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See How the Sausage Gets Made at Texas Sausage Company

Gabriel Cristóver Pérez
/
KUT
The Texas Sausage Company has operated since the 1940s.
Credit Gabriel Cristóver Pérez / KUT
/
KUT
Gary Tharp, owner of Texas Sausage Company, has been running the the business since 1988. He says he's considered moving from the East 12th Street location, but that it would likely cost more to move than it would to stay put.

In the neighborhood around 12th and Chicon streets in East Austin, change seems to be the only constant. We've been bringing you the voices of people in that neighborhood over the past few months as part of our On My Block project. Today, we hear from Gary Tharp, who owns the Texas Sausage Company on 12th Street. 

Tharp's business has been in his family for the better part of 70 years.

He earned a business degree and was an investment broker for five years, but returned to his family business in the 1988. He says, as far as businesses go, it's recession-proof – it's a relatively cheap product to manufacture, the pricepoint is low and, because of Texans' love of barbecue, there's always a market for sausage. 

Below you can see how Tharp and his crew of four employees make the sausage at Texas Sausage Company. 

Credit Gabriel Cristóver Pérez / KUT
/
KUT
Frozen meat is sliced with a bandsaw in the processing room.

Credit Gabriel Cristóver Pérez / KUT
/
KUT
Frozen boneless naval plate is sliced into chunks before grinding.

Credit Gabriel Cristóver Pérez / KUT
/
KUT
Chunks of boneless naval plate are put into a grinder.

Credit Gabriel Cristóver Pérez / KUT
/
KUT
Chunks of boneless naval plate in a grinder.

Credit Gabriel Cristóver Pérez / KUT
/
KUT
Freshly ground meat is packaged into sausage casings.

Credit Gabriel Cristóver Pérez / KUT
/
KUT
Workers load up sausages onto a drying rack.

Credit Gabriel Cristóver Pérez / KUT
/
KUT
Freshly packed sausages.

Credit Gabriel Cristóver Pérez / KUT
/
KUT
Freshly packed sausages are hung to dry ahead of cooling.

Credit Gabriel Cristóver Pérez / KUT
/
KUT
Sausages hanging inside the cold storage room.

Credit Gabriel Cristóver Pérez / KUT
/
KUT
Sausages hanging inside the smoke room.

Credit Gabriel Cristóver Pérez / KUT
/
KUT
Sausages for sale in the display case at the Texas Sausage Company.

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