Sausage making

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

• 20 lbs of pork ~35% fat
• 0.25 lbs Salt (1.25%)
• 1 fl oz chopped fresh sage
• 1 fl oz oregano
• 1 fl oz dried garlic
• 1 fl oz dried onion
• 0.38 lb sugar (6 oz or 175 gm)
• apple sauce
• Sriracha

• 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

Italian Sausage

Ingredients

• 2000 g pork shoulder about 4.4 lbs
• 26 g kosher salt about 1.5 Tbsp
• 4 g black pepper about 2 tsp, coarsely ground
• 4 g sugar about 1 tsp
• 10 g whole fennel seed
• 3 g parsley
• 2 g cumin
• 1 g fennel pollen about 1/2 tsp; omit if you don't have it
• 1 g oregano about 1.5 tsp
• 1.5 g basil about 1 heaping tsp
• 118 g dry white wine 1/2 cup; cold; or cold drinking water

Instructions

Grind the meat through ⅜” (10 mm) plate. Add the spices, wine or water, and mix well, until the mixture becomes sticky. Stuff into 28 - 36 mm hog casings and tie into 5” (12 cm) links. If not cooking immediately, refrigerate, or vacuum seal and freeze for up to 3 months. Cook before serving. Best pan-fried, grilled or air-fried. Notes For Medium Hot Italian Sausage add 4 g (2 tsp) cayenne pepper For Hot Italian Sausage add 8 g (4 tsp) cayenne pepper Code of Federal Regulations permits Italian Sausage to also include the following: Other spices such as anise and paprika Red or green peppers, or both Dehydrated or fresh onions, garlic, and parsley As well, the Code permits that Italian Sausage be made with beef, veal or a beef and veal combination. Nutrition Calories: 164kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 918mg | Potassium: 374mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 22IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 2mg

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

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

• Heinsohn's Country Store - good accessories

• One Stop Jerky Shop

• Sausage maker