Sausage making

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gds
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Sausage making

Post by gds »

Over the last couple of years I have been trying to upgrade my DIY food prep. One of the most fun is sausage making. I started with venison and after a few less than desirable results, learned some lessons and now really enjoy making my own sausages. Hear are just a few.

Beef/Pork Cheddar, Jalapeno smoked sausage 10lbs
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Old Family recipe Italian sausage, I have also made it in links. I add a lot extra red pepper flakes like my grandfather used to do. 15lbs
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Brats. The flavor on these is almost exactly like a Johnsonville brat. 18lbs
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Yes, I am a Baptist, and yes I carry a gun. You might think I carry a gun because I don't trust God. Well you would be wrong. I have complete faith in my Lord. It is mankind I have no trust in
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gds
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Re: Sausage making

Post by gds »

All beef "kosher" hot dogs Made some of these for a church function and they were gone almost as fast as the brats.
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Cheddar Jalapeno Brat. Tried using some sheep casings on these. next time some will go in hog casings. Although they are great with eggs and hash browns as is.
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Yes, I am a Baptist, and yes I carry a gun. You might think I carry a gun because I don't trust God. Well you would be wrong. I have complete faith in my Lord. It is mankind I have no trust in
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Re: Sausage making

Post by BJK »

I love making my own sausage. One knows what's in it (no "cushion"*, bone, or other things that aren't normally eaten) and can make it EXACTLY to have the taste one wants. It's not difficult, but rules need to be followed for safety.

Fat must be part of it if it's not to be like sawdust. I write that for what follows. I find 25% to be about right.

*What is cushion you might ask? Years ago I had a discussion with a gent from a food equip' supplier, I was looking for a grinder, and he asked me if I knew what cushion was. I admitted that I didn't. Then he proceeded to tell me that was anything that could be picked out of the gut pile that could be ground up and added to the sausage. It was nothing that anyone in their right mind would normally eat. Then I had another discussion with a semi-local sausage maker (Sausage Kitchen, Maine) and we discussed ingredients. Cushion came up and he told me that he was approached by a "meat" seller and wanted to sell him cushion for cheap. He threw him out. I no longer remember percentages allowed in sausage but the percentage of actual meat in commercial sausage can be quite low. Much lower than you might think. It doesn't have to be but can be after the fat, cushion, and bone is thrown in.
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VENT625
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Re: Sausage making

Post by VENT625 »

Man those look good!!!
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gds
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Re: Sausage making

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BJK wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 11:01 pm I love making my own sausage. One knows what's in it (no "cushion"*, bone, or other things that aren't normally eaten) and can make it EXACTLY to have the taste one wants. It's not difficult, but rules need to be followed for safety.

Fat must be part of it if it's not to be like sawdust. I write that for what follows. I find 25% to be about right.

*What is cushion you might ask? Years ago I had a discussion with a gent from a food equip' supplier, I was looking for a grinder, and he asked me if I knew what cushion was. I admitted that I didn't. Then he proceeded to tell me that was anything that could be picked out of the gut pile that could be ground up and added to the sausage. It was nothing that anyone in their right mind would normally eat. Then I had another discussion with a semi-local sausage maker (Sausage Kitchen, Maine) and we discussed ingredients. Cushion came up and he told me that he was approached by a "meat" seller and wanted to sell him cushion for cheap. He threw him out. I no longer remember percentages allowed in sausage but the percentage of actual meat in commercial sausage can be quite low. Much lower than you might think. It doesn't have to be but can be after the fat, cushion, and bone is thrown in.

Exactly. Knowing what your putting in is great, it definitely adds to the work prep. But you usually end up with a great tasting food. I have had some hickups. One, was early on a few years back, I made some venison summer sausage and some venison breakfast sausage. I bought some fatback from the local grocery store to add to the venison, but forgot to take into account the fact that the fatback was already heavily salted. The sausages came out way to salty and dry. Important lesson learned that day. I use well fatted pork shoulder for anything I mix with venison, or simply pork shoulder when not using venison.

For sausages I only use seasoning that I mix myself. I will use some premixed seasonings for other foods. But not sausages.
Yes, I am a Baptist, and yes I carry a gun. You might think I carry a gun because I don't trust God. Well you would be wrong. I have complete faith in my Lord. It is mankind I have no trust in
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gds
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Re: Sausage making

Post by gds »

VENT625 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 1:49 am Man those look good!!!
They are :mrgreen:
Yes, I am a Baptist, and yes I carry a gun. You might think I carry a gun because I don't trust God. Well you would be wrong. I have complete faith in my Lord. It is mankind I have no trust in
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Re: Sausage making

Post by BJK »

I use the same boneless shoulder, as you do, and it has the right fat/meat ratio as is. For beef sausage I use chuck, and again it has the right fat/meat ratio.

I can't abide eating things that shouldn't be eaten and in the pork shoulder I remove the lymph node. It's a greyish/brownish mass and easily seen when cutting the meat for the grinder. It looks nothing like meat or fat. Everyone else uses it, but I won't if I have a choice.

Another reason I make my own sausage is because not every sausage should be smoked. I find smoked kielbasa to be just terrible. So I make my own.

I think we'd get along great. I make my own spice mixes too. It's all part of knowing what goes into it.

The most complex sausage I've made so far has been faux Taylor ham. There are many recipes for it on the web, but many use citric acid. The right way to make it is with a specific bacterial culture and give it 24 hours to cure at room temp'. That gives it a nice sour taste which is the hallmark of Taylor ham aka Taylor Pork Roll. The recipe I use is found below. I didn't come up with it and that's not my site.
http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/New ... rkRoll.pdf
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der Teufel
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Re: Sausage making

Post by der Teufel »

BJK wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 11:01 pmFat must be part of it if it's not to be like sawdust. I write that for what follows. I find 25% to be about right.


I think that's a good number. A friend gave me a book on wild game cooking, and there's a chapter on feral hogs. For sausage the author recommended 25% fat, with 20% as the absolute minimum. He said "If you can't stand to put at least 20% fat in your sausage, you should consider not making sausage".

Unfortunately, my wife cannot tolerate having 20% fat in anything, so I seldom make sausage. If I could ever convince her to take a "Lady's day out" or something that would give me several hours alone, I'd go for it.

Meanwhile, you guys are doing good!
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Omega
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Re: Sausage making

Post by Omega »

Care to share the "Johnsonville" brat recipe? I've been chasing that particular flavor for a bit, have found some that, while good, aren't quite right. I have pretty much gone Summer Sausage for most of my venison sausage but have done a few brats in the past. Mostly using premixed kits, as I had quite a few from different companies that friends would gift me after I shared my SS with them. I tried a few recipes from the net, buying a pretty good collection of spices along the way, and while most were ok, I prefer a spicier brat, and haven't quite found one that has become my go-to.
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gds
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Re: Sausage making

Post by gds »

Omega wrote: Tue Jun 22, 2021 2:37 pm Care to share the "Johnsonville" brat recipe? I've been chasing that particular flavor for a bit, have found some that, while good, aren't quite right. I have pretty much gone Summer Sausage for most of my venison sausage but have done a few brats in the past. Mostly using premixed kits, as I had quite a few from different companies that friends would gift me after I shared my SS with them. I tried a few recipes from the net, buying a pretty good collection of spices along the way, and while most were ok, I prefer a spicier brat, and haven't quite found one that has become my go-to.
I can't remember exactly where I got it. But it is really close to johnsonville brats

10 lbs ground pork.... Or 5lb pork and 5lb venison
5 Tbs. Canning Salt
3 Eggs
1 Pint cold Milk
1 Tbs. Pepper
1 Tbs. Mace
1 tsp Ginger
1 Tbs. Nutmeg
Yes, I am a Baptist, and yes I carry a gun. You might think I carry a gun because I don't trust God. Well you would be wrong. I have complete faith in my Lord. It is mankind I have no trust in
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