Homemade Sausage Making

Made some salceson. Ended up with 5 lbs of finished product. No snouts or head meat here. Used pork feet, hock, a couple of tongues and some pork trimmings. Semi froze the skins and then chopped them fine since I did not want to wash the grinder after using it for such a small amount. Cured everything for three days before cooking. Turned out quite good but could have been seasoned more.

Heck of a lot of work.

Redzed,
This looks great, I have been experimenting for awhile now with the same thing. Spices and salt amounts I find very difficult to determine. I am learning though as I now add sweet and some hot paprika and fresh garlic as well.
I have difficulty buying heads and trotters so skins will have to do and curing the meat makes a hell of a difference.
Regards,
Jan.

Hey Jan.

Just like head cheese, looks good.

Wow Red,
You've impressed a lot of folks with that gorgeous stuff!
Have you got a recipe to go with it? As El Quacko would say, "Enquiring minds want to know". Nice goin' Red!

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

A few weeks ago I roasted some cured chicken drums and thighs in a covered roaster with carrots celery and onions and I covered them with a quart of canned stock.
I saved the stock and was pleased to find that I had a nice clear stock that when cold was very slice able. It was well seasoned but Nancy wouldn't even taste it so I abandoned any plans for a head cheese or if you want to go up town with it, an aspic.
I will surely do some for the holidays.

BUT! My point here was that we can make a good thick stock for this with chicken drums roasted in good chicken stock

Hey Red that looks great!

You know, most of the head cheese I've had has not been salted and spiced to my satisfaction. I've wondered if bland formulas have been going around for years. If you dial it in, I would love to know how you did it.

Cooked a tongue not long ago for lengua burritos. And dangit, I didn't use enough salt. It's tricky that way. Not sure why I am sharing these photos, except for the fact that I find cow tongues to be impressive! I just hope they don't become trendy the way other offbeat meats have. Used to be you could get chicken wings for nothin, not to mention ox tails.

OK, Red. How we going to do this with Venison, as bow season opens today in NY. Normally, I throw out the head, tongue, etc., but I'm open to ideas. Anybody's welcome to jump in. Thanks in advance.
Saw on cable that somebody in Alaska made jellied Moose nose and that got me thinking.

OK here is a start. Soup is just about salty enough at .7% or 7 grams of salt per litre.

Thanks for the complements guys.

Here is how I made the salceson.

I used 5 pork feet (new breed developed by Monsanto), one hock, 2 pork tongues and some lean pork trimmings. Total weight approx. 8 lbs. The pork feet were partially cut up and I scored the hocks. I dry cured everything for 3 days with 70 grams sea salt and a tablespoon of cure 1.

I then washed the meat with cold water, put in pot and added water just to cover. To this I threw in a few bay leaves and a bunch of black peppercorns. Simmered for about three hours at just below boiling temp, until the feet and hocks fell apart. Did some skimming alon the way to keep the broth clear. I then picked through everything separating the meat from the bones and hard gristle, skinned the tongues and made cut some of the larger pieces into strips. I removed some of the fat from the skins and together with the I semifroze them and then chopped them into pieces like a chopped onion. The broth was strained, tasted for saltiness and further reduced.

To the processed meat mixture I added;
2 large garlic cloves (lovingly planted and harvested by my 91 year old mother), finely chopped
3tsp black pepper,
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp all spice
pinch of ground cloves
1/2 tsp cracked caraway seeds

This mixture I added the broth, but did not measure, the mixture resembled a stew or a thick soup. Stuffed into a 110mm x 24 in. clear fibrous casing. Had to make 2 so it would fit my pot but it gave me a chance to test my new hog ring pliers.

Simmered in 170F water for about 2 hours until IT was 155.

Put on a board another one on top and weighed with a brick. Cooled in fridge overnight. Ended up with 5 lbs of product. Had some today for lunch with rye bread a splash of vinegar and a bit of horseradish with beets. Closed my eyes and I was in Poland!

nuynai wrote:OK, Red. How we going to do this with Venison, as bow season opens today in NY. Normally, I throw out the head, tongue, etc., but I'm open to ideas. Anybody's welcome to jump in. Thanks in advance.
Saw on cable that somebody in Alaska made jellied Moose nose and that got me thinking.

Traditionally whole pork and beef heads were cooked and the meat was then separated and used in head cheese, hence the name. But if you want to skin the venison head and remove the meat from the cheeks you can probably use it in making head cheese. But unless you bag a monster buck, there probably is not much meat on a deer head. I don't know anyone who has used deer tongues but why not? However, the main meat used in the headcheese that I am familiar with is pork.

Red,
Thank you for the spice mix. I will try it next time I have enough skins and bones and no doubt that will only be approx 3 weeks away. I have put in my order for an ox tongue as well.
Regards,
Jan.

Red wrote:

Had some today for lunch with rye bread a splash of vinegar and a bit of horseradish with beets. Closed my eyes and I was in Poland!

Now that's what we like to hear! Hey pal, you've got a winner there. I can almost taste it with that splash of vinegar. Great instructions too. Very nice recipe and photos. Very professional.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Hi Red. Got a question. What's the secret to get everything tender. I love blood tongue, beef tongue, sweet and sour headcheese. I've had some that will melt in your mouth like butter but others that taste like someone put boiled acorn shells in it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as I'm going to try beef tongue for the first time. I figure I'll start by trying to cook it in a pressure cooker for about a hour. Thanks in advance.

To begin with, it really depends on the type of meat you use. Beef tongues are hard to mess up because of their structure and the fact that they have a lot of fat in in them. They retain their elasticity very well. and look good in a head cheese. Fatty meats and those with a bit of grisle are also better suited for a head cheese, such as the cheeks. When using hocks, you have to watch that you don't overcook the meat as well. In mine I added some pork trimmings and the lean pieces came out dry and crumbly. Also you don't want to cook the meat at high temperature but simmer it at just below boiling point. So I am not sure that using a pressure cooker is a good idea. If you decide to go that route, let us know how it turns out.

Made more salceson a couple of days ago. Messy work! Spent a bit of time cleaning up the kitchen and especially around the stove. Added more spices and garlic than the last time. This time rather than curing the meat for a couple of days with salt and a bit of cure #1 for the colour, I added 5tbs. of Morton Tenderquick to 6 litres of simmering broth. Have the stuff around and don't use it for anything else. I also would have thrown in more ground skins and more broth, but this is how the boss likes it.