WORM PROBLEM

So, If you read my post about sausage, you might have noticed that I was less than pleased with the kitchenaid sausage stuffer attachment.

The reason that I don't like using the meat grinder for stuffing is that it uses a worm gear (A) to move the meat through the device.

If you're grinding larger, slightly frozen chunks of meat, this is perfect, but when it comes to the soft, delicate sausage meat that we want to stuff in a casing, it runs into trouble. Because the meat is so smooshy, it compresses, and when you try to push it into the worm gear, it doesn't get grabbed and moved along like a chunk of meat would.  It gets smashed and sticks and fights back in pretty much every way it possibly can. In addition, the meat I was so careful to grind just right gets smeared inside the gear, all along both interior surfaces. This is not good. It is a pain in the butt, and kinda takes the fun out of sausage making, turning it into a holiday activity that is only done every other year or so.

That's why I decided to buy this beauty... a vertical sausage stuffer.

I want to look at sausage making as something fun and exciting, and not as a chore. I'd rather focus on flavor and quality than fiddle with the whole worm gear meat smashy business. With this stuffer, you pack all the meat into the cylinder (up to five pounds for the model I ordered), you put a plate on top, and you turn the handle. Just like that, the meat comes out the tube at the bottom. I like this because it is simple. It's like a super soaker made for meat! The steady pressure won't smear and smash the fragile meat mixtures, and you get a constant, even stream of sausage.

I know this thing is a little bit overkill, and will probably never pay for itself, but it makes up for all that in awesome. It is also one of several key pieces to accomplishing my goal of making a salami from scratch. The next piece of the puzzle is a curing chamber with temperature and humidity control... more about that another day... in the meantime, I need to hone my skills on some fresh and smoked sausages...