Makin' sausage

[policyvote]

In late November I had one of my ridiculous ideas--involving street food and artisan sausages. In mid-December I was still talking about it, so the Mrs. got me a meat grinder for Christmas, as a put-up-or-shut-up shot across the bow. I took on the challenge:

 

http://plixi.com/p/68561322

 

This is my very first go--nothing but pork, salt, and pepper. I'll update the thread tomorrow, after breakfast.

 

Peace

policy

Edited January 8, 2011 by policyvote

[policyvote]

Well, it was pretty good, but not great. It was a little on the lean side, but flavorful and aromatic (used freshly ground pepper). I need a little practice with the olive-oil-and-water method of cooking (versus grilling, etc.) but it was pretty good for a first crack at it.

 

Peace

policy

[detlef]

What did you use to stuff the casings?

 

A few words of advice that may help going forward:

1) You certainly want to make sure there's plenty of fat in there, though it seems you're already on to that.

2) If you want to make links, you need to fill the casings less than you did in that photo. Then, pinch the casing where you want the ends of each link to be and spin the link between your fingers. When you repeat this for the next link, you need to spin the opposite direction or you'll un-wind the last link. Did that make sense?

3) Take a pin and poke several tiny holes in each link. For starters, that will allow any trapped air to get out, which is one of the ways to keep the sausage from exploding when you cook them.

4) The other way is to dry them out a little before cooking. You rarely see sausage sold this way in the store because they end up weighing less and things are sold by the pound. It would be cool if butchers would do this, but then they'd have to charge more and people may not buy their stuff. But if you're doing it at home, why not. The simplest, but least effective way is to simply put them on a grate of some sort set over a pan in the fridge for a few days. If you've got a beer fridge in the garage or something, you may be able to set up some way to actually hang them for a few days which works way better. If you braid the links (there's got to be a how-to somewhere on-line for this) they'll hang and dry better, but it's not super important.

5) The book I've always used is American Charcuterie. But now there's a ton of books out there.

[Choppy]

Try adding some mustard seed to your next batch. I like about 1 tablespoon per pound of meat. Really adds a nice flavor.

[nuke'em ttg]

I get jalapeno and onions brats at the butcher, those are worth a shot

[HowboutthemCowboys]

In late November I had one of my ridiculous ideas--involving street food and artisan sausages. In mid-December I was still talking about it, so the Mrs. got me a meat grinder for Christmas, as a put-up-or-shut-up shot across the bow. I took on the challenge:

 

http://plixi.com/p/68561322

 

This is my very first go--nothing but pork, salt, and pepper. I'll update the thread tomorrow, after breakfast.

 

Peace

policy

Policy, I've been making venison sausage for about 5 years. I buy premixed seasoningsfrom a local place now but 1 time I used

www.sausagesource.com. Good stuff but I can get just as good around here.

 

I use 50-50 venison and pork. Used to buy butts but now use what they call pork trimmings. they're cheaper and fattier. I was'nt getting enough fat with the butts.

Edited January 8, 2011 by HowboutthemCowboys

[gbpfan1231]

Policy, I've been making venison sausage for about 5 years. I buy premixed seasoningsfrom a local place now but 1 time I used

www.sausagesource.com. Good stuff but I can get just as good around here.

 

I use 50-50 venison and pork. Used to buy butts but now use what they call pork trimmings. they're cheaper and fattier. I was'nt getting enough fat with the butts.

No issues with this in Wisconsin

[policyvote]

What did you use to stuff the casings?

 

Mechanically? My grinder comes with stuffing parts--replace blade with 'stuffing star,' cutting plate with plastic funnel, etc. just slide the casing up on the funnel, put the mix in the grinder, and crank as usual. Seemed to work really well.

 

A few words of advice that may help going forward:

1) You certainly want to make sure there's plenty of fat in there, though it seems you're already on to that.

 

Yeah, this was a little too lean. Far from inedibly so, but I'll get more fat in there next time around.

 

2) If you want to make links, you need to fill the casings less than you did in that photo. Then, pinch the casing where you want the ends of each link to be and spin the link between your fingers. When you repeat this for the next link, you need to spin the opposite direction or you'll un-wind the last link. Did that make sense?

 

Yeah, I found that method on a website (sausagemania.com), and you totally called it; I overstuffed them. I had a hard time pinching and twisting, and burst a link (which was obnoxious).

 

3) Take a pin and poke several tiny holes in each link. For starters, that will allow any trapped air to get out, which is one of the ways to keep the sausage from exploding when you cook them.

 

Oh wow, great tip! I worried that any compromise of the casings (especially these natural casings) would spell imminent doom, but I will definitely try that.

 

4) The other way is to dry them out a little before cooking. You rarely see sausage sold this way in the store because they end up weighing less and things are sold by the pound. It would be cool if butchers would do this, but then they'd have to charge more and people may not buy their stuff. But if you're doing it at home, why not. The simplest, but least effective way is to simply put them on a grate of some sort set over a pan in the fridge for a few days. If you've got a beer fridge in the garage or something, you may be able to set up some way to actually hang them for a few days which works way better. If you braid the links (there's got to be a how-to somewhere on-line for this) they'll hang and dry better, but it's not super important.

 

5) The book I've always used is American Charcuterie. But now there's a ton of books out there.

I'll keep reading up and looking around; thanks for the tip! I'm definitely encouraged by this first attempt.

 

Peace

policy

Edited January 10, 2011 by policyvote

[detlef]

Mechanically? My grinder comes with stuffing parts--replace blade with 'stuffing star,' cutting plate with plastic funnel, etc. just slide the casing up on the funnel, put the mix in the grinder, and crank as usual. Seemed to work really well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I found that method on a website (sausagemania.com), and you totally called it; I overstuffed them. I had a hard time pinching and twisting, and burst a link (which was obnoxious).

I actually ended up noticing the end of the stuffing tube when I took another look at your photo.

 

Keep in mind about filling them too much, that as long as you spin them into links, you basically can't fill them too little, because you'll simply end up with more casing at the "knots". Just pinch between as much ground meat as you think it will take to fill a length of sausage you want. Then, when you spin it, it will compact and fill out the casing. Again, you'll just end up with a bunch of casing wound up at each end (which is not actually a horrible thing. I mean, of course there's a happy medium where you don't waste a ton of casing, but it's much easier to deal with making links if you didn't stuff the casings enough than other way around. Of course, don't hesitate to simply squeeze some sausage out of the casing is you put too much in.

[Bier Meister]

I actually ended up noticing the end of the stuffing tube when I took another look at your photo.

 

Keep in mind about filling them too much, that as long as you spin them into links, you basically can't fill them too little, because you'll simply end up with more casing at the "knots". Just pinch between as much ground meat as you think it will take to fill a length of sausage you want. Then, when you spin it, it will compact and fill out the casing. Again, you'll just end up with a bunch of casing wound up at each end (which is not actually a horrible thing. I mean, of course there's a happy medium where you don't waste a ton of casing, but it's much easier to deal with making links if you didn't stuff the casings enough than other way around. Of course, don't hesitate to simply squeeze some sausage out of the casing is you put too much in.

 

 

agree. it's been a while since i've made sausage, but this is still clear to me. also, if you want to test flavor use a small amount, wrap in saran wrap (tie it off like you would your larger version), and boil until done. gives you a good idea how of how it will turn out prior to wrapping all of your force-meat.

[detlef]

agree. it's been a while since i've made sausage, but this is still clear to me. also, if you want to test flavor use a small amount, wrap in saran wrap (tie it off like you would your larger version), and boil until done. gives you a good idea how of how it will turn out prior to wrapping all of your force-meat.

Great idea. We'd always just cook some of the mix up in a pan but then you get browning and carmelization which affects the flavor and will not be duplicated when you cook the links normally.