Chicken Sausages

Could there be a more satisfying experience than creating a sausage from scratch? Perhaps, but for now we'll focus on the splendor of sausage construction, and the wondrous joy it brings to all those who participate in a journey who's humble origins begin with the simple chicken thigh. Or more precisely somewhere around 17 pounds of chicken thighs. Remember, you can click on the photos to super-size them.

We start the day by washing and slicing the chicken into strips. We use thigh, as it naturally has more fat. If we've come to learn anything over the years - fat is flavor. After the chicken is prepped, into the chipper shredder it goes. The grinder makes short work of the meat. After its ground, backs it goes into the fridge as we prepare the the remaining ingredients. Probably the biggest challenge in sausage making, especially in the summer, is keeping everything chilled. We don't want our fat to begin to render.

We are attempting to make a South Western style sausage. We started out by roasting 8 large Anaheim peppers on the bbq, Then  deleafed  and chopped 4 bunches of cilantro. That was a serious chore. The stems may go in next time....Several heads of garlic, a couple of jalapenos, some cumin, Mexi beer and  some tequila.

 
Next, everything gets put in the mixer and goes for a quick spin-a-roo. The mixer does a great job of evenly distributing the ingredients. It also keeps your warm hands off the meat. This helps in keeping the meat cooler.

Stuff is happening now. The meat is mixed, and we empty the hopper, promptly returning the mixture to the fridge as we prep for the stuff phase of the operation.

Well, maybe not so promptly - time for one quick shot. We were very pleased with the color, and mix of the sausage. I don't know, but I got a feeling these may be pretty good. Good thing, because we have about 6 months worth....

The stuffing phase indicates the beginning of the end of our journey. We chose to use real hog casings. Real hog casings are packed in salt, and need to be not only rinsed, but also rinsed out. This is a quite a labor intensive task. However the sausage maker knows no time, and takes no short cuts in the process.

We had a batch of Italians as well - so we stuffed those, and stuffed more chicken ones.

Did them up along with some corn and home made onion rigs. I'm beginning to think this operation is getting to point where we can finally kick back and enjoy our labors!

vola!