Someone cooks sausages in a pan on a KitchenAid gas cooktop. They hold the lid over over the pan. On the counter is a wooden spatula on a white dish cloth and some green herbs.

Stand Mixers

How to Stuff Sausage Casings: Tips & Tricks

What’s better than making your own sausage? You get to choose your favourite meat, flavour it how you want and then cook it the way you like.

Making Polish Kielbasa or Bratwurst or even Chorizo is easier than you think. This guide will break down the process of stuffing sausage casings using your KitchenAid Sausage Stuffer Attachment (SSA). For more information on using your KitchenAid attachment, please refer to your Use and Care Guide.

PICKING THE RIGHT SAUSAGE CASINGS

You should only use natural or synthetic casings with your KitchenAid® sausage stuffer attachment.

  • Casings should measure 21 - 23 mm in diameter for the small stuffer tube.
  • Casings should measure 28 - 30 mm in diameter for the large stuffer tube.
Someone fills a sausage casing using the meat grinder attachment on a KitchenAid stand mixer. On the counter are fresh herbs in a glass container, an oil container, a glass bowl and a plate with onions. Someone fills a sausage casing using the meat grinder attachment on a KitchenAid stand mixer. On the counter are fresh herbs in a glass container, an oil container, a glass bowl and a plate with onions.
PRO TIP

You can use the large stuffing tube with or without casings. If using the large tube without casings, keep in mind that the sausage link will be around the size of a breakfast sausage. Also, if you’re not using a casing, you will want to make sausage with a high fat content as this will help the meat hold its shape during cooking.

Purchase your sausage casings at butcher shops or by special order at select grocery stores or online.

GETTING THE SAUSAGE CASINGS READY FOR USE

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

NATURAL CASINGS:

  • Remove the excess salt by soaking the casing in cold water for at least 30 minutes.
  • Thoroughly rinse under running cold water. You want to rinse through the entire length of the casing. Use the water balloon method by wrapping an open end of the casing around a faucet and turning on the water.

SYNTHETIC CASINGS:

  • Soak the casing in water for at least 5 minutes to make them more pliable and easier to work with.

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

HOW TO STUFF SAUSAGE CASINGS

A glass bowl filled with ground meat and a plate of sausages garnished with parsley. A glass bowl filled with ground meat and a plate of sausages garnished with parsley.
  1. Prior to stuffing the meat into the sausage stuffer attachment, you should season it to your liking and ground it using the food grinder attachment.
  2. To ensure that your prepared casings will slide onto it more easily, grease the tube with shortening.
  3. Cut a casing so that it’s 3 to 4 feet long. Tie a knot in one end or use string to tie it close.
PRO TIP

Help eliminate air bubbles in the casing by feeding the ground sausage meat into the attachment before putting the casing onto the SSA tube just until it comes to the tip of the tube.

  1. Slide the open casing end onto the stuffer tube until the knot is right at the tip.
  2. Turn your mixer to Speed 4.
  3. Slowly and carefully feed "pinches" of the ground, seasoned meat into the hopper tube.
  4. Guide the meat into the hopper tube using the stomper and gently pressing small amounts into the worm gear.
PRO TIP

Using excessive pressure to force meat into the worm gear may cause damage as juices can back up into the mixer.

  1. Wait a couple of minutes for the meat to fill the worm gear and stuffer tube and then start to feed into the casing.
    • Air may cause the casing to "balloon" prior to the meat starting to feed into it.
    • Release the air by puncturing a small hole in the casing with the tip of a sharp knife or toothpick.
  2. As the meat fills the casing, hold the tied end of the casing in one hand and use your other hand to guide the meat mixture as it fills the casing.
  3. A common mistake is to pack the meat mixture too tightly into the casing. Remember to leave enough room to twist the sausage into smaller links and to allow for expansion, which most often occurs during cooking.
  4. Turn off the mixer and slip the casing end off the stuffer tube and tie it just as the last few inches of casing is reached,
  5. Cut the next casing length and repeat the process until all the meat has been used.