Chef Tom shares the Tips & Techniques required to make your very own Italian Sausage from scratch at home, then grills the Italian Sausages on the Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill for that wood fired flavor!
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Freezing the pork strips and grinder components for 30 minutes before grinding keeps everything cold, which is what gives ground sausage a cleaner, less smeared texture
- Grinding only half the pork a second time, after mixing in the seasoning and garlic, gives the sausage two different textures in one batch rather than one uniform grind throughout
- Adding red wine to the meat before whipping it builds moisture and flavor directly into the primary bind, rather than working with a drier mixture
- Whipping the meat at high speed until tacky creates the "primary bind" that holds ground sausage together, a step that's easy to skip but makes the difference between sausage that holds its shape and one that crumbles
Category
Entree
Cuisine
Italian
Servings
9
Prep Time
45 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Calories
453
Embark on an Italian flavor adventure with Chef Tom's Tips & Techniques for making your own sensational Italian Sausage! Enjoy the delectable wood-fired flavor with each bite. Taste the difference of homemade sausages!
Ingredients
- 3 lb Boston Butt Pork Shoulder
-
6 tbsp Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning
-
3 tbsp roasted garlic, minced (recipe video here)
- 1/2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon red wine
Directions
- Slice the pork into 1” thick strips. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes, along with the grinder components.
- Assemble the grinder on the Ankarsrum base.
- Using a 6 mm die, grind all the pork.
- Take half of the pork and place it in the refrigerator. Mix the Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning and roasted garlic into the remaining half. Grind the seasoned pork a second time.
- Place the unseasoned once ground pork and the twice ground seasoned pork in the bowl of the Ankarsrum mixer. Add the red wine, as well.
- Using the single wire whip (or paddle attachment of stand mixer), whip the meat over high speed until it becomes tacky and holds together, about one minute. This creates the “primary bind” and is essential in creating the sausage texture.
- Package and refrigerate or freeze the sausage according to your needs.
- If stuffing the bulk sausage into links, prepare your natural hog casings (32mm-35mm). Soak the casings in warm water for at least 30 minutes. Discard the water and rinse the casings, inside and out.
- Fill the sausage stuffer with the sausage, pressing out any air pockets.
- Place the casings on the horn of the sausage stuffer.
- Push the sausage to the end of the horn. Tie off the end of the sausage casing. Being to fill the casing, taking care to not overstuff, as this can cause a blowout. When all the sausage is cased, tie off the last casing.
- If preparing links, use the “pinch-pinch-twist” method (demonstrated in the video). Pinch the sausage at the desired link length, then pinch again at the end of the next link and twist the link formed in the middle. Repeat this to the end of the sausage rope. You should be twisting in the same direction every time.
- Alternatively, you can simply leave the entire sausage in a coil, if you plan to cook it all at the same time.
- A three pound batch of Italian Sausage will yield about 9 (1/3 lb) sausage servings.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why freeze the pork strips and grinder components for 30 minutes before grinding?
Keeping everything cold prevents the fat from smearing as it passes through the grinder, which is what gives ground sausage a cleaner texture instead of a pasty, overworked one.
Why grind only half the pork a second time instead of grinding the whole batch twice?
Mixing the seasoning and roasted garlic into just half the pork before the second grind, then combining it with the once-ground half, gives the finished sausage two different textures in one batch rather than one uniform grind throughout.
Why add red wine to the meat before whipping it?
Incorporating the wine at this stage builds moisture and flavor directly into the mixture before the whipping step that follows, rather than working with a drier base.
Why whip the meat until it becomes tacky and holds together?
This step, whipping at high speed for about a minute, creates what's called the "primary bind" — the protein structure that holds ground sausage together. Skipping it is an easy mistake that results in sausage that crumbles rather than holds its shape once cooked.
Does this recipe include a cooking step?
No — this recipe covers grinding, seasoning, and casing the sausage, ending at packaging for the refrigerator or freezer. Since the sausage isn't cooked here, there's no internal temperature to check in these directions; that applies whenever the sausage is actually prepared for eating.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
5 out of 5 — grinding, mixing, and stuffing sausage is entirely a stovetop-free, kitchen-counter process; nothing about it requires a grill.
Recipe Highlights
Pre-chilled components: Keeps the grind clean rather than smeared.
Dual-texture grinding: Combines a single and double grind in one batch.
Wine-enriched mixture: Adds moisture and flavor before whipping.
Primary bind technique: The whipping step that holds the sausage together.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 4 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 453
- Carbs
- 1 grams
- Protein
- 35 grams
- Fat
- 32 grams
- Sodium
- 103 milligrams
