Homemade Sausage Making

[USA] Chuckwagon`s "Paralyzin` Pickled Polecats"
Habanero-Laced, Pickled, Andouille Sausage

The first time I ever tried one of these scorchin` hot, tonsil n` tongue toastin`, 12-gauge sizzlin` slugs, I had just gotten my driving license. I had stopped at a local "gas n` go" where I bought several "Louisiana home-made" pickled sausages, made with something called "Extry-Warm Scotch Bonnets". As I bit down on the delicious-lookin` sausage, the last thing I remember thinking was how great the texture was. Then all of a sudden the habanero clobbered me like a sack of horseshoes... at about 60 miles per hour! I was still screamin` like a banchee when I came to a stop. My ol` pickup was turned around in traffic and I had laid down enough rubber to give Charles Goodyear a heart attack! There was a smoky-blue haze layin` low in the atmosphere and people were staring at me as I attempted to put the fire out with Colorado Kool-Aid (Coors). Shucks pards, these hot and spicy Cajun sausages are very nice, but should come with printed consumption instructions.

Laplace is a Cajun town about 30 miles from New Orleans calling itself the Andouille Capital of the World. Folks from Laplace tell us western cow kickers that their sausages are made with fewer seasonings than those made in other areas, and often contain a little wine, lots of black pepper, garlic, and onions. I like the stuff grilled over diminishing hickory coals, but if you want a real treat, try "pickling" a few links. Classic Cajun andouille was brought to Louisiana by German and French immigrants. Roasted and sliced in small sections, the sausage is a perfect appetizer for parties, having a spicy, smoky, rich, and earthy flavor with a noticeable hint of herbs and garlic. Further pickled for five days, it is irresistible!

Chuckwagon`s "Paralyzin` Pickled Polecats"

5 lbs. pork butt with fat
1 Scotch Bonnet or Habanero Pepper
1 cup cold water
1 level tspn. Prague Powder Cure #1
2 tblspns. kosher salt
1/2 cup onions (diced)
1 Tblspn. granulated garlic
1 tblspn. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tspn. dried thyme
1 tblspn. paprika
1 tspn. finely crushed bay leaf
1 tspn. parsley
beer to adjust consistency

Use plastic gloves and eye goggles while handling the habanero. Cut the pepper open and remove the seeds and veins. Pulverize the pepper in a blender with a little beer, the cup of water, and the cure #1. Set the mixture aside. Cut the fat from the meat, dice it very small or grind it through a 3/16" plate, and then freeze it. Cut the meat into chunks, semi-freeze it, and then grind it through a 3/8" plate. Finally, mix the remaining ingredients (except the frozen, diced, fat) with the cure-pepper liquid and distribute it evenly throughout the meat. Continue mixing the meat to develop the primary bind (sticky paste), and then fold in the frozen diced fat, distributing it evenly. Stuff the sausage into 42-45 mm. hog casings and make stubby links only three or four inches long, allowing them to hang and dry at room temperature for an hour. Place the sausages into a preheated 130-degree smokehouse for an hour, and then insert a probe-type internal meat thermometer into a sausage. Introduce hickory smoke with the dampers barely cracked open. Slowly, only a couple of degrees every quarter-hour, raise the smokehouse temperature to 165° F. Remove the smoked sausages when the internal meat temperature reaches 150° F. and immediately shower them using cold water. Smoke-cooking sausages by raising the temperature only two degrees every 15 minutes may take quite some time; don`t get in a hurry. If you add too much heat too quickly, you`ll "break the fat" and ruin the sausage. Note that the smokehouse temperature (in this recipe) should never exceed 165 degrees. While the sausages are smoking, prepare the "Polecat Brine", cool it, and then refrigerate it overnight. Refrigerate the sausages overnight then "pickle" them inside a quart canning jar, covering them with the brine. Refrigerate the sausages five days before eating them. Keep sausages only 7-10 days.

"Polecat Brine"
1 cup vinegar
1/4 cup of diced onion
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1 Tblspn. kosher salt
1/2 Tblspn. sugar
1 Tblspn. pickling spice,
1/2 cup water.

Instructions: Bring the contents to boil, remove it from the heat, and allow it to cool. Refrigerate the brine overnight. Place the sausages in a jar and pour the brine over them. If necessary, "top off" the jar with added vinegar. Seal and tip the jar to distribute the seasonings. Marinate sausages 5 days before eating them cold with your favorite sudsy libation.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

One scotch bonnet or habanero (with seeds and veins removed) makes 5+ pounds of sausage and brine scorchin' hot? Slightly warm maybe, but little if any great habanero flavor!!! LOL
For some real heat, you need to try some bhut jolokias or Trinidad scorpions...or many more scots or habs!!!!

Interesting recipe none the less!!!

My intention was to post a spicy recipe that most people can enjoy - not to enter a recipe responsible for damage to taste buds and skin tissue. Scientists warn against using bhut jolokias or dorset nagas, as they may easily injure someone. They have no flavor - merely heat at about 1,382,118 SHU. I`m sure the one I ate while driving was "loaded" with much more than the capsicum of a single habanero. Nevertheless, I would have to be stupid to include it in a recipe for others just to enter some sort of testosterone contest. And like my ol` Daddy used to say, "there`s a big difference between being stupid and being crazy".

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

CW
You`ve been holding out on me buddy. I will definitely give these a try as soon as I find my safety goggles

Um, I wasn't being serious, hence the "LOL"
And actually, bhuts and scorpoins have very good fruity flavor which is why they became popular in their respective countries.

Well I think the point CW was trying to make is there is heat, then there is flaming hot, and then there`s set your socks on fire As for posting a recipe with extremely hot peppers, we wouldn`t want anyone to set their socks on fire. But of course if one feels the need to burn their feet, by all means have at it
I enjoy a hot pepper, but when the taste buds and mouth go numb and you can`t feel your fingers what`s the point.

Chow..
Uwanna

Now here`s a recipe that`s REALLY caught my eye. I do a bit of canning and preserving, and think these sound just the right thing to go with a nice beer or three.

I`ll probably put it up in pints, and process one of them in the pressure canner, just to see how it goes. If it doesn`t bugger the texture or taste too badly, I might be able to make these guys shelf stable for up to a year !! The acid brine and salt content combined with the pressure canning should do the trick.

I`ll post a video report on my Youtube cooking channel once it`s done, and let you know.

Cheers,
Rob.

How bout some pickled polecat, bird sausage and a side of cedar smoked gerbil!!! Lol

Hey Bearspice,
I would be most interested in knowing how you fare with this recipe. Please take a few photos while you make them and let us know your progress. Over the years, I've made these for my brother and myself each time he came back home to visit. They go perfectly with pickled eggs and crackers. Of course they must have the right libation too. I'm sure you'll enjoy this recipe. Eventually I started pouring the hot liquid right into the sausage-stuffed jars and it worked out well.
Best of luck with your project.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Carpster, more likely to be pickled wallaby or wombat round these parts
Chuckwagon, will do mate, and you have my promise the appropriate libation will be one of our Aussie brews, but not Fosters - no-one here actually drinks the stuff.

Chuckwagon, just another quick question:

I don't have the smoking equipment yet, so will be cooking the 'polecats' in hot water. - I need to know how long (roughly) would it take for the sausages to get to 152°F in the hot water? I am about to try this recipe and want to know how long to leave them before testing the internal temp. (reason being, I need the thermometer to monitor the water temperature, and have to stick it in the end of a wiener to get it's temp periodically. I don't want to have to stand there for hours if I don't need to)

I have added a bit of liquid smoke to the mix to get the right flavour. This is going to be just a small test batch to see if the Pressure Canning agrees with the dogs. if it doesn't, then I'll wait till I get a proper smokehouse arrangement before trying them again.

...And I'm photographing all the steps

-Rob.

I need to know how long (roughly) would it take for the sausages to get to 152°F in the hot water? I am about to try this recipe and want to know how long to leave them before testing the internal temp. (reason being, I need the thermometer to monitor the water temperature, and have to stick it in the end of a wiener to get it's temp periodically. I don't want to have to stand there for hours if I don't need to)

Bearspice, the time totally depends upon the amount of water, the heat source, and the diameter of the sausage. Be aware that if the sausage (even though it is in water), is heated too quickly, the fat will still "break", just as it would inside a smokehouse. It is vitally important to raise the temperature slowly and evenly, only a few degrees at intervals. When the internal meat temperature (IMT) reaches about 148°F, you may consider it "prep-cooked". Fully cooked would be 155°F. It is highly advisable that your cooking water not exceed 170°F. The process MUST be slow to be successful. Don't rush it or you'll have sawdust for texture. Take a couple of hours or more and raise the temperature slowly.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

great looking recipe. will be on my to do list next time i get the mincer out