How To Make Sausage - Dakotah Sausage Stuffer

Making Sausage, Recipes and Information

Smoked Sausage

Smoked Sausage Recipes

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Stuff Natural Casings

Use natural sausage casings to stuff Italian sausage, German sausage and pepperoni.

1. To prepare natural casings open the package and untie the string. Sort out a couple of strands of sausage casing or what ever you think you will need and rinse up and down in luke warm water to remove the salt from the casing. Cover the rinsed sausage casings with fresh cold water and soak overnight in the refrigerator.

Natural hog casings and sheep casing is the most popular sausage casing for home sausage makers.

2. Slide the prepared natural casing onto the sausage tube. If the hog casing doesn't slide onto the sausage tube (funnel) easily swab the outside of the sausage tube with a light coating of olive oil.

Use the water powered Dakotah Sausage Stuffer to easily stuff hog and sheep casings

3. Hold the natural casing, for demonstration purposes we are using hog casing, firmly to the sausage tube with your forefinger and thumb. Begin filling the hog casing with freshly mixed sausage meat.

Natural sheep and hog sausage casings are preferred by most home sausage makers.

4. Continue to fill the hog casing until there's about an inch or so remaining on the sausage tube. Keep the tube buried into the meat as you fill the sausage casing to help prevent air bubbles.

Hog and sheep casings are the most used sausage casings for making home made smoked sausage.

5. To form sausage links gently squeeze the filled hog casing together with your forefinger and thumb. German sausage and franks (hot dogs) are generally 6" long. Polish kielbasa links are about 8" long and pepperoni links are in the neighborhood of 10".

Natural hog casings and sheep casings are more elastic than synthetic sausage casings.

6. After you have made the indent in the sausage casing with your forefinger and thumb cradle the sausage casing with your other hand and twist gently to form your first sausage link.

Make smoked sausage links from your favorite sausage recipe from ground beef or venison.

7. Repeat the process, only twist the next link in the opposite direction and so on and so forth.

Smoke Cooking involves drying, smoking and cooking sausage to a specific temperature starting at a low temperature and finishing at a high of 170 degrees.

1. Hang the stuffed sausage into the smokehouse or smoker. Starting at a medium setting, adjust the heat source until the smoker temperature maintains 130-140 degrees. This begins the drying process.

2. When the product is dry to the touch (about 1 hour) close the damper, add dampened hard-wood sawdust. Damp sawdust produces a rich, pungent smoke that adheres well to the product. Also damp chips smoke longer and are less likely to catch fire in the smokehouse.

3. Readjust the heat until the smoker temperature maintains 150-155 degrees. Maintain this setting for about 1 hour.

4. Readjust the heat until the smoker temperature holds at 170 degrees. At this point the internal temperature of the sausage will reach 120 degrees and begin to develop color, eventually turning a rich reddish brown.

5. Hold the smoker temperature at 170 degrees until the internal temperature of the product reaches 152 degrees.

6. Lay the finished sausage in a rack or drainer over the kitchen sink and shower with cold water for 2-3 minutes or until the internal temperature of the sausage cools to roughly 110 degrees.

7. Hang the showered sausage at room temperature to dry (bloom) an hour or two. During this "blooming" period the sausage will take on a richer, darker color.

8. After blooming, the sausage is considered fully cooked and ready to eat. Refrigerate or double wrap and freeze until needed.

Dakotah Sausage Stuffer is dedicated to the home sausage and jerky maker. Our web site includes information on how to make sausage and how to make jerky. So whether you make sausage and jerky from beef or venison our web site may be able to help you.

If you are planning to make sausage or make jerky search around our site and see if we can help.

Both the Dakotah Sausage Stuffer and Jerky Maker Adaptor Kit come complete with detailed instructions. They are easy to put together and easy to use and make great gifts for the sausage and jerky maker in your family.

Sausage making information and procedures specific to home sausage making. Includes expert advice about sausage casings, stuffing, grinding, mixing, curing, smoking, internal temperatures, fresh & smoked sausages, as well as home sausage making tips.

Sausage making and our smoked sausage recipes go hand in hand. Make salami, summer sausage, kielbasa, snack sticks, franks and bologna. Our smoked sausage recipes have been tested and make great sausage. And if you are just getting into sausage making you may want to check out the revolutionary Dakotah Sausage Stuffer.

Salami - Makes 5 lbs.

3 lbs. lean ground beef or venison
2 lbs. ground pork butt
2 tablespoons salt
1 tsp. curing salt (Prague Powder #1)
3 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. black peppercorns
3/4 tbsp. coarse black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder or granules
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1/2 tsp. anise
1/2 tsp. allspice
1 cup non-fat-dry milk
1 to 2 teaspoons liquid hickory smoke, depends on individual taste
2 cups cold water, more if needed to make the mixture pliable
1 to 2 (2 1/2") fibrous casings, soak in warm water for 30 minutes
The number of fibrous casings you need will depend on the length of your casings and the length you make your salami chubs.

1.	Combine the ground meats with the remaining twelve ingredients. Mix/knead lean ground meat and ingredients well.
2.	Do a taste test by frying a small thin patty. Although the patty won't taste exactly like the finished product sampling now will help you determine if you need to add more salt or more of a particular spice to suit your taste.
3.	Load the freshly mixed meat and ingredients into your Dakotah Sausage Stuffer. Do not refrigerate the sausage mixture before stuffing it into the sausage casing. Attach the 3/4" sausage tube to your sausage stuffer.
4.	Slide a 2 1/2" fibrous casing onto the sausage tube as shown in the instructional photo.
5.	As you begin stuffing the seasoned ground meats into the fibrous casing make sure to leave a couple of inches or more of the sausage casing unfilled so that you can twist and clip the casing. Refrigerate the uncooked salami overnight to cure.
6.	To process the salami in an oven lay the salami chubs on a rack and place in the oven. Set the oven at 170 degrees. Place a fork in the oven door so that it stays slightly ajar for one hour. Close the oven door and continue cooking at 170 degrees until the internal temperature of of the salami reaches 152 degrees at which time the salami is fully cooked. Remove the salami from the oven and shower with cold water until the internal temperature of the salami drops to 120 degrees. Hang at room temperature for two hours to bloom. The salami is now ready to eat. Refrigerate up to a week or freeze. Note: You will need a thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the salami throughout the oven cooking process.
7.	Or smoke cook the salami according to your smokehouse or smoker manufacturer instructions. The salami is fully cooked when the internal temperature reaches 152 degrees internally. Remove the salami from the smoker and shower the salami with cold water until the internal temperature of the salami drops to 120 degrees. Hang at room temperature for two hours to bloom. The salami is now ready to eat. Refrigerate up to a week or freeze. Note: You will need a thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the salami throughout the smoke cooking process.
8.	For more sausage making information and more smoked sausage recipes see the Sausage and Jerky Handbook.

Summer Sausage - Makes 5 lbs.

3 lbs. lean ground beef or venison
2 lbs. ground pork butt
2 tablespoons salt
1 tsp. curing salt (Prague Powder #1)
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. ground coriander seed
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/4 tbsp. black pepper, table grind
1/2 tsp. ground mustard
1 cup non-fat-dry milk
1 to 2 teaspoons liquid hickory smoke (depends on individual taste)
2 cups cold water, more if needed to make the mixture pliable
1 to 3 (2") fibrous casings (soak in warm water for 30 minutes)
The number of fibrous casings you need will depend on the length of your casings and the length you make your summer sausage chubs.

1.	Combine the ground meats with the remaining eleven ingredients. Mix/knead ground meats and ingredients well.
2.	Do a taste test by frying a small thin patty. Although the patty won't taste exactly like the finished product sampling now will help you determine if you need to add more salt or more of a particular spice to suit your taste.
3.	Load the freshly mixed meat and ingredients into your Dakotah Sausage Stuffer. Do not refrigerate the sausage mixture before stuffing it into the sausage casing. Attach the 3/4" sausage tube to your sausage stuffer.
4.	Slide a 2" prepared fibrous casing onto the sausage tube as shown in the instructional photo.
5.	As you begin stuffing the seasoned ground meats into the fibrous casing make sure to leave a couple of inches or more of the casing unfilled so that you can twist and clip the casing. Refrigerate the uncooked summer sausage overnight to cure.
6.	To process the summer sausage in an oven lay the summer sausage chubs on a rack and place in the oven. Set the oven at 170 degrees. Place a fork in the oven door so that it stays slightly ajar for one hour. Close the oven door and continue cooking at 170 degrees until the internal temperature of of the summer sausage reaches 152 degrees at which time the summer sausage is fully cooked. Remove the summer sausage from the oven and shower with cold water until the internal temperature of the summer sausage drops to 120 degrees. Hang at room temperature for two hours to bloom. The summer sausage is now ready to eat. Refrigerate up to a week or freeze. Note: You will need a thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the summer sausage throughout the oven cooking process.
7.	Or smoke cook the summer sausage according to your smokehouse or smoker manufacturer instructions. The summer sausage is fully cooked when the internal temperature reaches 152 degrees internally. Remove the summer sausage from the smoker and shower the summer sausage with cold water until the internal temperature of the summer sausage drops to 120 degrees. Hang at room temperature for two hours to bloom. The summer sausage is now ready to eat. Refrigerate up to a week or freeze. Note: You will need a thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the summer sausage throughout the smoke cooking process.
8.	For more sausage making information and more smoked sausage recipes see the Sausage and Jerky Handbook

Polish Kielbasa - Makes 5 lbs.

2 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef or venison
2 1/2 lbs. ground pork butt
2 tablespoons salt
1 level teaspoon curing salt (Prague Powder #1)
2 tbsp. sugar
1 1/4 tbsp. garlic powder or granules
1/2 tbsp. ground mustard
1/2 tbsp. white pepper
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. coriander
1 cup non-fat-dry milk
2 cups cold water, more if needed to make the mixture pliable
Prepared 23-36MM hog casing 32MM collagen casing

1.	Combine the ground meats with the remaining ten ingredients. Mix/knead lean ground meat and ingredients well.
2.	Do a taste test by frying a small thin patty. Although the patty won't taste exactly like the finished product sampling now will help you determine if you need to add more salt or more of a particular spice to suit your taste.
3.	Load the freshly mixed meat into your Dakotah Sausage Stuffer. Do not refrigerate the sausage mixture before stuffing it into the casing. Attach the 3/4" sausage tube (funnel) or attach our new Jerky Maker Adaptor Kit head cover with the skinless sausage insert in place.
4.	If you are using natural casings slide a 33MM to 36MM prepared hog casing onto the sausage tube. If the hog casing doesn't slide onto the tube easily swab the outside of the sausage tube with a light coating of olive oil.
5.	If you are using collagen casings slide a 32MM collagen casing onto the sausage tube. You may have to cut the strand of collagen casing into shorter sections with a pair of shears.
6.	Stuff the seasoned meat into the sausage casing. The casing should be full but not full enough to burst open when you begin to form links. The more you operate the sausage stuffer the easier the stuffing process will become. The rule of thumb "practice makes perfect" applies here. After stuffing the hog casing with the seasoned meat mixture refrigerate the Polish kielbasa overnight to cure.
7.	Do not refrigerate the sausage mixture before extruding it through the skinless sausage insert. Stuff (extrude) the freshly mixed meat and sausage spice mixture through the skinless sausage insert according to the Jerky Maker Adaptor Kit instructions. After extruding the Polish Kielbasa links refrigerate overnight to cure.
8.	To process the Polish kielbasa links in an oven lay the Polish kielbasa links on a rack and place in the oven. Set the oven at 170 degrees. Place a fork in the oven door so that it stays slightly ajar for one hour. Close the oven door and continue cooking at 170 degrees until the internal temperature of of the Polish kielbasa reaches 152 degrees at which time the Polish sausage links are fully cooked. Remove the Polish kielbasa links from the oven and shower them with cold water until the internal temperature of the links drop to 120 degrees. Hang at room temperature for two hours to bloom at which time the links are ready to eat. Refrigerate up to a week or freeze. Note: You will need a thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the Polish kielbasa links throughout the oven cooking process.
9.	Or smoke cook the Polish kielbasa links according to your smokehouse or smoker manufacturer instructions until the Polish kielbasa is fully cooked at 152 degrees internally. Remove the summer sausage from the smoker and shower the Polish kielbasa links with cold water until the internal temperature of the Polish kielbasa links drop to 120 degrees. Hang at room temperature for two hours to bloom. The Polish kielbasa links are now ready to eat. Refrigerate up to a week or freeze. Note: You will need a thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the Polish kielbasa links throughout the smoke cooking process.
10.	For more sausage making information and more smoked sausage recipes see the Sausage and Jerky Handbook.

Snack Sticks - Makes 5 lbs.

3 lbs. lean ground beef or venison
2 lbs. ground pork butt
2 tablespoons salt
1 tsp. curing salt (Prague Powder #1)
2 1/2 tablespoons dextrose
1 1/2 teaspoon celery seed powder
1 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 cup non-fat-dry milk
1 to 2 teaspoons liquid hickory smoke (depends on individual taste)
2 cups cold water, more if needed to make the mixture pliable
Prepared 22-24MM sheep or 22 to 26MM collagen casing

1.	Combine the ground meats with the remaining ten ingredients. Mix/knead ground meats and ingredients well.
2.	Do a taste test by frying a small thin patty. Although the patty won't taste exactly like the finished product sampling now will help you determine if you need to add more salt or more of a particular spice to suit your taste.
3.	Load the freshly mixed meat into your Dakotah Sausage Stuffer. Do not refrigerate the sausage mixture before stuffing it into the casing. Attach the 3/8" sausage tube (funnel) or attach our new jerky maker head with the snack stick insert in place to the Dakotah Sausage Stuffer.
4.	If you are using natural casings slide a 22 to 24 MM prepared sheep casing onto the sausage tube. If the sheep casing doesn't slide onto the tube easily swab the outside of the sausage tube with a light coating of olive oil.
5.	If you are using collagen casings slide a 22 to 26MM collagen casing onto the sausage tube. You may have to cut the strand of collagen casing into sections with a pair of shears.
6.	Stuff the seasoned meat into the sausage casing. The casing should be full but not full enough to burst open when you begin to form links. The more you operate the sausage stuffer the easier the stuffing process will become. The rule of thumb "practice makes perfect" applies here. After stuffing the casings with the seasoned mixture refrigerate the snack sticks overnight to cure.
7.	Do not refrigerate the sausage mixture before extruding it through the snack stick insert. Extrude the freshly mixed seasoned mixture through the snack stick insert according to the Jerky Maker Adaptor Kit instructions. After extruding the snack sticks refrigerate overnight to cure.
8.	To process the snack sticks in an oven lay the snack sticks on a rack and place in the oven. Set the oven at 170 degrees. Place a fork in the oven door so that it stays slightly ajar for one hour. Close the oven door and continue cooking at 170 degrees until the internal temperature of of the snack sticks reach 152 degrees at which time the snack sticks are fully cooked. Remove the snack sticks from the oven and hang at room temperature for two hours to bloom after which the snack sticks are ready to eat. Refrigerate up to a week or freeze. Note: You will need a thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the snack sticks throughout the oven cooking process.
9.	Or smoke cook the snack sticks according to your smokehouse or smoker manufacturer instructions until the snack sticks are fully cooked at 152 degrees internally. Remove the snack sticks from the smoker and hang at room temperature for two hours to bloom. The snack sticks are now ready to eat. Refrigerate up to a week or freeze. Note: You will need a thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the snack sticks throughout the smoke cooking process.
10.	For more sausage making information and more smoked sausage recipes see the Sausage and Jerky Handbook.

Old Fashioned Franks - 5 lbs.

This same recipe can be used to make bologna.
2 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef or venison
2 1/2 lbs. ground pork butt
2 tablespoons salt
1 level teaspoon curing salt (Prague Powder #1
1 1/4 tbsp. garlic powder or granules
1 tbsp. ground mustard
1 1/2 tbsp. white pepper
1/2 tbsp. red chili flakes
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. coriander1 cup non-fat-dry milk
2 cups cold water, more if needed to make the mixture pliable
Prepared 23-36MM hog casing 32MM collagen casing

1.	Combine the lean ground meats with the remaining eight ingredients. Mix/knead ground meats and ingredients well.
2.	Do a taste test by frying a small thin patty. Although the patty won't taste exactly like the finished product sampling now will help you determine if you need to add more salt or more of a particular spice to suit your taste.
3.	Load the freshly mixed meat into your Dakotah Sausage Stuffer. Do not refrigerate the sausage mixture before stuffing it into the casing. Attach the 3/4" sausage tube (funnel) or attach our new Jerky Maker Adaptor Kit head cover with the skinless sausage insert in place.
4.	If you are using natural casings slide a 33MM to 36MM prepared hog casing onto the sausage tube. If the hog casing doesn't slide onto the tube easily swab the outside of the sausage tube with a light coating of olive oil.
5.	If you are using collagen casings slide a 32MM collagen casing onto the sausage tube. You may have to cut the strand of collagen casing into shorter sections with a pair of shears.
6.	Stuff the seasoned meat into the sausage casing. The casing should be full but not full enough to burst open when you begin to form links. The more you operate the sausage stuffer the easier the stuffing process will become. The rule of thumb "practice makes perfect" applies here. After stuffing the hog casing with the seasoned meat mixture refrigerate the old fashioned franks overnight to cure.
7.	Do not refrigerate the sausage mixture before extruding it through the skinless sausage insert. Stuff (extrude) the freshly mixed meat and sausage spice mixture through the skinless sausage insert according to the Jerky Maker Adaptor Kit instructions. After extruding the old fashioned franks refrigerate overnight to cure.
8.	To process the old fashioned franks in an oven lay the old fashioned franks on a rack and place in the oven. Set the oven at 170 degrees. Place a fork in the oven door so that it stays slightly ajar for one hour. Close the oven door and continue cooking at 170 degrees until the internal temperature of of the old fashioned franks reach 152 degrees at which time the old fashioned franks are fully cooked. Remove the old fashioned franks from the oven and shower with cold water until the internal temperature of the old fashioned franks drops to 120 degrees. Hang at room temperature for two hours to bloom. The old fashioned franks are now ready to eat. Refrigerate up to a week or freeze. Note: You will need a thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the old fashioned franks throughout the oven cooking process.
9.	Or smoke cook the old fashioned franks according to your smokehouse or smoker manufacturer instructions until the old fashioned franks are fully cooked at 152 degrees internally. Remove the old fashioned franks from the smoker and shower the old fashioned franks with cold water until the internal temperature of the old fashioned franks drop to 120 degrees. Hang at room temperature for two hours to bloom. The old fashioned franks are now ready to eat. Refrigerate up to a week or freeze. Note: You will need a thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the old fashioned franks throughout the smoke cooking process.
10.	For more sausage making information and more smoked sausage recipes see the Sausage and Jerky Handbook.

Salami
Summer Sausage
Polish Kielbasa
Snack Sticks
Old Fashioned Franks
Stuff Fibrous Casings
Stuff Natural Casings
Stuff Collagen Casing
Smoke Cook Sausage
Make Fresh Sausage

Stuff Fibrous Casings

1. Prepare the fibrous casings by soaking in warm water 15 to 20 minutes before using. If you prepare more fibrous casings than you need they can be hung to dry for future sausage making endeavors.
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Stuff your favorite beef sausage recipe or smoked venison summer sausage into fibrous casings.

2. Slide the prepared fibrous casing onto the sausage stuffing tube.

3. Hold the fibrous casing firmly onto the sausage tube and begin filling the fibrous casing with the seasoned sausage meat. Sausage making is easy with the Dakotah Sausage Stuffer.

Fibrous sausage casings are the perfect choice for making beef sausage and venison sausage.

4. Continue to fill the fibrous casing until there's about an inch remaining at the end of the sausage casing. Or if you want to make salami or summer sausage chubs that are not as heavy stuff less sausage meat in them.
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5. Back the filled fibrous casing off the Dakotah Sausage Stuffer tube and twist the unfilled end of the casing tightly so the the sausage meat is packed in the fibrous casing.

Use the 1" diameter fibrous casing for pepperoni and the 2" fibrous casing for summer sausage.

6. Clip or tie off the filled fibrous casing with a length of butcher twine or clip with a crimping ring. If your crimping ring is larger than 1/2" you can bury part of the crimping ring into the fibrous ring to ensure a crimp that will hold without slipping off during the smoke cooking process.

Stuff Collagen Casings

Collagen casings are sold to the home sauage maker in clear and brown or mahogany.

1. Do not wet the collagen casing before using or it will become a sticky mess and almost impossible to use.
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Collagen casings are edible and are renowned by sausage makers for their tender bite.

2. Wipe the sausage tube dry with a towel before sliding the collagen casing onto the stuffing tube. Since collagen casings are quite long you may have to shorten it as shown in the above picture to fit your sausage tube.
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Clear collagen are mostly used for fresh sausage and brown collagen for smoked sausage.

3. Hold the end of the collagen casing loosely with your forefinger and thumb.

Collagen casings are used by sausage makers because they produce a uniform sausage link.

4. Fill the collagen casing loosely with the freshly mixed sausage mixture. Too tight and it will burst.

Note: Collagen casings do not stretch like natural casings.

Brown collagen casings are used to make smoked sausage and clear to make fresh sausage.

5. When you're done filling the collagen casing form the casing into links as shown by carefully twisting 3 or 4 turns one way, form a link, then 3 or 4 turns in the opposite direction.

Note: Collagen casings don't hold the links as well as natural casings. So you may have to work a little harder to retain the links when you first hang them in the smoker.

Use collagen casings to make beef sticks, pepperoni sticks and snack sticks.

6. Because collagen casings tend to unlink easily some folks separate each link with butcher twine. Tedious, but adds a great touch to the finished product.
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