Making Your Own Sausage
We have learned many important factors in making a good non-cured "
fresh sausage". The next step involves
casing a fresh sausage for immediate cooking
without smoking. Fresh sausage must never be smoked without having an actual curing agent included in the recipe. The important lesson learned will be how to case sausage without "
smearing" it. Once we have explored the process and have discussed it a little, we`ll take on the next step in which the preparation actually includes "partial cooking" of the very same cased sausage, but having added sodium nitrite cure to the recipe. The modified proteins create an altogether different version of its "fresh" counterpart and you`ll be amazed at how cooking and adding sodium nitrite change the sausage.
Let`s make your own 1000 gram (2.2 lbs.) versions of an (A.)
Fresh "
Finger Sausage", and a (B.)
"prep cooked", cured, and smoked "Finger Sausage" using the same ingredients (with the exception of Cure #1). Primitive sausage-making involved stuffing casings through some sort of pipe or funnel, using the fingers, having hand-chopped the meat. The name "finger sausage" came to mean a simple sausage of one or two meats in any ratio, mixed with basic salt, pepper, and perhaps another indigenous herb or spice. To begin, start with:
(Sausage Number One) - Your Own "Fresh" Sausage Recipe: (2.2 lbs) Title:_________________________
Combination of meats: 800 gr.
(For example, you may wish to use 400 g. beef and 400 g. pork.)
(Please itemize the type and amount here:)
Pork backfat (suggested) 200 gr.
Salt (1.8% to 2%) (suggested) 18 to 20 grams (not iodized)
Black Pepper? (recommended) 2.0 grams
Garlic? (your preference!) 4.0 grams
Your preference of herb/spice 1.0 grams
* Marjoram? Thyme? Sage? Cayenne? Be really inventive... like "snake-spit yellow mustache trimmings"!
Now, it always helps to tell your audience just where the danged recipe came from. Was it stolen from a medicine man in west Africa? Was it served as a main course at the North Pole? Did it come from ancient China where only old, bald, Irishmen were allowed to eat it? Don`t be afraid to stretch the truth a little. And for goodness sakes, give your recipe a great title. No more boring ol` labels. Come up with something original and innovative! Something that will cause the Duk to roll his eyes around to the back of his head!
Okay folks, while you`re making your own "fresh" sausage, read a little about prep-cooking below. When we prepare a sausage to be smoked, it must have sodium nitrite added to the recipe and to be a proper "cured-smoked-cooked" type sausage, it should be "prep cooked" by following the recommendations:
_________________________________READING___________________________
1. "Prep Cooking"
As the temperature reaches 138°F. (59° C.), a "cured - smoked - cooked" sausage becomes protected from trichinella spiralis. At about 145°F. (63°C.) the sausage becomes "par-cooked" or "prep-cooked" for use on the grill later on and its texture has been changed (tightened), the cooking process having modified proteins. (Be sure to refrigerate the sausages until you "fully" cook and eat them.) Most sausages are safely fully-cooked upon reaching 152°F. (67°C.). At this point, the sausage becomes protected against all sorts of other pathogenic bacteria and microorganisms including
Salmonella, Listeria, Toxoplasma, Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium perfringens, Cyclospora cayetanensis, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Shigella, and others.
However, the temperature of 170°F is the extreme upper limit and beyond this point, nothing will save the sausage. Once the fat liquefies, the sausage cannot be salvaged and it will taste dreadful. Worse, the texture will resemble bright - orange sawdust. Ol` Rytek used to say, "sawdust... just like sawdust", then shake his head.
I don`t believe I`ve ever met a sausage maker who didn`t spoil one of his beginning batches by "breaking the fat" and turning the texture into sawdust. Anyone who tells you they haven`t done it at one time or another is either fibbing or they haven`t made much sausage at all. I surely had my moments. Most often, the "grainy" texture people refer to in sausage, is the result of only one thing - too much heat during the preparatory cooking. Again, it is most important not to exceed the IMT (internal meat temperature) of 170°F., as the collagen will "break" and the fat in the sausage will become liquid.
Whether you use your smoker, your kitchen oven, or even a pot of water on the stove, to prep-cook sausages, if you take your time and
GRADUALLY raise the temperature only a couple of degrees every fifteen or twenty minutes, the sausages will be just fine. This procedure most often involves several hours. On the other hand, if you attempt to shorten the process by raising the heat too quickly, you`re only inviting problems. Worse, if the temperature exceeds 170°F., you`ll have to toss the batch. And don`t feed them to your dog! He didn`t do anything to you.
At this point, the only thing sawdust sausages are good for is shotgun practice, and with a little drying, they`ll even disintegrate in the air in a delightful puff of dust upon receiving a well placed blast of a 12 gauge.
Type 1. 3/8" grind with smaller 3/16" fat particles - Cooked - W/smoke at 152°F.
Place the grinder knife and plate into the freezer while you separate the fat from the lean meat using a sharp knife. Cut the meat into 1" cubes to keep long strands of sinew from wrapping around the auger behind the plate as the meat is ground. Grind the meat using a 3/8" plate and the pork fat using a 3/16" plate. Place the fat into the freezer while you mix the Cure #1 with a little water (for uniform distribution) and add it to the meat. Work with small batches, refrigerating the meat at every opportunity. Next, mix the meat with all the remaining ingredients (except the frozen fat), kneading the mixture to develop the proteins myosin and actin, creating a "sticky meat paste" (primary bind). Finally, fold in the frozen fat and distribute it equally throughout the mixture. Depending upon various recipes or preferences, the sausage may now be refrigerated several hours for maturing, or the sausage may be immediately stuffed into casings to avoid smearing while the fat remains frozen.
Stuff the sausage into 32-36 mm. casings, allowing them to hang and dry at room temperature for an hour or place them into a smokehouse preheated to 130°F. (54°C.) for an hour with the damper fully open to assist with moisture elimination. When the sausages are dry to the touch, introduce smoke and adjust the damper to only 1/4 the way open. Gradually, only a couple of degrees at twenty minutes intervals, raise the smokehouse temperature until the internal meat temperature (IMT) registers 152°F. (67°C.). This procedure must be done slowly to avoid breaking the collagen and liquefying the fat. Remove the sausages, showering them with cold water until the IMT drops to less than 90°F. (32°C.). This sausage remains perishable and must be refrigerated.
Type 1. 3/8" grind with large hand-cubed fat particles - Cooked - W/smoke at 152°F.
In some sausages such as Sopresatta, people enjoy a medium small lean grind with larger pieces of fat suspended in the primary bind. Place the grinder knife and plate into the freezer while you separate the fat from the lean meat using a sharp knife. Cut the meat into 1" cubes to keep long strands of sinew from wrapping around the auger behind the plate as the meat is ground. Grind the meat using a 3/8" plate then use a sharp knife to hand-dice the fat into the size cubes of your choice. Place the fat into the freezer while you mix the Cure #1 with a little water (for uniform distribution) and add it to the meat. Work with small batches, refrigerating the meat at every opportunity. Next, mix the meat with all the remaining ingredients (except the frozen fat), kneading the mixture to develop the proteins myosin and actin, creating a "sticky meat paste" (primary bind). Finally, fold in the frozen fat and distribute it equally throughout the mixture. Depending upon various recipes or preferences, the sausage may now be refrigerated several hours for maturing, or the sausage may be immediately stuffed into casings to avoid smearing while the fat remains frozen.
Stuff the sausage into 32-36 mm. casings, allowing them to hang and dry at room temperature for an hour or place them into a smokehouse preheated to 130°F. (54°C.) for an hour with the damper fully open to assist with moisture elimination. When the sausages are dry to the touch, introduce hickory smoke and adjust the damper to only 1/4 the way open. Gradually, only a couple of degrees at twenty minutes intervals, raise the smokehouse temperature until the internal meat temperature (IMT) registers 152°F. (67°C.). This procedure must be done slowly to avoid breaking the collagen. Remove the sausages, showering them with cold water until the IMT drops to less than 90°F. (32°C.). This sausage remains perishable and must be refrigerated.
(Sausage Number Two) - Your Own "Cured - Smoked - Cooked" Sausage Of The Same Recipe: (2.2 lbs)Title:____________________
Combination of meats: 800 gr. (see your recipe above)
(itemize type and amount)
Pork backfat (suggested) 200 gr.
Cure #1 (1/2 teaspoon = 2.5 grams)
Salt (1.8% to 2%) (suggested) 18 to 20 grams (not iodized)
Black Pepper? (recommended) 2.0 grams
Garlic? (your preference!) 4.0 grams
Your preference of herb/spice 1.0 grams
* Marjoram? Thyme? Sage? Cayenne? Be really inventive... like "snake-spit yellow mustache trimmings"!
Smoking & Cooking Sausages
Allow the sausages to hang and dry at room temperature while you preheat your smokehouse to 130°F. (54°C.). Having the damper fully open to assist with moisture elimination, hang the sausages when they become dry to the touch. With the sausage surfaces dry, introduce hickory or another hardwood smoke and adjust the damper to only 1/4 the way open. Gradually, only a couple of degrees at twenty minutes intervals, raise the smokehouse temperature until the internal meat temperature (IMT) registers 152°F. (67°C.). This procedure must be done slowly to avoid breaking the collagen and liquefying the fat. Remove the sausages, showering them with cold water until the IMT drops to less than 90°F. (32°C.). Pat the sausages dry and refrigerate them until they are grilled or "fully" cooked.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon