 Make Your Own Homemade Sausage
by staff writer
Sausage has been around for thousands of years because it allows for efficient
use of meats and scraps, especially parts that otherwise may not be as
appetizing. Chopped or ground meat is mixed with herbs, spices, and other
curatives, and then stuffed into casings. Different types of sausage have
developed over the years, and many are very closely associated with the region
from which they came; examples include Polish Sausage, German Bratwurst, and
Spanish Chorizo (but not Vienna Sausages!).
With proper curing, many types of sausage can be stored with little or no
refrigeration, which was (and in some parts of the world, continues to be) of
great importance. As with many other products, the convenience of buying any
variety from the grocery store has almost made the process of mixing, stuffing,
and curing sausage a lost art. Still, making your own sausage can be an easy and
rewarding project.
There are many varieties of sausage and they could be divided into many
sub-categories, but for the sake of simplicity I divide them into two
categories: fresh and cured. Breakfast, Italian, and Polish sausages, along with
bratwurst, are popular examples of fresh sausage. Fresh sausage is chopped,
ground, and mixed with spices and seasonings. The ingredients contribute to the
flavor, but do not necessarily extend the shelf life of the product. After
mixing, fresh sausage can be frozen for long term storage, but should be
consumed within a few days if kept refrigerated.
Summer sausage, hot dogs, and salami are popular types of cured sausage. Cured
sausage is prepared differently to lengthen shelf life, or contains components
that aid in the longer term storage of the final product. Smoking, fermenting,
drying, and cooking are some of the ways that prepared sausage can be cured.
Salt, sodium nitrates, and sodium nitrites are chemical additives that can also
be used to cure meats. Proper curing is extremely important to prevent botulism,
a disease caused by a toxin released by a food-borne pathogen. The toxin is
tasteless and extremely harmful if eaten, and cannot be destroyed by heating,
but the bacteria that produces it can be. Modern preparation techniques make
today’s sausage extremely safe -- and delicious.
Both fresh and cured sausage can be smoked to enhance the flavor of the meat and
to aid in preservation. Smoking works to preserve meat in two ways. The
contained heat of the smoking chamber helps to dehydrate the product by driving
excess moisture out. The smoke also contains natural chemicals that help to
preserve the meat. There have been reports that smoked meats contain small
amounts of substances that may increase the risk of cancer. It is my belief that
when consumed in reasonable quantities, this very small risk is acceptable, but
if this is a concern for you, consider researching it further. Besides the
preservation benefits, nothing tastes better to me than something that has been
smoked.
One of the best things about making sausage is the ease and availability of the
necessary equipment. To make breakfast sausage, you don’t anything other than a
bowl and a spoon to mix ground pork with the desired seasonings. When sausage
isn’t stuffed into a casing, it is referred to as bulk sausage, but there is no
other difference. If you are grinding your own meat, you can use a food
processor, an electric grinder, or a manual grinder. Most grinders also come
with a stuffing tube that allows the grinder to quickly transform into a sausage
stuffer.
The selection of natural or artificial casings depends on your tastes and the
type of sausage you are making. Casings should be sized appropriately to the
sausage type, and cooking and curing methods must be taken into consideration.
If you are going to smoke your sausage, then you need to go with a natural
casing so the smoke can penetrate to the meat. If you try to smoke a sausage in
a plastic casing, at best you will have a discolored casing; at worst, the
casing will melt and dump your sausage to the smoker floor.
To make the best sausage, it is recommended that you thoroughly grind your
sausage to improve the cohesion of the product. Roughly chopped meats and meats
with too little fat content can be crumbly when no longer confined by their
casing. Keep the meat mixture very cold to prevent bacterial growth, and to keep
the meats and fats from becoming a soggy paste. Start by following recipes
exactly and make very small batches. It is easier to mix and stuff small
batches, and if you don’t like the end result you won’t be stuck with as much
unpalatable sausage. After you have made a few batches and begun to learn which
seasonings and flavors you like, experiment with the quantities and ingredients.
Here is a recipe idea for simple breakfast sausage made with ground pork and
regular kitchen utensils. Remember, this is fresh sausage so it needs to be kept
cold while mixing and should be eaten within a few days, or frozen for longer
storage.
Homemade Breakfast Sausage Recipe
1 lb ground pork
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sage
¼ tsp thyme
¼ tsp black pepper
1 tbsp water
Note: Work with the pork immediately after it has been removed from the
refrigerator and return it to the refrigerator or freezer as quickly as possible
when mixing is complete.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Form a small patty and fry if you would like
to test the flavor of the sausage. The sausage will improve after it sets in the
refrigerator for a few hours, but this will give you a good idea of the general
taste. When satisfied with the taste, form into patties and separate them with
waxed paper or clear plastic wrap. Sausage can be kept in the refrigerator for
up to 5 days, or it can be immediately frozen and kept for several months. |
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