As consumers continue to become more conscious and interested in where their food comes from, and how it is being processed, there have been increased requests at the Magoffin County Extension Office for resources and programs surrounding growing, preserving, and processing fresh produce and more recently, meats. Particularly, several clients had mentioned that they would like to learn how to make their own summer sausage.

After discussing the process of making summer sausage with the Wolfe and Breathitt County ANR Agents, and hearing that they receive constant positive feedback about their summer sausage workshops, the Magoffin County ANR Agent partnered with the Breathitt County agent to offer the program in Magoffin County for the first time.

Due to the limited number of sausage stuffers, and it being necessary to clean and sanitize each piece of equipment after each use, registration also had to be limited, so the agents offered two different workshops on the same day—an afternoon and evening. Both classes were full after only a short period of advertisement.

The participants learned the art of making summer sausage—using a recipe derived from Dr. Gregg Rentfrow, UK Meat Specialist—as well as proper food safety practices, during the two-hour workshop. After the fermentation cycle of three to five days, the sausage was smoked in Breathitt County Extension’s smoker for two hours at 140 degrees to reach the accurate internal temperature, and then participants were able to pick up their respective roll of sausage.  There were 25 total participants, three of whom were first-time Extension users, and 3 youth.

The majority of the participants said they will now use the information and recipe from the workshop to begin making their own summer sausage at home!