Sausage Making (3 page)

Buying preground meat is scary. In this day and age, I don't suggest that anyone do it, unless you know where it's coming from and have a butcher you trust. A better solution is to invest in a grinder and grind your meat yourself, so you know exactly what's going into your grind.

If you're an occasional sausage maker, the grinder attachment available for Kitchen- Aid stand mixers is a good option. You can get the blades and dies sharpened by a knife
sharpener; I recommend buying additional blades and dies if you plan to make a lot of sausage so that you always have a sharp set. If you grind your meat using a dull blade, not only will the meat heat up as the blade slowly grinds it, it will also pulverize the cell structure of the meat. This makes it more difficult to suspend fat in the meat, meaning that you'll never get that beautiful emulsification of fat and meat that makes for a juicy, succulent sausage. Instead, you'll be contending with a grainy, greasy sausage.

If you're planning to make a lot of sausage (or burgers, or anything else with ground meat) I suggest investing in a tabletop grinder with a 350- to 800-watt motor. A grinder of this type has the torque and power behind it to quickly and cleanly grind your meat. This type of grinder will set you back a few hundred dollars, but it's a worthy investment.

With a small knife on one end and a multiprong pricker on the other, this is a useful all-in-one tool for removing air pockets from cased sausages and separating links. In our kitchen we refer to it as the “magic wand.”

A sausage stuffer is an essential tool for sausage making. At the simpler end are the horizontal stuffers, often made of cast iron, that can be bolted to your countertop. They are inexpensive but cumbersome to use. I prefer vertical, stainless-steel canister-style stuffers. Like horizontal stuffers, they are hand-cranked, but the design is better and they are easier to use. They are also more expensive and larger; the smallest model is intended for a 5-lb/2.3-kg batch of sausage.

In addition to the grinder attachment, Kitchen- Aid also sells a stuffing attachment compatible with the stand mixers, but I find it difficult to use, particularly for larger batches.

In our kitchen we have a variety of scales, including hanging scales that we use to weigh whole sides of beef. But at home, a small, inexpensive digital scale is all you really need. Purchase one that can measure both grams and ounces and that, at minimum, can hold up to 10 lb/4.5 kg.

You can't make a hot dog with hot meat: a thermometer is a critical tool for successful sausage making. You cannot make quality sausage without one. It's essential that you monitor the temperature of your raw ingredients when you're making your sausage, but equally important that you cook your sausage to the perfect degree of doneness, just as you would a steak or piece of chicken.

If you habitually cut into a piece of meat as it cooks to check its doneness, I'm speaking to you: buy a thermometer. I use a laser thermometer to monitor the temperature of my raw ingredients and a probe thermometer to check the internal temperature of cooked sausage. Improper temperatures in both the preparation and the cooking of sausage leads to a disappointing finished product.

Salt is a critical ingredient in sausage making. Not only is it necessary for flavor, it also aids in the preservation of the sausage. I prefer to use a fine sea salt, such as La Baleine brand, which has a nice, clean flavor and disperses evenly through the sausage.

Curing salts are another essential ingredient, comprising sodium nitrite or nitrate (or both) and salt. Both nitrate and nitrite are converted to nitric oxide by microorganisms and combine with the meat pigment myoglobin to give the cured meat a pink color. But the main reason that curing salts are used is to prevent the growth of botulism- producing organisms that might otherwise thrive, and to retard rancidity. In large quantities, both nitrite and nitrate are toxic to humans. For that
reason, never use more curing salts than called for in a recipe. Here are the most commonly used cures:

INSTA CURE NO. 1.
Also known as pink salt, this cure is used for fresh sausage or cured, cooked sausages, and contains a mixture of sodium nitrite and salt, which both preserves the sausage and helps it retain its pink color.

INSTA CURE NO. 2.
Typically used for dried sausages that are cured but not cooked, such as pepperoni, Cure No. 2 contains both sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate. Because these dried sausages are never heated, the nitrate breaks down slowly like a time-release capsule, curing the meat over an extended period of time.

NATURAL CURE.
Marketed as an alternative to synthetically produced curing salts, celery juice powder contains naturally occurring, vegetable- derived nitrites and nitrates that, like the synthetic versions, convert into nitric oxide. The USDA currently does not recognize naturally occurring nitrites and nitrates as an effective curing agent for meat; therefore products made with natural cure must be labeled as uncured. If replacing Insta Cure No. 1 with natural cure, you need to multiply the amount of Insta Cure No. 1 by 2.5.

Both Insta Cure No. 1 and Cure No. 2, as well as celery juice powder, are available at specialty butcher shops and online.

Sausage is an emulsification of meat, fat, and liquid, and it's the relative proportion of these ingredients that determines the texture of the sausage. When protein (ground meat) and liquid are combined, the mixture forms a sticky paste, called
farce
, that can readily absorb fat. In general, the lean-to-fat ratio remains the same no matter what type or texture of sausage you are making. It's the amount of added liquid, and how the meat mixture is handled, that determines the final texture of the sausage.

Though almost any kind of meat or seafood can be used in sausage, the most flavorful sausages have a lean-to-fat ratio of approximately 75 percent lean to 25 percent fat. Sausage needs fat to be flavorful, and that fat can come from the cuts of meat that you choose, such as well-marbled pork shoulder, or can be added in separately to supplement leaner protein like rabbit or pork leg. Sausage is a fabulous way to utilize meat scraps (especially useful if you are butchering a whole animal) and excellent sausage is made from cuts of meat that are less expensive. While each recipe in the book will suggest a particular cut of meat, the following meat and fat information is especially useful if you're utilizing a whole animal or want to make sausage using meat you have on hand.

LEAN.
Beef neck (without fat cap), round, plate meat, and shank are about 90 to 95 percent lean and are great cuts for sausage because they are high in protein. More liquid (and in turn, more fat) can be added to a cut that is high in protein, resulting in a juicy, flavorful sausage. These cuts are primarily used in smooth and puréed sausages.

MODERATE.
Beef chuck and sirloin are about 80 percent lean and can also be used to make sausage, though because these muscles typically have between 15 and 20 percent intramuscular fat, you have to be mindful of the amount of fat and water that you add to the sausage. Add too much additional fat and water and you'll end up breaking the emulsification, resulting in grainy, dry sausage that leaks grease when you cut into it. That said, these cuts do make excellent sausage, particularly of the coarse variety.

FATTY.
Beef from the flank section, short ribs, brisket, and fatty trim meat have between 40 and 60 percent fat. These muscles are best used as additions to lean and moderate beef cuts to boost the flavor and make the texture silkier, but are too fatty to be used on their own to make sausage.

MODERATE.
Pork shoulder is approximately 75 percent lean and is a great go-to muscle for sausage. It can be used on its own, or you can make an especially succulent sausage with the addition of up to 5 percent additional fat.

LEAN.
Sirloin and leg are both leaner cuts of pork, about 95 percent lean, and are a good addition to any fatty blend of sausage farce. If you're butchering a whole animal, remove the chops, ham, shoulder, and belly. The remaining trim is very fatty, but when used in combination with the sirloin and 30 percent of the leg you'll end up with a blend that is about 75 percent lean, 25 percent fat, ideal for sausage (and a great use of meat scraps).

FATTY.
The belly is the fattiest part of the pig, about 50 percent fat, 50 percent lean, and therefore is not good for sausage on its own. This cut should be used in combination with leaner cuts of meat, where it adds flavor and succulence. Pork back fat and bacon are also great additions to sausage.

PORK SKIN.
Collagen-rich pork skin gives sausage a silky texture and acts as a vehicle for flavor, though has little flavor of its own. To make it edible, the skin must first be boiled in water until very tender, then cooled completely before it is ground. Once cooked, and the skin is fully chilled and ground, it can be mixed into the sausage farce; when the sausage is heated, the skin dissolves and gives the sausage a pleasing finger-licking quality. If puréed with water while still warm, pork skin can be used as an emulsifying agent.

MODERATE.
Lamb has moderate fat content, about 80 percent. You can use the entire animal, except for the chops, to make sausage. A combination of leg and belly makes for a particularly good sausage; lamb neck, which comprises small muscles held together by pockets of fat, is also a choice cut. I generally use lamb to make coarse, highly seasoned sausages, such as Merguez
(page 62)
; if making a smooth lamb sausage, like the lamb wieners on
page 126
, I'll add some lean beef, extra liquid, and fat to aid the emulsification.

Goat meat is about 85 percent lean, so sausages made with goat meat will need additional fat and liquid added in order to achieve a moist, flavorful sausage.

Skin-on chicken thighs are about 80 percent lean and are great for making smooth sausages. It's easy to emulsify the meat without adding additional fat, but you can also add some (often in the form of egg yolks or cream) without worrying about the emulsification breaking, as the meat is high in protein. The skin, which is all fat, also contributes a lot of good flavor. Skinless chicken thighs can also be used, but because they are 95 percent lean, additional fat, chicken or otherwise, must be added to achieve the correct ratio of 75 percent lean and 25 percent fat. I don't recommend making sausage with chicken breasts, as they are too lean and fibrous.

I suggest using rabbit shoulder, leg, belly, and trim for sausage and saving the loin for another use, as it's very lean. If you're working with a whole animal, add in the clusters of fat around the kidneys, or supplement the meat with pork fat, bacon, or cream to make an especially juicy sausage.

Flaky fish, such as cod, halibut, and sturgeon are good for sausage, though because they are relatively lean, additional fat needs to be added, such as eggs or cream. Scallops are also great for seafood sausage.

You can treat frog meat the same way that you treat fish. It is too delicate to grind so it's best to hand-chop the meat. Blend it with eggs and cream as you would a fish sausage.

Egg whites are very lean but extremely high in protein, so they are an excellent emulsifying agent and can be used in puréed sausages. Whole eggs have more fat; they too act as emulsifying agents but also add richness and creaminess to the finished sausage.

I use heavy cream in place of water or other liquids to add fat and flavor to rich, fluffy sausages like Foie Gras Boudin Blanc
(page 122)
and Chicken-Beer Sausage
(page 120)
.