NEVER freeze the sausage casings! This will have the effect of breaking them down when rehydrated and then they fall apart. Mine sit in a container with about half a cup of Kosher salt mixed in, and around them. They don't need a FS storeage. Its stored in the fridge at all times, when you're not using some. I pull out the tangled wad of casings from the container and seperate out what I need, the rest get put back in the container. Yes, a little bit of water can be added, but not to soak the casings, but to allow the salt to stick to everything, kind of like a slush. If I have too much casing that is soaking prior to stuffing, I just pass it through my fingers to remove the excess water and put the rest back into the container with a little added kosher salt. Some of my cases were as old as 6+ years before being used up, and I saw no difference in these compared to some I just bought. The FS isn't needed for the casings as the small amount of water and all that salt will help to preserve them. You can use the FS for both fresh or smoked sausages of all kinds. I made some pepperoni last year using the long dry process curing. It requires the other type of nitrate, and the sausages were just stuffed and dried in air for about a month. I prefer to buy whole spices and grind them when needed. That means whole peppercorns, coriander, mustard seed, etc. The reason I use dried onions and garlic along with fresh is because the dried don't add any water to the meats. I also use dried green and red pepper flakes as they are quite cheap and work just as good as fresh, again without added water. When storing the whole spices, pour them in pint or quart Ball jars and use a lid, along with the adaptor that comes with teh FS. This adaptor can allow you to pull a vacuum on the jar and seal it under vacuum all in one step. Avoid light when storing herbs and spices. Even for that, if its an herb (leaf based), most will lose flavor very fast, so buy fresh dried herbs when making the sausages. One kind I plan to make is a beef, with dried tomato powder and lots of basil. I might add garlic too. Some spices and herbs can keep a little longer well if stored in FS bags and frozen or refrigerated. Here, I don't bother, as I make so much, I usually run out of the spices before I run out of sausage that I make.

I've been using this recipe that someone posted to this forum in the last few months. Unfortunately, I didn't make a note of who posted it. Hopefully, they will pop in & lay claim to it! Homemade Italian Sausage 2 lb. well-marbled pork butt med ground 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, well packed 1/4 cup dry white wine or ice cold water 1 clove garlic (I use 3-4 cloves) minced 1/2 T. ground fennel seed 1 T. dried basil 1 t. red chili peppers, minced 1/2 t. salt 1/2 t. dried oregano 1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper 1/2 t. thyme Mix all ingred together in large bowl. Using sausage stuffer, fill casings, twisting off 8" links or freeze as patties or in bulk. That's the recipe. I've been making it with ground turkey, omitting the cheese & wine, using the 3-4 cloves of garlic & doubling the am't. of fennel. Cheese because I'm not crazy about cheese & the wine because I haven't had any on hand when I've made the recipe. And the salt because DH is on a salt-restricted diet. I've been using the frozen chubs of ground turkey from Aldi's. The mix is plenty wet w/o the wine or water. Also, I've freezing it in 1# bulk am'ts to use in spaghetti & lasagna. I've tried a couple of other recipes in the past & this one is my favorite by far. Last batch I made up w/ 6# of meat. And using the turkey from Aldi's (1.19 a lb.) it's really inexpensive to make & better tasting than the Ital sausage I can get at the market (Johnsonville, Jimmy Dean, etc.) Anyway, am really glad that you started this thread. I never thought about toasting the fennel OR adding tarragon. Tarragon & fennel are my next two favorite herbs...after cilantro, of course. :)

I never heard of it as an Italian sausage but my immigrnt German-Jewish inlaws always got it and liverwurst and something called 'aufshnit' from a kosher German wurst-maker in Washington Heights years ago. It is a garlicky salami best served on good rye bread with a little mustard. I have bought it many times from my kosher butcher and always hang it to dry before cutting into it. But it has never tasted as good as the ones my mother-in-law got years ago. I am retty sure they were hand-made in the shop where they were sold.

I buy both, take the skin off and fry them up for my spagetti sauce, gives it a nice flavor. DH and DS like hot ones if we are grilling them for sandwiches. I bought myself some Tofurky Italian sausage the other day to use in a soup, they had very nice flavor, better than I thought they would. Doing meat and non meat cooking really takes planning, I am finally getting the hang of it.