Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Sausage Making


Neal J. Brown

Recommended Posts

Perhaps the curing meats intro before this? I beleive it's on the right hand side if that helps, or maybe nearby a sopressata/salami recipe. Hell, I could probably find it quickly, and I'll be in town today, forget about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cooking By Hand - Paul Bertolli

I think I found it, Ryan, you mentioned it already, here it is. I'm really interested in doing things the old fashioned way though, so I'm not sure that this is the book for me, maybe I'll just stick to the Complete books. I think the northeast U.S. has a good enough environment for this stuff.

Edited by coquus (log)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

finally I got to try my first homemade sausages that I made and froze a couple of weeks ago. I braised the brats in beer and onions and let them brown. Served them with chive and parsley mashed potatoes and dijon mustard. The result far exceedeed my expectations! They were awsome, with excellent flavor and texture.

gallery_5404_94_119814.jpg

Elie

E. Nassar
Houston, TX

My Blog
contact: enassar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good to see this thread back up and running. Brings a warm glow to my belly...

I was fairly convinced it had popped its clogs, but it seems all the enthusiastic charcutiers were only snoozing these last few months, or, even better, getting on with some serious sausage-making and curing.

It does seem a shame, though, that if we want to all meet up and chat like this we have to stick with this mangy old dog of a thread. I was thinking maybe there should be a subsection in the cooking forum for meat curing, or something like that.

Any suggestions?

Maybe if we all PM relevant organisers or hosts in a concerted pressure campaign we won't be so afraid of starting new threads that just get lost. I mean, it seems we all care enough about cured meat to keep checking this thread even after months of inactivity, so I reckon we'd definitely warrant at least a subsection or something. Fight the power!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
You should also take a sharp, sterile needle and pop any air pockets you see. As kelautz said, you do not want any air pockets in your sausage.

Bumping this up due to a sausage dilemma this weekend with my KA attachment. I was making sai oua, Thai sausages, and all was well until I had to stuff them. Two problems, both related to air:

(1) The mixture did not seem to feed through the sausage attachment with any consistency. Instead, I had to push it down with the wooden thingie, and when I wasn't pushing, it was just whirring away and not stuffing anything. What gives? Any tips?

(2) I didn't have air pockets; I was making meaty whoopie cushions! :wacko: I really cannot figure out how so much air was being pumped into the casings, but it really was happening.

This didn't seem to happen the last time I made sausage, and I believe (1) and (2) are related. But I'm baffled. Ideas?

edited to add: I found a good source for casings that I wanted to share: Whole Foods. The butcher at one store (University Heights in Providence, in case anyone's nearby) has become very supportive of my various meat-related obsessions.

Edited by chrisamirault (log)

Chris Amirault

eG Ethics Signatory

Sir Luscious got gator belts and patty melts

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does not look like anyone has posted in this forum for a while, but I suppose this is the place to ask for help.

I am looking for a source for fresh pig's blood in the NY Tristate region so I can make boudin noir for a sausage dinner we are having . I suppose I would settle for chicken or cow's blood.. but would love to get my hands on the real swine.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are in the Hudson Valley area, go find a farmer ready to slaughter, and help yourself. I am sure there are plenty around. If not, isn't it hunting season??! Take a canteen out with you and chase down a hunter with a dear in his crosshair!

Good Luck - don't forget to post your results!

Ore

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  Take a canteen out with you and chase down a hunter with a dear in his crosshair!

Wouldn't that be a murderer and make you a cannibal?

I would suggest finding a hunter with a deer in his/her crosshairs or (if they are true sportsmen) open sights.

I always attempt to have the ratio of my intelligence to weight ratio be greater than one. But, I am from the midwest. I am sure you can now understand my life's conundrum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
For pigs blood, you might try the Chinese markets.  I see it sold sometimes in blocks.

Thanks,

But I need fresh blood... that has not been coagulated... the blocks in Chinatown are cooked already...

I have seen it fresh in Vietnamese markets. Give it a shot.

Gorganzola, Provolone, Don't even get me started on this microphone.---MCA Beastie Boys

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I have a number of sausage recipes that call for pork fat along with Boston butt. My butcher says the butt has enough fat by itself, and it certainly is a fatty cut. I'm tempted to leave it out (is there such a thing as healthful sausage?) but don't want to to be too dry. Any thoughts?

"Last week Uncle Vinnie came over from Sicily and we took him to the Olive Garden. The next day the family car exploded."

--Nick DePaolo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd agree with your butcher and I've made some good fresh sausages at home for a piker, using just pork butts with no added fat. I've read but could not substantiate with any valid source that butts contain about 20 per cent fat.

Cured sausages would be a different thing, and many types would require more fat than the butt alone.

Through the past 5 years or so I've tried differnet formulations from different butcher shops and artisian sausage makers who have offered thier own ground pork being sold by the pound, most who usually make and sell fresh sausages.

My conclusion which I can't substantiate here without the use of digital images, is that many if not all formulations purchased from sausage makers had a visual difference of having a higher fat concetration than whole butts which I have ground at home. How much, maybe 10 percent more by volume.

So I would conclude you can use whole butts only, but there is a benifit too adding maybe a bit more.

Sausage making is a big new wonderful world

woodburner

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It also depends on how much fat is on the outside of the butt. I just made 7# of sausage this weekend, and I had a very fatty butt, so I didn't add any extra fat. Even with a fatty butt, I thought the sausages were a bit too dry, and in the next rounds I'll be adding some of the pork fat that I've ground and stored in the freezer.

It also depends on the style of sausage. What sort of sausages were you making?

Chris Amirault

eG Ethics Signatory

Sir Luscious got gator belts and patty melts

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It all depends on your own preferences, but I don't find butts give me the richness I prefer in my sausages. I find the trend towards lower-fat sausages unfortunate. I add about one part fatback for every four parts meat.

I'm on the pavement

Thinking about the government.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been making Italian Hot Sausage for some 25 years, and 85% of the time I use a fatty pork butt, and the sausage comes out just fine. The other 15% of the time I use Pork Shoulder. Several butchers have told me that pork shoulder makes better sausage than pork butt, but I don't see a whole lot of difference.

doc

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No agreement, it seems. My suggestion would be to make two batches, one with added fat, and one without. Then you'll know.

FWIW, when I was making (Italian) sausage commercially, we ALWAYS added extra fat, and that was when pork was fattier than it is now, 20+ years ago. Makes for nice, juicy sausage. I would say the final ratio was 65 - 35, lean to fat. Of course, your mileage may vary, what with today's leaner pork and all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been making Italian Hot Sausage for some 25 years, and 85% of the time I use a fatty pork butt, and the sausage comes out just fine.  The other 15% of the time I use Pork Shoulder.  Several butchers have told me that pork shoulder makes better sausage than pork butt, but I don't see a whole lot of difference.

doc

I always thought that a butt was just a boned shoulder. ???

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My understanding is that both are from the forequarters of the pig, thus making the term butt a bit confusing (the cuts from the hindquarters are called leg, I think), but that what is colloquially known as butt is "shoulder butt" whereas what is colloquially known as shoulder is "picnic shoulder." The shoulder butt is above the picnic shoulder, as in closer to the back. Here's a chart indicating how the National Pork Producers Council names the cuts:

http://www.porkboard.org/ProdIssues/porkcuts.pdf

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...