Homemade Sausage - Help

[lcascia1]

I tried my hand at homemade sausage the other day and they came out so-so. I used my Kitchenaid meat grinder and the medium plate which overworked the meat. I used pork shoulder and trimmed some of the fat off. I split the batch and made half breakfast sausage half chorizo. I let the spices sit overnight to work into the meat. I stuffed the casing with each and tried them out. Neither is great. Beyond being over-processed, neither one had a great flavor. Maybe not sweet enough or zesty enough. The chorizo is just too earthy and not spicy or oily enough.

I'd love to hear back from you guys for some tried-and-true recipes for sausage. Breakfast, chorizo, anything that could go on the grill, or otherwise worth all that effort.

Thanks!

inchrisin, my father was famous for his Italian Sausage when he owned a meat market back in the day. First, you've got to leave most of the fat on, it is sausage after all. Use a coarse grind and always cook a sample to taste before putting it in the casings, then you know if it needs more salt, pepper, anise seed, etc. Good Luck, hope this helps.