Mastering the Craft of Making Sausage (37 page)

CASING

Any size of fibrous casing may be used. A large casing such as a 4-inch (10.16 cm) one is most common, but a 2½-inch (6.35 cm) casing is easier and faster to process, so it is recommended. For 2½ lbs. (1,150 g) of sausage, two of these casings—12 inches (30 cm) long—will be required. Prepare the casings by soaking in lukewarm water for about 30 minutes. Be sure to put some warm water inside the casings.

MEAT

Prepare 2½ lbs. (1,150 g) of chicken or turkey; use the dark meat only. Be sure to use the skin and available fat. Alternatively, wild or domesticated waterfowl may be used, but make sure that the fat does not exceed 25 percent of the total meat. Cube the meat, and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. While the meat is being prepared, chill the meat grinder and stuffer, too.

Grind the meat with a 
-inch (4.8 mm) plate. Chill the meat again while the seasoning and other ingredients are being prepared.

THE SEASONING AND OTHER INGREDIENTS

2¼ tsp. (11.25 ml) salt

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) Cure #1

2 tsp. (10 ml) black peppercorns, cracked

1 tsp. (5 ml) white pepper, ground

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) garlic granules

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) coriander, ground—packed in the spoon

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) Wright’s liquid smoke (optional)

⅛ tsp. (0.625 ml) ginger powder—packed in the spoon

⅛ tsp. (0.625 ml) allspice

½ cup (120 ml) powdered skim milk

3 Tbsp. (45 ml) water

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) light corn syrup

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) red wine

MIXING AND STUFFING

1. 
 Mix the seasoning and other ingredients—except for the meat—in a large bowl until the mixture is uniform.

2. 
 Add the meat to the seasoning mixture. Blend by kneading until it is uniform. This will require about three minutes.

3. 
 Stuff the sausage into fibrous casings. Insert the cable probe of an electronic thermometer in the open end of one of the sausages, and close the casing around the probe with butcher’s twine.

4. 
 Refrigerate the stuffed sausage chubs overnight so that the seasoning and curing powder will blend with the meat.

5. 
 The next morning, the sausage chubs may be smoked. Please see Chapter 7 for smoking suggestions. If they will be smoked, cold smoking and steam cooking is recommended. If the sausage will not be smoked, steaming or poaching is recommended. Cooking by steaming or poaching is explained in Chapter 6.

Venison Sausage

The word venison usually referrers to deer meat, but the meat of other herbivorous wild game animals such as elk, moose, antelope, and caribou is also called venison. The following recipe is good for all varieties of venison.

This sausage may be stuffed into natural casings, cooked, and eaten on a bun as one would eat bratwurst. It may also be stuffed into fibrous casings, cooked, chilled, and eaten cold as a luncheon meat. If you have no casings, make it into patties.

The amount of any seasoning, 
except Cure #1
, may be increased or decreased to suit your taste.

CASING

Prepare 7 feet (210 cm) of hog casing; rinse thoroughly. Refrigerate the casing overnight in about one cup of water. Rinse again, and soak in warm water before using. If 24 to 26 mm (1 in. to 1
¹
⁄16 in.) sheep casing is to be used, prepare about 14 feet (420 cm) of casing. If fibrous casing will be used, two 2½-inch (6.4 cm) casings, each 12 inches (30 cm) long, will be required. Fibrous casings must be prepared for use by soaking them in warm water 30 minutes before stuffing. Be sure to flood the inside of the casings with warm water.

MEAT

Prepare 1½ lbs. (680 g) of lean venison; remove all fat and sinew. Also, prepare ½ lb. (225 g) of lean pork and ½ lb. (225 g) of pork fat. Cut the meat into ¾-inch (2 cm) cubes. Refrigerate the meat for 30 minutes. While the meat is being prepared, refrigerate the meat grinder and stuffer.

Grind the meat with a 
-inch (4.8 mm) plate; chill the meat again for about 30 minutes. Return the ground meat to the refrigerator while the seasoning and other ingredients are being prepared.

THE SEASONING

2 tsp. (10 ml) salt

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) Cure #1

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) brown sugar—packed in the spoon

1½ tsp. (7.5 ml) onion powder

1 tsp. (5 ml) paprika

1 tsp. (5 ml) black pepper, finely ground

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) cayenne

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) sage

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) thyme

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) garlic powder

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) nutmeg

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) allspice

¼ cup (60 ml) of your favorite wine—white or red

½ cup (120 ml) powdered skim milk

MIXING AND STUFFING

1.
 Mix all the seasoning ingredients, the wine, and the powdered milk in a

5-quart (5 liter) mixing bowl. Refrigerate this seasoning mixture for at least

15 minutes.

2.   
Blend the meat and the seasoning well by kneading for about three minutes.

3.   
Stuff the sausage in casings. If natural casings have been used, twist the sausage rope into links.

4.   
Refrigerate overnight to allow the meat to absorb the flavoring.

If you wish to smoke the stuffed venison sausage, please see Chapter 7 for suggestions and directions. If you wish to omit smoking, please see the cooking suggestions in Chapter 6.

Vienna Sausage

You may have heard of Vienna sausage. If you live in the United States or Canada, you may have sampled the tiny Vienna sausages that are sold in a small can. Many of the ingredients in the formula below are the same as those in the canned variety, but the finished product will be different. You should not expect the same taste and texture as the canned variety, but you should expect that it will be something that is very good to eat.

Near the end of Chapter 10 there is a sausage called Wienerwurst. Wienerwurst is another name for Vienna sausage. If you want to make an emulsified version that will have a bite texture similar to the canned Vienna sausage, try the Wienerwurst.

Vienna sausage is a cured sausage, but it is not normally smoked. However, it does have Cure #1 in the formula, so it can be smoked, if you wish.

THE CASINGS

Prepare 7 feet (210 cm) of hog casings or 14 feet (420 cm) of sheep casing. Rinse the casing, and soak it in water overnight. Rinse it again, and soak in warm water for 30 minutes before stuffing.

THE MEAT

• 1½ lbs. (680 g) fatty pork 

•
¹
⁄ 
2
 lb. (225 g) lean beef 

•
₂
 lb. (225 g) lean veal (traditional) OR chicken (dark meat)

While the meat is being weighed, trimmed, and cubed, refrigerate the meat grinder and stuffer.

Mince the meats with a 
-inch (4.8 mm) or smaller plate. It would be best to mince the meats two times; mincing twice provides a finely textured sausage. Chill the meat between each grinding. Blend the pork, beef, and veal (or chicken) and refrigerate.

OTHER INGREDIENTS AND SEASONINGS

4 tsp. (20 ml) onions, finely minced

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) flour

2 tsp. (10 ml) salt

1 tsp. (5 ml) coriander—packed in the spoon

¾ tsp. (3.75 ml) paprika

¾ tsp. (3.75 ml) sugar

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) Cure #1

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) cayenne

⅛ tsp. (0.625 ml) mace powder

¼ cup (60 ml) cold water

½ cup (120 ml) skim milk powder

MIXING AND STUFFING

1. 
 Mix the seasonings, water, and powdered milk in a large mixing bowl, and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Add the meat and knead the mixture for about three minutes. Refrigerate this sausage paste for at least 30 minutes.

2. 
 Stuff the sausage.

3. 
 To ensure migration of the curing agent and seasonings into the ground meat, let the sausage rest overnight in the refrigerator.

Cooking by steaming or poaching is suggested. Please see Chapter 6 for suggestions.

CHAPTER 10

Emulsified Sausage

W
e cannot emulsify a sausage mixture as efficiently as commercial producers can, but we can imitate the process surprisingly well and produce almost the same result. To accomplish this, however, a powerful food processor is required. It need not be a professional-grade food processor, but a sturdy and powerful machine for home use is required. The 7-cup (680 ml) Cuisinart food processor I use does the job; it is an old model DLC-7 rated at 560 watts. With this food processor, I am able to process 1¼ pounds (570 g) at a time. If sausage is to be emulsified at home, a food processor equivalent to this machine will be required. Emulsifying meat puts a lot of strain on a processor, and the motor might be damaged if the appliance is underpowered.

I strongly recommend that you try to emulsify sausage at least once. It is not as difficult as it may seem, and the results are nothing short of dramatic. It may not change the taste, but the bite texture and appearance will give the sausage a special appeal—and making emulsified sausage will do a lot for your image as a sausage maker. However, a good food processor is a considerable investment, so—if you have doubts—it would be wise to borrow a suitable processor from a friend or relative until you are sure that this is something you wish to do.

A 2½-pound (1,150 g) recipe of sausage is divided into two parts for processing. When the sausage is being emulsified, about ½ cup (120 ml) of crushed ice is added to each of the two 1¼ pound (570 g) loads. This ice not only lowers the temperature of the sausage paste and makes it more fluid, but it increases the volume of the paste as well. The air that is whipped into the sausage paste also increases the volume. Finally, the volume is increased by interior garnishes such as olives and pistachio nuts. Consequently, if natural casing is used, a greater length of casing than normal will be required for emulsified sausage.

In addition, if synthetic fibrous casing is used, more volume capacity than usual will be required because of the increase in volume mentioned above. Normally, for non-emulsified sausage,
two
of the foot-long (30 cm), 2½-inch (6.4 cm) diameter casings will hold 2½ lbs. (1,150 g) of sausage. However, when sausage is emulsified and stuffed into synthetic casings,
three
of these casings will be required. The three fibrous casings will not be full, but two casings will not hold all the paste. Obviously, another option would be to use two 3-inch (7.62 mm) diameter casings, each 12 inches (30 mm) long.

Note: The sausages in this chapter have been arranged in alphabetical order. Most of the sausages are cured sausages, but there are fresh sausages as well.