Some thoughts on sausage making...

[DamageInc]

D, I've not heard of using stock to make sausage before, not saying that it wouldn't work. I used stock/gelatin in the offal terrine I made.

I know in Danish sausage making you pour ice-cold stock into the sausage mixture. The cold stops it from splitting and you get much more flavor.

 

[Mucho Bocho]

Damage, Interesting. Could you post a recipe, sounds intriguing. Love to learn what others from around the world do with tube meat.

 

[Zwiefel]

I know in Danish sausage making you pour ice-cold stock into the sausage mixture. The cold stops it from splitting and you get much more flavor.

This is the sort of thing I was thinking of....but I was curious as to what it might do on a technical level (Ph, dissolved solids, etc.).

 

[DamageInc]

Damage, Interesting. Could you post a recipe, sounds intriguing. Love to learn what others from around the world do with tube meat.

I only have the recipe in Danish but I could translate it. When making sausages, to achieve a nice texture, half of the meat is roughly grinded/chopped, and the other half is made into a meat paste as a binder. And while you are chopping your binder in a food processor, you pour in ice cold stock very very slowly, making the mixture thinner, but not splitting it (kinda like a meat hollandaise). You also have to be careful with the amounts, as too much stock will make the meat split under cooking, causing "meat sock syndrome" which is basically a piece of meat suspended in liquid in the casing. Not nice.

This video is in Danish but it should give you a kind of understanding if the process. https://youtu.be/DFYXU9GKXzc?t=7m46s

And then you mix the binder with the rough, season it to your liking, then encase it. It is important that your sausage mixture is ice cold at all times to stop it from splitting. It may only be heated up when encased and ready to be blanched.

I like these values. Makes a nice and meaty sausage, as there is no flour or eggs.
1 kg lean pork
500 g fatty pork, like cheek or belly
500 g lean beef
6-7 dl ice cold bullion
25 g fine salt
5 g nitrate salt (this is just for the pink color. Can be omitted and replaced with regular salt)
3-4 garlic cloves
3 g cracked pepper
3 g sweet paprika
2 g nutmeg
4 g onion powder
1 tbsp sugar
1 drip of liquid smoke
4 meters of fine lamb intestine

After the sausage is cased, you may want to "age" it for a few days in the fridge to let the flavors really meld. Then steam the sausages for 10 minutes and they are ready to grill or pan fry.

To be honest, I have no idea if any of this is unique to Denmark. I'm pretty sure it isn't but it is the way I prefer to have them made.

 

[Mucho Bocho]

Thanks Damage for the recipe, looks spot on. Its interesting what each country deems to be sausage. Sausage in the US is coarse ground meats stuffed in a 40~50mm hog/colligen casing. Usually made with pork and beef.

The guys in the video, obviously made an emulsified sausage, which in the US is called a hotdog. Hotdogs are very polarizing too. Its too bad that we're not more open to other emulsified sausages. Baloney is another ES that is consider poor mans food too. Could anything be so simple and tasty as a warm Baloney sandwich with yellow mustard and pickle.

Was cool to see their electronic kitchen gadgets. Like the layout of the kitchen too. I've also never seen a Thermomix run before. I approach emulsifieds differently, perhaps they were making compromises because it was made for TV. I couldn't understand one word, excel Liquid Smoke. Thanks for sharing.

 

[DamageInc]

Thanks Damage for the recipe, looks spot on. Its interesting what each country deems to be sausage. Sausage in the US is coarse ground meats stuffed in a 40~50mm hog/colligen casing. Usually made with pork and beef.

The guys in the video, obviously made an emulsified sausage, which in the US is called a hotdog. Hotdogs are very polarizing too. Its too bad that we're not more open to other emulsified sausages. Baloney is another ES that is consider poor mans food too. Could anything be so simple and tasty as a warm Baloney sandwich with yellow mustard and pickle.

Was cool to see their electronic kitchen gadgets. Like the layout of the kitchen too. I've also never seen a Thermomix run before. I approach emulsifieds differently, perhaps they were making compromises because it was made for TV. I couldn't understand one word, excel Liquid Smoke. Thanks for sharing.

May I ask which compromises you noticed?

 

[Mucho Bocho]

Making quality sausage is a dancing act with temperature. When making charcutterie, the meat, fats and liquids would always be below 40 degrees, less run the risk of an oily sausage. Not implying that's the case here, but their meat grinder didn't looked properly chilled. Didn't look like the meat and fats we chilled enough either, as indicated by the meat that oozed out of the grinding head.

Also, when stuffing, air bubbles will form and need to be pricked while stuffing. Also, running the grinder with constantly feeding will only render the fat or warm the meat, neither is desirable when making any sausage. Having everything below 40 is especially critic with emulsifies. I'm bet they were tasty and i'm sure they would probably have take a few more steps in not in an effort to make sausage making entertaining.

 

[DamageInc]

Making quality sausage is a dancing act with temperature. When making charcutterie, the meat, fats and liquids would always be below 40 degrees, less run the risk of an oily sausage. Not implying that's the case here, but their meat grinder didn't looked properly chilled. Didn't look like the meat and fats we chilled enough either, as indicated by the meat that oozed out of the grinding head.

Also, when stuffing, air bubbles will form and need to be pricked while stuffing. Also, running the grinder with constantly feeding will only render the fat or warm the meat, neither is desirable when making any sausage. Having everything below 40 is especially critic with emulsifies. I'm bet they were tasty and i'm sure they would probably have take a few more steps in not in an effort to make sausage making entertaining.

James (the brown haired one) states many times that everything needs to be as cold as possible. I'm betting they edited out the chilling as James has been making sausages for years and knows what he is doing. The reason he is violently slamming the meat into the stuffer is to avoid air bubbles. But I get your point.

 

[goatgolfer]

...

Also, when stuffing, air bubbles will form and need to be pricked while stuffing. .... sausage making entertaining.

I was doing the hand grinding, stuffing routine using Brian Polcyn's book. He is a legend here in Detroit. Went ahead and bought the Grizzly 5# vertical stuffer https://d27ewrs9ow50op.cloudfront.net/pics/jpeg1000/h/h6252-5b5244e67ca60c8e18a2a617d6bcfe61.jpg but it turned out to be way more serious than I could handle. So, it's gathering dust in the box. That doesn't mean I can't make sausage patties though and Merguez (North African Lamb sausage) is my favorite. Penzeys has Berbere spice now and it's perfect for home made Merquez. I'll find someone that wants that Grizzly though. It's too pretty to sit alone in the closet.

 

[Mucho Bocho]

I finally found a recipe that taste like the Linguica/Chourico from Gaspars and Amarals from New Bedford, MA.

Portuguese Linguica

3 1/2 pounds pork shoulder or wild boar meat
1 1/2 pounds pork fat
34 grams kosher salt
6 grams Instacure No. 1 (optional)
1 tablespoon dextrose or white sugar
10 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon hot paprika or cayenne
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon crushed black pepper
1/2 cup dry milk (optional – it helps the sausage retain moisture while smoking)
3/4 cup red wine, preferably a Portuguese wine
Hog casings

After a day in the refrigerator drying I smoked them. 80 to 140 degree pit. 145 degree sausage core. Their drying now and need maybe a week or so to firm up and cure.

I think one of the secrets to quality smoked sausage is washing them after smoking. Immediately after smoking, I rinse them with hot water then submerge the sausages in an ice bath for 15 minutes. Then remove and hang dry for a week in the refrigerator, but they could be eaten the day after smoking.

 

[Zwiefel]

Those look great MB!

What is achieved by rinsing them after smoking?

I finally found a recipe that taste like the Linguica/Chourico from Gaspars and Amarals from New Bedford, MA.

Portuguese Linguica

3 1/2 pounds pork shoulder or wild boar meat
1 1/2 pounds pork fat
34 grams kosher salt
6 grams Instacure No. 1 (optional)
1 tablespoon dextrose or white sugar
10 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon hot paprika or cayenne
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon crushed black pepper
1/2 cup dry milk (optional – it helps the sausage retain moisture while smoking)
3/4 cup red wine, preferably a Portuguese wine
Hog casings

After a day in the refrigerator drying I smoked them. 80 to 140 degree pit. 145 degree sausage core. Their drying now and need maybe a week or so to firm up and cure.

I think one of the secrets to quality smoked sausage is washing them after smoking. Immediately after smoking, I rinse them with hot water then submerge the sausages in an ice bath for 15 minutes. Then remove and hang dry for a week in the refrigerator, but they could be eaten the day after smoking.

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[Mucho Bocho]

It removes the creosote taste that dissolves in the fat/water droplets that form as the sausage sweats. Washing leaves behind a cleaner smoke taste, plus your hands won't smell like a camp fire after handling them. Not that thats a bad thing. HA

 

[Dardeau]

That looks like a winner! At some point when I have access to a stuffer without going and getting in the way at Cochon, I want to try to clone Conecuh sausage for that taste of home. You can buy it here in Louisiana now, which has considerably slowed my need for the experiment. Maybe I'll make half this recipe, and that'll get my ass in gear.