Stark, actually: How the sausage is made

WHAT: Sausage is made four days per week at Postiy's Fine Food & Meats in Plain Township

WHERE: 3819 Columbus Road NE

WHEN: This photo was taken the afternoon of March 2.

THE STORY: An old saying implies sausage-making is unappealing or unappetizing.

It's simply not true.

All varieties produced at Postiy's — including local brand Tomasino's and what winds up crumbled on Pizza Oven sausage pizzas — begin as a pork butt roast. It's the same slab that competition barbecuers often use for slow-smoked pulled pork.

Postiy's sausage gurus Zach Morelli and Mike Allen made three types of links on a recent Thursday: country, mild Italian and hot Italian.

Morelli sliced pork into smaller chunks, then sent it for two trips through an electric grinder, where precise amounts of seasonings and preservatives are added. Then, Allen took over. The ground meat journeyed through an electric linker; Allen guided the product into a continuous hog casing, before he twisted it into smaller links.

Brayton DiPietro, general manager, said Postiy's makes 3,500 pounds of sausage per week. The bulk of its business is wholesale, supplying beef and pork products to local restaurants. However, its retail store also offers a full line of meats, and other items.

The DiPietro family essentially saved the Postiy's and Tomasino's names.

Founded in 1966, Postiy's butcher shop was later sold to the Prestier family. For years, the Prestiers made and sold Tomasino's. However, it had fallen on hard times by 2012, when Brayton DiPietro's dad, Steve DiPietro, and his uncle, Dave DiPietro, bought the place, to serve as a warehouse for its Pizza Oven restaurants.

And to ensure the pizza sausage was consistent.

The business began to add accounts. The Postiy's name was restored. The operation was remodeled. And it's now a self-sufficient business.

Brayton DiPietro said he'd next like to grow the Tomasino's brand, which at one time was available in local grocery stores.

Reach Tim at 330-580-8333 ortim.botos@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @tbotosREP