INGREDIENTS FOR 25 POUNDS OF POLISH SAUSAGE: If you like your sausage to be a little more moist you should use a 70-30 mix of pork and the red meat beef or game that you are using. For a dryer sausage use a 50-50 mix. Everybody has different tastes so the following is what I have used over many years and have found it to be the most favored combination. This sausage can be made with 100 percent pork. Make sure if you do this that you use at least 80 percent lean pork

8 lbs - Lean beef, elk, venison, or antelope if using wild game, be sure to trim away all fat and cartilage as this will give your sausage a poor taste.

17 lbs - Pork trim 80 percent lean

3 pts - Cold water

Seasoning - Born's seasoning for 25 lbs. Potato Sausage

Potatoes - 5 lbs of frozen cubed hash brown potatoes. I have also used fresh shredded potatoes and frozen shredded potatoes, however these tend to produce a mushy sausage that is not preferred in our house.

STEP 1:DICING AND MIXING
Be sure the meat temperature stays at 34°F to 40°F during preparation. Work rapidly with cold meat or refrigerate small batches as necessary. Grind all meat through a half inch or three quarter" plate or dice the meat into 1" cubes. Mix the sodium nitrate curing agent with Borns Potato Sausage seasoning. Sprinkle the spices evenly over the meat and mix the meat and spices thoroughly using a kneading motion similar to mixing dough.

STEP 2:CURING OPTIONAL
After the spices are thoroughly mixed with the meat, pack the meat, not over 6" deep, into a non-metallic tub. Be sure the meat is packed down very tightly to eliminate all air pockets. Hold in refrigerator at 35°F to 40°F for 24 to 48 hours. This process helps tenderize the meat, gives it flavor and helps to preserve it.

STEP 3:GRINDING AND STUFFING
Grind the cured meat through 1-8" or 3-16" plate depending on your desired texture. After grinding, add 3 pints cold water, and dices or shredded potatoes. Frozen potatoes should not be thawed before adding to the meat.Mix the meat thoroughly, kneading it like a dough mixture. Shredded potatoes will absorb water from the mix, so you may have to add small amounts of water to ease stuffing if using shredded potatoes. When it is thoroughly mixed, it is ready for stuffing. Stuff into 35mm to 38mm pre-flushed hog casings or collagen casings, which can be purchased from a meat market or meat department in a grocery store. Twist the stuffed casings at 8 - 10" intervals to make the sausages and hang them, evenly spaced, not touching, on a smoke stick. Follow the directions for smoking or refrigerate immediately if you plan to have someone else smoke the sausage for you. You may opt to wrap your sausage now and freeze; I prefer a light smoke which only enhances flavor of this tremendous sausage when cooked.

STEP 4:SMOKING
Before smoking, dry sausage in smoke house with smoke house temperature of 100°F to 110°F for 1 hour or less - until casings are dry. Then add sawdust or wood chips and smoke 100°F to 110°F for 2 hours. Then, raise the smoke house temperature to 165°F to 170°F and smoke until the internal temperature of sausage is 145°F. Cool the sausage at room temperature to 100°F and refrigerate.

ANY SAUSAGE THAT WILL NOT BE CONSUMED IN 1 WEEK SHOULD BE WELL WRAPPED AND FROZEN.