www.sausagemaking.org

I have wanted to learn to make sausage for quite some time. I realized I'm not getting any younger and time is a wasting. Are there any in-depth classes that would be anywhere from 4 - 7 days? Would be great if there was a retreat for sausage making. I'm finding classes that are 2 - 3 hours long but that's it.
Any advise is appreciated. Thank you.

Hello nmroute66. I'm not aware of any intensive multi-day classes on sausage making. Most of the ones I've seen are 2 to 4 hours long.

For the longest time, I was in the same boat as you. I wanted to make sausages, but I was reluctant to give it a go for a variety of reasons. Mainly, I was afraid I'd produce something terribly unpalatable, or unsafe to eat. But after buying and reading a bunch of books, watching a bunch of videos on youtube, buying a lot of fine equipment and supplies that sat around gathering dust, and putting off actually trying my hand at making sausages for years, I finally just did it. And it worked. I had a blast, and everything came out fine.

I very recently made fresh Italian sausage for the first time. I was surprised at how easy it was, and not only that, my sausages came out tasting great. They are better than any of the commercial ones I'd ever bought. Maybe I'm biased, but I prefer to think they are so good because they reflect my own personal tastes. They don't look as pretty as I'd like. I need to work on getting a consistent fill in the casings. But by just planning it and doing it, I've conquered whatever it was that was holding me back. Now I'm planning my next sausage, which will be chaurice. I'm going to stick with fresh sausages until I get the hang of it.

I'd encourage you to watch videos, read books, read online, ask questions on the forum, and then just do it. Go for something easy like Italian sausage or some other simple fresh sausage for your first few attempts. As long as you keep everything clean and cold, you aren't likely to encounter any safety issues. Just do it. You'll see how simple it is, and you'll wonder what was holding you back.

not to sure but watching videos on youtube etc are a great start, I found going straight in after a few veiws the best way to learn

Hi nmroute66, welcome.

I'm guessing that from your forum name you're US based? We're a World Wide forum, so it helps to know where you're based; perhaps you could add it to your details.

What sort of sausage do you want to make? There's very few that we can't help with.

Phil

Welcome nmroute66. There are a bunch of helpful people here that can help. We have a beginner's guide to help you get started pinned at the top of the beginner section.

nmroute66, here are some resources I found useful when I was trying to wrap my head around sausage making:

Books, I must have nearly a dozen that deal with sausage making to one degree or another, but these were the ones I found most clear and useful from my beginner's perspective:

Charcuterie, Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn
Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing, Rytek Kutas
Mastering the Craft of Making Sausage, Warren R. Anderson

Web sites:

meatsandsausages.com, the Wedliny Domowe site
lpoli.50webs.com, Len Poli's site
forum.sausagemaking.org, this site!

Supplies and equipment:

alliedkenco.com, located in Houston, they stock all the equipment and supplies you could want.
thesausagemaker.com, located in New York, another great source of equipment and supplies.


And of course, there are countless sausage making videos on youtube, some of them really helpful, others not so much. But that's youtube for you.

Without knowing what kind of sausages you're interested in making, it's hard to recommend specific equipment and supplies. Besides, I'm too much of a novice myself to be giving you advice.

Do you have a grinder and stuffer yet?

My own book choice would be "Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages" by Stanley and Adam Marianski.

HTH

Phil

wheels wrote:My own book choice would be "Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages" by Stanley and Adam Marianski.

HTH

Phil

X2!! Absolutely the best book I have purchased for sausage making thus far (and there have been many)

wheels wrote:My own book choice would be "Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages" by Stanley and Adam Marianski.

I have that one too, and I refer to it often. It's like an encyclopedic reference of all things related to sausage making and home meat production, and much more beyond that (e.g., history, science, cooking, canning). All the Marianski books are like that. But as a beginner, I found it to be an overwhelming amount of information. I just got bogged down in it, and that's why I didn't list it previously. I'm only just now starting to find it accessible.

I suspect for many beginners, certainly me among them, a more basic book is a better starting point. Of the ones I listed in my previous post, I personally found the book by Warren Anderson, "Mastering the Craft of Making Sausage," to be the most accessible. It was the one that inspired me to stop reading about making sausage and actually give it a try.

nmroute66... frankly, forget your 4 day classes... any question you will ever have, and I mean any will either be answered on here quite smartly by one of us or will be on here already.

I have never made salami type sausages but make a variety of pan fried numbers and I learnt everything I know from on here... it is a cracking resource.

All these posts and yet no reply?

nmroute66, are you still there?

There's tons of great published material but I agree with Denty632. Dig deep into this site and the Wedliny Domowe and you can basically teach yourself all this material for free.

I have found that there are some nuances pointed out by authors but these internet resources hit all the important points, and accurately.