Sausage making

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Sausage Making is a field of butchery that adds value to ground meat.

Our experience is that 1.25% salt is perfect for most sausage recipes. 1.5 is ok for sausages intended to be eaten with bread, buns or rice Etc.

Breakfast Sausage

  • Use parchment paper and extrude the mix onto a sheet tray and freeze.
  • cut frozen into regular lengths
  • wrap in cling film then paper then to freezer
  • try orange zest in the recipe

Hot Dogs

Jacob Springs Farm has been experimenting with making hotdogs as a way to use organ meats and blood that is in less demand from customers.

There seems to be some shame on the part of manufacturers in admitting that they are using these ingredients in hot dogs - however organ meats are wonderful, nutrient dense, tasty and underutilized (i.e. wasted) Companies should be as proud of using organ meats as they are of including recycled materials and having environmentally friendly products.

Little information seems to be available about how to include organ meats in a hot dog recipe

Reverse engineering the Hot Dog recipe

Drawing on the following recipes we can make some conclusions about what makes a good hot dog recipe:

Ryan Farr's NY Style Hot Dogs is oddly exact:

  • 949 grams boneless lean beef such as neck, plate, or shank, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 137 grams beef fat, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 23 grams fine sea salt
  • 10 grams paprika
  • 5 grams granulated garlic
  • 4 grams coarsely ground black pepper
  • 3 grams onion powder
  • 1 gram Cure #1
  • 230 grams crushed ice
  • 20 feet of rinsed sheep casings

Meat (beef) is ~70% of total of which 87.5% is lean and 12.5% fat (low end of recipes listed) Spices are 1.6% of total Salt is 1.7% of total Ice is ~17% of total

Two other recipes at [lets-make-sausage.com] give us other information:

Technique

  • Grind fine - grind twice?
  • keep that meat COLD - use up to 20% water ice
  • stuff and single twist - can triple up after
  • Smoke low and not too long
  • finish in warm water to cook and cold water to arrest
  • Remove casings

Hot Dog companion: use the same recipe for bologna!

Conclusion: Recipe Matrix for Hot Dogs

Here's how to make your own hot dog recipe based on what you have on hand.


to see notes on Jacob Springs Farm's adventures in making hotdogs see JacobSpringsFarm:Value added log

Preparing your own sausage casings

This is a messy, but satisfying job - however it is difficult to get consistent results comparable to professionally done casings.

The FAO has an excellent guide to preparing casings.

Buying sausage casings

Comparing suppliers and types of sausage casing

  • Allied Kenco "we cater to the home butcher" - seems to be a good place to get smaller quantities and good information on sausage casings
  • Butcher & Packer potentially the best prices on bulk purchase of items without having to make a phone call
  • de Wied "making a 'strong case' for sausages" - have to call in