I've been doing lots of reading on various forums, and also picked up Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by Rytek Kutas. While on honeymoon last year, the wife and I were driving through Buffalo and made a stop at The Sausage Maker. I picked up some Chorizo and Cajun seasoning mix to get me started.. This would take some guesswork out for now..
I spent a few hours on Saturday, grinding up the shoulders, mixing the spice blend, and stuffing.. Everything went pretty smooth for the most part, stuffing/twisting seems to be a bit of a challenge, but after a few more attempts, I should be able to get this figured out.
I smoked the sausages for a few hours in a cheap walmart propane smoker w/cherry chips. I had to tend to the smoker quite a bit, as it got a little hotter than I wanted, on the low setting, I was sitting at 200 degrees. I propped open the door a hair to let the excess heat out, I was able to stick at 160 degrees long enough to get my sausage to temp.
For a first attempt, things came out great! I only did up 10lbs, but its definately something I can see me doing in larger scales!! The cajun came out perfect, wouldn't have changed a thing.. The chorizo tasted great, but it looked a little rough.. the casings didnt really shrink the way I had hoped they would... any suggestions?
Here's some pics of the day...






