Thank you all for you suggestions. I should have updated this sooner. We put into affect all of your suggestions. We used a finer grind which improved the texture. We combined pork fat with the beef which also improved the texture and flavor. We calmed down on worrying about the color. We feel like we took a big jump in our sausage quality and flavor. Thank you again for you suggestions.
Here is something we found out that the community should know about. If they don’t already know. I live in a city with a Shamrock Food Warehouse. It is open to the public with no membership fee. When the close out their meat, they close it out at 50% off. We scored $400 worth of beef for $200. It is hit or miss.