Sausages--Cook-Off 17

[Peter the eater]

Today was part one for me too: hunter sausage from Aidell's book, plus restocking kielbasa and hot italian, the house standbys.

Peter, that sausage directly above on the left looks like it broke. Or did liquid get into the casing?

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That one rolled around in the simmering water for 8 or 10 minutes. The casing was intact but it obviously took on water, it was very turgid and squirted when cut. The fried ones split but I could have avoided this if were more attentive, lower temp, etc.

[Peter the eater]

Sausage production was halted last night when we lost electricity due to Hurricane Kyle. Fortunately, it's warm outside and the outage was brief -- no need to start the generator. With the remaining meat I decide to freeze some patties.

Inspired by my mother's 1975 Ronco Patti Stacker, I used a rosti ring and an empty can of Laura Secord hot chocolate mix. The Pam wasn't needed as a simple twist of the can released the meat beautifully.

Question: Please describe breaking sausage. Is it irreversible?

[Chris Amirault]

Sadly, yes, it is irreversible.

Sausages are an emulsion of meat, fat, and liquid. Like all emulsions, this one can break if you heat it too much -- or, more specifically, if you have let the ingredients get too warm during the beating to form the bind.

A sausage that doesn't break has a snap, the interior is juicy as you chew it, and the texture is meaty and appealing. A sausage that breaks is crumbly to bite, leaks out its juice and fat in the cooking, and has a mealy texture.

These sausages look like they've broken:

You can see the release of the liquid inside the casing, which is a telltale sign.

Sorry, Peter! But now you can see why we get obsessive about supercold meat, ice baths for equipment and bowls, and frequent trips to the freezer. We've all been there....

[Peter the eater]

So all sausages break as you cook them?

[Chris Amirault]

No. Only sausages that were beaten while the ingredients were insufficiently cold (below 30F is what most folks suggest).

It's different than, say, hollandaise sauce, which breaks if you heat it too high. The emulsion for hollandaise is created with the egg yolk, which contains the emulsifiers (lecithins and proteins) activated by heat. The emulsion for sausage meat does not need heat to create an emulsion of meat, water, and fat; rather, heat breaks those ingredients down, forcing liquid fat and juice out of the meat instead of retaining it.

Once the emulsion is formed and the sausages are stuffed, you can't make the sausage break by overcooking it. You can dry it out, of course, but you will get a solid, burnt mass of emulsified meat, and not a crumbly, mealy mess.

ETA: While heating won't make an emulsified sausage break, only by heating can you really tell if you've got a broken bind.

To read more about emulsions, click here.

Edited September 29, 2008 by chrisamirault (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Rereading that emulsion topic I found this useful explanation from McGee:

On sausages:

the fat is evenly dispersed in small droplets, which are surrounded and stabilized by fragments of the muscle cells and by salt-dissolved muscle proteins. ... Heat coagulates the meat proteins and turns the batter into a cohesive, solid mass from which the casing can be removed.

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[Peter the eater]

Uh-oh, I think I shouldn't have skipped that class on sausage theory. Live and learn, that's what these Cook-Offs are for after all. And for showing off when its done right.

I don't think I ever had an emulsion -- just flavored meat pieces in a tube. I had ground pork, maybe 25% white fat, and some dry ingredient for flavor. I kept everything in the freezer until the outsides were icy and mixed by using my hands -- which was slightly painful in a frostbite kinda way. No conscious effort to add liquid or make a bind, I just wanted the lipid to remain firm.

I detected no flavor or texture discrepancies between the pre-stuff test patty and the finished fried sausage. The water-cooked ones may have been a bit crumbly.

I think my stuffing mix was way too dry, not a nice flowing slurry -- certainly not the ideal emulsion. This explains the labored passage along the worm and the air pockets.

How viscous is a good fresh pork sausage emulsion, or batter as McGee calls it? Can you pour it?

Does this mean baloney's an emulsion?

Edited September 29, 2008 by Peter the eater (log)

[HKDave]

How viscous is a good fresh pork sausage emulsion, or batter as McGee calls it? Can you pour it?

Does this mean baloney's an emulsion?

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The mix for an emulsified sausage usually isn't pourable and doesn't need to have much, or any, liquid added to it; it looks like a smooth paste. This is can be achieved by grinding twice (1st time coarse, 2nd time fine) and then stand mixing for several minutes, as opposed to regular sausage which is usually ground once and mixed for only 1-2 minutes.

Yes, baloney's an emulsified sausage. So are hot dogs, mortadella, liverwurst, weisswurst... any variety where the meat and fat are ground so fine that they're indistinguishable. All sausages could be described as emulsions in that you want there to be a degree of bind between the meat and fat (which is what Chris is talking about above), but the term "emulsified" is usually only applied to fine-textured sausage and pate. This kind of sausage is almost always precooked and ready-to-eat.

If you are keeping everything cold, the reason you're getting fat pooling might be from the way you are mixing. You said you mixed by hand. It's possible to get good results mixing by hand, but the freezing pain makes it challenging to mix thoroughly, and it'll take several minutes of painful work to get a good bind. And if you're not quick, your hands will raise the temperature of the mix. Consider using your stand mixer next time, just 1-2min until the mixture starts to look evenly sticky. That's your bind.

[Peter the eater]

Thanks HKDave, it's all making sense. I can see why a large diameter, fine grain sausage relies on an good bind and intact emulsion. I imagine broken baloney with a 5" diameter would be granular and crumbly, and impossible to slice thinly without falling apart.

There must be a subset of non-emulsified sausages -- including my attempt above. The fried version was just like any other diner breakfast sausage.

How's this for a statement: A homemade hamburger patty is typically made by shaping ground beef into a disk. A processed hamburger patty is beef-based emulsion akin to a sausage.

[Chris Amirault]

There must be a subset of non-emulsified sausages -- including my attempt above. The fried version was just like any other diner breakfast sausage.

It depends on what you mean by "emulsified." That term means two things in re sausages. "Emulsified sausages" comprise finely ground sausages that have a smooth texture (mortadella, say). However, any sausage that has been mixed or beaten creates the emulsion McGee mentions above. So, your statement,

A homemade hamburger patty is typically made by shaping ground beef into a disk. A processed hamburger patty is beef-based emulsion akin to a sausage.

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ain't necessarily so. Some people, for example, make their hamburger patties by mixing extensively with seasonings and create an emulsion. One could probably argue that grinding seasoned meat starts the emulsion process itself.

[Peter the eater]

This is all a bit of a revelation for me.

For years I've made liver pates, terrines, sausage patties, hamburgers and meatloaf without ever thinking about emulsions. On many sausage sites like this one and this one you won't find the word emulsion, and they often recommend raising the temperature of the mixture so it'll flow better through the stuffer. My liver pate and ground beef meatloaves always seem to set properly and slice well without friability.

Is there an image around that shows a broken sausage (other than mine above) illustrating the mealy look of a failed bind?

Maybe "broken" is a continuum?

Maybe coarsely ground sausages are more forgiving?

[Chris Hennes]

To be honest (and probably horribly conceited...), I find that various sausage-makers have differing quality standards, often without even realizing there is an option. A lot of places you find on the internet don't talk about keeping things cold and maintaining a good emulsion because they don't know about it, have never tried it, and are perfectly happy with the sausages they are making, though they are often what one of us would consider broken. I have happily eaten many of these sausages, but once you've really focused on the craft of making a perfect sausage, you develop an appreciation for what a top-notch sausage is supposed to be like. It varies by sausage type, of course, but in general a tight "grain structure" even when the meat is coarsely ground is an indicator that you've got it right. Of course, you can't tell until it's too late, hence our obsession with cold!

I notice you are using the KitchenAid attachment to do your stuffing. I personally found this to be nothing more than an exercise in frustration, especially with a well-emulsified sausage, which is quite sticky. You might want top check out this topic on stuffers.

[dougal]

...

So the plan was to stuff some basic pork sausages and to get comfortable with the casings and the new Kitchen Aid stuffer attachment. ... The hardest part for me was controlling the air as the tube filled up. I eventually got the hang of it after some big bubbles and ruptures. It's easier with an assistant.

...

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Its really difficult to stuff sausages well using a mincer (US: grinder) with a tube stuck on the front.

Even with two people, its still 'skilled' - ie too difficult for my liking.

This is one reason why people use (and rave about) gear-driven piston stuffers.

They make it so easy, its not just fun, it becomes possible to make a really good job of it - rather than the continual salvage operation of stuffing with a mincer/grinder.

Another reason important with coarser textured sausages (and salami) is that the piston stuffer preserves the texture (definition) that the screw-feed would destroy. And if you really want to destroy texture, leave a mincing plate in place when you stuff!

A piston stuffer is a chunky thing to store, but if you are in any way serious about sausages, it'll be an early (and in the US cheap) purchase.

Oh, and see if you can get some proper sausage casings too!

[Chris Amirault]

What Chris H wrote is true also for me. Given that temperature control and careful grinding and mixing are pretty easy to do, I've found that I can make remarkable sausages that are better than anything I've had from a store or at a restaurant. As he also mentions, tools really help, and a dedicated grinder and stuffer are worth it if you're going to keep going down this path.

Mixing and stuffing my sausages tonight.

[dougal]

...

I think my stuffing mix was way too dry, not a nice flowing slurry -- certainly not the ideal emulsion. This explains the labored passage along the worm and the air pockets.

How viscous is a good fresh pork sausage emulsion, or batter as McGee calls it? Can you pour it?

...

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Slurry is not the way to go.

Its emulsion as meaning a stable, intimate mixture of fat and (water-based) liquid.

Commercial sausages usually have lots of emulsifiers and stabilisers to make this happen.

But you can get there without additives. (Though I do plan to play with a little lecithin sometime.)

Its only a tiny amount (like 1%) of (cold !!! ) liquid that need be added.

McGee isn't terribly helpful here. He talks about "emulsified sausages" (by which he means things like Frankfurters) and IIRC "sausages" where he doesn't mention any emulsion concept.

Nevertheless, getting the "bind" that "Charcuterie" stresses, really does make a positive difference to non-hot-dog-type sausages.

[menuinprogress]

In Texas on a recent road-trip I had some fantastic smoked beef sausages that I would like to try to replicate. More specifically, the sausages came from Kreuz Market and Smitty's Market in Lockhart, TX.

Here's what I have been able to dig up so far:

- use 15% pork for added fat content

- grind chuck for the beef

- salt / pepper / garlic

Has anyone else familiar with this style of sausage? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[Peter the eater]

. . . . various sausage-makers have differing quality standards, often without even realizing there is an option. A lot of places you find on the internet don't talk about keeping things cold and maintaining a good emulsion because they don't know about it, have never tried it, and are perfectly happy with the sausages they are making, though they are often what one of us would consider broken. I have happily eaten many of these sausages, but once you've really focused on the craft of making a perfect sausage, you develop an appreciation for what a top-notch sausage is supposed to be like.

Well put -- sausages can be low-tech low-brow mere sustenance, or they can be an absolute art form.

Its really difficult to stuff sausages well using a mincer (US: grinder) with a tube stuck on the front.

Even with two people, its still 'skilled' - ie too difficult for my liking.

I'm comforted to know it wasn't just me. Before I bought the plastic tube stuck on the front, I tried a very large plastic pastry bag with a 3/8" nozzle -- it worked rather well.

Stuffing was a lot of fun, but before I do another batch or upgrade any equipment I'm going to hit the markets and find some artisanal charcuterie, study the appearance and aroma, then eat it slowly with my eyes closed. Plus take photos and notes.

[HKDave]

In Texas on a recent road-trip I had some fantastic smoked beef sausages that I would like to try to replicate. More specifically, the sausages came from Kreuz Market and Smitty's Market in Lockhart, TX.

Here's what I have been able to dig up so far:

- use 15% pork for added fat content

- grind chuck for the beef

- salt / pepper / garlic

Has anyone else familiar with this style of sausage? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

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No garlic, at least not in their classic sausage. Kreuz (and Smitty's, same family, same recipe) have said in interviews over the years that they use just salt, black pepper and cayenne powder, nothing else. Try 17g salt, 2.5g black pep, 0.4g cayenne per kilo of meat/fat mix.

They never mention using any curing (pink) salt, but I wouldn't be surprised if they do, and I would for smoked sausage: figure 2.6g of #1 curing salt/kg, and reduce the regular salt by a similar amount.

Kreuz and Smitty's use larger than normal hog casings and stuff 1/3lb per sausage. They're coarse grind and have a higher fat content than fancy sausage, maybe 40-50%. I bet the 15% pork is 100% fat, and that there's also some added beef fat, because chuck primal is usually less than 15% fat these days. In fact, given that Kreuz sell over 4000lbs of sausage a week, they're probably using something cheaper than chuck primal.

Much of the flavour in a bbq sausage comes from the smoke (that's oak, in Kreuz's case), so how you cook them will have more effect on the result than any of the above. Let us know how it turns out.

[muichoi]

Does anyone use phosphate? unless the meat is very freshly killed some emulsions are pretty hard to achieve without.

[dougal]

Does anyone use phosphate? unless the meat is very freshly killed some emulsions are pretty hard to achieve without.

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Phosphate is used in many commercial sausages, because it makes it possible to 'hold' an awful lot of water. Buy water (its cheap) and sell it as sausage. Phosphate is very important to the profitability of some sausages.

Its a different game if you are only adding 1% red wine rather than 10/15% of water.

The "classic British banger" is a pretty ghastly thing. Lots of 'rusk' (think breadcrumbs), water (and phosphates), fat and a little bit of meat. The high water content accounts for the (mainly historical) tendancy to explode on frying - hence the name 'banger'.

http://www.sausagelinks.co.uk/facts_FAQs.asp?id=283#9

I'd rather know what goes into mine, and I neither need nor want phosphates, thank you.

I'm under no pressure to increase the water content of my sausages.

But I'm honestly not absolutely certain that the 'bind' is indeed an emulsion - after all, the fat is pretty much solid around water's freezing point. You certainly don't want the water-based stuff to be actually frozen solid too. The amount of mixing effort is in no way comparable to, for example, beating mayonnaise.

Certainly the mechanical cold-mixing action develops a protein stickiness (myosin), and that (rather than the fat) could well be what holds the liquid in the sausage all the way to the mouth, achieving succulence without a high (and artificially bound) water content.

Hence I prefer to talk about "the bind" rather than the emulsion. Kudos to Ruhlman and Polcyn for introducing me to that term.

[Chris Amirault]

Good points. (No phosphates here either.) I'm starting to think that saying "emulsion" isn't very useful unless you're talking about the category of emulsified sausages above, and that, as dougal says, "the bind" is a better term.

[Chris Amirault]

In an attempt to sort out this bind/emulsion business, I just reread McGee on the subject (pp 169-171 for those who have a copy handy at their desk ). Under the subsection "Fresh and Cooked Sausages" he uses the term "mixture" to refer to the bind, and in the next subsection on "Emulsified Sausages" he stresses that they are a special category because of the emulsion. Strike one against bind = emulsion.

In the introductory section on sausages, he writes,

Salt ... dissolves one of the fiber filament proteins (myosin) out of the muscle fibers and onto the meat surfaces, where it acts as a glue to bind the pieces together.

So there's the bind created by myosin, just as dougal suggested, and not emulsion. Strike two.

I'm willing to take a swing and risk strike three here. If the bind is indeed just a gluey mixture and not an emulsion, can someone explain the science behind broken sausages? Why is a cold temperature so crucial to that glue, and why does warmth in preparation cause it to break? All the information I can find on myosin and meat chemistry in general refers to temperatures way above the crucial 30-50F range.

Thoughts?

[menuinprogress]

Thanks HKDave! That is exactly the info I was looking for. I will definitely report back with the results.

[Peter the eater]

I'm willing to take a swing and risk strike three here. If the bind is indeed just a gluey mixture and not an emulsion, can someone explain the science behind broken sausages? Why is a cold temperature so crucial to that glue, and why does warmth in preparation cause it to break?

That baseball metaphor reminds me of the Yankee Stadium frank I had in 1992 -- the year my Jays went on to win the World Series. No time for nostalgia . . .

There was an episode of Good Eats a few years ago where I recall Alton Brown explaining sausage science in some detail, including the "keep it cool" bit. It's an important question, I hope the experts here will weigh in.

All the information I can find on myosin and meat chemistry in general refers to temperatures way above the crucial 30-50F range.

Like 98.6F? That's all I found in my brief'n'lazy online search.

[Chris Amirault]

A bit above that, actually. Virtually everything I've seen talks about protein changes when the meat is cooked. For example, McGee (147-154) talks about the "doneness" range between 100F and 200F, and in that chart he shows fiber proteins (myosin) starting to unfold, denature, and coagulate in the 100-130F range. What happens below 100F -- ok, 98.6F -- I can't find out. (Insert shrinkage joke here.)