Stonehead's Best Sausages yet!

[Stonehead]

We got the pork from our pigs back from the butcher yesterday, including a huge bag of minced pork (boned out shoulder and ham, boned out belly, and fat). So, we set to work on our sausage making.

Now, we have made sauages before and been well pleased with the results, but last night I came up with a recipe that went beyond excellent to verging on the sublime.

So, here it is:

5lb minced pork (make sure it has a good ratio of fat, but not too much)
3oz stale breadcrumbs (or rusk)
2 tbsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ginger
Good pinch of cayenne (not too much, we're not making spicy sausages!)

Combine thoroughly in a large bowl, then force into casings and tie off into sausages. Leave to hang for about an hour, then bag, leave in the refrigator overnight and then freeze. Hanging allows the casings to dry while refrigerating allows the flavours to develop.

You can also make the force meat into patties - the boys had one each for breakfast and they disappeared in no time.

You could cut the salt back to 1 1/2 tbsp but our first test cook with that much was a little insipid (althought still good). The extra salt and the large pinch of cayenne added for the second test cook made the difference between good and brilliant.

[Stonehead]

And here are the chefs...



The sausage mixer.



The sausage stuffer.



The end result (well, slightly less than half the end result - the recipe made 18 sausages plus two patties).

[red]

oh - you have the same kind of sausage machine as we have - don't you find you need about six pairs of hands to work it?

I'm going to save your recipe for future use.

the pigs - did you send them off live and get them back in packets? or were they bumped off at home?


red

[Shirley]

Sounds good! I'm not a sausage lover... BUT then perhaps I've not yet had the right sausages.

A sausage making kit is on our wish list.

[Stonehead]

the pigs - did you send them off live and get them back in packets? or were they bumped off at home?


red

I take them to the abbatoir for slaughter, after that it depends on the butcher. For one butcher, I collect the carcasses and deliver them to his shop; the other has them delivered as part of his usual meat delivery.

I could slaughter and butcher at home, but with two to four pigs at a time it's faster to have them professionally slaughtered and butchered. It also means the meat is stamped as fit for human consumption and allows us to sell the pork rather than just have it for our own consumption.

The butchers cut them to my specification (usually porkers get cut up into joints, chops, spare ribs, boned and rolled bellies, trotters, shanks, liver and kidney). Previously, I've then boned and minced joints (and fat) to make sausages but it's very time consuming.

This time, I opted to get the butcher to do the boning and mincing (the latter by machine, whereas we mince by hand). It saved a lot of time and effort, freeing me up to do other jobs.

[Stonehead]

Sounds good! I'm not a sausage lover... BUT then perhaps I've not yet had the right sausages.

A sausage making kit is on our wish list.

You don't need a kit! Get an old-fashioned, cast iron mincer with sausage stuffing attachment and a carton of casings, and you're away. All you need then is your pork (or other meat) and seasonings.

A great part of the fun of sausage making is inventing your own recipes. Make small amounts until you're confident, adding small amounts of seasoning to the mince, then frying a sample pattie and tasting it, then adjusting the flavouring.

Then, when you're as mad as us, just start throwing stuff into the mix!

[Shirley]

I meant a mincer and a stuffer - not buying a posh expensive kit... sorry... eek! Am looking in charity shops - you never know!

Where do you get your casings? I like the sound of the testing sessions... J prefers his sausages without the skins anyway (fussy little man)

[Stonehead]

And today's recipes...

Vaguely Cajun

5lb minced pork
4oz breadcrumbs
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tbsp cracked blacked pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp finely chopped thyme
2 tbsp salt

Mix it all together and stuff into casings. As I made this with children in mind, I moderated the spices. If I was making it for myself, I'd up the pepper and cayenne quite a lot, then adjust the other ingredients if necessary.


Red Sausages

5lb pork
4oz breadcrumbs
1 red pepper, cored and sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp cracked black pepper
2 tbsp paprika
1tbsp salt
2 tsp finely diced oregano leaves
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup robust red wine

Combine the pork and breadcrumbs. Put all the other ingredients in a blender and blitz well (you want the pepper to be fine shreds). Pour the red mixture into the pork and breadcrumbs and mix thoroughly. Place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, then mix again and stuff into casing. Hang the sausage over a bucket or large pan for an hour, then bag and freeze. (This recipe was concocted by the Big Lad when he was five and it's still a favourite!)

Pork Sausages
5lb pork
4oz breadcrumbs
1 tbsp ground white pepper
1 tbsp salt

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and stuff into casings. For a pork and black pepper sausage, add 1 tbsp cracked black pepper.

[Stonehead]

I should have added that we've now made 25lb of sausages and still have one last batch to make first thing in the morning. With every 5lb of sausages making eight meals, that's 48 meals worth! Not bad for about two thirds of half a pig.

[red]

dya get weeners (?) or do you breed from your own sow?

do you make your own ham?


Red

[Millymollymandy]

Thanks so much Stoney - that's just what I needed, recipes! I have the same mincer as you with the sausage attachment. I have used it several times to mince up pork or beef as it works out much cheaper than buying ready minced beef but yet to get round to the sausage making!

It really will solve my problem - neither of us like French sausages at all! So people have to bring them over to us from England! And we love snags!