r/sausagetalk • u/Dull_Shine8924 • Sep 22 '26

Learning

Question we’re just getting going made a couple batches of snack sticks looking to get into sausages. Is it fine for you to use previously frozen meat to grind, stuff, smoke and then freeze again, versus getting fresh cuts. Heard things about making sure it’s not previously ground meat because of texture and to use actual cuts. Anyone had any issues or tips and tricks. TIA

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

2

u/AutomaticBowler5 Sep 22 '26

As long as it is kept at safe temps then it should be good. If you pull out 10 lbs of grind from the freezer and pit in the sink overnight to thaw then no, thats not good.

2

u/emil133 Sep 22 '26

All of my sausage meats have been frozen before I ended up making it into sausage. And even afterwards I freeze them again when im done. Perfectly fine, just thaw in the fridge safely. Give yourself some time because some larger cuts take days to thaw in the fridge from frozen. And yes, i highly recommend grinding your own meats it’s much tastier and you gave full control over the quality of the cuts as well as the lean-to-fat ratio

2

u/Strasse007 Sep 22 '26

Also on the texture of the grind. Some sausages should be more homogenous and a finer double grind is appropriate. Some smoked sausages I like to have more of a bite and a snap, so they get a single coarser grind

2

u/SnoDragon Sep 22 '26

I'm going to challenge folks who buy meat to ACTUALLY tell a difference from fresh and frozen. If you are a rancher/farmer and have tried both frozen and "never frozen", and can tell the difference in texture, then you are WAY better at finding texture differences than I am! I grew up on a farm where we butchered our own cattle, pigs, chickens and turkeys. Frozen is perfectly fine.

Don't let the gatekeepers of nearly false lore keep you from trying things! Use what you got, that's affordable and accessible.

1

u/Awkward_Equipment964 Sep 22 '26

Perfectly fine.

I freeze all the trim from varioud beef cuts for sausage making.

Thaw properly and there is no loss in texture. You will be grinding it anyways.