Blood sausage

[Jmadams13]

Im helping a friend slaughter one of his hogs Sunday, a yearly tradition, with a big party at the end of the day, people making sausage, pâté, scrapple, pudding and all that yummyness with the offal bits. We have never done blood sausage before, and would like to try.

I've been browsing, reading and watching videos, and calling the guys at meatsmith farmstead for advice, but was wondering is anyone here has done it? Ideas, tips, suggestions?

TIA
Joe

[mzer]

Yes, I've done it. What do you want to know.

[franzb69]

calling the guys at meatsmith farmstead for advice

good idea on that, that's where i saw a pretty good simple and classic recipe for one.


we filipinos do blood sausage a good deal, we cook 'em on a grill. but we don't really use hog casings, we get it to coagulate press 'em into blocks after spicing and cooking them up. we also have a blood porridge type of thing using either pig's blood or cow's blood. but then that's a whole different thing altogether.

i bet you know enough about sausages so i'm just gonna be probably saying stuff you already know.

I also make sausages myself (from chorizos to italian sausages), never done blood sausage yet though. So i know a couple things about sausage making. Don't let the blood get to a boil, either gently poach them or steam them lightly, then chill for til cool enough and grill when needed (this i think is critical, coz sausages need to rest and recompose itself). Make small holes in the sausage so the air doesn't pop the casing and the sausage bursts. alternate the turning of the sausages, but I prefer to tie them off on both sides to make sure the contents doesn't come out.

that's pretty much what i can say about the topic.

it's pretty straight forward.

[mzer]

The basics are not hard. You take either apples or onions, cut them finely and cook them in lard. Then you drain them in put them in a bowl. Next you dice, or grind, a good bit of pork fat. If you dice it it will look better in the finished product. You add that to the bowl. Then you get to make your choices. In France, where I have done most of my blood sausage making, binders are generally not added, but in other cultures they are. You can choose various grains, rice, whatever, or none at all. You can also add some meat. Generally you want to use blood meat and very gelatinous cuts which you have already cooked to soften, but then these are the meats you would use for scrapple as well, and that is your local dish, so you may skip this part. I think it adds a lot. Then you season with spices, generally quatre epices, white pepper and some salt, again I learned in France, you puree the blood in a blender and strain it into the mixture. It is very liquid at this point. You then pass it all through a relative wide mouthed funnel into casings, you tie the casings off rather than twist, but leave a little flex in them, then you put directly in 80C water. If anything floats early, prick it. Cook until done through, then let cool at room temp, then in cold water. Then add ice. You want to do the cooling step by step because you end up with a more homogenous result that way.

Have fun.

Edit: You can also add some cream, but that would make you a northerner in France.

[Dusty]

I make many different varieties, my fav is probably Spanish morcilla. Advice? Make sure your blood is well strained before you start, cook off a little sample to check seasoning you can scramble it in a pan like eggs for this and finally: the first time you do this you're going to make a big mess. Seriously.

The strangest one no know is Italian sanguinocce, which is semi sweet with cocoa and hazelnut praline - and eaten almost like Nutella (I like to serve it with scallops).

The book Pork and Sons by Stephane Renaud has a great chapter on blood, including a cracking recipe for French style
Boudin.

Sound like a great weekend.

[boomchakabowwow]

sounds like fun!!

my next hog, i am gonna make some head cheese..which doesnt seem that difficult

way to go!! nothing better that fully respecting the hog.

[franzb69]

my next hog, i am gonna make some head cheese..which doesnt seem that difficult

really isn't, just time consuming. =D

we did it at a restaurant i worked for.

[stereo.pete]

Wow, I am completely jealous, ever since watching those farmstead meatsmith videos about 6-7 months ago I have wanted to do this. Have fun and please take pictures of the event and the results (food).