Hi

Just got the grinder and sausage making attachment for our Kenwood Chef, I have 20m of natural hog casings on the way and I’m getting ready to start to make my own sausages. Does anyone have any tips, recommendations or recipes?

Ta.

Hi

I’ve been making my own for the past few years and it’s awesome. Friends of our have been raising pigs for a few years now and I usually by a half pig of them. Such a cool thing to do, I usually butcher it in the kitchen (obviously it’s been to the abattoir first!)

A few tips:

1. Always soak those skins well as it will affect the taste if you don’t

2. Always test the mixture by frying off a small amount first.

3. Use good quality bread crumbs to hold in the fat once you start cooking.

Huge Fernly has a few good recipes for sausages and also salami’s which awesome fun to make. Other than that the internet is your friend.

With the normal British banger I wouldn’t be too worried about a perfect mixture, just have fun with different fillings. I even did a pork and rhubarb sausage this year…lovely

My favourite recipe is sage, onion and a spot of lemon. The key really is good pork. Try getting some rare breed pork as the flavour differences are staggering. We had magalitzas this year.

i would put up some photos but they’re all on faceplant….i’ll try and sort some out later.

Thanks Towen, great advice. Seen some thing on the internet already but the Singletrack collective are always worth asking.

What combo lean / fatty meat do you use?

I’ve been making sausages for a little while but still struggling to get a good texture, always seem very dry despite following recipes strictly. What sort of fat percentage do you use?

Every morning without fail 😉

Hmmm, Can’t say that I’ve ever noted the lean/fat ratio that I use. I always use a whole shoulder, remove only the skin (leaveing the majority of fat in place) and then just mince away. So not really an exact science from me 😉

That said I’m no pro and do get some varied results. I think the key is picking the right pork. Your nommal super market pig (IIRC) is bread for low fat content where as the rarer breeds will have more fat (and better tasting too).

I think the best thing to do is just have a go; i usually make more then one type (i.e. different fillings) as some won’t work and some might be a revalation.

On the dryness side, I tend to out a lower ratio of crumb in as that can dry out the mix. Also if you use ready dried crumb I think you need to hydrate it first.

Apologies for not being too much help, more of a have a go hero cos it just good fun. great for summer BBQ’s

That’s coincidence…. I’ve asked for a mincer and sausage stuffer for Christmas, with an eye to make some cured sausages, chorizo etc… Going to start with some bangers first thought!

Any cured sausage tips would be greatly received!

We make our own and it’s great fun and cheap…

we always use the stabiliser from http://www.designasausage.com as find it keeps the sausages juicier. No idea why though

Ah thanks for this, brand new Kenwood Major* in the cupboard with attachments waiting for Mrs Knob to open on Chirstmas Day – can’t wait.

* well it said ‘Titanium’ on the box, so I had to buy it.

simonbea,

Don’t know about sausages but I saw on Man v Food the other day that, for burgers, you should use 80% meat to 20% fat.

we used a better cut of prok last christmas, think it was shoulder, and the sausages were way better than when we had used the classic 70/30 mix from designasausage.

don’t use any stabilisers or stuff.

roasted chesnut sausages were particularly good, planning to make some this weekend in fact.

We don’t use anything but the stabiliser pre-bought. We use mainly shoulder with a bit of pork belly thrown in. Mmm wild garlic and Stilton. Can’t wait for next spring to go and pick some more wild garlic.

I love making sausages, far from expert though. I buy casings and rusk from the butcher, and use shoulder. Fry little bits for tasting is a good tip, lots of recipes on the net, ginger/pork good. Saladdodger makes industrial quantities of his own, if he’s around to comment 🙂

Blessed are the Sausage Makers