28 replies to this topic

[Stanley Feder]

In September 2005 I started a business called "Simply Sausage, Inc.™". I'm making fresh sausages in Landover, MD, (USDA-approved facility). I love sausages but want to eat only the best. One essential in making great sausages is the use of the highest quality ingredients. In fact, I'm somewhat fanatical about that. For example, I use only pork shoulders for my pork sausages; and in some cases I use only shoulders from certified 100% purebred Berkshire hogs. (Berkshire pork is incredibly flavorful, but I digress). I use gray sea salt from Brittany and the most flavorful Hungarian paprika available.

I'm willing to offer advice to amateur sausage-makers.

I'm interested in learning to what extent eGullet members think of sausages as providing good eating and the ways in which they like to eat them (what meals? how prepared?). I would appreciate hearing your views.

[slbunge]

Welcome to eGullet. There are lots of threads that would probably be interesting to you. But one that easily springs to mind is here with eGulleteers testing out the information in the Micheal Ruhlman book about Charcuterie.

Enjoy the browsing and I'll look forward to your active participation with us ameteurs.

[slschnur]

In September 2005 I started a business called "Simply Sausage, Inc.™". I'm making fresh sausages in Landover, MD, (USDA-approved facility). I love sausages but want to eat only the best. One essential in making great sausages is the use of the highest quality ingredients. In fact, I'm somewhat fanatical about that. For example, I use only pork shoulders for my pork sausages; and in some cases I use only shoulders from certified 100% purebred Berkshire hogs. (Berkshire pork is incredibly flavorful, but I digress). I use gray sea salt from Brittany and the most flavorful Hungarian paprika available.

I'm willing to offer advice to amateur sausage-makers.

I'm interested in learning to what extent eGullet members think of sausages as providing good eating and the ways in which they like to eat them (what meals? how prepared?). I would appreciate hearing your views.

Where are they sold in the DC metro area?

[JPW]

In September 2005 I started a business called "Simply Sausage, Inc.™". I'm making fresh sausages in Landover, MD, (USDA-approved facility). I love sausages but want to eat only the best. One essential in making great sausages is the use of the highest quality ingredients. In fact, I'm somewhat fanatical about that. For example, I use only pork shoulders for my pork sausages; and in some cases I use only shoulders from certified 100% purebred Berkshire hogs. (Berkshire pork is incredibly flavorful, but I digress). I use gray sea salt from Brittany and the most flavorful Hungarian paprika available.

I'm willing to offer advice to amateur sausage-makers.

I'm interested in learning to what extent eGullet members think of sausages as providing good eating and the ways in which they like to eat them (what meals? how prepared?). I would appreciate hearing your views.

To me, sausage is up there with fruits and grains as an essential part of a well-rounded diet. When it's not on the grill, sausage goes into meat sauces and chunky soups.

Where can we try your stuff?

[Busboy]

Welcome, Stanley. Eager as I am to try your sausages, I am also eager to schedule another Busboy family sausage-making marathon at home. Got any odd new combinations I can try?(lamb, sun-dried tomatoes and feta just gets old after a while!)

[KOK]

In September 2005 I started a business called "Simply Sausage, Inc.™". I'm making fresh sausages in Landover, MD, (USDA-approved facility).

Indeed, where can we buy your products?

And do you aspire to be the Abe Froman of Landover?

Thanks,

Kevin

[Stanley Feder]

In September 2005 I started a business called "Simply Sausage, Inc.™". I'm making fresh sausages in Landover, MD, (USDA-approved facility). I love sausages but want to eat only the best. One essential in making great sausages is the use of the highest quality ingredients. In fact, I'm somewhat fanatical about that. For example, I use only pork shoulders for my pork sausages; and in some cases I use only shoulders from certified 100% purebred Berkshire hogs. (Berkshire pork is incredibly flavorful, but I digress). I use gray sea salt from Brittany and the most flavorful Hungarian paprika available.

I'm willing to offer advice to amateur sausage-makers.

I'm interested in learning to what extent eGullet members think of sausages as providing good eating and the ways in which they like to eat them (what meals? how prepared?). I would appreciate hearing your views.

To me, sausage is up there with fruits and grains as an essential part of a well-rounded diet. When it's not on the grill, sausage goes into meat sauces and chunky soups.

Where can we try your stuff?

Right now, you can find my Berkshire pork "French country sausage" and merguez at Arrowine in Arlington, finewine.com in Gaithersburg, and the IGA in Marshall, VA. In order to maintain quality I don't want to grow too fast. But if those three places aren't convenient for you, where would you like to be able to buy them?

Also, Breadline in the 1700 block of Pennsylvaia Ave. NW is serving my sausages four days a week. I also make the pinchitos and butifarra for Jaleo.

And thanks for telling me how you use sausages. I like your notion that sausages, along with fruits and grains are part of a well-rounded diet.

[Stanley Feder]

Welcome, Stanley. Eager as I am to try your sausages, I am also eager to schedule another Busboy family sausage-making marathon at home.  Got any odd new combinations I can try?(lamb, sun-dried tomatoes and feta just gets old after a while!)

Sorry, I don't have any odd (at least not to me) combinations. I have been working on a lamb with green chlle sausage for a while; still haven't gotten the proportions right. I tasted it at the Santa Fe, NM, farmers' market in July. Thought it was great. The farmer emailed a recipe to me but it did not come out as I remembered it. You might experiment with these ingredients: lamb, garlic, salt, powdered green chiles, crushed green chiles, black pepper, and sage. The green chiles are hatch peppers from New Mexico.

[Haggis man]

Busboy,
I always wanted to learn how to make sassage. Got any need for some additional hands? I can wash a mean pot!
Scott AKA haggisman

Welcome, Stanley. Eager as I am to try your sausages, I am also eager to schedule another Busboy family sausage-making marathon at home.  Got any odd new combinations I can try?(lamb, sun-dried tomatoes and feta just gets old after a while!)

[jefferyc]

I just started making sausages at home. I've been working with pork, beef, and smoked turkey. I find they're a very versitile ingredient of any meal using inexpensive components. My last effort was smoked turkey,dried cranberry, and sage sausage.

[John]

Do you make hot dogs? They're my favorite sausage. Bratwurst is a distant second.

[Robin Shuster]

Hi Stanley,

What is the difference in taste and juiciness between Berkshire and more commercial pork? How much is the breed vs the food the pigs eat?

[Busboy]

Busboy,
I always wanted to learn how to make sassage. Got any need for some additional hands? I can wash a mean pot!
Scott AKA haggisman

Welcome, Stanley. Eager as I am to try your sausages, I am also eager to schedule another Busboy family sausage-making marathon at home.  Got any odd new combinations I can try?(lamb, sun-dried tomatoes and feta just gets old after a while!)

I'll let you know. Keep in mind the old saying that obne should watch neither laws nor sausage being made - and Bismark hadn't even seen my kitchen when he said that!

[Pontormo]

Adam Balic may supply inspiration in Post #108 here.

I would love to see special regional varieties of Italian sausages for sale since you don't really buy just sweet or hot abroad.

Home cooks may wish to come up with their own version of musetto, for example. It's made in Friuli-Venezia Giulia from pork parts, including the snout; there the meat's quite choice since the same pigs are raised to make the prized Prosciutto San Daniele.

Oxen supply the casings. The meat is flavored with pepper, cloves, CINNAMON, chili pepper and CORIANDER and dosed with the wonderful local wine. After brief aging period (one month), it's boiled and served on a bed of bro[v]ade, shredded turnips fermented in grape must .

Edited by Pontormo, 08 March 2006 - 08:02 PM.

[Stanley Feder]

Do you make hot dogs? They're my favorite sausage. Bratwurst is a distant second.

John,
I don't make hot dogs. I do make several kinds of bratwurst including two all-beef brats and some pork brats. Hot dogs are a form of cooked sausage. The ingredients are emulsified in a machine called a bowl cutter, stuffed into casings, poached, and then quickly cooled. Brats and other fresh sausages are essentially ground seasoned meat suffed into casings. They are refrigerated or frozen until shortly before they are to be eaten.
Stan

[Stanley Feder]

Adam Balic may supply inspiration in Post #108 here.

I would love to see special regional varieties of Italian sausages for sale since you don't really buy just sweet or hot abroad.

Home cooks may wish to come up with their own version of musetto, for example.  It's made in Friuli-Venezia Giulia from pork parts, including the snout; there the meat's quite choice since the same pigs are raised to make the prized Prosciutto San Daniele. 

Oxen supply the casings.  The meat is flavored with pepper, cloves, CINNAMON, chili pepper and CORIANDER and dosed with the wonderful local wine.  After brief aging period (one month), it's boiled and served on a bed of bro[v]ade, shredded turnips fermented in grape must .

I would like to get recipes for regional varieties of Italian sausages. If you or other members have any to share, I would appreciate having them.

I tried to duplicate some of the sausages described in “Salumi d’Italia” (Slow Food Editore), but they are only descriptions, not recipes. USDA sausage labeling regulations require any sausage called Italian to contain fennel and/or anise seed. Most people expect those flavors in an "Italian" sausage.

[DTBarton]

Adam Balic may supply inspiration in Post #108 here.

I would love to see special regional varieties of Italian sausages for sale since you don't really buy just sweet or hot abroad.

Home cooks may wish to come up with their own version of musetto, for example.  It's made in Friuli-Venezia Giulia from pork parts, including the snout; there the meat's quite choice since the same pigs are raised to make the prized Prosciutto San Daniele. 

Oxen supply the casings.  The meat is flavored with pepper, cloves, CINNAMON, chili pepper and CORIANDER and dosed with the wonderful local wine.  After brief aging period (one month), it's boiled and served on a bed of bro[v]ade, shredded turnips fermented in grape must .

I would like to get recipes for regional varieties of Italian sausages. If you or other members have any to share, I would appreciate having them.

I tried to duplicate some of the sausages described in “Salumi d’Italia” (Slow Food Editore), but they are only descriptions, not recipes. USDA sausage labeling regulations require any sausage called Italian to contain fennel and/or anise seed. Most people expect those flavors in an "Italian" sausage.

That's interesting that they'd require the fennel or anise. One of my favorite places to get Italian sausage is Fiorella Brothers in the Philadelphia Italian market. They specifically make their sausage both ways, with and without fennel, you order it "with seeds" or "without seeds". Now their sausage is sold fresh and wrapped in butcher paper, so no labeling.

[Pontormo]

I could not find a step-by-step recipe for musetto, but see this interesting site from Clifford A Wright which does supply a few recipes in addition to definitions and descriptions.

* * *
Were you interested in a smallish business in D.C., try Brookville, an independent supermarket in Cleveland Park whose gregarious butcher (Pam) has been profiled by The Washington Post...just south of Dino's. (I am being selfish since this would be convenient for me.)

I would suggest Vace, too, except they make their own sausage: sweet, hot, and just recently started carrying cotechino.

Edited by Pontormo, 12 March 2006 - 11:18 AM.

[Junior]

What kind of casing are you using for your sausage. Also I am planning on doing sausages for our summer fringe festival, i am wondering what kind of sausage stuffer is best. I have a KitchenAid stand mixer and I can get the stuffer attachment, would you recommend this ?

[ronnie_suburban]

What kind of casing are you using for your sausage.  Also I am planning on doing sausages for our summer fringe festival, i am wondering what kind of sausage stuffer is best.  I have a KitchenAid stand mixer and I can get the stuffer attachment, would you recommend this ?

No, Dan. I'd advise against the KA stuffer.

Check out this thread:

Sausage stuffers - what to look for?, Recommendations, please

=R=

[NYC Mike]

What kind of casing are you using for your sausage.  Also I am planning on doing sausages for our summer fringe festival, i am wondering what kind of sausage stuffer is best.  I have a KitchenAid stand mixer and I can get the stuffer attachment, would you recommend this ?

No, Dan. I'd advise against the KA stuffer.

Check out this thread:

Sausage stuffers - what to look for?, Recommendations, please

=R=

Ron,

Still using the KA meat grinder or did you upgrade that as well?

Thanks,

-Mike

[ronnie_suburban]

Ron,

Still using the KA meat grinder or did you upgrade that as well?

Thanks,

-Mike

Still using the KA grinder but I can already foresee wanting to upgrade. It works well but it only comes with 2 sizes of blade wheels. When you read Bertolli's Cooking by Hand, you begin to understand that while those 2 are adequate in most cases, it would be useful to have more variability.

And, I love the stuffer I bought but even there, maybe the 10# unit would have been better than the 5# unit . . .

=R=

[hjshorter]

There's a very nice article about Mr Feder in today's Washington Post Food section.

[mnebergall]

I'd like to know where Stanley finds genuine Berkshire pork shoulders. They sound like they might be good on the smoker.

[Stanley Feder]

I'd like to know where Stanley finds genuine Berkshire pork shoulders.  They sound like they might be good on the smoker.

I get them on special order from a meat wholesaler. I don't know where you can find them retail. But, I suggest you speak to farmers at local farmers markets. Some of them raise Berkshires. Durocs also have been judged exceptionally flavorful. I've been told that the taste of pork depends more on what the hogs have been eating (forage is supposed to be best) and how much exercise they get. I've found the pork I've bought for home use at various farmers markets flavorful, though sometimes needing to be brined to improve juiciness. But Berkshires, I think, are special because they more intramuscular fat than most other breeds.

[Stanley Feder]

What kind of casing are you using for your sausage.  Also I am planning on doing sausages for our summer fringe festival, i am wondering what kind of sausage stuffer is best.  I have a KitchenAid stand mixer and I can get the stuffer attachment, would you recommend this ?

I'm not familiar with the KA stuffer. John Van der Lieck, a European-trained master of sausage making, from whom I learned a lot about sausage told me the best ones were horizontal hand-cranked piston stuffers. I have two, both made by Trespade of Italy. I like them a lot; much better than the small electric grinder/stuffer I used when I first got started 30 years ago. But the Trespade horizontal stuffers are not cheap.

[DTBarton]

I'd like to know where Stanley finds genuine Berkshire pork shoulders.  They sound like they might be good on the smoker.

I haven't tried it yet, but here are some on line sorces for retail Berkshire (sometimes referred to as Kurabuta) pork:

http://www.berkshiremeats.com/

http://www.venisonam...ducts/pork.html

http://www.prairiepridefarm.com/

http://www.betterpor...farms/index.htm

Looks like there are a bunch more, just Google "Berkshire pork"

Looking forward to trying some myself once the weather warms up a bit for smoking.

[DTBarton]

I'd like to know where Stanley finds genuine Berkshire pork shoulders.  They sound like they might be good on the smoker.

I haven't tried it yet, but here are some on line sorces for retail Berkshire (sometimes referred to as Kurabuta) pork:

http://www.berkshiremeats.com/

http://www.venisonam...ducts/pork.html

http://www.prairiepridefarm.com/

http://www.betterpor...farms/index.htm

Looks like there are a bunch more, just Google "Berkshire pork"

Looking forward to trying some myself once the weather warms up a bit for smoking.

Oops. Upon further review, Eden Farms is a wholesaler. But here's a cool replacement with multiple breeds of pigs:

http://www.heritagef..._sell/meat.html

So many pigs, so little time!

[jobean]

I just found Berkshire pork at The Organic Butcher in McLean. I had tried Whole Foods and Balducci's and neither of them even knew what I was talking about, and tried to sell me something else. The butcher at The Organic Butcher was very helpful and knowledgeable, they also have yorkshire pork, which is local raised in Virginia and leaner.

I got a boston butt that was in cryovac, and the butcher says it was not frozen. It wasn't in the display case, I asked for it and they got it from the back, they had loins and chops on display. I also asked about other cuts, baby back ribs and pork belly, and he said that they carry those also, although the pork belly may not always be in stock so should special order. Will cook the meat tomorrow to see how it compares.