Oddley wrote:Welcome to the forum Bob. I have visited the alliedkenco site afraid I can't or to be honest won't afford the shipping from there. But an interesting site as the States is such a big country I suppose it's only to be expected you have more choice of chemicals.
Interesting idea with the freezing only one minor problem is that's it's fine if you make small amounts to be eaten almost immediately but as it is recommended only to freeze fresh meat once. Not such a good idea if making large amounts and freezing them afterwards.
Sorry I missed your reply earlier - this forum software has its quirks when multiple replies are sent to me by email as one link.
With the Dollar in the tank, I would imagine you can justify shipping if the item is a necessity. Although Allied Kenco is not far too from home, I tend to use UPS because of the high price of gasoline ($1.50 per US gallon). - I have met the owner and he is very knowledgeable but he sometimes gets swamped with email - up to 150 per day.
As far as freezing, I only use the freshest meats. I freeze them twice - once at mixture and once at hardening for grinding. The latter is not a sustained freeze so I do not worry about it. I usually do not freeze the finished product because it is almost always 1 lb in size and is gone in a couple days.
The reason for small batch size is to limit the damage if I screw up a recipe. When I first started I would make 3 lb batches and my dog just loved it. He has become a real sausage hound (he's a beagle) from failed experiments - usually not enough fat or overseasoning, in particular way too much garlic. He won't obey us unless we bribe him with some sausage.
But now I have the knack, so Artie is going to have to make it on WalMart dry dog food. He does, however, get to snack on the tailings when I am trimming beef chuck, so it's not too bad.