix 
75 sausages average for 20 lbs. of mix
I get my casings from Canada Compound on Dairy Road off of Highway 7 best prices around an good long casings.


----------



## TorontoBuilder (Dec 15, 2022)

this is the last, I promise. Late dinner. I hand cut the fat to add on the one sausage at the top of the photo. I have a special glass door merchandiser fridge I modified to cure meats in...  cause you need to be dedicated as a serious carnavore


----------



## 140mower (Dec 15, 2022)

Oh piss off all of you!..... I had plans for the day...... 
 I have to troubleshoot the Xmas lights and get them working properly, then into the shop to repair the drive on the little shaper, which is likely to lead to a motor replacement on the 13" South Bend....... I also have a hydraulic cylinder rod to make that I just picked up the chrome rod for.......

....... And, now I am hungry. This is going to lead to sitting for a few while that need is satisfied. Then at some point during the initial digestive period, the dog is going to climb up on my lap for some snuggle time and a nap, and since I am going to be there a while it seems like only thing to do is join the dog.
 When SHE comes home, you know that I am going to blame you, right?


----------



## 6.5 Fan (Dec 15, 2022)

I don't make sausage........just eat it.  I have a friend that lives close by that is a great sausage maker whom i help out and work as a taste tester. Working on some blue berry deer breakfast sausage right now, very tasty. Gave my son my grinder stuffer to use.


----------

