Homemade Sausage Making

Many of the sausage formulations call for some added water and I am wondering if it is reasonable to use broth made from the bones from the meat that I am grinding for the sausage. I never throw away bones before I have made stock from them.

ssorllih wrote:Many of the sausage formulations call for some added water and I am wondering if it is reasonable to use broth made from the bones from the meat that I am grinding for the sausage. I never throw away bones before I have made stock from them.

I have used Chicken stock in my Chicken sausages and it worked very well. It seemed to add needed moisture and flavor

The liquid is important but I think that there should be some thought into what liquid is added. For instance, adding red wine to italian sausage or some ouzo to greek sausage. The key is that the liquid be as cold as possible.

Thanks for the replies. I also found that in Boudin sausage you use the stock that you cook the meat in to cook the rice and to also add to the mix. So I think that the answer is that it is not wrong or bad but other liquids may be more appropiate.

Very often when I take meat from my freezer and allow it to thaw a substantial amount of water drains from the meat. The recipes call for an amount of liquid based on the formula but is this to be adjusted for the degree of wet in the meat?
Does prolonged mixing bind the water into the protien structure?

Just out of curiosity (and I think I know the answer) did you purchase the meat thawed and then freeze it yourself. If so the slow freezing of the meat causes the ice crystals to form very sharp spikes which isn't noticed while your freezing but they've pierced many of the cells in the meat. Once you thaw the meat the new pierced cells release their liquid.

If at all possible I would try to make sausage from meat that has not been frozen (other than the quick hit just before grinding) for just this reason. I would think that if you're forced to do this in the future you may want to think about adding a smidge additional fat to make up for hte moisture loss in addition to the standart liquid required per the recipe.

As far as the binding the short answer is kinda. By mixing/kneading/working the meat you develop myosin which is a protein (I think) which is similar to gluten development in bread baking. The emulsion created with the fat and lean together the myosin development will hold a finite amount of liquid, however, you can overwork it and break the structure. Usually I stop when the meat gets a bit sticky and all the water that I added has been picked up by the meat.

I think that where my question leads is when I cut still frozen meat into smaller chunks and it thaws during or after grinding and releases its liquid does it alter the quantity of liquid that I should add?

Great question Ross. Great response Jer. Now you guys are talkin' meat sense. Please allow me to interject a few statements about "exudate" made by our own Seminole. Here's a link: http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=4813

Ross, the "exudate" is absolutely part of the meat itself (required for full flavor) and should be added back into the recipe whenever making sausage, along with the full amount of additional liquid specified by the recipe.

Jer, you are correct about myocin being a protein. Proteins consist of large molecules of amino acids. Many of them are soluble, have the ability to swell in water and denature upon heating. Proteins are the most important constituents of meat and meat products. Actin belongs to the contractile proteins (and myosin) of the myofibrils of the meat musculature. The protein actin accounts for approximately 20% of the muscular protein. Myosin filaments represent approx. 40% of muscular proteins. As a result of association with actin they form actomyosin, responsible for muscular contraction. A dissociation of these two muscle proteins brings about muscular relaxation. Myoglobin is a proteinaceous substance in muscular meat responsible for oxygen transport in the live muscle and for the color of fresh lean meat, but also for the curing-red color in processed meat products after its reaction with nitrite.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon