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Charcuterie 101 - The Silence you hear is the meat deliciousifying...
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Ah yesh. Good quality chorizo is a delectable treat that we rarely get to appreciate if we’re too far north of the border. Thankfully this sausage, like the breakfast sausage recipe, responds well both stuffed or in a freeform preparation. Simply form into patties, or add chunks of it to soups, stews, or even stir-fry dishes. Scrambled eggs with sautéed chorizo are also a wonderful breakfast treat!
Ingredients
5 pounds/ 2.25 kilograms boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons/16 grams ancho chile powder (If you can’t snag this kind generic chili powder works fine, though ancho works particularly well for this recipe.)
1 tablespoon/8 grams hot paprika
1 tablespoon/8 grams chipotle/cayenne powder (same note applies as the ancho chile above)
1 tablespoon/18 grams minced garlic
1 teaspoon/3 grams freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon/6 grams chopped fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano)
½ teaspoon/1.5 grams ground cumin
3 tablespoon/45 milliliters tequila, chilled
3 tablespoons/45 milliliters red wine vinegar, chilled
10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked for at least 30 minutes and rinsed (optional)
1. Combine all of the ingredients except the tequila and vinegar (noticing a pattern here? Hehe) and mix well. Set aside to chill before grinding. Make sure your grinder pieces are well chilled as well before you grind
2. Grind the mixture through the small cutting plate. Make sure your meat lands in a bowl set in ice to keep it cool.
3. Add the tequila and vinegar to the ground meat mixture and mix well until liquids are thoroughly incorporated through the meat, about 1 minute of vigorous mixing. Make sure to chill the mixture prior to stuffing
4. Taste test, dollop some onto a frying pan and check taste. Adjust seasoning accordingly.
5. Stuff into casings. Or, if you’re not interested in using casings for this meat, form the meat however you see fit. If you’re using casings, twist them into 6 inch links.
6. Sauté the links or the ground loose meat until the meat reaches a temp of 150 degrees.
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Now that you’ve got a taste of basic fresh sausage, we’re now going to experiment with the Emulsified sausage; time to really test your ability as a sausage maker here. As I outlined earlier, Emulsified sausages are simply fresh sausages in which the fat and meat are mixed even more vigorously (usually with an electric mixer on its high setting or a food processor) to break down and blend the fat and meat to the point that you have a smooth creamy paste as the result.
For these sausages having an electric mixer of some kind is pretty much essential to achieving a stable emulsion so with regards to these recipes, I will assume you have one and will describe the recipe as such.
Also, I strongly, STRONGLY recommend purchasing a dedicated sausage stuffer to stuff these types of sausages and not using the meat grinder’s sausage attachment. The blades in the grinder have a nasty habit of breaking emulsions quite easily. If you don’t want to spring the money for a dedicated, don’t worry. You can replicate the effect using a heavy duty canvas pastry bag though it will admittedly be tiring…
Finally, I’ve mentioned it several times before, but I have to mention it once again. Keep your ingredients and grinder parts ice cold! Not frozen, just super cold. Nothing destroys a meat emulsion faster than letting your ingredients or your equipment warm up. Basically this means your emulsion will “break” and while the flavor won’t be affected, your sausage will start crumbling into dried chunks which won’t be very appetizing to be sure.
Anyhow, those are the major pointers I wanted to cover again before the recipe list. Onwards!
WEISSWURST – MASTER EMULSFIED SAUSAGE RECIPE
This recipe will give you a baseline idea on how to prepare emulsified sausages. The techniques and ingredients will allow you to experiment further once you get this one down. In spite of being a “master” recipe, the sausage is fantastic on its own. Superbly delicate yet flavorful, you’re sure to enjoy the taste of this sausage when you finally get around to making it.
Ingredients
1 pound/450 grams boneless lean veal shoulder, diced
12 ounces/350 grams pork back fat, diced
¾ ounce/20 grams kosher salt (1 ½ tablespoons)
8 ounces/225 grams crushed ice
1 teaspoon/3 grams ground white pepper
1 teaspoon/3 grams Coleman’s Dry mustard
¼ teaspoon/1 gram ground mace
1 ½ teaspoons/ 2grams grated lemon zest
1 ½ tablespoons/10 grams chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 ounce/25 grams non fat dry milk powder (2 tablespoons)
5 feet/2 meters hog casings, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes and rinsed
1. Partially freeze the diced veal and fat, then grind them separately through the large die onto a baking sheet. Return the mixture to the freezer until it is somewhat crispy/crunchy but not completely frozen.
2. Combine the meat and the fat with the salt and crushed ice. Regrind this mixture through the small die into a mixing bowl set into ice.
3. Fit the mixer with your paddle attachment. Add the pepper, mustard, mace, lemon zest, and parsley to the meat mixture and mix on high for 3-4 minutes. Add the dry milk powder and continue mixing for 2 more minutes.
4. Time for the taste test! Remember as this is an emulsified sausage you’ll need to perform a “Quenelle” test to see if the emulsion is holding and the taste is right. Copied from earlier in the guide:
Put simply, it means to take the same small dollop of meat, tightly wrap it in foodsafe plastic wrap and drop the formed pouch into hot water (between 160-180 degrees Farenheit) to cook it. Adjust seasoning as necessary
5. Stuff the resultant mixture into the casings and twist them into 6 inch links
6. Cook the sausages in 170 degree (F) water to until they reach an internal temp of 150 degrees should take roughly 10-15 minutes. Chill in an ice water bath and store in the freezer or fridge if you’re not going to immediately serve them.
7. Now technically the sausages are ready to eat, but if you wish, when you’re ready to serve them, you can do a quick sauté in a pan, sear on the barby, a or a quick jaunt in the oven. Your choice!
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If you’ve ever had a well made Italian sandwich or antipasto plate, chances are you’ve probably sampled Mortadella. This is a large smooth sausage that usually has several other ingredients mixed loosely in the mixture in addition the base meat and seasonings. Properly prepared, this will kick the pants off anything Oscar Mayer could hope to achieve!
Once again, as with all emulsified sausages, keep everything as cold as possible! You’ll also need a food processor to complete this recipe.
Ingredients (Be warned, this recipe is a biggy)
1 pound/450 grams boneless lean pork soulder butt, diced
2 tablespoons/30 milliliters dry white wine
½ teaspoon/3 grams minced garlic
¾ ounce/20 grams kosher salt(1 ½ tablespoons)
½ teaspoon/3 grams ink salt
12 ounces/335 grams pork back fat, diced
10 ounces/280 grams crushed ice
1 ½ teaspoons/4 grams ground white pepper
1 teaspoon/4 grams ground mace
1 teaspoon/2 grams ground coriander seeds, toasted
¼ teaspoon/.5 gram ground bay leaf
½ teaspoon/1 gram freshly grated nutmeg
½ cup/70 grams nonfat dry milk powder
½ cup/120 grams finely diced pork back fat - Blanched in boiling water for 1 minute, drained and cooled
½ cup/80 grams pistachios, blanched and peeled
1 large beef middle, soaked in tepid water for at least 30 minutes and rinsed well
1. Combine the pork butt with the white wine, garlic, salt, and pink salt. Grind the mixture using the small cutting plate into a bowl set in ice. Immediately toss the mixture into the fridge to chill. Grind the fat (the unblanched 12 ounces, not the blanched one) using the same small cutting plate into the same ice set bowl. Freeze the fat in a separate container. (You’ll want to keep the meat and the fat separate for now.
2. You’ll need a food processor for this step. Place the ground meat in the food processor, along with the ice, pepper, mace, coriander, bay leaf, and nutmeg and process until the mixture reaches about 40 degrees F. (or for about 5 minutes). Add the ground fat and continue to process for about another 4-5 minutes or until the mixture reaches 45 degrees F. Add the dry milk powder and continue to blend until the temp reaches about 50 degrees F, about another 3-5 minutes.
3. Place the mixture into another bowl set in ice and fold in the blanched fat and pistachios.
4. Taste test time! Perform a Quenelle test to ensure that the mixture and emulsion are both fine. Adjust seasonings accordingly. See the “Quenelle Test” in core techniques for a refresher.
5. Stuff into the beef middle.
6. Poach the sausage in 170 degree F water until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees F, then transfer to an ice water bath to chill completely. Store unused portions in the fridge or freezer.
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Another example of classic French emulsified sausage; this is a great sausage with an extremely delicate, almost pudding-like texture. The use of the Qatre Epices mixture really gives this sausage its distinct flavor. It makes a great accompaniment to dinners or afternoon lunches, particularly for winter months. (Note, a food processor is recommended for this recipe, but the standing mixer can be used as well)
Ingredients
1 pound/450 grams boneless pork shoulder butt, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 pound/450 grams skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes
¾ ounce/20 grams kosher salt (1 ½ tablespoons)
1 teaspoon/3 grams ground white pepper
1 ½ teaspoons/6 grams Quatre Epices (Recipe Follows)
8 large eggs
2 ½ cups/600 milliliters whole milk
3 tablespoons/30 grams all purpose flour
8 feet/2.5 meters hog casings, soaked for at least 30 minutes and rinsed well.
Quatre Epices
This is essentially a spice blend that is frequently used for pates, soups and stews, particularly in France.
3 tablespoons/30 grams black peppercorns
1 tablespoon/8 grams freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons/6 grams ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons/6 grams whole cloves
Grind all of the ingredients together either by hand with a mortar and pestle or in a spice/coffee mill. Mixture will keep for several weeks in a dry, airtight container stored in a dark place.
1. Grind the meats together into a bowl set in ice. Place the meat mixture inside the freezer for at least 5 minutes
2. Combine the ground meat, salt, pepper, and Quatre Epices in a food processor and process for about 30 seconds to mix well. While the processor is running carefully add the eggs one or two at a time followed by the milk, then the flour. Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl to ensure all the ingredients get tossed in there.
3. Taste test time again! That’s the nice thing about Boudin Blanc, it’s actually pretty quick to prepare grinding/mixing wise. Quenelle test again here to check for emulsion and taste. Adjust accordingly.
4. Stuff the sausage into the casings, twist into 6 inch links
5. Poach the sausages in 170 degree F water until they reach 150 degrees F internally. Transfer to an ice water bath when done to chill them down if you’re not going to be serving them immediately. Refrigerate or freeze any unused portions.
6. To serve, gently sauté the links in a pan of butter until they’re lightly browned all around.
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Alrighty then! We’ve now covered a large chunk of fresh and fresh emulsified sausage recipes; I figure it’s now time to cover smoked sausage! As I mentioned earlier, smoked sausage recipes differ very little from fresh. In fact, every one of those recipes can be modified to be smoked. All they require is just a few extra steps:
• Firstly, before stuffing the meat, if the recipe hasn’t already included it, some kind of preservative agent like Pink Salt must be added. (Usually about 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons of Pink salt is enough for 5lbs of meat).
• Prior to smoking the sausage, the links or sausage lengths need to be air dried for 1-2 hours to allow a formation of a pellicle for smoke to adhere to.
Other than those two, that’s all you need to do to make a sausage smokeworthy!
Onwards!
KNACKWURST
Classic example of what a smoked sausage should be. This sausage should come out with a nice snap when you eat it and is delicious eaten hot or cold.
Ingredients
3 pounds/1350 grams boneless lean veal shoulder, diced
2 pounds/900 grams boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (3 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon/6 grams pink salt
1 ½ tablespoons/15 grams coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon/4 grams ground mace
1 tablespoon/8grams Hungarian Paprika
½ teaspoon/2 grams ground coriander
¼ teaspoon/1 gram ground allspice
1 cup/140 grams nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup/250 milliliters ice water
10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked for at least 30 minutes and rinsed well
1. Combine all the ingredients except for the water and mix well. Chill the mixture and your grinder parts until you’re ready to grind.
2. Grind the mixture through the small cutting plate into a bowl set in ice.
3. Add the water to the meat mixture and stir vigorously either by mixer or by hand for about 1 minute or until the mixture becomes evenly incorporated and sticky.
4. Taste test, sauté a bit on a pan and adjust the seasonings accordingly.
5. Stuff the sausages into the casings. Twist to form 6 inch links. Take the links of sausage and find a safe spot to hang them for at least 1-2 hours to dry out a bit.
6. Once they’ve dried, hot smoke the sausages (180-200 degrees F) to an internal temp of 150 degrees F. Should take about 2 hours give or take. To stop the cooking process, douse them in an ice water bath and store whatever you don’t plan to use right away in the fridge or freezer.
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A staple of Cajun cooking, this intensely flavored sausage works well either by itself or added to soups, gumbos and stews. Truly a delicious sausage that works either hot or cold.
Ingredients
5 pounds/2.25 kilograms boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (3 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons/6 grams cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon/6 grams pink salt
1 teaspoon/1 gram dried thyme
½ teaspoon/2 grams ground mace
½ teaspoon/2 grams ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon/1 gram ground allspice
¾ teaspoon/3 grams Colman’s Dry Mustard
1 cup/140 grams diced onion
1 tablespoon/18 grams minced garlic
10 feet/3 meters hog casings soaked for at least 30 minutes and rinsed well
1. Combine all the ingredients and mix thoroughly. Chill until ready to grind.
2. Grind the mixture through the small cutting plate into a bowl set in ice.
3. Mix vigorously with a spoon or electric mixer for about 1 minute or until the mixture achieves a sticky appearance.
4. Taste test, you know what to do
5. Stuff the sausage into casings and twist into 6 inch links. Hang in a safe area to dry for 2 hours.
6. Hot smoke the sausages (180-200 degrees F) until they reach an internal temp of 150 degrees. Chill in an ice bath and freeze or refrigerate any portions you won’t use right away.
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Ahh, this sausage is near and dear to my heart. (in more ways than one! Zing!) My parents grew up in Croatia and one of the sausages they prepared with their family members was this variety of smoked sausage. It’s pretty straightforward to make and very simply seasoned. It also has the nice distinction of not requiring twisting into links when it is stuffed. It actually functions better as a whole length of sausage when it is smoked. It comes out much better that way, trust me.
Ingredients
1 ¼ pounds/565 grams boneless lean beef( stew beef, chuck roast, round) fat and sinew removed, diced
1 pound/450 grams pork back fat, diced
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt(3 tablespoons)
½ teaspoon/3 grams pink salt
¾ tablespoon/15 grams dextrose (or 1 ½ teaspoons/10 grams normal sugar)
12 ounces/335 grams crushed ice
2 teaspoons/6 grams ground white pepper
1 ½ teaspoons/ 6 grams Colman’s Dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon/1 gram garlic powder
1 1/12 ounces/35 grams nonfat dry milk powder (1/4 cup)
9 feet/3 meters hog casings soaked in tepid water for at least 30 minutes and rinsed well. Cut the casings into 18 inch/45 cm lengths
1. Partially freeze the diced beef and fat, then grind them through the large cutting plate on your grinder onto a baking sheet. Place it in the freezer until it’s crispy, or roughly 20 minutes
2. Combine the meat and fat with the salt, pink salt, dextrose/sugar, and ice. Grind through the small cutting plate into a bowl set in ice.
3. Add the pepper, mustard, and garlic powder and mix it in vigorously with a spoon or electric mixer for at least 3-4 minutes. Add the dry milk powder and mix for 2 more minutes or until the mixture looks evenly distributed.
4. Refrigerate the mixture. Retain a small portion and perform a quenelle test to ensure the emulsion and spice blend are right. Adjust accordingly.
5. Stuff the sausage into the various lengths you have cut and set aside. Loop the lengths and dry them in the fridge overnight.
6. Hot Smoke the sausages (180-200 degrees F) for about 2 hours or until internal temps get to 150 degrees. Douse the lengths into an ice bath and refrigerate any unused portion immediately.
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These puppies need no introduction! When properly made they’re damn delicious too!
Ingredients
2 ½ pounds/1.25 kilograms boneless beef short rib meat, diced and well chilled
½ ounce/15 grams kosher salt (1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon/7 grams pink salt
1 cup/250 milliliters ice water
1 tablespoon/9 grams dry mustard
2 teaspoons/6 grams Hungarian Paprika
1 teaspoon/3 grams ground coriander
¼ teaspoon/2 grams ground white pepper
1 tablespoon/18 grams minced garlic
2 tablespoons/30 milliliters light corn syrup
5 feet/1.5 meters hog casings or 10 feet/3 meters sheep casings, soaked for at least 30 minutes and rinsed well.
1. Grind the meat through the small cutting plate into a bowl set into ice
2. Combine the meat with the salt, pink salt, and water and mix gently by hand to evenly distribute the mixture. Alternatively, you can also use the low setting of your electric mixer as well. Cover the bowl and place inside your fridge for at least 24-48 hours
3. Add the remaining ingredients and mix again gently by hand until evenly incorporated throughout the meat. Spread the mixture on a baking tray covered in wax paper. Place the tray in the freezer and chill until it is almost frozen, about 20-30 minutes.
4. Re-grind the mixture through the small cutting plate into the ice bowl.
5. Return the mixture to the baking tray and place back into the freezer until it stiffens again.
6. Puree the mixture in your food processor until it forms a creamy smooth paste, about 1-2 minutes. Take special care to ensure the mixture stays as cold as possible.
7. Stuff the mixture into casings and twist into 6 inch links. Hang in your smoker and hot smoke (180-200 degrees) until their internal temps reach about 140 degrees, so within 1-2 hours of smoke time. Douse them in an ice bath when done smoking and refrigerate any unused portions immediately.
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Phew! Hooboy! We’re almost done folks, just the dried sausage section remains here and I saved it for last intentionally as it is even harder than these recipes have been in terms of prep work and ingredients.
Before we begin, I figure it’s now time to cover some of the special ingredients, equipment, and techniques that are unique to dried sausage preparation. Normally this would be placed in the general ingredients section, but in all honesty, you’ll only really be using these things when making dried sausage and meat.
When air-drying meat, once again, remember to keep your drying environment within a strict set of tolerances. How you achieve this is up to you. My best friend Michael C. built his own drying box using some carpentry, an old air conditioner and air duct tubing, but whatever you have on hand should help. You want to create an environment where the temperature is around 60-70 degrees F and the ambient humidity is around 70 percent. Difficult I know, and damn near impossible if you don’t have a dedicated cellar or something like it, but see what you can come up with.
The Charcuterie book, now that I look at it again actually has a pretty nice recommendation here:
Take a second unused, unplugged refrigerator (make sure it is wiped down, disinfected and dried out) and place a large non-reactive pan inside it. Take several cups of salt and equal cups water and mix inside the pan. This will serve to keep the humidity in check and the salt will retard bacteria growth as well. The refrigerator should be placed in a cool, dry dark place. When drying the door should be kept closed as often as possible, sunlight actually starts breaking down the fat in the meat and can make it rancid if exposed to too much sunlight.
Sanitation Concerns and Drying the Sausage
Up to this point, if you’ve been making sausage or various smoked meats. You should be familiar with safe handling instructions with regards to raw meat and ingredients. However I should re-iterate here, that for dried sausages, these rules are more important than ever. Make sure your entire work area is clean. Your grinder parts should be sanitized fully before you start making any dried sausage. Since these meats are going to be sitting in temperatures where bad bacteria thrive, you need to minimize opportunities for bacteria to grow. You should also consider using food prep gloves or surgical gloves without any talc powder to minimize bacteria transfer during the prep process.
Troubleshooting, Adjusting Drying Settings, and Judging Doneness
As I mentioned before, this method of sausage prep is more finicky, and more prone to failure than you can possibly imagine. It will require a higher degree of care and attention to detail than with any other type and you’ll frequently encounter several common problems:
Case Hardening – Drying a sausage depends on the casing’s permeability-the ability to allow moisture and air to pass through it. Sometimes if your ambient humidity drops too low, it can cause the case to over-dry and harden. A case hardened sausage will develop a gray oxidized ring with a red, moist interior. This is bad for several reasons.
If the casing dries out, it essentially seals the sausage up and prevents moisture from entering or leaving the sausage. This kills lactic acid formation leads to the dreaded “Sausage Rot”. I’ll leave you to figure out that mental image. So what can you do to combat this? First, know what signs to look for. A properly drying sausage should feel hydrated, not dried out; it should have a soft texture, some traction when you run your thumb down it. If it feels smooth and dry, almost shiny, it is drying out. Aside from adjusting the humidity in your drying box, you can also gently spray the sausages with a misting bottle full of water to hydrate them a little during the first week or so. Usually misting them once a day is sufficient.
Mold – This will usually show up on your dried meats in one form or another. The key thing to remember is to not immediately freak out if you see mold forming on your sausage when it dries, you should first check to see what kind of mold is forming and see whether the mold has actually punctured the case. The general guideline for mold is this:
If you see fuzzy/poofy mold of any kind, it’s bad.
To remove the fuzzy/bad mold, use a brine soaked towel or cloth (1/4 cup salt per quart of water should be sufficient) to wipe the mold off the exterior of the sausage to prevent further mold build up. If you do see fuzzy mold, make sure that it hasn’t propagated to under the casing. If you see it has gotten under the skin, throw the sausage away and start over, it has been contaminated.
Now, if you see that the sausage is forming a fine, dry, almost powdery mold on the outer skin, this is actually good mold and is encouraged to form on the sausage. It forms a protective barrier, kind of like smoke does with other meats. You’ll usually see this forming on classic Italian Salami and is a source of its sweet, tangy taste.
If you’re repeatedly having problems with mold when using a drying box, I strongly recommend to stop using the drying box and wipe down the interior with bleach and letting it dry out before attempting to use it again.
Another neat trick is if you already have some high quality store bought dried sausage or salami that already has the white mold on the outside. You can hang this inside your drying box and will help propagate the good molds all over the rest of your sausage.
Acidity – Finally, one of the problems that frequently contribute to improperly dried sausage has to do with the sausages acidity. If the pH of the sausage is too high, it can inhibit proper fermenting and drying and ruin the taste as well. The only way to check of course is some kind of testing device or pH paper strips.
So let’s say you’ve managed to deal with all these issues…how do you know when the sausage is done exactly? Well…”exactly” is a bit of a misnomer. “Doneness” in dried sausage isn’t measured by temperature or browning, but rather by water loss.
The most common and easy to do is the weight test. Typically, sausage loses about 30% of its weight in water once it has sufficiently dried. So in essence, all you would have to do would be to weight the sausage prior and after drying to see where you stand.
The touch test is also a good test, though a bit more variable when you’re figuring out your first few attempts. It should feel stiff, almost hard, all the way to the center.
Ultimately the best way to is to simply slice off a few slices at the end and inspect it. If the center appears raw or the mixture is tacky or squishy, it is still too moist. Hook it back in the dryer and keep going.
Storing – Very simple here, dried sausages will keep for at least a month as long as they’re wrapped and stored securely.
Special Ingredient List for Dried Sausages
Salt – Not really special per-se, but probably the most important ingredient in preventing the formation of bad bacteria. You’ll notice the dried sausages use more salt than fresh or smoked
Curing Salts – The core of all dried sausage. All dried sausage will require some combination of Pink Salt #1 (AKA Sodium Nitrite, Insta-Cure #1, DQ Curing Salt #1, Prague Powder, Tinted Cure) or Pink Salt # 2 ( AKA Sodium Nitrate, Insta-Cure #2, DQ Curing Salt #2, Tinted Cure #2). The Pink Salt I’ve been referring to in all of these previous recipes is Pink Salt # 1. Now, you may be wondering what the difference is between the two of them is. The major difference, beside the name, is the way in which they preserve the meat. Nitrite (Pink Salt #1) is the main preservative agent that inhibits the nastier of bacteria formation, preserves the color of the meat and enhances the flavor of the meat when it is cooked.
Nitrate (Pink Salt # 2) on the other hand, actually does nothing, not initially anyway. However as it begins to interact with the various ingredients in the sausage as it dries, it actually starts to convert into Nitrite, which is what actually does the preserving. This is what makes Nitrate so useful, it’s basically a timed-release agent of nitrite for cures that take a really long time like Salami which, depending on the recipe, can take several weeks to dry properly.
Lactic Acid and Live Cultures – Just like cheese uses special cultures to process the milk into the final product, so do dried sausages. There are specially designed cultures specifically designed for the environment dried sausages operate in. The most common starter culture you’ll see in my recipes is called Bactoferm F-RM-52, and it works in pretty much any kind of dried sausage you may need to make.
The main purpose these bacteria serve is to consume the sugars present in the mixture and release lactic acid into the sausage, which lowers the pH of the mixture and subsequently further inhibits the formation of bad bacteria. You want to shoot for pH rating of 4.9 or lower. This is usually the safe range in which bad bacteria cannot easily multiply.
If you find yourself making a lot of dried sausages, you may want to invest in some pH strips found in many school supply stores or even some curing supply stores. When using starter cultures, make sure to mix them using DISTILLED water. Standard tap water is chlorinated and will reduce the number of starter cultures in the mixture.
Dextrose – This is a cornstarch based sugar extracted from the glucose. It is extremely superfine and recommended for dried sausages as it blends extremely well.
Fermento – Only used in just a few sausages. This dairy based flavoring agent replicates the taste of fermented sausage and intensifies a fermented sausages taste if used.
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TUSCAN SALAMI
The quintessential dried sausage. This will give you an idea of the processes and ingredients need to make a superlative dried sausage and it tastes damn good if I say so myself. To aid in mixing make sure your fat and meat are almost completely frozen before you start mixing them and grinding them together. This recipe also has a nice distinction of being able to be stuffed into different casings to achieve different effects.
Ingredients
1 pound/450 grams pork back fat, diced
4 pounds/1800 grams boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
2 ounces/50 grams kosher salt (1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon/6 grams Insta Cure # 2/Pink Salt #2/DQ Curing Salt #2
¼ cup/20 grams Bactoferm F-RM-52 (Live starter culture)
¼ cup/ 60 milliliters distilled water
½ cup/70 grams nonfat dry milk powder
3 tablespoons/30 grams dextrose sugar (fine table sugar)
1 ½ tablespoons/12 grams fennel seeds, cracked and toasted
4 teaspoons/12 grams coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon/6 grams minced garlic
4 ounces/125 milliliters Chianti or other dry Tuscan red wine
10 feet/3 meters hog casings, or 20 feet/6 meters sheep casings, or one 3 foot/1 meter hog middles, soaked for at least 30 minutes and rinsed well.
1. Grind the almost frozen fat using a large cutting plate into a bowl set in ice. Immediately set back in the refrigerator or freezer.
2. Combine the almost frozen pork butt with the salt and pink salt #2 and grind through the small cutting plate in a bowl set into ice.
3. Combine the fat and meat in a mixing bowl by an electric mixer on medium speed. Refrigerate while you ready the other ingredients.
4. Dissolve the Bactoferm in the distilled water and add it to the meat, then add the remaining ingredients. Using an electric mixer and the paddle attachment, mix until all the ingredients are combined, about 1 minute.
5. Stuff the sausage into casings of your choice. If using hog or sheep casings, twist into 8 inch links. If using hog middles, tie off into 12 inch sticks. Using a sterile pin or needle, carefully prick all over the casings to ensure adequate air and moisture flow when drying.
6. Place the stuffed sausage on a plate or tray and cover with a towel. Leave out at warm room temperature (i.e. around 85 degrees if possible) for 12 hours to kickstart the cultures. This will be their time to start multiplying like crazy, kind of like a sourdough starter.
7. Hang your sausage in your drying box or somewhere with humidity around 70 percent and 60-70 degrees ambient temperature and leave it there until it has lost 30% of its body weight or it is completely stiff throughout the sausage. Keep in mind different casings will respond differently. You’ll need 6-8 days for drying sausage stuffed in sheep casings, 12 to 18 days for hog casings, and 25-30 days(!) if using hog middles.
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Heavily seasoned and popularized by Pizza, fresh made Peperone is another great treat to enjoy. This is a beef sausage, but pork butt can be substituted in a pinch.
Ingredients
5 pounds/2.25 kilograms boneless lean beef (stew beef, chuck roast, round), sinew and fat removed diced
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (3 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon/6 grams Pink Salt #2
¼ cup/20 grams Bactoferm F-RM-52 (Live starter culture)
¼ cup/60 milliliters distilled water
3 teaspoons/9 grams cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon/1 gram ground allspice
1 teaspoon/2 grams ground fennel
4 tablespoons/40 grams dextrose sugar
¾ cup/95 grams nonfat dry milk powder
2 tablespoons/16 grams paprika
2 tablespoons/30 milliliters dry red wine
10 feet/3 meters hog casings or 20 feet/6 feet sheep casings soaked for at least 30 minutes and rinsed well.
1. Make sure the meat is almost frozen before proceeding. Combine the meat with the salt and Pink Salt #2 and grind through the small cutting plate into a bowl set in ice.
2. Dissolve the Bactoferm in the distilled water and add it, along with the rest of the ingredients, to the meat. Using the paddle attachment on an electric mixer, mix for at least 1-2 minutes or until all ingredients are incorporated into the mixture.
3. Stuff the sausage into casings. Twist into 10 inch links. Poke holes using a sterilized pin or needle all over the sausages to facilitate drying.
4. Place the stuffed sausage on a plate or tray and cover with a towel. Leave out at warm room temperature (i.e. around 85 degrees if possible) for 12 hours to kick start the cultures; they thrive in temperatures like this.
5. Hang your sausage in your drying box or somewhere with humidity around 70 percent and 60-70 degrees ambient temperature and leave it there until it has lost 30% of its body weight or it is completely stiff throughout the sausage. Keep in mind different casings will respond differently. You’ll need 6-8 days for drying sausage stuffed in sheep casings, and 12 to 18 days for hog casings.
6. Optional: If you want to cook the Peperone and infuse it with some more flavor, you can hot smoke it for 2 hours at 200 degrees F.
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An interesting Italian specialty, this sausage has large distinct chunks of meat and fat interspersed throughout making for a very forceful flavored sausage when sliced thin and served as an appetizer. There are numerous varieties of this sausage so don’t take this recipe as the ironclad definition of it. You can also adjust the spiciness as you see fit by adjusting the chili flakes.
Ingredients
1 pound/450 grams pork back fat, diced
4 pounds/1800 grams boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
¼ cup/20 grams Bactoferm F-RM-52 (Live Starter Culture)
¼ cup/60 milliliters distilled water
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (3 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon/6 grams Pink Salt #2
½ cup/70 grams nonfat dry milk powder
3 tablespoons/30 grams dextrose
1 teaspoon/3 grams ground white pepper
1 teaspoon/6 grams minced garlic
1 teaspoon/2 grams hot red pepper flakes
¼ cup/60 milliliters Pinot Blanco or comparable dry white wine.
12 to 14 inches/30-35 cm hog middle or 10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked for at least 30 minutes and rinsed well.
1. While the fat is chilled, almost frozen, grind it through the medium/large cutting plate into a bowl set in ice. Once done, place ground fat in freezer and grind the meat through the large cutting plate the same way. Combine both into a mixing bowl and place in the freezer while you get the other ingredients ready.
2. Dissolve the Bactoferm in the distilled water and add it, along with all the remaining ingredients to the meat. Using an electric mixer, mix on the lowest speed until everything is evenly combined, 1-2 minutes.
3. Stuff the sausage into the casings. Tie the ends of the hog middle if you’re using it. Otherwise, if using hog casings, twist into 8 inch links. Using a sterile pin, prick holes all over the sausages to ensure adequate air/moisture flow.
4. Place the stuffed sausage on a plate or tray and cover with a towel. Leave out at warm room temperature (i.e. around 85 degrees if possible) for 12 hours to kick start the cultures; they thrive in temperatures like this.
5. Hang the sausages to dry, either in your drying box or in an area with around 70% humidity and 60-70 degree ambient temperature. Dry until the sausage has lost at least 30% of its weight. Depending on what type of casing you use, the sausages should dry within 2-3 weeks.
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Ahh this is an interesting twist on dried sausage. Instead of forcefully grinding the whole lot of ingredients together and stuffing them into a casing, Coppa is actually just the ingredients mixed together, cured and then put into the casing without any grinding. The final product resembles a really nicely cured ham and is absolutely delicious when sliced paper thin and served as an anti-pasto dish. Coppa can also be prepared in different ways depending on what part of Italy you decide to try it in. For the sake of completeness, I’m going to include both the Sweet and Spicy varieties.
Ingredients
5 pounds/2.25 kilograms boneless pork shoulder butt, well trimmed of fat and sinew, cut into 3-inch chunks
Dry Cure
4 ounces/125 grams kosher salt (about ½ cup)
¾ ounce/25 grams dextrose (2 ½ tablespoons)
1 teaspoon/6 grams Pink Salt #2
For Spicy Coppa
Hot paprika, usually Hungarian or some equivalent, enough to coat the meat thoroughly (4 tablespoons, give or take)
1 tablespoon/9 grams cayenne pepper
For Sweet Coppa
3 tablespoons/40 grams sugar
2 tablespoon/ 20 grams freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon/8 grams ground coriander
2 teaspoons/12 grams minced garlic
1 teaspoon/4 grams ground mace
1 teaspoon/4 grams ground allspice
¾ teaspoon/3 grams ground juniper berries
Beef middles, about 18 to 20 inches/45-50 cm long soaked for at least 30 minutes and rinsed well
1. Combine the salt, dextrose, and Pink Salt #2. Rub the meat all over with half the cure mixture and place in a single layer in a non-reactive baking pan or sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 9 days.
2. Rube the meat with the remaining cure mixture and pack tightly again same as before. Refrigerate for another 9 days.
3. Remove the meat from the fridge, rinse under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Combine all the spicy or sweet seasonings and rub the pork well with the seasoning mixture.
4. Pack the meat tightly by hand into the casings. Prick any air pockets with a sterile pin or needle before tying the ends.
5. Hang the coppa for about 12 hours at room temperature to get the curing process started.
6. Dry the coppa in your dry box or area where the temperature will remain at 60-70 degrees F and the humidity will remain around 70%. It should take about 3-4 weeks, or until it becomes stiff throughout.
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This is quite an awesome sausage! It serves as a major lynchpin of paella and stews. The key ingredient for this sausage is high quality paprika, try to get the best you can get your hands on.
Ingredients
5 pounds/2.25 kilograms boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
2 ounces/50 grams kosher salt (1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon/6 grams Pink Salt #2
1 tablespoon/10 grams dextrose sugar
¼ cup/20 grams Bactoferm F-RM-52
¼ cup/60 milliliters distilled water
2 tablespoons/16 grams smoked hot Spanish Paprika (Pimenton)
2 tablespoons/16 grams ancho chile powder
1 ½ teaspoons/5 grams cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons/36 grams minced garlic
10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes and rinsed well.
1. Combine the pork with the salt, Pink Salt #2, and dextrose. Mix well and grind through the large cutting plate into a bowl set in ice.
2. Dissolve the Bactoferm in the distilled water and add it, along with all of the remaining ingredients, to the pork. Mix the ground meat mixture with an electric mixture on low speed for about 1 minute until the mixture is fully incorporated
3. Stuff the sausage into the hog casings and use string to them into 12 inch loops. Using a sterile pin and needle prick holes throughout the casings to allow moisture and air to pass through.
4. Hang the sausage to dry in your drybox or an area with ambient temps can be kept between 60-70 degrees F and 70% humidity as well. It should take about 18-20 days to fully dry. Check to make sure that it feels completely stiff throughout.
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A simple French Dried Sausage; it works with pretty much anything.
Ingredients
4 ½ pounds/2 kilograms boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
8 ounces/225 grams pork back fat, diced
1 ½ ounces/40 grams kosher salt (3 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon/10 grams ground black pepper
1 ½ tablespoons/15 grams sugar
1 teaspoon/6 grams Pink Salt #2
1 tablespoon/18 grams minced garlic
12 feet/3.6 meters hog casings or 3 foot/1-meter hog middles soaked for 30 minutes and rinsed well.
1. Grind the pork and fat through the large cutting plate into a bowl set in ice.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients with the meat into a mixing bowl and mix on the low speed setting of your mixer for about 1 minute.
3. Stuff the mixture into the casings and twist into 12 inch links if using hog casings. If using hog middles, simple tie the ends. Prick the casings all over with a sterilized needle to facilitate moisture flow and drying.
4. Hang the sausage in your drying box or in an area with ambient temps that can be kept between 60-70 degrees F and 70% ambient humidity. Dry the sausage until it has lost about 30% of its weight, or about 18-20 days for the hog casings or about a month for the larger middles.
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And there we go! I do hope you enjoyed this OMGHEUGE write up on sausages and I do hope you can get some enjoyment from the recipes themselves. Making sausage is really one of the more satisfying aspects of Charcuterie. And even though they require a large amount of work, the end result is quite delicious. The main thing that I can emphasize about these recipes, particularly the dried sausages, is to not fear failure. These recipes require a great deal of prep work and sometimes luck. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try a few times to really get a handle on how these recipes work. If you stick with it you won’t be disappointed.
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Let me know what you all think and I'll see what I can dig up.
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I've heard the haggis you buy in America isn't real haggis as it can't legally contain lungs. The lungs are the best part!
Oof, aye haggis will be tricky, I'd have to check around here as I do know that offals are usually hard to get or in some cases outright banned for regular sale here in the states.
I do know that pigs blood and brains are two big no-nos off the top of my head, but I'd have to check and see. I can possibly dig up a good recipe from one of my meat friends' cookbooks.
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Hehe yeah, I have several friends that share the same hobby as me.
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No pigs blood?! So no black pudding then...?
Alas tis the case, there are actually quite a fair bit of offals you can't get a hold of, mainly due to the Mad Cow Disease scare we had a couple of years back.
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Heh, yeah I don't exactly go seeking the recipe out, but I suppose the "experience" of saying "Yeah I had a sausage made from cooked pig's blood, what did you have....hmmm?" But needless to say it actually was pretty good once you mentally got past the idea of what exactly you were eating.
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And by Charcuterie I meant Choucroute.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choucroute_garnie
but they both use that style of meat I believe..?
Pretty much, though the page you link to mainly refers to a style of dish rather than a style of specific meat preparation.
However as I can see there, the dish utilizes several ingredients found from Charcuterie preparation techniques. There's sausage, ham and other meats that do find roots in Charcuterie itself.
Looks delicious I have to say, I'll definitely have to make some come Christmas.
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I was kind of working off a combination of Thegreatcow's jerky marinade and the alton brown one, but ended up pretty much inventing my own. I was trying to get some liquid smoke because I sure do love a smoky flavour but I couldn't find any in the supermarket.
Instead I bought a bottle of Levi Roots' Reggae Reggae sauce (fans of the UK Dragon's Den will know what this is), thinking I would add it to the marinade to get a bit of a smoky flavour, but when I got home I came up with a different plan.
I got about an 875 gram topside joint, cut it in half and then into slices and marinaded half each in two different marinades.
The first batch is just marinaded in the Reggae Reggae sauce with a bit of added coarse sea salt. This is my 'control batch'.
The second batch I marinaded in what I'm considering a Scottish twist on beef jerky.
I used:
Two tablespoons Coarse Sea salt
One teaspoon Garlic Powder
One teaspoon onion powder
About 150ml of Soy Sauce
About 2 tablespoons of freshly ground black pepper
One teaspoon crushed red peppers
Then, for sweetness I added a couple of tablespoons of Scottish heather honey and for the smokey flavour I added a couple of tablespoons of Talisker whiskey.
I'm hoping this will be an inspired marinade. There's a whole bunch of flavours in there that I love and I think they should all work together. There's heat, there's spice, there's smoke, there's salt and there's sweetness. It smells great. Either it will taste delicious or it will be a choking, throat shredding inedible mess. In which case hopefully the reggae reggae sauce batch will help console me.
I'm going to be drying these in the oven tomorrow, planning on using the fan assist and leaving the door open a crack so that the moisture can be circulated out. Going to set aside at least 12-16 hours, so will be putting them in the oven pretty much first thing in the morning.
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A few notes:
After a couple of hours, I bumped the temperature up to 40C (around 100F). 35C just didn't seem quite warm enough.
Earlier in the day, maybe around 2:30pm (6ish hours in), I rotated the grills the beef is on, so the strips at the back moved to the front and vice versa, just to ensure even drying. As the oven is fan assisted, this probably wasn't necessary but I did it anyway.
About an hour ago (9 hours in), I flipped all the strips of beef. They are lying on the oven grills but they weren't drying completely evenly top and bottom, so I've given the bottoms a chance to catch up. I've also switched the positions of the grills. To begin with the reggae reggae batch was on the bottom as it was dripping a lot more and I didn't want the Scottish batch smothered in the reggae reggae marinade. Now the reggae reggae is on top to see if it will dry a bit faster. Again, probably won't make much difference as the fan should be keeping the temperature even throughout the oven, but worth a shot anyway.
When I first put them in the oven, I put the drip pan at the bottom of the oven and laid a piece of tinfoil over it to catch the excess marinades dripping off the beef strips. I have just now removed this from the oven as it occurred to me that it is full of moisture which doesn't need to be there and it is probably slowing down the drying process. In hind sight, I could've removed this much earlier as the beef stopped dripping much earlier in the day.
I would prefer to make it from all fresh ingredients (ex. chilis instead of hot sauce, fresh tomatoes instead of canned), unless the opposite is truly better
Anyone have a proven recipe?
Canned tomatoes are usually better than "fresh", so unless they're in season and available from a local source you're probably better off with canned. Tomatoes don't like the cold (refrigerating them "turns off" some flavors), and tomatoes that fully ripen on the vine taste different (much better IMO) than those so-called "vine ripened" tomatoes you see in supermarkets that are pseudo-ripened by exposing them to ethylene gas.
As far as peppers go, for some nice heat you can add canned chipotles w/ adobo sauce. Be careful because you might overdo it depending on what else you put in the chili :P
On the subject of meat, depending on your budget the same cut of meat you'd use for a roast (pick your favorite) works really well in chili, and there is always stew meat for a cheaper alternative. Of course, where I live sometimes the local food markets/butchers have those cuts of meat for not much more than ground beef (doesn't matter what kind) at a store like Wal-Mart or Publix.
-Canned tomatoes are generally better as they add additional salt without having to add more, plus the juice they're packed in generally adds more flavor.
-Fresh peppers have a tendency to be much much hotter than their canned counter parts and if you don't prepare them right can over-heat the chili to the point that it's inedible. I still have nightmares from when I tried to mix Paprika, Chili Powder and Fresh Jalapenos into a crock pot for chili. *Hurlghls*
-Meat, your imagination is really your limit, but stick to the heavy stringy "stew" cuts: top round, eye of round, london broil, tri-tip if it's cheap, or even plain lean ground beef or turkey if you've got a meat grinder to play with. Often the supermarkets will sell pre-cut, "stew" meat ready to saute in the pan, for not much more than the original cut, but I leave that up to your discretion on that endeavor. Lemee dig up a recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, it makes a good baseline chili that you can use to suit your needs, I think I may have one from my Bacon Recipe cookbook, might as well make use of that too!
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Better Homes and Gardens Chili Recipe
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef (you can use stew meat or any other tough steak material here)
2 cups chopped onion (about 2 large onions)
1 cup chopped green sweet pepper (about 1 large)
4 cloves garlic minced
2 15-16 oz cans kidney beans/pinto beans/black beans rinsed and drained
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes, w/ juices
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup water
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Shredded Cheddar Cheese and Sour Cream for Topping (opt)
1. In a 4 quart dutch oven or heavy saucepan, cook the ground beef, onion, sweet pepper, and garlic until meat is browned and onion is tender. drain fat. Stir in the beans, undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, chili powder, basil, and black pepper.
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.
Alt Prep - Substitute boneless beef shoulder cut into chunks. Brown the meat then remove from heat, reserve the drippings. Cook the onion, sweet pepper and garlic until tender. Stir in 1-2 teaspoons chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce to meat and peppers and continue to prepare as normal. Increasing simmer to 1 hour or until meat chunks are tender.
Now for one from my Bacon cookbook, this isn't so much a chili per-se, but rather more of a Spanish Albondigas soup with high quality bacon as a baseline. Give it a spin, and see what you think!
Spanish Chicken, Bacon, Meatball, and Chickpea Stew
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
one 3 pound chicken, cut into serving pieces
1/2 pound streaky salt pork/Fatty Slab Bacon
2 medium onions, sliced
2 medium leeks (white parts only) cut into thirds and rinsed well
2 carrots, scraped and cut into rounds
2 medium tomatoes, quartered
1 pound small red potatoes, peeled
1 chorizo sausage, cut into rouunds
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 pound ground chuck or lean ground beef
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
Place the chickpeas in a sauce pan and add water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 2 hours.
Place the chicken and bacon in a large pot and andd water to cover by 1 inch and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 mintues. Add the onions, leeks, carrots and tomatoes and continue simmering for 20 minutes. Add the potatoes and continue simmering for 20 minutes.
add the chickpeas, sausage, and salt and pepper and simmer for about 15 more minutes
Meanwhile, combine the ground beef, egg yolk, bread crumbs parsley and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl, mix well until blended and shape into meatballs. In a skillet, heat the oil of medium heat and and add the meatballs to the skillet and cook until browned all over (about 15 minutes). Add the cooked meatballs to the stew and cook about 15 minutes longer.
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I'm thinking of cooking the turkey this year wrapped in bacon (or at least bacon over the breast.
Edit: OR bacon under the breast skin?
Thoughts?
Love,
SmallLady
(aka Tzarina)