The following gives a list of the equipment required to make a batch. Finding the necessary equipment was a bit difficult at first (of course this is an Australian perspective) and over the years we have kept an eye out for places to secure sausage-making items. Specific information is given further below.

Hand Mincers

Hand mincers consist of a scr00 thread connected to a handle, a 4-bladed knife and a mincing disc. I know of two brands available in Australia - Alfa (made in Poland) and Porket (made in Czechoslovakia) both of which are made of cast iron. They come in a variety of sizes which are given in numbers which as far as I can work out don't mean anything. The bigger the mincer, the bigger the knife blade and the larger the mincer disc. Sizes are:

The first three sized mincers come with a scr00-clamp for attachment onto your kitchen counter whereas the latter three are for more permanent fixtures with holes in them for 4 scr00s (note that the #10 and #12 use the same disc). The discs themselves also come with an assortment of hole sizes depending on whether you want your mince ground coarsely or finely. Hole sizes available are 4, 6, 8, 10, 13 and 16 mm. Also needed for sausage making is a sausage funnel which is usually made of plastic and has either a 20 or 30 mm inside diameter.
 

Electric Mincers

I think it was after making a 20kg batch using the hand-mince that we decided it was time to go electric. We bought a Toby CR12 with 550W engine. It is a size 12 and the discs are exactly the same as for the hand-mincers (surprising but true!) and so all our discs were compatible. If you've ben using hand mincer you will laugh your head off when you move to an electric version.

Casings

Occassionally (but unprofessionally) referred to as "skins", these come in a surprising variety of types and sizes. Natural casings made from hog and sheep are most often used for fresh (uncooked) sausage and for smoked or cooked sausage (Polish sausage, salami etc.), synthetic casings are occassionally used.

Natural casings range from 15 to 50 mm in diameter and which ones you use depends on the type of sausage you want to make. For most of our fresh sausage we use 32 mm sheep casings but we use 40 mm hog casings for our pepperoni.  These can be purchased as "bundles (~100 yards) for about  $40 and come packed in coarse salt. Keep them dry and refrigerated and they will last you 6-12 months.

Stuffers

A dedicated stuffer like this 8 kg model makes stuffing much easier and faster.

Vacuum Sealers

Our most recent purchase is a vacuum sealer to seal both fresh and smoked sausages so that they last longer. They are also useful for sealing many other food products, especially things that can be bought in bulk (e.g. cheese, biscuits, hops etc).

Equipment Suppliers - where to buy?

See our link to commercial sites for a  list of places we have bought items from or know about. Let us know if you are aware of any others. 

Commercial Web Sites