ArtreusI'm a wizardAnd that looks fucked upRegistered Userregular
edited July 2009
This is fantastic. I was actually just wondering how to do this a few days ago. I keep buying bacon but then not eating it quickly enough.
One thing I was wondering though. I usually buy leg of lamb center slices as they are relatively cheap and easy to cook.
All I really do is coat it in a paste of dijon mustard, oregano, garlic, a little onion, and various other spices if I want and then bake it for about 25 minutes. But I was wondering if you had any recipes or guide on marinating or otherwise preparing Lamb to be even more delicious.
I want to do those things you have listed so far, but I am a poor college student right now and it will be a little while yet before I get the resources to pull something off like the curing.
Tonight, I too enter the world of charcuterie :!: As I mentioned, my wife flys in on Sunday and I am conspiring to surprise her with delicious corned beef, one of her favorite comfort foods.
Started earlier today by googling for pink salt in the area. Jeesus christ that shit goes by a lot of names - Prague powder, curing salt, DQ Cure, Insta-cure, various other brand names. A local butcher said they had some, but couldn't just sell it to me due to some government regulation business... I had to bring in the other seasonings I was going to use and they would mix some in for me? Or something? It was hard to understand the guy over the phone.
Anyway, it was getting complicated, but I remembered that my step-dad is "that guy" who can find anything, anywhere, so I ask him if he knows where to get some curing salt. Turns out he has a bag! Yay for family!
It was then to the local mega-grocer to acquire the rest of my supplies. Found some McCormick's pickling salt and the rest. The largest brisket they had was 3.22 pounds, so I adjusted the rest of the recipe proportionally. Good thing, too, since my largest "stock pot" was just big enough to hold 10 1/3 cups of water and still have some stirring room.
The brine is now cooling in my fridge, quite soon it will be introduced to the flesh, so that it may work it's sinister purpose.
Just added the veggies. Did a quick taste test, and I think there is definitely some promise here. Hopefully it tenders up a bit more with an 1 and 1/2 hours more simmering.
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ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Can't wait amigo Looking forward to the results myself.
I'm prepping some pastrami right now myself, I'll have some pics updated to the original recipe and I should have my hands on a meat grinder and sausage supplies within a couple of days. Sausage write-up here we come!
This is fantastic. I was actually just wondering how to do this a few days ago. I keep buying bacon but then not eating it quickly enough.
One thing I was wondering though. I usually buy leg of lamb center slices as they are relatively cheap and easy to cook.
All I really do is coat it in a paste of dijon mustard, oregano, garlic, a little onion, and various other spices if I want and then bake it for about 25 minutes. But I was wondering if you had any recipes or guide on marinating or otherwise preparing Lamb to be even more delicious.
I want to do those things you have listed so far, but I am a poor college student right now and it will be a little while yet before I get the resources to pull something off like the curing.
Not a problem. Lamb can be prepared more or less the same way as I outlined before with with the chicken and the pork. Simply make the basic brine that I outlined previously, then simply add those spices that you'd normally rub on the outside of the meat into the brine. This will infuse the whole lamb with the flavoring rather than the outer layer of the meat. Since you're buying them pre-sliced, shoot for a brine time of 2-3 hours tops, less if you want a more subtle brine flavor, it all depends on what you like.
For something bigger like a whole rack of lamb you'll probably want to do the brining for say at least 8-12 hours depending on the size, once again, refer to the general size chart I outlined in the brining chapter for a better estimate. That's what makes brining so versatile, simply use the same spices you already use but then simply mix em into a brine rather than a rub or sauce, and you'll get more of the flavor than you would have previously without it.
As for actually cooking it, well there's quite a variety of options you have, the most common is oven roasting lamb. One key thing to remember about lamb is that it is a very lean meat and dries out very quickly so when you're oven roasting lamb, particularly large racks, you'll want to make sure to baste the lamb with some kind of sauce or olive oil to keep the outer layer moist while cooking. Here's a general cooktime chart I snagged off the internet. Usually you'll be roasting lamb covered except for the last couple of minutes to make a nice outer crust.
I took a trip to a nearby shopping mall the other day with the express purpose of buying bucatini and guanciala. This with the expressi ntent to make bucatini all gricia and all ammatriciana respectively for me and my significant other.
However the guy in the store cut the guanciala too bloody thin and my SO got in in her head (from which things are difficult to dislodge) that the whole project is ruined, null and void.
Also, this has the makings of a goddamned cookbook, you'll need an angle, naturally, and some sort of hook, but there's if not money then at least everlasting glory there.
Pipesmoking is allowed, nay, encouraged after your first publication.
Hehe thankee amigo, glad you're liking the stuff.
At long last I managed to dig up a recipe on Guanciale, haven't made it in quite a while, but the recipe still works, so on we go!
(For those interested in just what the heck Guanciale is, it's a small fatty cut of meat from the cheek of a pig. It has a very intense taste that comes across very nicely when dried, similar to Pancetta. In fact, it's prepared in a very similar fashion! If you're interested in giving it a whirl, check out your butcher shop and see if they can special order it for you!)
Guanciale
One 2 Pound/1-kilogram Pork Jowl
1/2 cup/70 grams kosher salt
1/3 cup/70 grams sugar
2 cloves/10 grams garlic mashed or finely minced
15 whole black peppercorns roughly smashed or coarsely ground
1 large bunch Thyme
Firstly, we'll need to prepare the Jowl. Trim and loose fat or connective tissue from the jowl (this includes odd shaped fatty discs, you'll see them as they're different in color from the rest of the meat) and rinse and pat dry.
Next, combine all of the dry cure ingredients and mix well. Cover and rub the jowl with the ingredients to ensure that they're evenly distributed and place inside a non-reactive container or ziploc bag (preferred).
Like bacon, you'll need to let the jowl cure. Place it inside a fridge and let cure for about 4-6 days. Check it regularly around the 4th day to see if it is ready. Once again, the "steak" test applies here. If it feels like a well done steak (ie firm and springs back fairly quickly when pressed with a finger) it is done.
Remove the jowl from the fridge and rinse it of the aromatics and cure and pat dry.
Now comes the long part, we now have to air dry our jowl. Using a knife, poke a hole in the jowl far enough towards to the center that it won't rip itself apart when it hangs from it. Take some butchers twine and thread it needle style through the hole. Make a sturdy knot through the jowl and hang it carefully in a cool dry place for 1-3 weeks depending on temperature and humidity. Once again, like pancetta, it should be dry and stiff but not rock hard, it should give some when pressed with your hand.
Refrigerate the completed jowl for up to 3 weeks or it can be frozen for longer depending on what you need.
As for actually cooking it, well there's quite a variety of options you have, the most common is oven roasting lamb. One key thing to remember about lamb is that it is a very lean meat and dries out very quickly so when you're oven roasting lamb, particularly large racks, you'll want to make sure to baste the lamb with some kind of sauce or olive oil to keep the outer layer moist while cooking. Here's a general cooktime chart I snagged off the internet. Usually you'll be roasting lamb covered except for the last couple of minutes to make a nice outer crust.
[IMG][/img]
For roasting anything I recommend using a probe thermometer. No guesswork, and no overcooking (I take into account the extra temperature rise while resting when setting the "done" temp).
Barrakketh on
Rollers are red, chargers are blue....omae wa mou shindeiru
Just added the veggies. Did a quick taste test, and I think there is definitely some promise here. Hopefully it tenders up a bit more with an 1 and 1/2 hours more simmering.
And did it!
Goddamn that was delicious. Aromatic, tender, complex, everything a cured hunk o' meat should be. And not nearly the saltbomb of a store bought corned beef.
The crock pot was a bit of a pain in the ass. I always forget that (a) they take forever to actually heat up to simmering temp and (b) anything you dump in there (IE vegetables) cools down the crock pot so you basically start all over. Next time I'll either have to add the veggies in at the beginning or cook them separately using the juice from the meat pot.
When I get around to it you'll get a picture of the finished product alongside it's vegetable accoutrements. Salivation will be imminent.
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ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
As for actually cooking it, well there's quite a variety of options you have, the most common is oven roasting lamb. One key thing to remember about lamb is that it is a very lean meat and dries out very quickly so when you're oven roasting lamb, particularly large racks, you'll want to make sure to baste the lamb with some kind of sauce or olive oil to keep the outer layer moist while cooking. Here's a general cooktime chart I snagged off the internet. Usually you'll be roasting lamb covered except for the last couple of minutes to make a nice outer crust.
[IMG][/img]
For roasting anything I recommend using a probe thermometer. No guesswork, and no overcooking (I take into account the extra temperature rise while resting when setting the "done" temp).
Ah yes good point, I need to remember to snag one of those myself someday
Actually if you're going to be doing pork ribs you'll want to cook them in the crockpot and then add the barbecue sauce in the final 30 min-1 hour of cooking. This mainly has to do with that with the long cook times involved in crock pot cooking, your sauce is going to break down and taste pretty damn awful after 7 hours in there. Here's what I recommend actually if you're looking for really juicy succulent ribs.
Now you'll notice this prep is a bit involved so you may have to start it the night before, especially if you're using a crockpot, but I leave it up to you to decide.
Take the rack of ribs and set aside. Trim or cut them to appropriate sized racks to fit into your crockpot.
Prepare another pot large enough to hold the ribs and a brine (this is assuming somewhere around a 3-5lb rack of ribs)
Use a basic brine that I outlined in the sticky above:
THE BASIC BRINE
1 Gallon/4 Liters Water
1 cup/225 grams Kosher Salt
½ cup/125 grams Sugar
Optional: Additional Seasonings
Here you can also add any other spices or flavorings that you normally eat with pork. Since I'm not sure what spices you like here are some recommendations that complement pork well, usually a teaspoon of each is enough for the brine to impart the flavor into the ribs:
GENERAL ADDITIONS
Aromatic Vegetables (Carrots/Onions/Green Onions/Celery all roughly chopped)
Ginger
Garlic
Whole or Cracked Pepper
Any mix of dried or fresh herbs like Parsley, Thyme, Rosemary, Basil, etc
PORK SEASONINGS
Any of the above, including
Sage
Garlic
Juniper Berries
Bay Leaves
Coriander seeds
Brown Sugar
Molasses
And there you go! Combine whatever ingredients you like into the pot and bring the brine to a simmer. Once all the salt and sugar has dissolved, bring the brine back down to room temperature.
Add the rack of ribs to the brine. Make sure they're completely submerged and place the pot into your fridge for about 6-8 hours. Depending on whether you're using Baby-Back ribs or thick Country-Style ribs, you may have to adjust your brining time. The thicker and meatier the rib, the longer you can safely brine them. Once the brining is complete, remove the ribs from the brine and set aside.
Prep your crockpot for low cooking. Take one large onion and roughly chop it into large chunks. Lay the chunks on the bottom of the crock pot and between the layers of ribs depending on how big your crock pot is you may have to mix it up a bit so make sure they're evenly dispersed through the meat. Dash in some salt and pepper if you like.
Add about a 1/4 cup of water to the pot and seal it. Set to low heat and cook for about 7 hours for 3lbs of ribs, longer if you have larger cuts or more meat. Once the meat is cooked, take whatever barbecue sauce you're going to be using and add it directly to the pot in the final 30min-1 hour of cooking. Set your crockpot to its high setting and let it cook to fully absorb the sauce. Once done, remove and serve.
There ya go, you'll get immaculately tender ribs from the brining and the flavors will be more thoroughly distributed through the meat leading to a wonderful set of ribs whatever cut they may be.
However if you are pressed for time, not a problem, you can skip the brining step and add some dried herbs of your choosing to the crockpot along with the chopped onion (and garlic if you're feeling garlicky with your ribs) and water. Simply cook the ribs as outlined above, first without the barbecue sauce, and then add the sauce in the final hour of cooking. Just make sure to add whatever herbs and spices you want before you start the long cooking period, this will really be the only opportunity for the meat to absorb flavor directly into the meat so make sure you use whatever spices you like at this point.
Good luck!
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alright, as promised, here's the finished product. Notice the beautiful pinkish tone. The veggies also got imbued with that wonderfully aromatic flavor of the beef + pickling spice
All and all it was amazing. My wife was quite impressed. Thanks for the lovely advice.
The rib recipe he gave me was awesome (is this a surprise anymore?) I didn't get a chance to brine it so I through the spices directly in with the meat (as well as carrots, celery, and a sliced apple). I used several different spices and it was so freaking tasty and aromatic. Shit smelled good. I couldn't finish all 3lbs of ribs myself, so I separated the meat, broth, and veggies into different containers (I also didn't have one large enough for everything).
Soooo much fat separated in the broth. So now that I'm reheating everything for today, I've got a giant fucking slab of fat slowly melting over the meat. I am expecting delicious.
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ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Ooo sounds good man, I hope they come out awesome! I shall be starting my pastrami today so hopefully that'll go smoothly
ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Oh...My...God....
The pastrami...the pastrami....came out...so damn goood.....
It was so good, my future self appeared before me, fixed me with a stern glare, made to strike me down with his hand, and promptly died of a heart attack. This leads me to several conclusions:
1. I can infer from this that I am doomed.
2. Though I may be doomed, I am doomed to die deliciously.
3. I apparently will discover time travel to attempt to bishlap some sense into me but fail....
:shock:
Seriously, this puts my Pancetta to shame as far as orgasmically delicious foods go. A wonderfully intense smokey peppery flavor and none of the grease soaked, fatty tasting meat that you normally get with fast food pastrami, this was worth every damn penny of work!
Zxerolfor the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't doso i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered Userregular
edited August 2009
holy shit man
my fucking god that looks good
If i find you and lop off your head, will i absorb your powers? I mean, hypothetically speaking.
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ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Possibly...but my powers are so full of awesome that were you to do so I would explode into a cornucopia of meat products and general madness that it would cause a chain reaction and cause your head to asplode as well...you would get one quick taste of my visage and sausage before you would be incinerated...a brief...yet delicious slice of life.....
Sausage write up coming soon! I just finished the batch tonight and it was goot! Now to organize the pics and get the recipe written down!
This thread hasn't had a new post in a while but I think that this is useful information.
The thread inspired me to make some delicious bacons. Instead of just using the recipe on here, however, I decided to look around online and see what other cures I could locate. I found something interesting claiming that pink salt, or any nitrates for that matter, are unnecessary. This surprised me, since Cow had put some time into explaining pink salt. Nonetheless, this website explicitly stated that not using nitrates will affect nothing but the color of your resulting bacon, and it will perhaps keep for less time before spoiling. The flavor and all other characteristics will remain the same.
Well hmm.
So I did it.
I used the cure on that website which had stated pink salt or saltpetre as optional ingredients. I made up the cure with no added nitrates - so it was basically kosher salt, sugar, and black pepper - and made me some bacons.
It is quite delicious.
I then made another "slab" with brown sugar and maple syrup added to the cure.
Also delicious.
So, I wanted to let you all know, nitrates in the form of pink salt or saltepetre are not necessary. You have to compensate with a bit more salt, but you do not need those special ingredients.
Maybe that will encourage people to make bacon who did not want to purchase pink salt for the occasion.
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ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
This thread hasn't had a new post in a while but I think that this is useful information.
The thread inspired me to make some delicious bacons. Instead of just using the recipe on here, however, I decided to look around online and see what other cures I could locate. I found something interesting claiming that pink salt, or any nitrates for that matter, are unnecessary. This surprised me, since Cow had put some time into explaining pink salt. Nonetheless, this website explicitly stated that not using nitrates will affect nothing but the color of your resulting bacon, and it will perhaps keep for less time before spoiling. The flavor and all other characteristics will remain the same.
Well hmm.
So I did it.
I used the cure on that website which had stated pink salt or saltpetre as optional ingredients. I made up the cure with no added nitrates - so it was basically kosher salt, sugar, and black pepper - and made me some bacons.
It is quite delicious.
I then made another "slab" with brown sugar and maple syrup added to the cure.
Also delicious.
So, I wanted to let you all know, nitrates in the form of pink salt or saltepetre are not necessary. You have to compensate with a bit more salt, but you do not need those special ingredients.
Maybe that will encourage people to make bacon who did not want to purchase pink salt for the occasion.
Aye not using pink salt is actually ok in certain situations, but I'd just like to clarify a bit about using pink salt in general.
When deciding to use pink salt or not, you have to take a look at the final product and note how exactly it's going to be prepared and how you're going to use it.
For example, Bacon. Bacon you can technically do it without pink salt since, for the most part, bacon is fully cooked at high temperatures before we eat it. Even after smoking a slab of bacon, I always recommend to slice it thin and then fry it or toss it into a stew before actually eating it.
The key distinction on whether or not to use Pink Salt is this:
WHAT METHOD ARE YOU GOING TO USE TO COOK OR PREPARE YOUR MEAT?
If you are planning to make any meat product containing pork or chicken, and you are planning either to smoke or air dry your product as your primary method of "cooking" it, then Pink Salt is strongly advised to be used.
In fact, for drying meats that contain pork or chicken in particular, I would say that Pink Salt is MANDATORY. There are just too many variables to account for when you're air drying meat, and the potential for bad bacterial growth is just too high to not use Pink Salt or some other kind of preservative agent to inhibit formation of nasty bacteria like the kind that produces the Botulin toxin.
Smoking can go either way. Technically Botulin toxin can remain in meat even at "Hot" smoking temperatures (ie 200 degrees F). This is why that commercially canned food is often heated to 250 degrees F or more to kill off the bacteria that produce the toxin. However as with many smoked meats, most of us will often cook the meat again or consume it as soon as it was made.
For those with nitrate concerns, I would advise to exercise extreme caution when deciding to pursue a recipe without pink salt when it normally calls for it. I would avoid trying to make ANY dried sausage without pink salt and only smoke freshly prepared meat and sausage immediately after preparation to inhibit formation of bacteria if you can.
All in all what I'm trying to say is that while modern meat manufacturing has more or less eliminated issues with bacteria formation, I always advise to use pink salt when the recipe calls for it. It's more a case of "Better Safe than Sorry", but ultimately I leave it up to you to decide what to try.
Sausage writeup is almost done, I'm about 3/4 of the way through it. It's probably my biggest section that I've done yet, so it's taking me a bit longer than normal.
ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited December 2013
THE ART OF SAUSAGE – HOW TO MAKE A THREAD AWKWARD SOUNDING IN ONE POST
(ALERT: MASSIVE INNUENDO AND MULTIPLE ENTENDRES AHOY! ALSO IT’S LONG…LIKE REALLY LONG…LIKE…LONGER THAN SOMETHING THAT’S NORMALLY LONG…BUT LONGER…YOU’LL PROBABLY WANT TO MAKE SOME SAUSAGE OR SOMETHING TO EAT WHILE YOU’RE READING THIS…OH WAIT)
YE HAS BEEN WARNED!...
Annndd just to get it out of the way…
HA HA! Multiple Entendre!
Anyhow….
Alrighty folks here it is! This is what is often thought of as the Pinnacle of what Charcuterie is all about: The art of Sausage Making! This section is probably going to be the longest (HA HA!) and most involved out of everything I’ve posted so far, so hang on to your aprons and get your gear ready because here we go!
Sausage making I feel is one of the abilities that really show you have the ability to improvise. The process really allows you to showcase your ability to combine ingredients that otherwise would be boring or plain into creations that will titillate (*snort*) your tastebuds.
Sausages are often given a bad rap as a poor quality food mainly due to how mass produced sausages are prepared nowadays. With force-grinding/stuffing (oh god!) and the various chemicals used to aid in preservation and presentation, many mass produced sausages generally taste pretty plain or worse, terrible. What I hope to accomplish here is to show you that you can indeed produce your own high quality sausage if you’re willing to put in a little work and put in a little money for materiel…plus, even if you don’t want to put up with the hassle of all the stuffing (das right!) and whatnot, simply the process of making the ground meat can result in a delicious meat creation all of in itself! Don’t want to stuff (hee!) the meat? No problem! Take it and shape into a fantastic hamburger, thread it on a kebab, or add it to your favorite stew or pasta! Grinding and flavoring your own meat (hehe ok I’m done…) is a wondrous process all in itself!
For the ease of readability, I’m going to sub-divide this section into several parts as Sausage making is probably THE most direct-labor intensive part of Charcuterie and as such will require a bigger degree of investment of time and materiel than you’ve normally been used to with say bacon or jerky. Nevertheless, I shall do my best to separate everything into easily followed sections.
Greatcow’s Speecy Spicy Table of Quicklinked Contents
ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Sausage Types Fresh/Smoked/Emulsified/Dried etc
Before I actually get to writing up the recipe for making sausage, I feel it should be a good idea to give a solid introduction of the techniques, types of sausage and equipment needed to make the sausage itself as each sub-type of sausage does require a slightly different style of preparation.
Essentially the major distinction between sausage types has to do with their final cooking/curing method and a little with their grinding/mixing stage. Most sausages are split into 4 types, though rather than cut and dry distinctions between each other, many sausages that would normally be classified as one or the other actually share preparation techniques them. Only Dried sausage really has a unique preparation style and as such requires the highest investment of time, equipment, and ingredients.
Fresh – This is the most common type of Sausage, and the type you most often find in delicatessens and supermarkets. Essentially “Fresh” sausage is nothing more than ground meat and spices that is immediately stuffed in a case of various origins and then cooked right away or the sausage is frozen for later use. This by far is the easiest type of sausage to prepare and requires the smallest investment of supplies and equipment.
Smoked – Pretty much identical to Fresh sausage, the only major difference for smoked sausage is that Pink Salt or some other kind of preservative agent MUST be added to the ground meat mixture in order to prevent formation of bacteria in the sausage during the drying and smoking phase. Typically Smoked sausages are prepared almost identically to Fresh, but once the sausages are stuffed and formed, they are then air dried for a few hours and then “Hot” smoked (200 degrees F) for a couple of hours as well.
Emulsified – Another sub-type of Fresh Sausage, Emulsified sausage is essentially Fresh sausage that involves several extra steps before being stuffed. Emulsified sausages require that the fat and the meat be ground separately, and then mixed furiously until you get a smooth creamy paste. The resultant mixture is then finally stuffed into the casing. These types of sausages are usually very delicate in taste and texture and are usually served with light sauces or on a bed of rice. Temperature also plays a much more important role than the other sausage types here. The ingredients must be kept as cold as possible throughout the whole grinding/mixing/stuffing process. Otherwise, the resultant mixture will “break” and ruin the consistency of the sausage once it cooks. Cooking is also a bit different as well. Emulsified sausages are often gently poached or baked to ensure that the mixture stays together during cooking. This type of sausage is pretty much “Hard Mode” for sausage making, mainly due to the preparation and cooking needed to get this to come out right.
Dried – If Emulsified sausage can be considered “Hard Mode”, then Dried sausage is pretty much the next step up; “extreme” “insanity” whichever you like heheh…These are the types of sausages that we often associate with high quality Italian meats: Salame, Pepperoni, Bressola etc. Ironically, this method of preparing sausage requires no cooking, but requires the BIGGEST investment of time and special ingredients in order to complete. This method is also the most fickle; it depends primarily on ambient temperature and humidity and unless you have access to a dedicated drying room found in professional meat houses, completing this type of sausage is both a mighty challenge, but also the finest result of any sausage you can possibly prepare.
If you do decide to pursue preparations of this type of sausage, do keep in mind that you will need to exercise extreme caution and attention to detail when preparing it. Several different types of preservative agents and specialized drying equipment is going to be needed in order to complete this method so when you’re reviewing the recipes that I post for it, take particular care in following them as these types of sausages have the highest chance of making people sick or having them fail if you don’t follow and prepare them right. Ultimately, even the best meat monger has trouble with these types of sausage. People I know who have been doing this longer than I have STILL have trouble with this type of preparation. What I’m saying is that if you do decide to prepare this type of sausage, be prepared for failure. Many times the sausage will over-mold and be ruined, or the casing will dry out and cause the inside to rot. It is simply the nature of the game with this prep type. When you leave your cooking method to Mother Nature, you often have to take the luck of the draw with her as well…
ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Equipment
Next up we have equipment. With sausage making, unfortunately a bit of investment on your part will be necessary if you wish to pursue this chapter of Charcuterie. Thankfully, most of the equipment is readily available and does not require a huge investment if you’re not pursuing some of the more advanced dried sausage techniques. This list is more of a primer than anything and some of them you may not need. This is just a list of items that I found useful or needed at one stage or another.
Meat Grinder– This will be the most important piece of equipment you buy for making sausage. Every single sausage to some degree or another will require grinding meat or mixture. Thankfully as nearly every single appliance maker has thrown their hat in the proverbial ring on this one, finding a counter-top home-grade meat grinder is easier than ever and can be found for a very reasonable price!
This also makes trying to pick one out of all of the available models a bit of a chore. What the heck do you look for? Wattage? HP? Turnip Twaddlers? The list of features can be boggling sometimes so here are few things you’ll want to look for:
Power: Usually measured in the form of HP (Horsepower), you’ll want to look for grinders that have at least 1/2 HP or more. Generally speaking, the more powerful the motor, the more effectively it can grind tough cuts of meat and in extreme cases even gristle or bone (I guess if you’re making your own dog/cat food this may come in handy)
Cutting Plates: Look for grinders that include at least 2 cutting plates. Most often grinders will include a Coarse and Medium/Fine cutting plate depending on what you want to grind. Coarse will be good for pretty much most sausage, but if you’re making Emulsified sausages or mixing multiple disparate ingredients into smoked sausages like Kielbasa or Bratwurst, having multiple plates handy is definitely a good idea.
Multiple Speeds/Directions: This is definitely a worthwhile feature to have on your grinder. Essentially what this means is does your grinder allow you to reverse your grinding? This is especially helpful if you get a jam or meat is not coming out properly; you can reverse the grind flow and allow yourself to clean the clog and then continue, without having to pick and poke at the auger to clean it out.
Sausage Stuffer Attachments: Most grinders will also include sausage tubes. These plastic (sometimes metal) pieces attach to the outbound plate of your grinder and allow you to stuff the sausage using the same appliance. Most of the time you’ll also get at least 2 tubes for different sizes of sausage as well, allowing for some versatility there. Stuffing sausages using your grinder is definitely the cheaper alternative, however if you find that you’re making larger and larger batches or making sausages more often, you may want to consider purchasing the next piece of equipment:
Sausage Stuffer – This is essentially a giant pump/spackle gun-like thing that’s either hand cranked or electrically powered whose only job is to press ground meat into casings. Buying one of these is not necessarily required, but if you find yourself making large quantities of sausage, or making sausage on a semi-regular basis, purchasing one of these is often worth the effort. Relying on your meat grinder to stuff your sausage basically puts you at the mercy of your grinder’s speed. Essentially it will only stuff as fast as it grinds, which for many countertop models, is pretty darn slow. You won’t be limited to the grinder’s speeds if you use a dedicated stuffer, and you won’t have to worry about clogs or smear nearly as much with it as well. The major caveat to this is that most stuffers are pretty darn expensive, as evidenced by this example: http://www.amazon.com/LEM-Products-Vertical-Stainless-Sausage/dp/B000SQDTRC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1251226369&sr=8-2
Electric Mixer – Also a very useful device, some would say mandatory. Though it is not absolutely necessary if you’re sticking to fresh or smoked sausage, if you plan on doing emulsified or dried sausage with any regularity, you may want to invest in one of these. Achieving a good emulsion is made 10x easier with an electric mixer and also allows you to work much more quickly with your recipes. When you’re dealing with raw meat, getting it ground and stuffed as fast as possible is definitely a worthy idea, and also a heck of a lot easier on your arms!
Kitchenaid also has the nice ability to add attachments to the mixer, including a meat grinder attachment as well so you don’t have to buy multiple appliances. However if you do decide to go this route, buy one of the stronger motor models as the 250 watt will kind of be tested in terms of wear and tear.
A Good Knife – This is pretty self explanatory, and by now you should probably have already guessed you need one; however it still bears repeating that a good solid meat cutting knife or cleaver is worth its weight in gold. Having a good knife is particularly important for sausage making as you’re going to be cutting large chunks of semi-frozen meat which I don’t have to tell you can be a bit tough to cut. The number of shaved off sections of my finger when my previous cruddy knives slipped are a testament to just how dangerous cutting semi-frozen meat with a bad knife can be. While I’m sure this topic alone could spawn its own thread, I’ll stick with the brands that I’ve used and known. I’ve used Henckels and Global knives to good effect, particularly Global (damn things are hella sharp good lord!) so take that with what you will.
ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Core Ingredients
Now while technically sausage can be made from most any type of ingredient, there are a few core ingredients that you’ll need in most of your sausage preparation that I figured I’d list a few of them here so you can reference them in the future.
Kosher Salt – This pretty much goes without saying. A staple of nearly every sausage, this ingredient aids in flavoring and preservation. Make sure to keep a good supply handy.
Pink Salt #1, Pink Salt #2 (For Dried/Smoked Sausage) – While the argument on nitrates is indeed a valid one, in the interest of food safety, if you are planning to smoke or dry your sausage as your main method of preparation, then using these various preservative salts is required.
Sugar – Used to sweeten the meat, counteract the salt and also as fuel for good bacteria in dried sausage, this is also an important ingredient. I recommend using fine sugar or Dextrose sugar, the finer grains make dissolving and mixing them into the meat much easier.
Fresh Herbs – I normally am ambivalent about deciding whether or not to use dried over fresh. However in the case of sausage, I always recommend using the freshest herbs you have available to you. I don’t know why specifically sausage seems to really bring out the flavoring of herbs moreso than usual but having good quality fresh herbs on hand for sausage making really makes a difference.
Pork Butt – Also known as Pork Shoulder Butt, Picnic Ham, Shoulder Butt, Pork Shoulder, or as the titles indicates….Pork Butt. This meat will form the backbone of many of your sausages. It is exceptionally well marbled and is cheap too! The high fat content makes it an ideal candidate for sausage meat since fat plays such an important part in the creation of a sausage.
Back Fat (aka Fatback) – This is a layer of fat from the back of a pig (hence the name). This is usually the highest quality fat from the pig (though jowl fat is also prized for this as well, though it’s a heck of a lot harder to acquire) and is used extensively in sausage and pates. Usually this will be added to a meat mixture to improve its fat/meat ratio as you’ll often be shooting for a fat content of at least 30% to ensure juiciness and texture
ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Casings
Hooboy, these will take up a huge chunk of space on their own, so in the essence of simplicity, I’ll try to boil em down as best as I can. All forms of casing require a bit of prep work before you can use them. Most will require soaking in tepid/warm water for about 30 minutes before use. After soaking they should also be rinsed through before being stuffed. It is often recommended to change the water they’re soaking in a few times as well, particularly if they’ve been stored in saltpack.
There are several main types of sausage casings that are referred to when making sausage but thankfully we’ll only concern ourselves with just a few types:
Hog Casings – These are the most common type you will come across and are both the easiest to get a hold of and also the easiest to use. Standard hog casings are made from the upper parts of the hog intestines and are used for about 80%-90% of the sausages you’ll be making. They work for fresh, dried and smoked sausage varieties. “Middles” and “Bungs” are made from the middle and lower end of the intestines respectively. “Middles” and “Bungs” are the types used for larger sausages and cured meats. Items like Salame, and Large Bologna are often made with these types of casings.
Sheep Casings – These are light delicate casings frequently used for breakfast sausage, chipolatas, and hot dogs. Typically they have to be special ordered. Treat them the same as hog casings in terms of prep work.
Beef Casings/Middles – Used pretty much for only the very large emulsified sausages, tough salames and dried meat. These require more prep work than others. They tend to require more pre-rinse treatments and are usually sold in large sizes to accommodate the large quantity of ingredients that are stuffed into them.
Caul Fat – Not really a casing per-se, it is more of a connective membrane that sausages and roasts are wrapped in for cooking to retain moisture. This is the fat that surrounds the pig’s kidneys and frequently is used as an ingredient in fancier roasts and pates. Dishes like Crepinettes are simply sausage meat that has been wrapped in caul fat and fried. (Delicious by the way)
Natural Collagen Casings – These are casings made out of natural collagen that essentially have been shaped and extruded to resemble upper hog casings. They work pretty well though are a bit less porous than natural casings so they’re generally recommended to be used with smoked or fresh sausage. They’re a pretty good substitute for Hog casings and generally have a better “shelf life” so to speak. Overall I recommend using natural hog casings over collagen if you can swing it, but don’t be afraid of using the collagen ones if they’re the only ones you can readily get a hold of.
ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Core Techniques and Guidelines
Ok then! We’ve got some of the basic ingredients out of the way, now we need to cover a few basic tenets of sausage making. The majority of them pertain to “Fresh” sausage making but many of the other types of sausages start the same way, so these techniques and adages apply anyway. The only exception would be emulsified sausage which requires a couple of extra grinding and mixing steps and I’ll give it its own special treatment.
Keeping your Meat Cold!!
If there’s any rule or guidelines I could emphasize more than others it would be this one. It is IMPERATIVE to keep your meat that you are grinding or mixing ice cold. It doesn’t necessarily have to be rock-hard frozen but it should be almost frozen, kind of like when you partially defrost a steak, it should be firm almost “crispy” with ice. This rule applies both to meat before and after it has been ground. If the meat begins to warm up, the fat will start breaking down and will result in “smear”, which essentially results in sausage meat that has a consistency of Paper Mache when cooked and tastes about as good.
Also as a general food safety guideline, it’s better to keep the food cold to retard bacteria growth. To aid in this, you should freeze your metal meat grinder parts prior to grinding and stuffing to keep them from absorbing too much heat from the motor and to ensure they don’t transfer as much heat to the meat. Also your bowl that is holding the meat mixture after it has been ground should sit inside another bowl full of ice to keep the meat chilled as it awaits mixing with other ingredients.
Grinding your Meat
As I explained above, keeping your meat and equipment cold is paramount to making sure your sausage mixes and grinds well. When using your grinder take exceptional care with the parts. They should be washed as soon as you’re done with them and the cutting plates should be dried and oiled immediately after use. Also be sure to take care of your cutting blades as well, they generally should be sharpened at least once a year if your grinding regularly.
Finally when trimming the meat to grind it, try to remove as much sinew and gristle as you can. This is the stuff that wreaks havoc on cutting plates and leads to the most clogging and smearing when trying to grind meat. Meat should be cut, on average into 1 inch cubes so as to move smoothly down the grinding feeder, but that mainly depends on the size of your grinder, refer to the manual it comes with to be sure. As to know whether or not your meat is grinding properly, keep this mental note in your mind: “meat spaghetti”. Your meat should be coming out as distinct ropes with fat and meat equally interspersed throughout. As long as it is coming out similar to that you should be fine.
Mixing
One of the more important steps of the sausage preparation, this is your chance to really dictate the flavor of the sausage. Mixing, as the Charcuterie book says, creates what is called “The Primary Bind”. Essentially this is the process in which the ground fat and meat are forcefully mixed with whatever flavors and spices you wish to add to the meat. This is also the stage where you add any liquid flavorings as well. . Here is where having an electric mixer can come in handy. Hand mixing is possible, but boy is it tiring on the arms! For fresh sausage, it’s a fairly straightforward process. Simply grind the meat, and then mix it vigorously for about one minute. Add whatever liquid flavorings you wish to add, then mix for one minute more. It should resemble a sticky, spackle-like substance. It is now ready to stuff!
The Taste Test!
Woops hold on there! Before you actually stuff the meat mixture into a casing, you’ll actually want to test it first. This is pretty much your last chance to make sure the sausage is seasoned properly before it goes into the casing. It’s actually pretty simple really, simply take a dollop of meat and form it into a tiny patty and sauté it in a small pan. You’ll be able to tell if it is seasoned right and if it isn’t, then adjust accordingly. Simple no?
Addendum – This technique applies for all but emulsified sausage. Since emulsified is prone to “breaking”, or having the mixture literally fall apart, you actually need to cook it slightly differently to see if the sausage is ready. This technique is called the “Quenelle Test”. Put simply, it means to take the same small dollop of meat, tightly wrap it in foodsafe plastic wrap and drop the pouch into hot water (between 160-180 degrees Farenheit) to cook it. This will also allow you to test to see if the emulsion is still holding and also to test for the taste of the sausage.
Stuffing
Stuffing can at first be pretty daunting. Fiddling with the casings and somehow getting the mixture in there is no small feat believe you me. Still, once you get used to handling the materials involved, it’s actually pretty straightforward in operation. Make sure you’ve thoroughly rinsed your sausage casing before use and make sure you have an appropriate length set aside before you start threading it. Once you start threading it, it should go on fairly easily until it’s completely compressed on the tube. You should leave a few inches of casing at the end to facilitate in tying the end piece and also for air to flow out of.
During the initial feeding of the stuffing, air pockets will typically develop inside the casing. Simply prick them with a small needle or the tip of a sharp knife. This will allow even distribution of the sausage meat inside the casing. As the sausage begins to fill and feed, you’ll want to keep a stable grip on the outbound casing near the tube. This will allow for an even filling of the casing and ensures that the casing doesn’t overstretch while it fills. You’ll also want to keep the surface you’re working on slicked with water so you can more easily coil the resultant tube of sausage that will start forming, it makes it much easier to handle.
Cooking Techniques
Sausage, surprisingly enough actually requires a fair amount of care to cook. It’s actually quite easy to overcook and subsequently ruin the taste of a sausage. Cooking a sausage until the meat is bursting from all points is not the sign of a done sausage, it is the sign of a over cooked dry tube of meat! With that in mind, here are a few general ideas for cooking fresh and smoked sausage.
• Cook sausage to an internal temperature of at least 150-160 degrees. This will ensure that the bad bacteria has been eliminated but without destroying all of the juices in there.
• Sautéing is my preferred method because casings respond really well to it. You can get a really nice dark sear on the sausage and cook it fairly evenly as well. Make sure not to have the heat too high however, you should be running medium to medium high heat for about 10-12 minutes to fully cook the sausage.
• Grilling the next step and also gives a nice smoky sear that sautéing does not provide. Just take care with grilling as it is very easy to burn and overcook sausages, more so than with sautéing. Just stick to medium heat as before and you should be ok. It should take about 10-12 minutes to properly cook the sausage, same as sautéing.
• Finally roasting is another option if your countertop is pressed for space or you have no grill. Simply grease an oven-safe pan and toss it in a 300 degree oven with the sausages for about 10 minutes. It should do the job.
• If all else fails you can also boil the sausage to cook it, though it really won’t do anything for the flavor. Cook this way only if you have no other option.
• All in all, treat sausages like a tender cut of meat. Don’t overcook them and don’t cook them on too high a flame. Slow and steady heat is key.
ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Recipes! Techniques! Turnip Twaddlers! Oh my!
Alrighty then! This is the part you’ve been waiting for: the recipes! I’m going to start with a pictorial description of how I prepared some standard fresh pork sausage using the master recipe from the Charcuterie Book. This recipe is your standard “boilerplate” recipe. It pretty much serves as a springboard for other variations and you’ll see in the recipe I did play around with the ingredients to make it uniquely my own. After I post this description and recipe I’ll post a couple of recipes from other types of sausages I mentioned. I won’t have pics for them, but I’ll do my best to explain the techniques I outlined earlier for them. This is also where I’ll go into fine detail with emulsified and dried sausages as they require a fair amount more explanation on how to prepare than standard fresh or smoked sausage.
Anyhow let’s get this party started:
FRESH GARLIC MASTER SAUSAGE RECIPE
5 pounds/2.25 kilograms boneless fatty pork shoulder butt, diced into cubes
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (about 3 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon/10 grams ground black pepper
3 tablespoons/54 grams minced garlic
1 cup/250 milliliters good red wine, chilled
10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked in tepid water for at least 30 minutes and rinsed thoroughly
As you can see here, this recipe uses only a few ingredients to impart a great simple sausage that will fit pretty much any meal. I wanted to try some variety though so here’s what I added in addition to those items. These were added in different combinations to different batches, so mix and match and see what happens!:
GREATCOW’S ADDITIONS
2 Cups Finely Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (Cheese of any kind is a fantastic addition to sausages. It provides additional fat, moisture, and flavor as well. Try various cheeses you know melt well and see what happens! Try some Cheddar, Pepper Jack or even some Gouda! Whatever floats your boat!)
1 tablespoon Fresh Basil
1 tablespoon Fresh Oregano
2 tablespoons Minced Onion
1 16oz can chopped tomatoes, blended with aforementioned herbs
2 tablespoons Worchester sauce
2 tablespoons Hot Sauce
¼ Cup Sun Dried Tomatoes, coarsely chopped
As you can see, your imagination is really your limit here. Like brining, try to pair seasonings you know will work well with the meat. After you mix the spices and herbs well, do a test fry with a dollop of the meat mixture to see how it tastes before you stuff it and you should be good to go!
So now you have the ingredients, let’s get started with the procedure for making your standard fresh sausage!
ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
MASTER SAUSAGE RECIPE CONT'D
Take the pork butt and place into the freezer for about 20 minutes or so. The meat should be almost frozen, but not completely. This is also a good time to put the metal parts of your meat grinder into the freezer as well. Once the meat has almost frozen, remove it and begin cutting it into 1 inch cubes.
Take the chopped meat and place it into a bowl sitting into another bowl of ice for working. Combine any of the dry ingredients (particularly the salt and any of the dry/fresh herbs) the mixture will probably look similar to this:
Once you have the meat mixed with the herbs it’s time to start grinding! Make sure you have your grinder prepped properly prior to starting. You’ll want to now remove your parts from the freezer and assemble them accordingly. Make sure to get a bowl ready to receive the ground meat mixture. It should be sitting in another bowl of ice to keep the meat cool. It should look similar to this setup I have here:
I prefer to use the small cutting plate on my grinder as it makes a more uniform sausage than using the coarse plate, but I leave that final decision up to you.
Grind the meat into the bowl taking care to make sure the grinder doesn’t clog up. Keep an eye on the meat coming out of the grinder, it should look for lack of a better phrase like “meat spaghetti” as evidenced here:
Note how the fat is marbled perfectly through the meat.
Once you have your meat all ground, you’ll want to transfer it to a mixing bowl or put it in your electric mixers bowl if you have one. Vigorously mix the meat for about 1 minute either by hand or by the mixer.
After the initial mix, you’re now at the part where you’ll want to add any liquid ingredients. Add whichever ones you have, and then vigorously mix the meat for about another minute or until the liquids are evenly incorporated through the meat and the resultant mixture resembles a sticky paste.
Once you’re done mixing, take the bowl full of meat and place it inside the freezer for about 15 minutes or until the mixture stiffens up a bit. You’ll want to ensure the meat is absolutely chilled before the stuffing process.
ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
MASTER SAUSAGE RECIPE CONT'D
While the meat is chilling clean out your meat grinder and prepare it for stuffing. Usually this is nothing more than removing the outbound plate and placing the stuffing tube on the outbound area and re-securing it.
Now comes the time to thread the casing on the tube. To make things a bit easier, wet the tube with some extra water to make threading the tube easier. Now you’ll have to get a casing ready. If you were like me and bought an omgheug bag of casings, this may be a bit of a chore in itself….
“Why no officer, that doesn’t look phallic at all…no sir!”
With the casing stretched to the beginning of the tube, you’ll now need to compress the rest of the casing onto the tube itself. Work slowly and carefully here, the casing should automatically untie itself as long as you pull and prod it slowly along the tube.
When the casing is finally on the tube, it should look similar to this. Make sure to leave a couple of inches of casing at the end to allow for air to seep through and also to allow for easy tying.
With the casing in place you can begin stuffing! Turn the grinder on and begin! In a short while the meat should start feeding through the grinder and into the casing. As you can see from these shots this is what happens when air builds up in the casing. Just use a pin to prick the casing and you should be able to continue stuffing.
Once the air is purged the sausage should stuff pretty normally from here on out. Make sure to keep your hand near the exit part of the tube to regulate the fill of the sausage as it comes out. You want to make sure the sausage comes out uniformly, but not too much that the casing bursts, it takes some practice but eventually you’ll get an idea how hard to grip the casing to ensure an even fill.
I won’t lie, this is going to be pretty tiring work. Make sure to take regular breaks particularly after the grinding period. Relax, have a cold one, savor what will soon be a delicious creation…:D
ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
MASTER SAUSAGE RECIPE CONT'D
So now that we have the sausage stuffed, it’s time to get it ready to cook. I usually prefer twisting my sausage into links. It makes for easier cooking and also for easier storage when you’re freezing large batches of them and want to portion them out into readily useable servings.
An easy way I find to twist sausage is to start from the end. Tie off the end of your link to begin. Next, measure out about 6 inches or so of link and press and pinch out a section so that you’re basically left with a casing with no meat between it.
Keep pressing and pinching until you have about ¼ to ½ an inch of casing to work with. Then holding the newly formed section, roll it over a few times to form a tight twist in the casing you just pinched.
Holding onto the newly created twist, repeat this process with the rest of the link until you have the whole length of the sausage portioned into links.
Once the sausages are properly twisted, you’ll then want to cut off the sections you want to cook. Alternatively, you can leave them linked; they’ll just be a bit more difficult to cook when they’re rolling around linked together.
Now then! Onto some cooking. Since I had the kitchen to myself, and I didn’t feel like firing up the gas grill I decided to simply sauté them in the pan.
You probably notice the little...”meat bulges” for lack of a better phrase, at the end of the sausages in those pics. This is a common happenstance when you’re cooking freshly made sausage. Usually the only way to avoid this is to either prick the sausage multiple times to allow the juices to escape, or to partially freeze them so the casings harden. Overall it’s not a major issue, just more of a visual thing I suppose.
Just make sure to keep the heat to medium to medium high. Fresh sausage cooks very rapidly so you’ll often have them done in about 10-12 minutes.
And there you go! That right there is the Master Sausage recipe from start to finish. I’m going to follow this up with more recipes of each type. This should allow you to apply the general ideas and techniques that I outlined here in these following recipes. Unfortunately I currently don’t have any more pictures of other preparations since I haven’t had time to make any more since that batch. (Gotta go buy more pork butt for one!) Nevertheless, we’ll keep this gravy (or sausage) train going!...gah that sounds wrong just saying it…
Note: The majority of recipes I got from the Charcuterie book since they work so well. Credit is due where it is due. However, don’t be afraid to fiddle with the ingredients a bit to suit your tastes, sausage is versatile and responds well to almost any kind of herb and flavoring.
ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Fresh Sausage Recipe List
BREAKFAST SAUSAGE WITH FRESH GINGER AND SAGE
A fantastic sausage to have with some toast and eggs (or waffles), this will serve as a wonderful replacement to those over-sweetened store bought varieties. It also is versatile enough that you don’t necessarily have to stuff it! Simply shape the ground meat into patties or links and fry if you wish. This sausage also responds very well to grilling or smoking.
Ingredients
5 pounds/2.25 kilograms boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (about 3 tablespoons)
5 tablespoons/50 grams peeled and finely grated fresh ginger (or 1 tablespoon ground dried ginger)
5 tablespoons/30 grams tightly packed finely chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon/18 grams minced garlic
2 teaspoons/6 grams ground black or white pepper
1 cup/250 milliliters ice water
20 feet/6 meters sheep casings or 10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked for at least 30 minutes and rinsed well
1. Combine all the ingredients except the water and mix thoroughly. Set the mixture inside your fridge and chill until it is ready to grind, the meat should start to stiffen as it almost freezes.
2. Grind the meat through the smallest cutting plate you have. Make sure the meat lands in a bowl set in ice.
3. Take the ground meat to a mixing bowl or mixer and add the ice water. Mix vigorously either by hand or using an electric mixer on medium speed for about 1 minute or until the mixture becomes sticky with the fat uniformly distributed through the meat. Chill the mixture until you’re ready to stuff.
4. Perform a taste test on the meat. Sauté a small portion of the meat in a frying pan and taste. Adjust the mixture accordingly to suit your taste.
5. Stuff the sausage into the casings and twist to form 4 inch links, or shape into patties and refrigerate or freeze them until ready to cook.
6. To cook, gently sauté the sausages/patties in pan until they reach 150 degrees.
Serve with waffles/pancakes/eggs etc.
Next up we have a classic member of the sausage world: The Bratwurst!
ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
CLASSIC FRESH BRATWURST
(Be warned, the ingredients here are a bit more complicated)
Ingredients
3 pounds/1350 grams boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
1 pound/450 grams boneless lean veal shoulder, diced
1 pound/450 grams pork back fat
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (3 tablespoons)
1 cup/140 grams soy protein concentrate (optional, this ingredient mainly helps the sausage retain moisture if you’re planning to smoke them. You can also substitute Milk Powder if you don’t have access to it as well)
2 teaspoons/6 grams ground white pepper
1 ½ teaspoons/5 grams ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons/5 grams freshly grated nutmeg
2 large cold eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup/25 milliliters ice-cold heavy cream
10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked for at least 30 minutes and rinsed well.
1. Combine all of the ingredients except the eggs and the cream and mix well. Set mixture aside in your fridge or freezer and chill until you’re ready to grind. Make sure your grinder parts are frozen as well.
2. Grind the mixture using your smallest cutting plate your grinder comes equipped with. Make sure your receiving bowl is set inside another bowl of ice to keep the mixture cold.
3. Stir the mixture vigorously either by hand or an electric mixer on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add the eggs and cream and mix them in slowly at first. (Use the low mix setting on your mixer), after a few seconds, increase the speed to medium and mix the meat until the egg and cream have been thoroughly incorporated into the meat. Chill the mixture until you’re ready to stuff.
4. As before, now’s the time to do the taste test, take a dollop of meat and fry it in the pan to taste. Adjust the seasonings accordingly.
5. Stuff into casings and twist into 6 inch links. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to cook.
6. Roast or sauté links to an internal temp of 150 degrees.
ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
CLASSIC ITALIAN SAUSAGE
This is the sausage that so often gets maligned as crap in the supermarket. Usually stuffed with low grade pork scraps and over seasoned, it’s no wonder why this sausage gets a bad rap. However, good, quality made Italian sausage is truly a thing to savor. It’s perfectly at home on the grill, or tossed into some stew, chili or pasta. For some added variety I’m going to include both variations on it. They both prepare the same way; just that one is spicier than the other with the addition of paprika and chili flakes. You can adjust the heat how you see fit.
Ingredients
For Spicy Sausage
4 ½ pounds/2 kilograms boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
8 counces/225 grams pork back fat, diced
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons/32 grams fine granulated sugar
2 tablespoons/16 grams fennel seeds, toasted (just how I showed you in the pastrami recipe)
1 tablespoon/8 grams coriander seeds, toasted
3 tablespoons/24 grams Hungarian Paprika (or the best quality hot paprika you can get your hands on)
½ teaspoon/1 gram cayenne pepper
4 tablespoons/24 grams fresh oregano leaves
4 tablespoons/24 grams fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons/12 grams hot red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons/6 grams coarsely ground black pepper
¾ cup/185 milliliters ice water
¼ cup/60 milliliters red wine vinegar, chilled
10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked in tepid water for 30 minutes and rinsed.
1. Combine the ingredients except for the water and vinegar and mix well. Chill until ready to grind. Freeze your grinder parts as well.
2. Grind the mixture through the small cutting plate of your grinder into a bowl set into ice.
3. Add the water and vinegar and mix well for about 1 minute until the liquids are incorporated into the meat and the mixture is sticky in appearance. (About 1 minute of vigorous medium speed mixing. Chill the mixture until you’re ready to stuff.
4. Taste test. Sauté a small dollop and taste. Adjust seasonings as necessary.
5. Stuff the sausage into casings and twist to form 6 inch links. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to cook.
6. Gently sauté or roast the links until they measure 150 degrees internally.
ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
CHICKEN SAUSAGE WITH BASIL AND TOMATOES
If there was one sausage that is the perfect accompaniment to pasta dishes, this would be it. Grilled or sautéed, this sausage will fit most any recipe that calls for meat to be added to something. Plus the chicken flavor really showcases itself here. All in all, this is one of my favorite recipes to use.
Ingredients
3 ½ pounds/1.5 kilograms boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed
1 ½ pounds/675 grams pork back fat, cubed into 1 inch cubes
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (about 3 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon/3 grams freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ teaspoons/9 grams minced garlic
4 tablespoons/24 grams tightly packed chopped fresh basil
½ cup/100 grams fresh diced Roma (plum) tomatoes
¼ cup/60 grams diced sun-dried tomatoes, softened (essentially if you have sun dried tomatoes that aren’t packed in brine or oil, you’ll want to soften them before you use them. Take the tomatoes and drop them in a bowl of boiling hot water for a few minutes to reconstitute them before putting them in the mixture)
¼ cup/60 milliliters red wine vinegar, chilled
¼ cup/60 milliliters extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup/60 milliliters dry red wine, chilled
10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked in tepid water for 30 minutes and rinsed.
1. Combine all of the ingredients except for the wine, vinegar and oil into a bowl and mix well. Chill until ready to grind. Freeze your grinder parts as well.
2. Grind the meat using your grinder’s smallest cutting plate. Grind the meat into a bowl set in ice to keep it cold.
3. Take the mixture to a mixing bowl and using a spoon or an electric mixer, mix at medium speed for about 1 minute. Add the oil, vinegar, and wine into the mixture and mix on medium speed for about 1 minute or until the meat and fat are equally incorporated and the mixture is sticky. Chill the mixture until you’re ready to stuff.
4. Taste test again. Dollop the meat into a frying pan, sauté to taste. Adjust meat mixture accordingly.
5. Stuff the sausage into casings. Twist them into 6 inch links. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to cook.
Note: You can technically make this sausage without the fatback if you want to avoid the pork. Simply make sure to include all the extra fat with the chicken thighs when you’re grinding them to ensure juiciness. You can also add about 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese to the meat mixture to add some extra fat and moisture as well.
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One thing I was wondering though. I usually buy leg of lamb center slices as they are relatively cheap and easy to cook.
All I really do is coat it in a paste of dijon mustard, oregano, garlic, a little onion, and various other spices if I want and then bake it for about 25 minutes. But I was wondering if you had any recipes or guide on marinating or otherwise preparing Lamb to be even more delicious.
I want to do those things you have listed so far, but I am a poor college student right now and it will be a little while yet before I get the resources to pull something off like the curing.
Started earlier today by googling for pink salt in the area. Jeesus christ that shit goes by a lot of names - Prague powder, curing salt, DQ Cure, Insta-cure, various other brand names. A local butcher said they had some, but couldn't just sell it to me due to some government regulation business... I had to bring in the other seasonings I was going to use and they would mix some in for me? Or something? It was hard to understand the guy over the phone.
Anyway, it was getting complicated, but I remembered that my step-dad is "that guy" who can find anything, anywhere, so I ask him if he knows where to get some curing salt. Turns out he has a bag! Yay for family!
It was then to the local mega-grocer to acquire the rest of my supplies. Found some McCormick's pickling salt and the rest. The largest brisket they had was 3.22 pounds, so I adjusted the rest of the recipe proportionally. Good thing, too, since my largest "stock pot" was just big enough to hold 10 1/3 cups of water and still have some stirring room.
The brine is now cooling in my fridge, quite soon it will be introduced to the flesh, so that it may work it's sinister purpose.
And in 5 days, we feast!
Some pictures, as requested.
I neglected to take a "before" photo, but it looked a lot like this. Only smaller.
Here it is under the briny deep, right before I gave it a cold shower
After the rinse. Notice the lovely pinkish hue. Smelled tasty too.
And back in the pot with some more pickling spice. In a few hours it'll be met with carrots, potatoes, and cabbage
EDIT: There. Images now less h-scroll rapey
I'm prepping some pastrami right now myself, I'll have some pics updated to the original recipe and I should have my hands on a meat grinder and sausage supplies within a couple of days. Sausage write-up here we come!
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Not a problem. Lamb can be prepared more or less the same way as I outlined before with with the chicken and the pork. Simply make the basic brine that I outlined previously, then simply add those spices that you'd normally rub on the outside of the meat into the brine. This will infuse the whole lamb with the flavoring rather than the outer layer of the meat. Since you're buying them pre-sliced, shoot for a brine time of 2-3 hours tops, less if you want a more subtle brine flavor, it all depends on what you like.
For something bigger like a whole rack of lamb you'll probably want to do the brining for say at least 8-12 hours depending on the size, once again, refer to the general size chart I outlined in the brining chapter for a better estimate. That's what makes brining so versatile, simply use the same spices you already use but then simply mix em into a brine rather than a rub or sauce, and you'll get more of the flavor than you would have previously without it.
As for actually cooking it, well there's quite a variety of options you have, the most common is oven roasting lamb. One key thing to remember about lamb is that it is a very lean meat and dries out very quickly so when you're oven roasting lamb, particularly large racks, you'll want to make sure to baste the lamb with some kind of sauce or olive oil to keep the outer layer moist while cooking. Here's a general cooktime chart I snagged off the internet. Usually you'll be roasting lamb covered except for the last couple of minutes to make a nice outer crust.
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Hehe thankee amigo, glad you're liking the stuff.
At long last I managed to dig up a recipe on Guanciale, haven't made it in quite a while, but the recipe still works, so on we go!
(For those interested in just what the heck Guanciale is, it's a small fatty cut of meat from the cheek of a pig. It has a very intense taste that comes across very nicely when dried, similar to Pancetta. In fact, it's prepared in a very similar fashion! If you're interested in giving it a whirl, check out your butcher shop and see if they can special order it for you!)
Guanciale
One 2 Pound/1-kilogram Pork Jowl
1/2 cup/70 grams kosher salt
1/3 cup/70 grams sugar
2 cloves/10 grams garlic mashed or finely minced
15 whole black peppercorns roughly smashed or coarsely ground
1 large bunch Thyme
Firstly, we'll need to prepare the Jowl. Trim and loose fat or connective tissue from the jowl (this includes odd shaped fatty discs, you'll see them as they're different in color from the rest of the meat) and rinse and pat dry.
Next, combine all of the dry cure ingredients and mix well. Cover and rub the jowl with the ingredients to ensure that they're evenly distributed and place inside a non-reactive container or ziploc bag (preferred).
Like bacon, you'll need to let the jowl cure. Place it inside a fridge and let cure for about 4-6 days. Check it regularly around the 4th day to see if it is ready. Once again, the "steak" test applies here. If it feels like a well done steak (ie firm and springs back fairly quickly when pressed with a finger) it is done.
Remove the jowl from the fridge and rinse it of the aromatics and cure and pat dry.
Now comes the long part, we now have to air dry our jowl. Using a knife, poke a hole in the jowl far enough towards to the center that it won't rip itself apart when it hangs from it. Take some butchers twine and thread it needle style through the hole. Make a sturdy knot through the jowl and hang it carefully in a cool dry place for 1-3 weeks depending on temperature and humidity. Once again, like pancetta, it should be dry and stiff but not rock hard, it should give some when pressed with your hand.
Refrigerate the completed jowl for up to 3 weeks or it can be frozen for longer depending on what you need.
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And did it!
Goddamn that was delicious. Aromatic, tender, complex, everything a cured hunk o' meat should be. And not nearly the saltbomb of a store bought corned beef.
The crock pot was a bit of a pain in the ass. I always forget that (a) they take forever to actually heat up to simmering temp and (b) anything you dump in there (IE vegetables) cools down the crock pot so you basically start all over. Next time I'll either have to add the veggies in at the beginning or cook them separately using the juice from the meat pot.
When I get around to it you'll get a picture of the finished product alongside it's vegetable accoutrements. Salivation will be imminent.
Ah yes good point, I need to remember to snag one of those myself someday
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All and all it was amazing. My wife was quite impressed. Thanks for the lovely advice.
I have tasted bacon made by Thegreatcow.
GOOD GOD.
Again,
GOOD GOD.
IT IS GOOD BACON.
I cried. Then I ate more.
Soooo much fat separated in the broth. So now that I'm reheating everything for today, I've got a giant fucking slab of fat slowly melting over the meat. I am expecting delicious.
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The pastrami...the pastrami....came out...so damn goood.....
It was so good, my future self appeared before me, fixed me with a stern glare, made to strike me down with his hand, and promptly died of a heart attack. This leads me to several conclusions:
1. I can infer from this that I am doomed.
2. Though I may be doomed, I am doomed to die deliciously.
3. I apparently will discover time travel to attempt to bishlap some sense into me but fail....
:shock:
Seriously, this puts my Pancetta to shame as far as orgasmically delicious foods go. A wonderfully intense smokey peppery flavor and none of the grease soaked, fatty tasting meat that you normally get with fast food pastrami, this was worth every damn penny of work!
The PICS!
The Beginning: A 5lb Brisket!
The Brine
Post Brine Herb Rub-Down
Finally Done! Now to eat!!!!
My Friend has Sandwich...do you has?
Sho good...sho good!
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my fucking god that looks good
If i find you and lop off your head, will i absorb your powers? I mean, hypothetically speaking.
Sausage write up coming soon! I just finished the batch tonight and it was goot! Now to organize the pics and get the recipe written down!
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The thread inspired me to make some delicious bacons. Instead of just using the recipe on here, however, I decided to look around online and see what other cures I could locate. I found something interesting claiming that pink salt, or any nitrates for that matter, are unnecessary. This surprised me, since Cow had put some time into explaining pink salt. Nonetheless, this website explicitly stated that not using nitrates will affect nothing but the color of your resulting bacon, and it will perhaps keep for less time before spoiling. The flavor and all other characteristics will remain the same.
Well hmm.
So I did it.
I used the cure on that website which had stated pink salt or saltpetre as optional ingredients. I made up the cure with no added nitrates - so it was basically kosher salt, sugar, and black pepper - and made me some bacons.
It is quite delicious.
I then made another "slab" with brown sugar and maple syrup added to the cure.
Also delicious.
So, I wanted to let you all know, nitrates in the form of pink salt or saltepetre are not necessary. You have to compensate with a bit more salt, but you do not need those special ingredients.
Maybe that will encourage people to make bacon who did not want to purchase pink salt for the occasion.
Aye not using pink salt is actually ok in certain situations, but I'd just like to clarify a bit about using pink salt in general.
When deciding to use pink salt or not, you have to take a look at the final product and note how exactly it's going to be prepared and how you're going to use it.
For example, Bacon. Bacon you can technically do it without pink salt since, for the most part, bacon is fully cooked at high temperatures before we eat it. Even after smoking a slab of bacon, I always recommend to slice it thin and then fry it or toss it into a stew before actually eating it.
The key distinction on whether or not to use Pink Salt is this:
WHAT METHOD ARE YOU GOING TO USE TO COOK OR PREPARE YOUR MEAT?
If you are planning to make any meat product containing pork or chicken, and you are planning either to smoke or air dry your product as your primary method of "cooking" it, then Pink Salt is strongly advised to be used.
In fact, for drying meats that contain pork or chicken in particular, I would say that Pink Salt is MANDATORY. There are just too many variables to account for when you're air drying meat, and the potential for bad bacterial growth is just too high to not use Pink Salt or some other kind of preservative agent to inhibit formation of nasty bacteria like the kind that produces the Botulin toxin.
Smoking can go either way. Technically Botulin toxin can remain in meat even at "Hot" smoking temperatures (ie 200 degrees F). This is why that commercially canned food is often heated to 250 degrees F or more to kill off the bacteria that produce the toxin. However as with many smoked meats, most of us will often cook the meat again or consume it as soon as it was made.
For those with nitrate concerns, I would advise to exercise extreme caution when deciding to pursue a recipe without pink salt when it normally calls for it. I would avoid trying to make ANY dried sausage without pink salt and only smoke freshly prepared meat and sausage immediately after preparation to inhibit formation of bacteria if you can.
All in all what I'm trying to say is that while modern meat manufacturing has more or less eliminated issues with bacteria formation, I always advise to use pink salt when the recipe calls for it. It's more a case of "Better Safe than Sorry", but ultimately I leave it up to you to decide what to try.
Sausage writeup is almost done, I'm about 3/4 of the way through it. It's probably my biggest section that I've done yet, so it's taking me a bit longer than normal.
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3DS FC: 5343-7720-0490
(ALERT: MASSIVE INNUENDO AND MULTIPLE ENTENDRES AHOY! ALSO IT’S LONG…LIKE REALLY LONG…LIKE…LONGER THAN SOMETHING THAT’S NORMALLY LONG…BUT LONGER…YOU’LL PROBABLY WANT TO MAKE SOME SAUSAGE OR SOMETHING TO EAT WHILE YOU’RE READING THIS…OH WAIT)
YE HAS BEEN WARNED!...
Annndd just to get it out of the way…
HA HA! Multiple Entendre!
Anyhow….
Alrighty folks here it is! This is what is often thought of as the Pinnacle of what Charcuterie is all about: The art of Sausage Making! This section is probably going to be the longest (HA HA!) and most involved out of everything I’ve posted so far, so hang on to your aprons and get your gear ready because here we go!
Sausage making I feel is one of the abilities that really show you have the ability to improvise. The process really allows you to showcase your ability to combine ingredients that otherwise would be boring or plain into creations that will titillate (*snort*) your tastebuds.
Sausages are often given a bad rap as a poor quality food mainly due to how mass produced sausages are prepared nowadays. With force-grinding/stuffing (oh god!) and the various chemicals used to aid in preservation and presentation, many mass produced sausages generally taste pretty plain or worse, terrible. What I hope to accomplish here is to show you that you can indeed produce your own high quality sausage if you’re willing to put in a little work and put in a little money for materiel…plus, even if you don’t want to put up with the hassle of all the stuffing (das right!) and whatnot, simply the process of making the ground meat can result in a delicious meat creation all of in itself! Don’t want to stuff (hee!) the meat? No problem! Take it and shape into a fantastic hamburger, thread it on a kebab, or add it to your favorite stew or pasta! Grinding and flavoring your own meat (hehe ok I’m done…) is a wondrous process all in itself!
For the ease of readability, I’m going to sub-divide this section into several parts as Sausage making is probably THE most direct-labor intensive part of Charcuterie and as such will require a bigger degree of investment of time and materiel than you’ve normally been used to with say bacon or jerky. Nevertheless, I shall do my best to separate everything into easily followed sections.
Greatcow’s Speecy Spicy Table of Quicklinked Contents
Sausage Types (Fresh/Emulsified/Smoked/Dried)
General Equipment
Core Ingredients
Casings
Core Techniques and Guidelines Intro
Keeping your Meat Cold!!
Grinding your Meat
Mixing
The Taste Test!
Stuffing
Cooking
Recipe Examples and Techniques
Walkthrough: Fresh Sausage Master Recipe (With Pics!) Page 2, Page 3, Page 4
Fresh Sausage Recipe List
Breakfast Sausage With Ginger and Sage
Classic Fresh Bratwurst
Classic Italian
Chicken Sausage with Basil and Tomato
Mexican Chorizo
Emulsified Sausage Recipe List
Weisswurst – Master Emulsified Sausage Recipe
Mortadella
Boudin Blanc
Smoked Sausage Recipe List
Knackwurst – Master Smoked Sausage Recipe
Smoked Andouille
Kielbasa (Smoked Polish Sausage)
Hot Dogs
Dried Sausage Recipe List
Dried Sausages – Dry Cure Essentials/Tips/Advice
Tuscan Salami
Peperone
Sopressata
Coppa
Spanish Chorizo
Saucisson Sec
Final Thoughts and musings…
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Before I actually get to writing up the recipe for making sausage, I feel it should be a good idea to give a solid introduction of the techniques, types of sausage and equipment needed to make the sausage itself as each sub-type of sausage does require a slightly different style of preparation.
Essentially the major distinction between sausage types has to do with their final cooking/curing method and a little with their grinding/mixing stage. Most sausages are split into 4 types, though rather than cut and dry distinctions between each other, many sausages that would normally be classified as one or the other actually share preparation techniques them. Only Dried sausage really has a unique preparation style and as such requires the highest investment of time, equipment, and ingredients.
Fresh – This is the most common type of Sausage, and the type you most often find in delicatessens and supermarkets. Essentially “Fresh” sausage is nothing more than ground meat and spices that is immediately stuffed in a case of various origins and then cooked right away or the sausage is frozen for later use. This by far is the easiest type of sausage to prepare and requires the smallest investment of supplies and equipment.
Smoked – Pretty much identical to Fresh sausage, the only major difference for smoked sausage is that Pink Salt or some other kind of preservative agent MUST be added to the ground meat mixture in order to prevent formation of bacteria in the sausage during the drying and smoking phase. Typically Smoked sausages are prepared almost identically to Fresh, but once the sausages are stuffed and formed, they are then air dried for a few hours and then “Hot” smoked (200 degrees F) for a couple of hours as well.
Emulsified – Another sub-type of Fresh Sausage, Emulsified sausage is essentially Fresh sausage that involves several extra steps before being stuffed. Emulsified sausages require that the fat and the meat be ground separately, and then mixed furiously until you get a smooth creamy paste. The resultant mixture is then finally stuffed into the casing. These types of sausages are usually very delicate in taste and texture and are usually served with light sauces or on a bed of rice. Temperature also plays a much more important role than the other sausage types here. The ingredients must be kept as cold as possible throughout the whole grinding/mixing/stuffing process. Otherwise, the resultant mixture will “break” and ruin the consistency of the sausage once it cooks. Cooking is also a bit different as well. Emulsified sausages are often gently poached or baked to ensure that the mixture stays together during cooking. This type of sausage is pretty much “Hard Mode” for sausage making, mainly due to the preparation and cooking needed to get this to come out right.
Dried – If Emulsified sausage can be considered “Hard Mode”, then Dried sausage is pretty much the next step up; “extreme” “insanity” whichever you like heheh…These are the types of sausages that we often associate with high quality Italian meats: Salame, Pepperoni, Bressola etc. Ironically, this method of preparing sausage requires no cooking, but requires the BIGGEST investment of time and special ingredients in order to complete. This method is also the most fickle; it depends primarily on ambient temperature and humidity and unless you have access to a dedicated drying room found in professional meat houses, completing this type of sausage is both a mighty challenge, but also the finest result of any sausage you can possibly prepare.
If you do decide to pursue preparations of this type of sausage, do keep in mind that you will need to exercise extreme caution and attention to detail when preparing it. Several different types of preservative agents and specialized drying equipment is going to be needed in order to complete this method so when you’re reviewing the recipes that I post for it, take particular care in following them as these types of sausages have the highest chance of making people sick or having them fail if you don’t follow and prepare them right. Ultimately, even the best meat monger has trouble with these types of sausage. People I know who have been doing this longer than I have STILL have trouble with this type of preparation. What I’m saying is that if you do decide to prepare this type of sausage, be prepared for failure. Many times the sausage will over-mold and be ruined, or the casing will dry out and cause the inside to rot. It is simply the nature of the game with this prep type. When you leave your cooking method to Mother Nature, you often have to take the luck of the draw with her as well…
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Next up we have equipment. With sausage making, unfortunately a bit of investment on your part will be necessary if you wish to pursue this chapter of Charcuterie. Thankfully, most of the equipment is readily available and does not require a huge investment if you’re not pursuing some of the more advanced dried sausage techniques. This list is more of a primer than anything and some of them you may not need. This is just a list of items that I found useful or needed at one stage or another.
Meat Grinder– This will be the most important piece of equipment you buy for making sausage. Every single sausage to some degree or another will require grinding meat or mixture. Thankfully as nearly every single appliance maker has thrown their hat in the proverbial ring on this one, finding a counter-top home-grade meat grinder is easier than ever and can be found for a very reasonable price!
For reference, this is the grinder that I use, and I find it works quite well:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008ZLHM/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img
This also makes trying to pick one out of all of the available models a bit of a chore. What the heck do you look for? Wattage? HP? Turnip Twaddlers? The list of features can be boggling sometimes so here are few things you’ll want to look for:
Power: Usually measured in the form of HP (Horsepower), you’ll want to look for grinders that have at least 1/2 HP or more. Generally speaking, the more powerful the motor, the more effectively it can grind tough cuts of meat and in extreme cases even gristle or bone (I guess if you’re making your own dog/cat food this may come in handy)
Cutting Plates: Look for grinders that include at least 2 cutting plates. Most often grinders will include a Coarse and Medium/Fine cutting plate depending on what you want to grind. Coarse will be good for pretty much most sausage, but if you’re making Emulsified sausages or mixing multiple disparate ingredients into smoked sausages like Kielbasa or Bratwurst, having multiple plates handy is definitely a good idea.
Multiple Speeds/Directions: This is definitely a worthwhile feature to have on your grinder. Essentially what this means is does your grinder allow you to reverse your grinding? This is especially helpful if you get a jam or meat is not coming out properly; you can reverse the grind flow and allow yourself to clean the clog and then continue, without having to pick and poke at the auger to clean it out.
Sausage Stuffer Attachments: Most grinders will also include sausage tubes. These plastic (sometimes metal) pieces attach to the outbound plate of your grinder and allow you to stuff the sausage using the same appliance. Most of the time you’ll also get at least 2 tubes for different sizes of sausage as well, allowing for some versatility there. Stuffing sausages using your grinder is definitely the cheaper alternative, however if you find that you’re making larger and larger batches or making sausages more often, you may want to consider purchasing the next piece of equipment:
Sausage Stuffer – This is essentially a giant pump/spackle gun-like thing that’s either hand cranked or electrically powered whose only job is to press ground meat into casings. Buying one of these is not necessarily required, but if you find yourself making large quantities of sausage, or making sausage on a semi-regular basis, purchasing one of these is often worth the effort. Relying on your meat grinder to stuff your sausage basically puts you at the mercy of your grinder’s speed. Essentially it will only stuff as fast as it grinds, which for many countertop models, is pretty darn slow. You won’t be limited to the grinder’s speeds if you use a dedicated stuffer, and you won’t have to worry about clogs or smear nearly as much with it as well. The major caveat to this is that most stuffers are pretty darn expensive, as evidenced by this example:
http://www.amazon.com/LEM-Products-Vertical-Stainless-Sausage/dp/B000SQDTRC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1251226369&sr=8-2
Electric Mixer – Also a very useful device, some would say mandatory. Though it is not absolutely necessary if you’re sticking to fresh or smoked sausage, if you plan on doing emulsified or dried sausage with any regularity, you may want to invest in one of these. Achieving a good emulsion is made 10x easier with an electric mixer and also allows you to work much more quickly with your recipes. When you’re dealing with raw meat, getting it ground and stuffed as fast as possible is definitely a worthy idea, and also a heck of a lot easier on your arms!
If you’re in the market for a mixer, look no further than a Kitchenaid mixer. Yeah they cost $Texas, but they’re built like an Abrams tank and will last you for 20 odd years or more. They make several models and have a few entry level models for around $200-$300 dollars as well:
http://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-K45SS-Classic-250-Watt-2-Quart/dp/B00004SGFW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1251219975&sr=1-4
Kitchenaid also has the nice ability to add attachments to the mixer, including a meat grinder attachment as well so you don’t have to buy multiple appliances. However if you do decide to go this route, buy one of the stronger motor models as the 250 watt will kind of be tested in terms of wear and tear.
Various Mixing Bowls of Different Sizes – When grinding meat and mixing it with other ingredients for stuffing you’ll often find yourself grabbing stuff and mixing several items at once. Having a good supply of bowls (preferably non-reactive metal ones) will make your preparation process much more organized and easier on your kitchen.
http://www.amazon.com/CHEFS-Stainless-Steel-Mixing-Bowls/dp/B001EODHGA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1251225769&sr=1-3
A Good Knife – This is pretty self explanatory, and by now you should probably have already guessed you need one; however it still bears repeating that a good solid meat cutting knife or cleaver is worth its weight in gold. Having a good knife is particularly important for sausage making as you’re going to be cutting large chunks of semi-frozen meat which I don’t have to tell you can be a bit tough to cut. The number of shaved off sections of my finger when my previous cruddy knives slipped are a testament to just how dangerous cutting semi-frozen meat with a bad knife can be. While I’m sure this topic alone could spawn its own thread, I’ll stick with the brands that I’ve used and known. I’ve used Henckels and Global knives to good effect, particularly Global (damn things are hella sharp good lord!) so take that with what you will.
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Now while technically sausage can be made from most any type of ingredient, there are a few core ingredients that you’ll need in most of your sausage preparation that I figured I’d list a few of them here so you can reference them in the future.
Kosher Salt – This pretty much goes without saying. A staple of nearly every sausage, this ingredient aids in flavoring and preservation. Make sure to keep a good supply handy.
Pink Salt #1, Pink Salt #2 (For Dried/Smoked Sausage) – While the argument on nitrates is indeed a valid one, in the interest of food safety, if you are planning to smoke or dry your sausage as your main method of preparation, then using these various preservative salts is required.
Sugar – Used to sweeten the meat, counteract the salt and also as fuel for good bacteria in dried sausage, this is also an important ingredient. I recommend using fine sugar or Dextrose sugar, the finer grains make dissolving and mixing them into the meat much easier.
Fresh Herbs – I normally am ambivalent about deciding whether or not to use dried over fresh. However in the case of sausage, I always recommend using the freshest herbs you have available to you. I don’t know why specifically sausage seems to really bring out the flavoring of herbs moreso than usual but having good quality fresh herbs on hand for sausage making really makes a difference.
Pork Butt – Also known as Pork Shoulder Butt, Picnic Ham, Shoulder Butt, Pork Shoulder, or as the titles indicates….Pork Butt. This meat will form the backbone of many of your sausages. It is exceptionally well marbled and is cheap too! The high fat content makes it an ideal candidate for sausage meat since fat plays such an important part in the creation of a sausage.
Back Fat (aka Fatback) – This is a layer of fat from the back of a pig (hence the name). This is usually the highest quality fat from the pig (though jowl fat is also prized for this as well, though it’s a heck of a lot harder to acquire) and is used extensively in sausage and pates. Usually this will be added to a meat mixture to improve its fat/meat ratio as you’ll often be shooting for a fat content of at least 30% to ensure juiciness and texture
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Hooboy, these will take up a huge chunk of space on their own, so in the essence of simplicity, I’ll try to boil em down as best as I can. All forms of casing require a bit of prep work before you can use them. Most will require soaking in tepid/warm water for about 30 minutes before use. After soaking they should also be rinsed through before being stuffed. It is often recommended to change the water they’re soaking in a few times as well, particularly if they’ve been stored in saltpack.
There are several main types of sausage casings that are referred to when making sausage but thankfully we’ll only concern ourselves with just a few types:
Hog Casings – These are the most common type you will come across and are both the easiest to get a hold of and also the easiest to use. Standard hog casings are made from the upper parts of the hog intestines and are used for about 80%-90% of the sausages you’ll be making. They work for fresh, dried and smoked sausage varieties. “Middles” and “Bungs” are made from the middle and lower end of the intestines respectively. “Middles” and “Bungs” are the types used for larger sausages and cured meats. Items like Salame, and Large Bologna are often made with these types of casings.
Sheep Casings – These are light delicate casings frequently used for breakfast sausage, chipolatas, and hot dogs. Typically they have to be special ordered. Treat them the same as hog casings in terms of prep work.
Beef Casings/Middles – Used pretty much for only the very large emulsified sausages, tough salames and dried meat. These require more prep work than others. They tend to require more pre-rinse treatments and are usually sold in large sizes to accommodate the large quantity of ingredients that are stuffed into them.
Caul Fat – Not really a casing per-se, it is more of a connective membrane that sausages and roasts are wrapped in for cooking to retain moisture. This is the fat that surrounds the pig’s kidneys and frequently is used as an ingredient in fancier roasts and pates. Dishes like Crepinettes are simply sausage meat that has been wrapped in caul fat and fried. (Delicious by the way)
Natural Collagen Casings – These are casings made out of natural collagen that essentially have been shaped and extruded to resemble upper hog casings. They work pretty well though are a bit less porous than natural casings so they’re generally recommended to be used with smoked or fresh sausage. They’re a pretty good substitute for Hog casings and generally have a better “shelf life” so to speak. Overall I recommend using natural hog casings over collagen if you can swing it, but don’t be afraid of using the collagen ones if they’re the only ones you can readily get a hold of.
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Ok then! We’ve got some of the basic ingredients out of the way, now we need to cover a few basic tenets of sausage making. The majority of them pertain to “Fresh” sausage making but many of the other types of sausages start the same way, so these techniques and adages apply anyway. The only exception would be emulsified sausage which requires a couple of extra grinding and mixing steps and I’ll give it its own special treatment.
Keeping your Meat Cold!!
If there’s any rule or guidelines I could emphasize more than others it would be this one. It is IMPERATIVE to keep your meat that you are grinding or mixing ice cold. It doesn’t necessarily have to be rock-hard frozen but it should be almost frozen, kind of like when you partially defrost a steak, it should be firm almost “crispy” with ice. This rule applies both to meat before and after it has been ground. If the meat begins to warm up, the fat will start breaking down and will result in “smear”, which essentially results in sausage meat that has a consistency of Paper Mache when cooked and tastes about as good.
Also as a general food safety guideline, it’s better to keep the food cold to retard bacteria growth. To aid in this, you should freeze your metal meat grinder parts prior to grinding and stuffing to keep them from absorbing too much heat from the motor and to ensure they don’t transfer as much heat to the meat. Also your bowl that is holding the meat mixture after it has been ground should sit inside another bowl full of ice to keep the meat chilled as it awaits mixing with other ingredients.
Grinding your Meat
As I explained above, keeping your meat and equipment cold is paramount to making sure your sausage mixes and grinds well. When using your grinder take exceptional care with the parts. They should be washed as soon as you’re done with them and the cutting plates should be dried and oiled immediately after use. Also be sure to take care of your cutting blades as well, they generally should be sharpened at least once a year if your grinding regularly.
Finally when trimming the meat to grind it, try to remove as much sinew and gristle as you can. This is the stuff that wreaks havoc on cutting plates and leads to the most clogging and smearing when trying to grind meat. Meat should be cut, on average into 1 inch cubes so as to move smoothly down the grinding feeder, but that mainly depends on the size of your grinder, refer to the manual it comes with to be sure. As to know whether or not your meat is grinding properly, keep this mental note in your mind: “meat spaghetti”. Your meat should be coming out as distinct ropes with fat and meat equally interspersed throughout. As long as it is coming out similar to that you should be fine.
Mixing
One of the more important steps of the sausage preparation, this is your chance to really dictate the flavor of the sausage. Mixing, as the Charcuterie book says, creates what is called “The Primary Bind”. Essentially this is the process in which the ground fat and meat are forcefully mixed with whatever flavors and spices you wish to add to the meat. This is also the stage where you add any liquid flavorings as well. . Here is where having an electric mixer can come in handy. Hand mixing is possible, but boy is it tiring on the arms! For fresh sausage, it’s a fairly straightforward process. Simply grind the meat, and then mix it vigorously for about one minute. Add whatever liquid flavorings you wish to add, then mix for one minute more. It should resemble a sticky, spackle-like substance. It is now ready to stuff!
The Taste Test!
Woops hold on there! Before you actually stuff the meat mixture into a casing, you’ll actually want to test it first. This is pretty much your last chance to make sure the sausage is seasoned properly before it goes into the casing. It’s actually pretty simple really, simply take a dollop of meat and form it into a tiny patty and sauté it in a small pan. You’ll be able to tell if it is seasoned right and if it isn’t, then adjust accordingly. Simple no?
Addendum – This technique applies for all but emulsified sausage. Since emulsified is prone to “breaking”, or having the mixture literally fall apart, you actually need to cook it slightly differently to see if the sausage is ready. This technique is called the “Quenelle Test”. Put simply, it means to take the same small dollop of meat, tightly wrap it in foodsafe plastic wrap and drop the pouch into hot water (between 160-180 degrees Farenheit) to cook it. This will also allow you to test to see if the emulsion is still holding and also to test for the taste of the sausage.
Stuffing
Stuffing can at first be pretty daunting. Fiddling with the casings and somehow getting the mixture in there is no small feat believe you me. Still, once you get used to handling the materials involved, it’s actually pretty straightforward in operation. Make sure you’ve thoroughly rinsed your sausage casing before use and make sure you have an appropriate length set aside before you start threading it. Once you start threading it, it should go on fairly easily until it’s completely compressed on the tube. You should leave a few inches of casing at the end to facilitate in tying the end piece and also for air to flow out of.
During the initial feeding of the stuffing, air pockets will typically develop inside the casing. Simply prick them with a small needle or the tip of a sharp knife. This will allow even distribution of the sausage meat inside the casing. As the sausage begins to fill and feed, you’ll want to keep a stable grip on the outbound casing near the tube. This will allow for an even filling of the casing and ensures that the casing doesn’t overstretch while it fills. You’ll also want to keep the surface you’re working on slicked with water so you can more easily coil the resultant tube of sausage that will start forming, it makes it much easier to handle.
Cooking Techniques
Sausage, surprisingly enough actually requires a fair amount of care to cook. It’s actually quite easy to overcook and subsequently ruin the taste of a sausage. Cooking a sausage until the meat is bursting from all points is not the sign of a done sausage, it is the sign of a over cooked dry tube of meat! With that in mind, here are a few general ideas for cooking fresh and smoked sausage.
• Cook sausage to an internal temperature of at least 150-160 degrees. This will ensure that the bad bacteria has been eliminated but without destroying all of the juices in there.
• Sautéing is my preferred method because casings respond really well to it. You can get a really nice dark sear on the sausage and cook it fairly evenly as well. Make sure not to have the heat too high however, you should be running medium to medium high heat for about 10-12 minutes to fully cook the sausage.
• Grilling the next step and also gives a nice smoky sear that sautéing does not provide. Just take care with grilling as it is very easy to burn and overcook sausages, more so than with sautéing. Just stick to medium heat as before and you should be ok. It should take about 10-12 minutes to properly cook the sausage, same as sautéing.
• Finally roasting is another option if your countertop is pressed for space or you have no grill. Simply grease an oven-safe pan and toss it in a 300 degree oven with the sausages for about 10 minutes. It should do the job.
• If all else fails you can also boil the sausage to cook it, though it really won’t do anything for the flavor. Cook this way only if you have no other option.
• All in all, treat sausages like a tender cut of meat. Don’t overcook them and don’t cook them on too high a flame. Slow and steady heat is key.
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Alrighty then! This is the part you’ve been waiting for: the recipes! I’m going to start with a pictorial description of how I prepared some standard fresh pork sausage using the master recipe from the Charcuterie Book. This recipe is your standard “boilerplate” recipe. It pretty much serves as a springboard for other variations and you’ll see in the recipe I did play around with the ingredients to make it uniquely my own.
Anyhow let’s get this party started:
FRESH GARLIC MASTER SAUSAGE RECIPE
5 pounds/2.25 kilograms boneless fatty pork shoulder butt, diced into cubes
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (about 3 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon/10 grams ground black pepper
3 tablespoons/54 grams minced garlic
1 cup/250 milliliters good red wine, chilled
10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked in tepid water for at least 30 minutes and rinsed thoroughly
As you can see here, this recipe uses only a few ingredients to impart a great simple sausage that will fit pretty much any meal. I wanted to try some variety though so here’s what I added in addition to those items. These were added in different combinations to different batches, so mix and match and see what happens!:
GREATCOW’S ADDITIONS
2 Cups Finely Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (Cheese of any kind is a fantastic addition to sausages. It provides additional fat, moisture, and flavor as well. Try various cheeses you know melt well and see what happens! Try some Cheddar, Pepper Jack or even some Gouda! Whatever floats your boat!)
1 tablespoon Fresh Basil
1 tablespoon Fresh Oregano
2 tablespoons Minced Onion
1 16oz can chopped tomatoes, blended with aforementioned herbs
2 tablespoons Worchester sauce
2 tablespoons Hot Sauce
¼ Cup Sun Dried Tomatoes, coarsely chopped
As you can see, your imagination is really your limit here. Like brining, try to pair seasonings you know will work well with the meat. After you mix the spices and herbs well, do a test fry with a dollop of the meat mixture to see how it tastes before you stuff it and you should be good to go!
So now you have the ingredients, let’s get started with the procedure for making your standard fresh sausage!
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Take the pork butt and place into the freezer for about 20 minutes or so. The meat should be almost frozen, but not completely. This is also a good time to put the metal parts of your meat grinder into the freezer as well. Once the meat has almost frozen, remove it and begin cutting it into 1 inch cubes.
Take the chopped meat and place it into a bowl sitting into another bowl of ice for working. Combine any of the dry ingredients (particularly the salt and any of the dry/fresh herbs) the mixture will probably look similar to this:
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Once you have the meat mixed with the herbs it’s time to start grinding! Make sure you have your grinder prepped properly prior to starting. You’ll want to now remove your parts from the freezer and assemble them accordingly. Make sure to get a bowl ready to receive the ground meat mixture. It should be sitting in another bowl of ice to keep the meat cool. It should look similar to this setup I have here:
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I prefer to use the small cutting plate on my grinder as it makes a more uniform sausage than using the coarse plate, but I leave that final decision up to you.
Grind the meat into the bowl taking care to make sure the grinder doesn’t clog up. Keep an eye on the meat coming out of the grinder, it should look for lack of a better phrase like “meat spaghetti” as evidenced here:
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We’re gonna need a bigger bowl….
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Note how the fat is marbled perfectly through the meat.
Once you have your meat all ground, you’ll want to transfer it to a mixing bowl or put it in your electric mixers bowl if you have one. Vigorously mix the meat for about 1 minute either by hand or by the mixer.
After the initial mix, you’re now at the part where you’ll want to add any liquid ingredients. Add whichever ones you have, and then vigorously mix the meat for about another minute or until the liquids are evenly incorporated through the meat and the resultant mixture resembles a sticky paste.
Once you’re done mixing, take the bowl full of meat and place it inside the freezer for about 15 minutes or until the mixture stiffens up a bit. You’ll want to ensure the meat is absolutely chilled before the stuffing process.
This is also the part where you should do the taste test before you stuff the meat. Simply do the “dollop of meat” test and fry up a little bit to see how it comes out. Adjust the seasoning as you see fit.
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While the meat is chilling clean out your meat grinder and prepare it for stuffing. Usually this is nothing more than removing the outbound plate and placing the stuffing tube on the outbound area and re-securing it.
Now comes the time to thread the casing on the tube. To make things a bit easier, wet the tube with some extra water to make threading the tube easier. Now you’ll have to get a casing ready. If you were like me and bought an omgheug bag of casings, this may be a bit of a chore in itself….
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m115/thegreatcow/Sausage/P8160100.jpg
Like a rat’s nest of tubes….
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m115/thegreatcow/Sausage/P8160112.jpg
Lets see if I move the left one through that hole erm..wait ah sonfapoopscoop….
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m115/thegreatcow/Sausage/P8160111.jpg
Gotcha!
Ok, we’ve now got to start threading the sausage stuffer tube. Find the end of the casing and carefully stretch it to the beginning of the tube.
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“Why no officer, that doesn’t look phallic at all…no sir!”
With the casing stretched to the beginning of the tube, you’ll now need to compress the rest of the casing onto the tube itself. Work slowly and carefully here, the casing should automatically untie itself as long as you pull and prod it slowly along the tube.
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Slowly pulling the casing along the tube, use both hands to help feed it along…
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When the casing is finally on the tube, it should look similar to this. Make sure to leave a couple of inches of casing at the end to allow for air to seep through and also to allow for easy tying.
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With the casing in place you can begin stuffing! Turn the grinder on and begin! In a short while the meat should start feeding through the grinder and into the casing. As you can see from these shots this is what happens when air builds up in the casing. Just use a pin to prick the casing and you should be able to continue stuffing.
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Once the air is purged the sausage should stuff pretty normally from here on out. Make sure to keep your hand near the exit part of the tube to regulate the fill of the sausage as it comes out. You want to make sure the sausage comes out uniformly, but not too much that the casing bursts, it takes some practice but eventually you’ll get an idea how hard to grip the casing to ensure an even fill.
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m115/thegreatcow/Sausage/P8160134.jpg
Note how I’m using one had to regulate the fill, and the other to guide the filled sausage into a coil…
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m115/thegreatcow/Sausage/P8160135.jpg
Another shot of regulating the feed rate into the casing...
I won’t lie, this is going to be pretty tiring work. Make sure to take regular breaks particularly after the grinding period. Relax, have a cold one, savor what will soon be a delicious creation…:D
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“Mmmmmm….innuendo…”
Yeah yeah, I’m hardly photogenic, then again, 6 odd hours in the kitchen cooking among other things fresh sausage will tucker you out I dare say…
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So now that we have the sausage stuffed, it’s time to get it ready to cook. I usually prefer twisting my sausage into links. It makes for easier cooking and also for easier storage when you’re freezing large batches of them and want to portion them out into readily useable servings.
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Here I have a length of sausage, freshly stuffed ready to be separated into links.
An easy way I find to twist sausage is to start from the end. Tie off the end of your link to begin. Next, measure out about 6 inches or so of link and press and pinch out a section so that you’re basically left with a casing with no meat between it.
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m115/thegreatcow/Sausage/P8160155.jpg
Keep pressing and pinching until you have about ¼ to ½ an inch of casing to work with. Then holding the newly formed section, roll it over a few times to form a tight twist in the casing you just pinched.
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Holding onto the newly created twist, repeat this process with the rest of the link until you have the whole length of the sausage portioned into links.
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Once the sausages are properly twisted, you’ll then want to cut off the sections you want to cook. Alternatively, you can leave them linked; they’ll just be a bit more difficult to cook when they’re rolling around linked together.
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Now then! Onto some cooking. Since I had the kitchen to myself, and I didn’t feel like firing up the gas grill I decided to simply sauté them in the pan.
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You probably notice the little...”meat bulges” for lack of a better phrase, at the end of the sausages in those pics. This is a common happenstance when you’re cooking freshly made sausage. Usually the only way to avoid this is to either prick the sausage multiple times to allow the juices to escape, or to partially freeze them so the casings harden. Overall it’s not a major issue, just more of a visual thing I suppose.
Just make sure to keep the heat to medium to medium high. Fresh sausage cooks very rapidly so you’ll often have them done in about 10-12 minutes.
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And there you have it! Homemade fresh sausage that will royally kick the pants off any store bought kind you can come across! Bon appetite!
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And there you go! That right there is the Master Sausage recipe from start to finish. I’m going to follow this up with more recipes of each type. This should allow you to apply the general ideas and techniques that I outlined here in these following recipes. Unfortunately I currently don’t have any more pictures of other preparations since I haven’t had time to make any more since that batch. (Gotta go buy more pork butt for one!) Nevertheless, we’ll keep this gravy (or sausage) train going!...gah that sounds wrong just saying it…
Note: The majority of recipes I got from the Charcuterie book since they work so well. Credit is due where it is due.
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BREAKFAST SAUSAGE WITH FRESH GINGER AND SAGE
A fantastic sausage to have with some toast and eggs (or waffles), this will serve as a wonderful replacement to those over-sweetened store bought varieties. It also is versatile enough that you don’t necessarily have to stuff it! Simply shape the ground meat into patties or links and fry if you wish. This sausage also responds very well to grilling or smoking.
Ingredients
5 pounds/2.25 kilograms boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (about 3 tablespoons)
5 tablespoons/50 grams peeled and finely grated fresh ginger (or 1 tablespoon ground dried ginger)
5 tablespoons/30 grams tightly packed finely chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon/18 grams minced garlic
2 teaspoons/6 grams ground black or white pepper
1 cup/250 milliliters ice water
20 feet/6 meters sheep casings or 10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked for at least 30 minutes and rinsed well
1. Combine all the ingredients except the water and mix thoroughly. Set the mixture inside your fridge and chill until it is ready to grind, the meat should start to stiffen as it almost freezes.
2. Grind the meat through the smallest cutting plate you have. Make sure the meat lands in a bowl set in ice.
3. Take the ground meat to a mixing bowl or mixer and add the ice water. Mix vigorously either by hand or using an electric mixer on medium speed for about 1 minute or until the mixture becomes sticky with the fat uniformly distributed through the meat. Chill the mixture until you’re ready to stuff.
4. Perform a taste test on the meat. Sauté a small portion of the meat in a frying pan and taste. Adjust the mixture accordingly to suit your taste.
5. Stuff the sausage into the casings and twist to form 4 inch links, or shape into patties and refrigerate or freeze them until ready to cook.
6. To cook, gently sauté the sausages/patties in pan until they reach 150 degrees.
Serve with waffles/pancakes/eggs etc.
Next up we have a classic member of the sausage world: The Bratwurst!
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(Be warned, the ingredients here are a bit more complicated)
Ingredients
3 pounds/1350 grams boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
1 pound/450 grams boneless lean veal shoulder, diced
1 pound/450 grams pork back fat
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (3 tablespoons)
1 cup/140 grams soy protein concentrate (optional, this ingredient mainly helps the sausage retain moisture if you’re planning to smoke them. You can also substitute Milk Powder if you don’t have access to it as well)
2 teaspoons/6 grams ground white pepper
1 ½ teaspoons/5 grams ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons/5 grams freshly grated nutmeg
2 large cold eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup/25 milliliters ice-cold heavy cream
10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked for at least 30 minutes and rinsed well.
1. Combine all of the ingredients except the eggs and the cream and mix well. Set mixture aside in your fridge or freezer and chill until you’re ready to grind. Make sure your grinder parts are frozen as well.
2. Grind the mixture using your smallest cutting plate your grinder comes equipped with. Make sure your receiving bowl is set inside another bowl of ice to keep the mixture cold.
3. Stir the mixture vigorously either by hand or an electric mixer on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add the eggs and cream and mix them in slowly at first. (Use the low mix setting on your mixer), after a few seconds, increase the speed to medium and mix the meat until the egg and cream have been thoroughly incorporated into the meat. Chill the mixture until you’re ready to stuff.
4. As before, now’s the time to do the taste test, take a dollop of meat and fry it in the pan to taste. Adjust the seasonings accordingly.
5. Stuff into casings and twist into 6 inch links. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to cook.
6. Roast or sauté links to an internal temp of 150 degrees.
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This is the sausage that so often gets maligned as crap in the supermarket. Usually stuffed with low grade pork scraps and over seasoned, it’s no wonder why this sausage gets a bad rap. However, good, quality made Italian sausage is truly a thing to savor. It’s perfectly at home on the grill, or tossed into some stew, chili or pasta. For some added variety I’m going to include both variations on it. They both prepare the same way; just that one is spicier than the other with the addition of paprika and chili flakes. You can adjust the heat how you see fit.
Ingredients
For Spicy Sausage
4 ½ pounds/2 kilograms boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
8 counces/225 grams pork back fat, diced
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons/32 grams fine granulated sugar
2 tablespoons/16 grams fennel seeds, toasted (just how I showed you in the pastrami recipe)
1 tablespoon/8 grams coriander seeds, toasted
3 tablespoons/24 grams Hungarian Paprika (or the best quality hot paprika you can get your hands on)
½ teaspoon/1 gram cayenne pepper
4 tablespoons/24 grams fresh oregano leaves
4 tablespoons/24 grams fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons/12 grams hot red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons/6 grams coarsely ground black pepper
¾ cup/185 milliliters ice water
¼ cup/60 milliliters red wine vinegar, chilled
For Sweet Sausage
4 pounds/1800 grams pork shoulder butt, diced
1 pound/450 grams pork back fat, diced
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons/32 grams granulated sugar
2 teaspoons/12 grams minced garlic
2 tablespoons/16 grams fennel seeds, toasted
2 teaspoons/6 grams coarsely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons/16 grams sweet Spanish Paprika
¾ cup/185 milliliters ice water
¼ cup/60 milliliters red wine vinegar chilled
10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked in tepid water for 30 minutes and rinsed.
1. Combine the ingredients except for the water and vinegar and mix well. Chill until ready to grind. Freeze your grinder parts as well.
2. Grind the mixture through the small cutting plate of your grinder into a bowl set into ice.
3. Add the water and vinegar and mix well for about 1 minute until the liquids are incorporated into the meat and the mixture is sticky in appearance. (About 1 minute of vigorous medium speed mixing. Chill the mixture until you’re ready to stuff.
4. Taste test. Sauté a small dollop and taste. Adjust seasonings as necessary.
5. Stuff the sausage into casings and twist to form 6 inch links. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to cook.
6. Gently sauté or roast the links until they measure 150 degrees internally.
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If there was one sausage that is the perfect accompaniment to pasta dishes, this would be it. Grilled or sautéed, this sausage will fit most any recipe that calls for meat to be added to something. Plus the chicken flavor really showcases itself here. All in all, this is one of my favorite recipes to use.
Ingredients
3 ½ pounds/1.5 kilograms boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed
1 ½ pounds/675 grams pork back fat, cubed into 1 inch cubes
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (about 3 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon/3 grams freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ teaspoons/9 grams minced garlic
4 tablespoons/24 grams tightly packed chopped fresh basil
½ cup/100 grams fresh diced Roma (plum) tomatoes
¼ cup/60 grams diced sun-dried tomatoes, softened (essentially if you have sun dried tomatoes that aren’t packed in brine or oil, you’ll want to soften them before you use them. Take the tomatoes and drop them in a bowl of boiling hot water for a few minutes to reconstitute them before putting them in the mixture)
¼ cup/60 milliliters red wine vinegar, chilled
¼ cup/60 milliliters extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup/60 milliliters dry red wine, chilled
10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked in tepid water for 30 minutes and rinsed.
1. Combine all of the ingredients except for the wine, vinegar and oil into a bowl and mix well. Chill until ready to grind. Freeze your grinder parts as well.
2. Grind the meat using your grinder’s smallest cutting plate. Grind the meat into a bowl set in ice to keep it cold.
3. Take the mixture to a mixing bowl and using a spoon or an electric mixer, mix at medium speed for about 1 minute. Add the oil, vinegar, and wine into the mixture and mix on medium speed for about 1 minute or until the meat and fat are equally incorporated and the mixture is sticky. Chill the mixture until you’re ready to stuff.
4. Taste test again. Dollop the meat into a frying pan, sauté to taste. Adjust meat mixture accordingly.
5. Stuff the sausage into casings. Twist them into 6 inch links. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to cook.
Note: You can technically make this sausage without the fatback if you want to avoid the pork. Simply make sure to include all the extra fat with the chicken thighs when you’re grinding them to ensure juiciness. You can also add about 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese to the meat mixture to add some extra fat and moisture as well.
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