Todd Torok got into sausage making about 15 years ago, after asking his cousin and best friend if he could join their annual family sausage-making day. The recipe came from his best friend’s Hungarian father. Torok, who is also Hungarian, and his friends tinkered with it over time until 2014, when they decided they’d gotten it right.
What started as three friends making Hungarian sausage together became Buckeye Road Sausage. Torok’s best friend, John Ruppert, died in 2016, and his cousin Michael died of brain cancer last year. After stepping away from sausage making for a time, Torok returned. Now building the business is also a way of carrying on what the three started together.
How did you get into making sausage?
Torok’s cousin and best friend made sausage about once a year for their family. Torok asked if he could come over and see how they did it.
“I got hooked immediately,” he said. He quickly started thinking bigger, telling them, “‘I think we can actually sell this stuff, guys.’”
Where did the recipe come from?
The recipe came from his best friend’s father, who was from Hungary.
Torok and his friends tinkered with the spice blend, adding “a little less here, a little more there” until 2014.
The basics of their Hungarian sausage include paprika, pepper, salt, garlic and natural casing.
“I’m Hungarian, so you can never have too much garlic,” he said.
There’s also one ingredient Torok said he isn’t revealing.
When did you realize you might have a business?
The day they settled on the recipe, the group made 80 pounds of sausage.
Torok said he sold it all within an hour.
The three later went to a bar after karate class and made an informal agreement that they were going to try to make the business work. They began selling sausage on the side. He said the business started to catch on.
What was making sausage together like?
It was as much about spending time together as making sausage or making money.
Before they started, the three would have a shot — either homemade Hungarian slivovitz, a plum brandy, or whiskey.
Then came the jokes. “It wasn’t work,” Torok said. “It was fun.”
Why did you stop making sausage?
Torok had an interview scheduled with Giant Eagle about potentially getting the sausage into its stores.
The day before the meeting, his best friend, John Ruppert, died of a massive heart attack.
Torok and his cousin later had a falling out and didn’t speak for years. Torok stopped making sausage for a time.
About three years ago, he decided to try again.
Why are you still doing it?
Torok’s cousin Michael died of brain cancer last October. His mother, who along with his father had been helping him with the business, also dies recently.
For now, Torok expects to keep Buckeye Road Sausage going largely on his own.
But he also sees it as keeping a promise to the two men who started it with him. And Torok still has the ambition they started with: getting Buckeye Road Sausage onto store shelves.
“We made a hell of a team,” he said. “But their spirit still lives with me. So I’m gonna fight for them.”
For now, customers will have to reach out to Torok directly to place sausage orders. His phone number is 440-321-1640, and his email is buckeyeroadsausage@yahoo.com. He delivers locally.“We made a hell of a team,” he said. “But their spirit still lives with me. So I’m gonna fight for them.”
