First time sausage maker...urgent question about "test fry"

[WBcoach]

I've read that it is common amongst first-timers to produce dry, crumbly sausage. So I did a 5# batch of Italian and a 5# batch of Polish Kielbasa. I used a combination of pork shoulder and pork butt without additional fat. I cubed the meat first, seasoned it and let sit in freezer to partially freeze before grinding, and I put all metal grinder components in the freezer as well.

I haven't stuffed them yet but I did a test fry of each and, while the taste was excellent the texture seemed like it was going to be a little crumbly and grainy when stuffed. That being said, will stuffing the meat into the casing fix some of that issue? I noticed a decent amount of "oiling off" as the patties cooked in my pan. Since it's not stuffed yet should I run to the butcher and get some pork fat to grind and add to my mixtures before stuffing? Will adding ice cold water to the mixes before stuffing help this issue? I don't want to waste 10 lbs and three hours worth of work. Thanks in advance!

[yotmon]

All depends on high fat the meat was. A sausage normally has between 20% and 30% fat, so have a look at the pork you have and try and calculate the fat content to see if you require any more.

Hope this helps. Yotmon.

[johngaltsmotor]

Did you mix the meat after grinding at all? You need to mix it until it is sticky. This helps mix the natural binders in meat into a glue that holds everything together. At a minimum for 5lb I would say 5 minutes of mixing. It also helps to distribute the spices evenly.
Typically I have to add fat when using a whole shoulder/butt simply because in our current health conscious world people don't want to buy fatty meat. But without 20%+ fat it is likely that your sausage will end up dry and possibly crumbly depending on texture.

[WBcoach]

Did you mix the meat after grinding at all? You need to mix it until it is sticky. This helps mix the natural binders in meat into a glue that holds everything together. At a minimum for 5lb I would say 5 minutes of mixing. It also helps to distribute the spices evenly.
Typically I have to add fat when using a whole shoulder/butt simply because in our current health conscious world people don't want to buy fatty meat. But without 20%+ fat it is likely that your sausage will end up dry and possibly crumbly depending on texture.

John, I'm not sure of the exact fat content but to my untrained eye it looked pretty nicely fatty to me. More important and likely more relevant to me is your question about my mixing. Basically, I let the grinder do the mixing once I took the cubed meat out of the freezer and just scooped out a small handful and formed a quick patty. I can see now that may be my mistake. When I get home in a short while I will add the ice water and mix as you suggested and try another test fry. I will report back later. Thanks for the input!

[johngaltsmotor]

It may sound pedantic, but normally when I cube my meat I first separate lean from fat so I get an idea of the %. I find that if I don't I'm always too low (<15%).

[WBcoach]

It may sound pedantic, but normally when I cube my meat I first separate lean from fat so I get an idea of the %. I find that if I don't I'm always too low (<15%).

John, You are a life saver!

I got home and immediately mixed one cup of ice water into the Italian sausage mixture and then mixed it by hand for about five minutes. The consistency turned into that tight, fuzzy, sticky mass that I've read about. I rolled up a bit of it the size of a baseball and it stuck to my hand when I turned it upside down.

So I made a small test patty and the difference was incredible! It had a nice sponginess to it with no "crumbly" texture whatsoever. My son tried a bite and was equally impressed. We both agreed that it needed a little more salt and garlic powder so we adjusted the seasonings and stuffed it into casings using my new vertical stuffer. I hope that the texture stays the same after stuffing.

Thanks again for they help. You may have saved me from quitting the hobby! I will report back after our dinner of Italian sausage and pepper heroes.

[NCPaul]

Another thing to keep in mind is that when you allow the sausage links to bloom overnight in the fridge ( which will help set the casing) the seasoning will mellow out. Test patties usually taste over spiced to me.

[WBcoach]

Okay, the sausage was absolutely delicious! The texture was dense, but juicy, tender and springy. The grind was very fine so I think I'll try the medium grinding plate next time, although the wife liked it a lot. The real clincher is that there were no globs of fat and grizzle and no bones to be found, unlike store-brought sausage. I would probably go with a little more salt next time but whatever the recipe is all I can say is I'm now hooked!

Thanks again for everyone's help. The people over at smokingmeatforums speak highly of this site and I can now see why.