If you really want to make sausages from scratch, you need to plan on a small investment. You will need a meat grinding machine and a bagging machine, but the result will be really worth it. Not only will they be delicious, but you can make them according to your personal taste. Plus, you'll also get enough of them to set aside and consume in the future. Each of the recipes described in this article allows you to get about 2.5 kg of sausages.
Ingrediants
American Sausage
- 2 kg of pork shoulder
- 0, 5 kg of pork fat
- 20 g of sea salt
- 15 g of black pepper
- 20 g of finely chopped fresh sage
- 25 g of finely chopped fresh thyme
- 5 g of finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 30 g of brown sugar
- 5 g of cayenne pepper
- 5 g of red chilli flakes
- 750 g of pork intestine
Sweet Sausage
- 2 kg of pork shoulder
- 0, 5 kg of pork fat
- 20 g of sea salt
- 30 g of sugar
- 30 g of toasted fennel seeds
- 80 g of finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 head of garlic peeled and finely chopped
- 180 ml of dry sherry
- 60 ml of sherry vinegar
- 750 g of pork intestine
Chicken and Apple Sausage
- 1 kg of boneless chicken thighs but with the skin on
- 1 kg of pork shoulder
- 20 g of sea salt
- 5 g of chopped fresh thyme
- 5 g of chopped fresh sage
- 5 g chopped fresh smooth parsley
- 10 g of freshly ground pepper
- 5 g of red chilli flakes
- 500 g of peeled and chopped apple
- 30 ml of honey
- 60 ml of ice water
- 60 ml of Calvados
- 750 g of pork intestine
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Preparation
Step 1. Gather the ingredients
Buy the meat and choose all the ingredients you intend to use. You don't have to follow every recipe to the letter, you can incorporate the spices you love the most and eliminate the ones you don't like. Use creativity to create your own personal spice mix.
Step 2. Get the meat grinder
If you want to make sausages from scratch and especially if you intend to make them more than once, then this tool is worth buying as it allows you to grind all the meat to the specifics of the recipe and most importantly, it saves you time.
- Some standard food processors come with a meat mincing attachment and are perfect for your purpose.
- Get a meat grinder with different accessories that allow you to grind the meat more or less finely, as the recipes have different textures.
- If you don't want to grind the meat, ask the butcher to do it for you.
Step 3. Buy a stuffing machine
This is another vital tool if you plan on making sausages often. Putting the flavored meat into the pork casings enriches the taste because it allows the flavors to mix and blend with each other. This process does not occur when the meat is not stuffed. If you are an expert, which is unlikely, you can proceed to stuff the casings by hand, but you will not get the same result.
- Some meat grinder models are equipped with a bagging tool.
- If you don't want to buy this machine, you can avoid stuffing the meat and forming meatballs.
Step 4. Choose your gut
The most common choice falls on salted pork intestines. You can buy them at the butcher's, but also online. They are usually sold by the meter and typically 5 m of casing weighs half a kilo.
- If you prefer not to use traditional animal gut, then you can consider synthetic ones made of collagen.
- Finally, as an alternative to pork casings, you can also use bleached cabbage leaves.
Step 5. Cool the meat and tools
Before you begin, make room in the freezer to store the meat, fat and all the utensils you will use, including bowls. This is a crucial step in maintaining a low temperature during production. If the fat becomes soft, it does not emulsify properly with the meat. This means that when you cook the sausage, the fat will separate from the meat. In other words, the sausages will not be good. Keep everything at a low temperature to prevent this from happening.
- Freeze the meat and solid fat before starting. That way they will stay cold even as you work them and thaw.
- Put all the equipment in the freezer for a couple of hours before starting.
- When you are ready, check that everything is cold. Ingredients and utensils should be so cold that it is uncomfortable to touch them. If the meat and materials heat up in the process, periodically return them to the freezer. When their temperature is back to acceptable levels, take them out of the freezer and get back to work.
Part 2 of 4: Grind the Meat
Step 1. Prepare an ice bath
Fill a large bowl with ice and insert a second, smaller container in the center. At this point you can put the meat in this other bowl, in order to keep it at a low temperature. However, as described above, if the meat gets too hot, return it to the freezer immediately.
Step 2. Cut the meat and fat
Proceed quickly and reduce everything to 2.5 cm pieces. Then transfer them to the bowl inside the ice bath. Remember that this step is essential in order not to interrupt the cold chain.
Step 3. Mix the meat and fat with the spices
Use a clean spoon to briefly mix the meat and fat; then add salt, pepper, herbs and spices. Work quickly to prevent the ingredients from heating up. When the mixture is uniform, remove the bowl from the ice bath and cover it with cling film.
Step 4. Freeze the mixture for half an hour
Do not wait more than an hour before grinding it. If it gets too hard, the meat grinder will have a lot of trouble doing its job. The meat should be frozen on the outside, but still soft in the center.
- If you are following a recipe with moist ingredients, such as vinegar, sherry, or honey, mix them together and place them in the refrigerator for later use.
- If you have decided to use natural casings, remove it from the freezer and place it in a bowl of water to soften them.
Step 5. Grind the meat
Remove the mincer from the freezer and assemble it according to the manufacturer's instructions. Place a cold bowl under the spout to catch the ground. Take the flavored meat out of the freezer and put it in the machine setting a fine or coarser grain, according to your preferences.
- Some recipes clearly indicate the consistency of the ground, but many others leave this decision to personal taste.
- A coarse texture is similar to a lightly processed mince, while a fine texture reduces the meat to very small pieces.
- If you have the feeling that the meat gets too hot during this phase, then put it back in the freezer for a few minutes before continuing and resume only when the temperature is within acceptable limits.
Step 6. Freeze the ground coffee
When you're done, cover the bowl and put it back in the freezer. Do not let the meat become completely solid, it should only harden on the outside. While you wait, clean the grinder and put it away.
Step 7. Mix the wet ingredients
Remove the container from the freezer and add liquids such as vinegar, honey, or sherry to the meat mixture. For this you can use an immersion blender, your hands or a spoon; knead the dough until it becomes sticky and remains compact.
- If you don't want to stuff the mince into the casing, you can cook or store it at this point. You can make meatballs and freeze them for future consumption or cook them in a pan for five minutes on each side.
- If you have decided to make a series of sausages instead, return the meat to the freezer while you prepare the stuffing machine.
Part 3 of 4: Stuff the Guts
Step 1. Prepare all the necessary tools
Remove the stuffing machine from the freezer and assemble it according to the manufacturer's instructions. Run hot water into the casing and prepare it by placing one end on the edge of the bowl while the other remains immersed in hot water. Prepare a cold platter on which you will place the sausages. Lastly, remove the meat from the freezer.
- As you run the water into the gut, check for leaks; in this case discard the wrapper.
- Make sure it is not twisted, otherwise you may accidentally tear it off.
Step 2. Slide the casing over the stuffer tube
Each gut is several meters long; you should put it all on the tube of the machine leaving a "tail" of about 20 cm dangling. As you proceed with the operations, the meat will fill it. In some cases, a long casing is enough for a whole batch of sausages.
Step 3. Fill the gut
Put all the meat in the stuffer. Run the machine so that the ground coffee begins to come out of the tube and fill the casing. Guide the casing so that it slides out of the tube and slowly fills with meat; with the other hand shape the sausage into a spiral.
- It takes a little practice to set the right speed of the stuffer and fill the casing correctly; at first proceed slowly so as not to tear it.
- If you have more meat than the stuffer can accommodate, place the leftover in an ice bath until you've finished the entire first batch. He then "loads" the stuffer again.
- When you have finished the casing, detach it from the stuffer tube and tie one end. At this point you can start with the other. Continue like this until you have finished all the ground.
Step 4. Form the various segments
You should now have one or more stuffed casing spirals with one end open and the other knotted. Create the various segments measuring 15 cm from the knot, pinch the sausage at that point between thumb and forefinger and twist it on itself three times.
- Continue by moving another 6 inches, pinching the gut and twisting it three times. Repeat this process until you get to the end of the spiral and knot the open end.
- Remember to twist one segment towards you and the next in the opposite direction. Doing so prevents them from unrolling.
Part 4 of 4: Dry and Store the Sausages
Step 1. Hang the sausages to dry
You can use a wooden frame or other type of support for this. Wrap the entire row of sausages on the loom alternating each segment, so that they are all dangling, but not touching each other. Let them dry for an hour and a half.
Step 2. Pop the air bubbles
Sterilize a needle over an open flame and use it to prick any bubbles you can see. This will release the air that was trapped while you stuffed the meat and allow the casing to adhere to the mince.
Step 3. Store the sausages
Transfer them to a container inside the refrigerator overnight so the flavors blend. After about 8 hours, the sausages are ready to eat. Cook them within a week or freeze them to store for several months.
Advice
- To make dried or semi-dried sausages (like kielbasa or salami) you need to use seasoning products and the process is more complicated.
- Stainless steel stuffing machines are more expensive than plastic ones, but they are a good investment if you plan to make a lot of sausages.
