• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Grilling 24x7
  • Grilling 24×7
  • About
  • Recipes
    • By Food Type
      • Beef
        • Pellet Grill
        • Charcoal Grill
      • Poultry
        • Chicken
        • Turkey
      • Pork
        • Pork Ribs
        • Pellet Grill
        • Charcoal Grill
      • Seafood
        • Crab
        • Shrimp
        • Lobster
        • Fish
      • Veggies
        • Appetizers
        • Side Dishes
        • Soups and Casseroles
        • Main Dishes
      • Lamb
      • Keto Diet
    • By Course
      • Appetizers
        • Beef
        • Poultry
        • Pork
        • Seafood
      • Soups and Casseroles
      • Salads
      • Side Dishes
      • Main Dishes
        • Beef
        • Poultry
        • Pork
        • Seafood
        • Pizza
      • Dessert
      • Sauces/rubs
    • By Method
      • Cast Iron Recipes
        • Appetizers
          • Beef
          • Poultry
          • Pork
          • Seafood
        • Side Dishes
        • Soups and Casseroles
        • Main Dishes
          • Beef
          • Poultry
          • Pork
          • Seafood
      • Tailgate Recipes
        • Grilled Appetizers
          • Beef
          • Poultry
          • Pork
          • Seafood
          • Veggies
        • Side Dishes
        • Soups And Casseroles
        • Main Dishes
          • Beef
          • Poultry
          • Pork
          • Seafood
          • Veggie
  • Reviews
  • Tips
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
Grilling 24x7 » Recipes » Pork Recipes » Homemade Hot Italian Sausage Recipe

Homemade Hot Italian Sausage Recipe

by Frank Campanella Leave a Comment

Homemade Hot Italian Sausage

Jump to Recipe

Well, this is it. I’ve been dreaming about making homemade hot Italian sausage for some time now. In fact my recent Christmas gift was the KitchenAid meat grinder and sausage attachment! I can’t believe how good this turned out. This was the best Italian sausage I’ve ever had. Here’s what I did:

Homemade Hot Italian Sausage

Ingredients:
5 lbs pork shoulder
natural hog casings
2 T whole fennel seeds
1 T salt
1 T ground black pepper
1 T garlic powder
4 T red pepper flakes
1 cup ice water give or take ¼ cup

Homemade Hot Italian Sausage

I started with a 7 lb pork shoulder from Costco. The shoulder was boneless so I didn’t have to worry about cutting out a bone. Also, this is not a “picnic” shoulder roast, which is sold in a lot of grocery stores. The picnic is not the cut to get for doing this. You want a boneless boston butt or a boneless pork shoulder roast. I used a really sharp knife to cut up the shoulder so it could fit in my KitchenAid meat grinder attachment. I aimed for about ¾ in to 1 in size chunks. After the entire shoulder was cut up I ground it just once with the coarse plate of the grinder.

Homemade Hot Italian Sausage

Look at all that fresh ground pork! Next I added all of the dry ingredients listed above and then the cup of ice water (cubes not included). The water just helps out with the consistency of the ground pork.
At this stage you can either form sausage patties or stuff the sausage into casings. I picked up some hog casings from my butcher shop because I wanted to have sausage links. Note: do not use collagen casings for this – you have to use real hog casings.

Homemade Hot Italian Sausage

The hog casings come packed in salt so it is very important to soak the casing for at least 30 min prior to use. In fact, my butcher recommended soaking overnight. However, I didn’t listen. I soaked the casings for about 10 min then changed the water, soaked again for 15-20 min and changed the water again. Finally I used a funnel to rinse water throughout the casing. This lets you see where any holes might be and also washes out residual salt from the inside.

Homemade Hot Italian Sausage
Homemade Hot Italian Sausage
Homemade Hot Italian Sausage

One trick I learned while doing this was to keep the casings wet during the entire process. Even when the casing is on the sausage filling attachment, keep wetting it. I also kept about 4 inches of casing hanging off the attachment prior to filling. This gave some room in case air got caught in the mix. By not tying it off initially I was able to push air right out the bottom of the sausage. I’m not going to lie. This process was a lot of work. But once we got going it started getting smoother. I let the sausages curl up in an aluminum pan and then later I twisted them into links.

Homemade Hot Italian Sausage
Homemade Hot Italian Sausage
Homemade Hot Italian Sausage

I roughly used my eye to select how long each link would be. I then twisted each one and then it was time to grill!

Homemade Hot Italian Sausage

Before grilling I used a knife to cut each link free from the adjacent one. This gave me more flexibility on the grill. These sausages were great. There is quite a bit of heat from the pepper flakes so if you are scared of heat I’d back down to 3 or 3.5 T of red pepper flakes. I also recommend using fresh fennel seeds so that unique fennel flavor is really present. What a unique flavor to add to sausage! I love it! I can’t wait to do this recipe for a tailgate!

Note: This recipe came from www.lets-make-sausage.com. It’s a winner and it is also a great idea for any pregnant ladies who want to enjoy italian sausages but don’t want any nitrates in their diets.

Homemade Hot Italian Sausage
Print Pin

Homemade Hot Italian Sausage Recipe

An easy homemade hot Italian sausage recipe.
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 30 sausages

Ingredients

  • 5 lbs pork shoulder
  • natural hog casings
  • 2 T whole fennel seeds
  • 1 T salt
  • 1 T ground black pepper
  • 1 T garlic powder
  • 4 T red pepper flakes
  • 1 cup ice water give or take ¼ cup

Instructions

  • Grind pork.
  • Rinse casings with water.
  • Mix sausage seasoning together and mix with ground pork.
  • Stuff pork into casings.

Sharing is caring!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Frank Campanella

If you love grilling, smoking and searing then you have come to the right place. Grilling 24x7 is your home for everything BBQ, Grilling and more. 

You'll find unique grilling recipes as well as a collection of bbq sides and sauces to make your next backyard cookout or tailgate a success.

Read More →

Cover of The Complete Guide to Grillin Steak - Preorder Now

Most Popular Recipes

  • Smoked Eye round on a sesame seed roll with bbq sauce
    Smoked Eye of Round with Beef Au Jus
  • cast Iron skillet cuban casserole
    Cast Iron Cuban Casserole – Leftover Pulled Pork Recipe
  • Smoked Bacon Wrapped Onion Ring Recipe w/ Spicy Sriracha Mayo Dipping Sauce- Grilling24x7.com
    Smoked Bacon Wrapped Onion Rings with Spicy Sriracha Onion Rings
  • Baby back ribs gas grill recipe
    Smoking Ribs for Beginners

Sign Up For The Best BBQ Recipes



Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2021 Grilling 24x7