A man cooking juicy bratwursts with sautéed vegetables in a stainless steel pan over a stove.

HOW TO STUFF SAUSAGE

Have you ever wanted to make sausage? It’s easier than you might think. From Italian sausage to Polish Kielbasa, German Bratwurst, Andouille and Chorizo, there are many types of sausages and flavors to experiment with. Our guide will show you how to stuff sausage casings using your KitchenAid Sausage Stuffer Attachment (SSA). For more information on using your KitchenAid attachment, refer to your Use and Care Guide.

Choosing the right sausage casings

You can use natural or synthetic casings with the sausage stuffer attachment.

For the small stuffer tube, casings should measure 21 - 23 mm in diameter.
For the large stuffer tube, casings should measure 28 - 30 mm in diameter.

NOTE: The large stuffing tube can be used with or without casings. Using the large tube without casings results in a sausage link the size of a breakfast sausage. Sausage prepared without casings requires a high fat content so the meat will hold its shape during cooking.

Sausage casings can be purchased at butcher shops or by special order at grocery stores or online.

Preparing sausage casings for use

Follow these steps to prepare natural and synthetic sausage casings for stuffing.

NATURAL casings:

Soak in cold water for 30 minutes to remove excess salt.
Rinse several times by running cold water through the entire length of the casing by wrapping an open end of the casing around a faucet and turning on the water – like a water balloon.

Synthetic casings:

Soak casings in water for 5 minutes to make them more pliable and easier to work with.

Once the casings are prepped, follow the instructions below for stuffing the sausage casings.

Get KitchenAid® tools for making homemade sausage

From grinding your own spices for sausage stuffing to creating delicious sauces to complement a range of sausage flavors, KitchenAid brand has the tools you need to make homemade sausage. Explore the sausage stuffer attachment for your stand mixer and consider a food processor to streamline your food preparation routine.

Make delicious homemade Merguez Sausage with the Sausage Stuffer Kit.

How to stuff sausage casings

Before putting meat into the sausage stuffer attachment, it should be ground with the food grinder attachment and seasoned as desired.
Grease the selected tube with shortening so your prepared casings will slide onto it more easily.
Cut a 3 to 4 foot length of casing. Tie a knot in one end of the casing or tie it closed with string.

NOTE: The ground sausage meat can be fed into the attachment before putting the casing onto the SSA tube just until it comes to the tip of the SSA tube. This will help eliminate air bubbles in the casing.
Starting at the open casing end, slide the casing onto the stuffer tube until the knot is at the tip of the stuffer tube.
Turn your mixer on to Speed 4.
Slowly feed "pinches" of the ground, seasoned meat into the hopper tube.

• Filling the housing full will cause the meat to "compact" in the tube and "bunch up" instead of feed into the worm gear.
The stomper should be used for guiding the meat into the hopper tube and gently pressing small amounts into the worm gear.

• Using excessive pressure to force meat into the worm gear can cause juices to back up into the mixer, causing damage.
It takes a couple minutes for the meat to fill the worm gear and stuffer tube and begin to feed into the casing.

• Air may cause the casing to "balloon" before the meat starts feeding into it.

• The air can be released by making a small puncture in the casing with the tip of a sharp knife or toothpick.
As the meat begins to fill the casing, hold the tied end of the casing in one hand and guide the meat mixture as it fills the casing.
Do not pack the meat mixture too tightly into the casing; allow enough room to twist the sausage into smaller links and for expansion during cooking.
As the last few inches of casing is reached, turn off the mixer and slip the casing end off the stuffer tube and tie off.
Cut the next casing length and repeat the process until all meat is used.