Snow failed to fall in January. February 8th brought us 7 inches. After plowing out the driveway, the white fluffy stuff means it is time to make sausages!

Why await snow to make sausages?

Fresh snow fits into our bowls and keeps the meat we harvested from getting warm in the process of grinding and mixing. Keeping the mixture cold ensures the fat stays solid, an important factor in sausage consistency. After putting meat, fat, garlic, salts, herbs and spices through the grinder twice, the mixture gets kneaded (with some ice water) until it “sticks.” The proteins need to lengthen and bind so the sausage doesn’t “break.” Fall apart. Be funky when cooked. It just needs to be worked until it feels right. Not melting the fat. Working it enough. It’s a delicate balance.

Day 1: We ground 10 pounds of venison kielbasa, 10 pounds of chicken kielbasa, 10 pounds of wild turkey kielbasa, and 15 pounds of duck kielbasa. 45 pounds of meat and fat filled a laundry basket! We work in 5 pound batches, consisting of 4 pounds of meat and one pound of fat. We are making kielbasa this year as it’s the type of sausage we use the most. Kielbasa on the grill, kielbasa in pasta sauce, kielbasa in stir fry, kielbasa in feijoada, kielbasa in red beans and rice, kielbasa in Senate Bean soup, kielbasa with sauerkraut and mash, kielbasa roasted with root vegetables. Mmmmmm.

Day 2: we stuffed the sausage meat into casings. I’ve shown our industrial sausage stuffer in prior posts. Messy hands and exhaustion kept me from repeating photos. We buy casings at our local market. We do live in Wisconsin! They come packed in salt, which we wash off. After being soaked and opened by running water through them, I thread one on the stuffer nozzle. Michael cranks while I twist the links, rolling the filled casing first toward me and then away, so the links don’t unravel. Figuring out when to add a twist is an art I still am learning.

This is what 45 pounds (more or less) of sausage looks like. We opened the window in the guest room to make an impromptu walk-in refrigerator. The sausages need to dry before going into the smoker.

Days 3 and 4 consisted of smoking the links and packaging them. We have a very primitive smoker that lacks a thermostat and thus we need to check the temperature often. We went to buy feed while smoking batch #1 and the links got a bit toasty and dry. Still taste great! Michael managed to keep a more even temperature on batch #2 and they are perfect!

Wild Turkey sausages at the top and venison-pork sausages on bottom. My house smells like an amazing deli.

A snow/cold water bath quenches the sausages once they come out of the smoker. Their internal temperature needs to come down quickly to avoid incubating botulism.

After quenching, back on the rack to dry before packaging. So far I’ve been pretty consistent in getting 4 links to weigh out at 3/4 lbs. I must finally be getting the hang of this! We noted that our links are thinner than in prior years. I’m not sure whether that is due to using a new brand of casings or because the meat sat chilling overnight and so did not squish out as easily.

Turkey kielbasa stir fry. Yum! A fine reward for days of pretty intense work.

We all needed a bit of a break before the fire.

Here’s to another successful sausage-making adventure. The currant wine finally has matured into a delightful quaff. Michael and I are both tired and achy. Michael figures that we just made $225 worth of sausage. As a financial endeavor, it doesn’t pay. We do this because we feel an obligation to use our old ducks and chickens, hearts and gizzards of all our birds, and the hearts of the deer we harvest. These meats are too tough to eat if not ground up. This year we were gifted a wild turkey. Same problem. Michael would like to try to make venison casings. We would need to read up on that process. Using as much of what we raise and harvest as we possibly can is important to us. The sausage is never bad, if sometimes it is less than perfect. And then, sometimes, it is the best thing you ever put in your mouth. Making. Not a bad way to live.