My first homemade sausage. Went better than I thought.

I have processed my own deer the past couple of years but never made any deer sausage because I didn't know how to make sausage myself. I decided to fix that problem this year and figure it out. I started today doing some trial runs on a brisket. Turned out way better than I expected. I learned plenty along the way, as well. This is brisket, poblanos, Colby Jack, Mexican seasonings, and natural casings. I learned that I should use high heat cheese. Stuffing takes more skill than I anticipated. And I need to get a good vertical smoker because I see a lot more of these coming.

Looks great.

Nice work

That looks amazing!

Plus you get a free pass to drink a few beers and make a bunch of sausage jokes!

Looks good

Congratulations!

Wow, that's a swing and a hit. Looks great

Thanks.

It is the internet though. What's not pictured is the 3 busted casings, the 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get the casing on the stuffer, and all the other fun bits I had no idea about. I can say I have never learned so much from cooking one thing before. It was fun.

Did you thoroughly rinse the natural casings?

Yes, I did. Well, I think I did. "Thoroughly" is a relative term.

Rinsed well and put in water for 30 minutes. Then I took it back out and flushed water through it for a while to clean any salt from the inside. Then put it back in cold water with some vinegar to sit until I was ready to stuff.

the second batch will be easier now that you have gone thru a lot of a learning curve.

Wunderbar!

No , not just the internet. The internet never has busted cases! Everything is always just perfect.
Yes it is alot of work and the more you do it the more you put into it. Next thing you know you'll be buying new scales to weigh spices, saving your brisket fat trimmings in the freezer, always looking for spices on sale in HEB even of you don't need them.. The list goes on.

You are not too far from me. The next time I wind up to do a batch I'll pm you and you're welcome to join in the fun.

Looks good
Our casings are thoroughly cleaned when we get them, but we "turn" them in very hot water. They get an extra rinse by doing this and now the inside is the outside. I really do not know if this is a big deal but the Germans that we learned from did it, so we do it the same way.
Not to worry about a few busted casings, we are good at it and will still get a few blowouts (we also do about 500 pounds). It sure helps if you have two (or even three) people for the stuffing part.

Looks like you did a great job! In regard to casing can you buy different types? Have noticed some casing is tough as a boot after sausage is made.

sheep, cow, pork. many types and sizes.