I have no idea where I'm supposed to post this thread but hope this is close enough. I've been meaning to make home made sausage for a long time but have never figured out where you're supposed to buy the sausage skin.

I have been told you can buy them from the butcher but I feel shy asking because I'm supposed to be buying his sausage . Also would appreciate if any of you have used a sausage making gadget/maker.

my father was a butcher and he used to have several regulars who would buy just the skins from him for their own home-made stuff. he didn't mind at all, they amount they used to pay him for them paid for the whole tub, so the remaining skins were free for him

have used an industrial size sausage maker before in his shop, and yes it is rude to 'load' the skins on, just like in the generation game. (nice to see you, to see you....... ) wont be a lot of help to you though. good luck with it, no harm in asking your local butcher

Is it the sort of thing that Lakeland might sell?

I'm sure that my dad used to have a sausage maker years ago but I can't remember if it was a success or not - I'll ask mum what he thought of it.

Not a lot of help - I bought some skins on ebay but the guy I bought from hasn't got any listed at the moment. However, I have asked the butcher and some of them are happy to supply.

I had a mincer which I bought from Lidl with a sausage attachment - it is fun to use and the only real recommendation is 'HOLD THE SKIN ON THE FEED TUBE' or you will have a heckalot a mess!!! (not to mention split sides from laughing). You need to buy rusk or something to add to the meat or the sausages end up too firm - speaking to a friend who is a butcher, the addition of some fatty belly pork helps stop them being too dry (so much for wanting to know that the only thing in your sossies is meat). I have sometimes made up a small pack of stuffing mix with water and mixed with my minced meat, this helps the texture and gives a pleasing flavour.

try this website it also has a forum;
http://forum.sausagemaking.org/

and one for cheese ;
http://biology.clc.cu.edu.Frankhause...S_SETUP_00.HTM

We've got the sausage making attachment for our Kenwood Chef (goes with the mincer attachment), and bought our skins from the local butcher, also some of the meat & rusk. He was quite happy to sell us it. The main problem we've found, is being organised enough with the making for big batches - you have to 'book' the sausage-making in your diary, properly scrub your working area/equipment, collect the pre-ordered fresh meat in the morning and get straight on with it. (You can't freeze the meat, then defrost it & make sausages, then freeze the sausages...)
Yeah, as Shirl says, make sure you use enough fat in the mixture or you end up with very dry sausages, especially in beef ones...!
Good luck with it, it is worth it, honest!

Ascott smallholding supplies sell it online as well as lots of other really useful stuff...

for sausages

We get our skins from the butcher, he has no problem with selling them!

Do add enough breadcrumb/rusk for a soft texture and fat for a moist taste and remember before you pump the mix into the skins to cook off a small piece to check the seasoning - sad as it may be, sausages do need some salt!

Wow thank you all for the fantastic details of your experience of making sausage at home, something to be prepared for. I'll definitely check out that sausage forum.

Errr...is it still possible to stuff the meat with your hand even if tedious and slow winded? I have a terrible habit with kitchen gadgets of buying them and not using them at all and the kitchen is somewhat small.

I guess you could use a large funnel and wooden spoon handle. Put the sausage skins onto the funnel and away you go - might even be easier in as much as you would have better control over the amount of filling. Hmm, might give it a try as I prefer skinny sausages!!

If you're not sure you'll continue with making your own sausages, why not ask on freecycle if anyone has a mincer/stuffer they no longer use/need?

We started out with a manual mincer/stuffer which didn't cost much, and liked it so much we have bought an electric mincer/stuffer, which cost about £70 new.

We buy skins from www.sausagemaking.org and I have found the forums extremely helpful - soon you'll be making bacon, salami, parma ham, etc. etc. etc.

Good luck and happy sausagemaking!

Ask your local butcher about skins.Mine not only supplied them but gave me lessons in sausage making!

You could make skinless sausages Veg4681. Hand shape them and dip in beaten egg and flour before cooking. Works for me.

Hi
Another thing to do to add to my list...
I do know that Lakeland have stopped selling sausage skins, I did ask there earlier in the year and they're off the list.
best wishes
Sue

Are we into burger territory here, Alice? I use a mince(beef or pork)/mushroom/apricot(or similar)/egg/breadcrumb/herb/whatever-I-have-to-hand mixture and have a lakeland 'burger press' thingy (about £5 as I recall - advantage is that the burgers press down as burgers and not hand shaped wonky 'patties') then I can cook or freeze them as required.

Amazing how far you can stretch a pound of mince!