It is well-known that eating meat products can provide many health benefits and nutrients in our diets. However, we often shop at the grocery store and do not stop and look at what is in a meat product, what the fat ratio is, or what the proportions are. We simply grab an item off the shelf and go on our way. Making homemade sausage, jerky, snack sticks, summer sausage, hams, bacon, and so many other meat products can be done easily at home in a healthier process without sacrificing taste or flavor. You can often improve or customize the flavor to fit your distinct palate. Here are our top five reasons why you should begin taking control of what goes into your meat products and making your homemade sausage, jerky, and other meaty meals from home.

It is well-known that eating meat products can provide many health benefits and nutrients in our diets. However, we often shop at the grocery store and do not stop and look at what is in a meat product, what the fat ratio is, or what the proportions are. We simply grab an item off the shelf and go on our way. Making homemade sausage, jerky, snack sticks, summer sausage, hams, bacon, and so many other meat products can be done easily at home in a healthier process without sacrificing taste or flavor. You can often improve or customize the flavor to fit your distinct palate. Here are our top five reasons why you should begin taking control of what goes into your meat products and making your homemade sausage, jerky, and other meaty meals from home.

#1 You know what goes in your product

One of my main issues with purchasing a snack stick, summer sausage, or other type of processed meat product at the grocery store, are the ingredients. When I make my bratwursts or snack sticks at home I control exactly what is going into them. I know the nutritional value of each and every brat, same goes for anything I make out of pork butt or shoulder. I control how much fat, cheese and salt goes into each one and I know that only premium ingredients were used, no old or questionable meat was mixed or processed into my food.

#2 Paying attention to portion sizes

I use 28mm casings, which is a smaller diameter than the 32mm you normally use, and I make them shorter than what you see in the store. You wont even notice it being thinner or shorter than the store bought kind which means you can probably have 3 of those instead of 2 store bought ones. Your brain will see that third one and be convinced you are getting more even if the total weight you consume is the same or even less.

#3 You'll have more fun

Processing at home allows you to try out all sorts of flavors that you would otherwise never have access to. It took us a long time to find out which seasonings worked best with chicken, brats, or to marinate extremely lean beef in. We made sure we kept notes on what worked and what did not and ended up having a great time. There is also a great feeling of pride that comes from people saying that your sausages taste better than what they buy at the store!

#4 You track the calories

Something interesting happened when I started making more and more of my own food, I started to become much more conscious of exactly how many calories were in everything I was eating, whether I bought it at the grocery store, ordered it at a restaurant our made it myself. When I started doing this I had three basic goals for everything I made, I wanted options that had a good balance of taste to calories, a healthy fat content and I wanted everything to be easy to make. Now I weigh the health versus taste benefits of almost everything I put into my body.

#5 It gives you something to do

Instead of just throwing down money at the store for a hunk of meat or something someone else went through the effort to make, you will be the one cutting, grinding and stuffing. This might not burn a ton of calories in itself but staying active is almost always healthier than laying around on the couch right?