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I am a big fan of sausage, especially the kind you buy in bulk (as opposed to the stuff that comes in casing). I use it as the protein/flavor base for egg scrambles, pasta sauces and stews. However, despite my love for ground, highly seasoned meats, I've never actually tried to make it on my own (I like to leave tasks like that to the professionals). On Monday, Culinate posted a piece by Matthew Amster-Burton that's got me thinking that maybe I should change my ways and start experimenting with homemade sausage. I like the idea of avoiding all the perservatives that you find in commercial sausages and Matthew makes it sound so darn easy. He says you don't need many tools (I would have to buy the meat grinding attachment for my KitchenAid mixer) and that there are recipes to turn to until you feel confident enough to create your own flavor blends.
I think I might need a bit more encouragement before I become a home sausage maker. Is this something that others of you have done? Any tips or tricks?
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7-23-2008 @5:29PM Alex said... I've made my own sausages quite a few times. I documented my first effort here: http://eatingleeds.co.uk/2007/01/sausage-making.html.
Last year I was a regional finalist for British Sausage Week!
Best advice I can give is to make sure you have a patient helper, set aside plenty of time to make the sausages (if you try to rush you'll end up in a tizz), fry up your mixture to taste before you put it in the casings ... and make sure you've got enough energy left to do to the washing up!!!
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7-23-2008 @5:29PM Alex said... I've made my own sausages quite a few times. I documented my first effort here: http://eatingleeds.co.uk/2007/01/sausage-making.html.
Last year I was a regional finalist for British Sausage Week!
Best advice I can give is to make sure you have a patient helper, set aside plenty of time to make the sausages (if you try to rush you'll end up in a tizz), fry up your mixture to taste before you put it in the casings ... and make sure you've got enough energy left to do to the washing up!!!
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7-23-2008 @6:13PM Donna said... Years ago, my stepdad and I made sausage. All I can tell you is that after a couple of beers, there's absolutely nothing that can be said about stuffing sausage that isn't lewd. LOL
That said, I want to get a grinder attachment and experiment, too.
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7-24-2008 @1:04AM Mark said... I made my own sausage once with deer and pork. I used an Italian spice blend, and it turned out great. Also, I used my Kitchen Aid mixer and casings I got at my local supermarket. It froze well and worked great with pasta sauce.
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7-24-2008 @6:22AM Annie said... My tip would be - that it is easy to go overboard for lean meat and end up with a dense texture that in casings takes ages to cook and then goes dry. My solution is to add suet which melts out in cooking and opens the texture up.
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7-24-2008 @12:52PM kevin said... I echo Annie, sausage needs to be 20 - 25 fat to have good texture, but note, a lot of that fat will melt out and end up in the pan.
Lamb Sausage: http://seriouslygood.kdweeks.com/2007/12/lamb-sausage.html
Bratwurst: http://seriouslygood.kdweeks.com/2006/06/bratwurst.html
Italian Sausage: http://seriouslygood.kdweeks.com/2006/05/italian-sausage.html
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7-24-2008 @2:29PM Michael Schmitt said... I'm echoing Annie and Kevin; make sure you have enough fat. Butchers will definitely sell it to you if you need.
There are a lot of commercially available kits that provide the casings and seasonings for the sausage. Basically, flavor the meat so that it tastes great out of the pan by itself, then stuff away!
I ended up making curry sausages, Italian sausages, egg roll stuffing sausages (took my mom's egg roll recipe with the carrots and onions and black mushroom and rice noodles and put it in a casing), and a couple of the "standard" ones too.
Very fun, but freeze them on a tray so they aren't touching or else you'll end up with a meat mass in the freezer. The lack of preservatives makes them go pretty quickly.
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8-07-2008 @8:48AM Kate said... Sausage is easy! Grind meat, add flavour, wait. You can control the type of meat, the amount of fat, all the flavour elements, the portion size.... You can even check the seasoning as you go by having a ho pan at the ready: Just pull out a bit of your raw sausage, about the size of a quarter, and throw in a hot pan.... 30 seconds later, taste and adjust seasoning accordingly. (Just remember to add less salt and other spices than you need to, because the curing time in your fridge will intensify flavours.
It's really hard to make BAD sausage. You might make "Mild" sausage, but you can make your next batch stronger... Trust me, the mild batch will still be yummy!
Do it! It's a great way to make something simple, but really special.
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7-24-2008 @10:44PM Thomas said... I have to say, that making your own sausage is the way to go. I started 2 years ago. If you can find some venison, try making sausage from the meat. It has a good flavor, the seasoning mix that I use, you can get from your local grocer. The meat is real lean so you have to add a little extra pork fat.
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7-25-2008 @8:12AM Marilouise said... I've made sausages numerous times and found the best advice is to rough grind you meat first and then spread it out in a sheet pan and sprinkle your spices evenly over the meat, then mix with your hands to incorporate. Regrind it into the casings (or bulk if you prefer). By doing this your meat is more evenly spiced and it makes it easier to judge how much spice to use.
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7-27-2008 @10:02PM Kristin said... My husband and I just bought a separate meat grinder/sausage stuffer. We got a better deal on it than we could for a KA attachment. Anyway, we swear by the book Charcuterie...it has great recipes and very specific directions for making all sorts of sausages. One thing we've found is to really chill the meat before grinding, freeze the grinder parts (the metal ones) and keep your catch bowl over ice. Mash up the ground meat and spices really good before stuffing...that really helps the texture. It's well worth the effort...even the cleanup!
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