Summer Sausage Weekend

Every year in February Richard, his son Garland and four friends from NW Missouri gather in Richard’s house to make their most excellent Summer Sausage. They made 150 pounds between them, and all the grinding, mixing, stuffing and cleaning up is done by noon on Saturday! They spend the rest of the day smoking the sausage and shooting at tin cans and clay pigeons! Then Sunday is for relaxation and visiting Bass Pro Shop in Springfied (big sporting goods store for those of you who haven’t heard of it!). This Summer Sausage is the most excellent I’ve ever tasted!

Forrest is pushing the big “sausage pooper” Richard designed so they can get that large amount stuffed in a shorter time period. Matt is forming the meat to put into the “pooper,” Bob is easing the “pooped” meat into the casing, and Garland stands ready to crimp the end of each roll. Richard and Ernie were out getting the smoker fire just right for getting the first batch cooking.