Small batches of sausage

processhead

sausagesamuria said in Small batches of sausage:

Hey guys, I make a ton of sausage for people every year. however now I find myself making a lot of smaller batches (5lb ish) and I stole the mixer from the house and have found my shoulders love to do sausage like that…lol

Also Eric at Two Guys and a cooler has been using one I some of his videos as well was Duncan Henry and they have found that a small batch will achieve protein extraction in about 90 seconds???

What are your thoughts???

Tell us which kind of mixer are you talking about?
There are a lot of different mixer designs and we hear about people using tub mixers, and bowl mixers for their sausage batching.

They all do essentially the same thing which is: 1) ensure all ingredients are evenly distributed in the batch and 2) in some sausage styles, provide the mechanical action needed to extract the protein from the ground meat.

rjh2

I use a 6 qt kitchenaid mixer for my 5 lb snack stick batches. It works well with me scraping the sides of the bowl while it is mixing. I usually get adequate protein extraction (to my liking anyway) in 5ish minutes.

Dave in AZ

sausagesamuria
I use my 6.5 qt kitchenaid always for 5 lb batches. You can get strong protein extraction in less than 4 min. With a small batch like 3 to 4 lbs, I could see 90sec to 3 min depending on wetness and speed. Here are two posts I made where I talked about extraction time:

used a 6.5 qt kitchenaid mixer with beater blade. Dough hook was worthless. Too much meat for it, 5lb would have been OK. I ran on speed 2 for 4 or 5 minutes, holding spatula horizontal above meat to keep it forced down into bowl. Worked good, outstanding protein extraction. Added extra water due to how stiff/sticky the milk binder plus mixing made it, and not wanting to burn motor on Kitchenaid.

https://meatgistics.waltons.com/post/124240
The 5qt KA mixer is outstanding for mixing, (not grinding). It gives the best protein extraction, fast. Significantly better that my 25 lb tub mixer by hand crank. However, 5 lbs is the max you can mix in there. I have a 6.5 qt one, and I can juuust get 6 lbs or 3kg to mix in there.

When I am doing 6 lb batch of less, I always use the Kitchenaid. Faster, 2 to 3 min is all, better extraction, hugely easier cleanup, and the bowl easily fits in fridge or freezer to keep chilled or rechill for stuffing. If I am doing something well mixed like German wursts, not fresh stuff, the KA is IMO the absolute best.

Possum

Dave in AZ I have heard some say that the 5 quart KA isn’t quite enough to handle mixing for sausage. Have you noticed any concern for the wear and tear on the gears? I have been tempted to use it.

Denny O

Possum What I remembered was when we were looking for a new mixer there were issues with leaking grease from the rotating head. Those that were having the problem were using it to grind, mix and stuff. Now this background knowledge was just not from yesterday or last week, it was a tad bit longer ago.

Dave in AZ

Possum the new 5qt ones are not as robust a motor as older. I have one from 1988, and one from 1993. They do well, but I do make sure meat batter isn’t too thick. One of them broke the weak link in drive train, the worm gear, making dough recently, but you can buy new worm gear.

However, my 6.5qt Professional one is a much stronger, beefier mixer than their 4.5 and 5 qt ones. So this is what I use. It is the one with the bowl that rises up and down with a lever.

Possum

I am guessing ours is around 15 years old. I may try it on three or four pounds once just to see how it does. Arthritis is starting to get worse in my wrist and always have to pop a few ibuprofen for a day or two after mixing. I don’t do enough to invest much money in a large mixer. I keep thinking I will get a good deal on a mixer from store closings but it is crazy what they bring.

TexLaw

Dave in AZ That’s great to know! 5 lbs is the minumum I will put into my 20 lb mixer, but it’s sort of a pain to put that little in there. I’ll look to the 6 qt. KA mixer from here on out.

Jim in AZ

This is the mixer I have. It is a commercial 20 quart mixer. I also have a heavy duty stainless steel cart with casters so I can roll it around as it is quite heavy. This thing works fantastic. I start out in first gear, add my seasonings and water, then crank it up to second gear for about 30 seconds. I’ll never go back to hand mixing again. https://www.samsclub.com/p/general-20qtcmmercial-mixer/prod20171426?xid=plp_product_4

Ridley Acres

Jim in AZ how much meat do you mix at a time in your 20qt?

Ridley Acres

Jim in AZ I ask because I have an older univex 20qt but if it runs for long it also leaks grease from the head and I’m not sure yet how to fix that or if it’s even worth it for me to try.

processhead

Ridley Acres said in Small batches of sausage:

Jim in AZ I ask because I have an older univex 20qt but if it runs for long it also leaks grease from the head and I’m not sure yet how to fix that or if it’s even worth it for me to try.

Is the grease coming down around where the rotating mixer shaft drops down through the drive unit?
It might be as simple as replacing a lip seal, and possibly without major disassembly. A good machine like that might be well worth the effort to repair it.
If you can take a close up picture of where the mixer shaft drops down through the drive unit and attach it to a chat message, I might be able to tell what kind of seal it is.

Ridley Acres

processhead I can try to get a pic but in the meanwhile what are your thoughts on mixing with the beater paddle?

I do not have a dough hook so this would be the only way I can mix until I can find a reasonable priced hook.

processhead

Ridley Acres I can’t speak from personal experience, but I think Dave in AZ mentioned in this thread that his dough hook does a poor job when mixing meat. https://meatgistics.waltons.com/post/126987

I think what you have there is the right attachment for meat mixing.

bocephus

Jim in AZ Looks like a very nice set up. I would like to eventually get a 20 or 30 qt mixer for summer sausage and sticks.

Dave in AZ

Ridley Acres that is the correct paddle to mix meat.

Jim in AZ

Ridley Acres Yes, that is the one you want to use for mixing sausage.

Jim in AZ

Ridley Acres said in Small batches of sausage:

Jim in AZ how much meat do you mix at a time in your 20qt?

I’ve had 15 pounds in it and it could do much much more than that easily. I don’t make big batches. I love making sausage but used to hate the mixing by hand. Now with the mixer I make sausage much more often. PS: This is my wife’s mixer. She uses to make big batches of cookies. Couple years ago I seen Eric on 2 guys & a Cooler use his small mixer for sausage. I borrowed the wife’s mixer and I’ll never go back to hand mixing. Also, it’s super easy to clean.

Dave in AZ

Jim in AZ i looked for a 20qt hobart for a while, for bread and sausage making. Really would be the best solution for me. Yours looks nice.

Esetter

This is good to know as I bought a Hobart with 2 big bowls at a garage sale that I had used to make Satin balls for the dogs. It easily mixed 10 pounds of meat with a lot of other ingredients so I will use it for sausage batches that are too big for the 6 qt KA. We are new to sausage making so a lot to learn still.