melbourne newbie!

[mango11]

hi guys,

im from melbourne australia, and am getting set up to make some sausages.

not the salami type as yet, but i am more interested in making some gourmet type fresh sausages for the bbq, this comming summer.

i have already made some very nice beer, and also some nice merlot, now for the sausages,

im building a new home and i should be in it for x-mas, thus with the sausages i shall be self sufficient!!!



anyhow, can anyone point me in the right direction so as i can source, casings and additives etc...

also some books would be of a little help.



Thanks guys.

[welsh wizard]

Hi Mango11

Welcome to the forum and keep asking the questions there are a lot of experienced people here to help you.

Ref supplies try www.scobiesdirect.com I know they have a company in your neck of the world but not too sure where, although I am sure you could track them down.

Anyway, good luck to you and keep us posted.

Cheers WW

[mango11]

thanks welsh wizard,

i actually liked your name when i was browzing the other day, as i went to wales to visit family last year.



just a few quick questions if i may bother you.


i am way too keen to wait for books and things, aghh who needs em anyway, (lol),

and so this weekend i would like to christen my electric mincer etc....

can i make fresh sausages without additives, ie rusk etc, or do you have a link to a basic first go type of sausage.



as i think some of my ideas are a little advanced for a first go.

eg:-

Greek Sausage- lamb, mint, garlic, lemon zest, and seasoning.

to do something like this, am i basically making flavoured mince and putting it into a skin, as i am not too shabby in the kitchen.


thanks for your help, and i shall check out the link right now.

ya-chee-dah (not sure of spelling but cheers (welsh),)

[welsh wizard]

Hi Mango11

VERY impressed with the Welsh by the way............

Ref recipies, go to search and type in basic sausage there are lots there for you to choose from. However to answer one of your questions re rusk etc the answer is no you do not need all the bits to get going and some people dont use any form of rusk or filler. anyway try this:

Pork approx 80% meat 20% fat (dont get too hung up on this but it is a good average for all meat except beef where I use a 70% 30% ratio)

Whiz up some bread to make bread crumbs and add 10% to the volume of meat i.e. 5kg meat = 1.1lb of bread crumb.

Add to the breadcrumb / meat mixture the same volume of water / beer / cider / etc i.e. 1.1lb of bread crumb = 1.1lb of liquid.

Add to that, and this is where the fun bit comes in, the herbs, fruit etc of your choice and withe regard to seasoning try 2g black pepper and 10g salt for each kg of mix.

Try frying a pate at this stage to check you have the right tastes and if not just add some more of whatever.

When happy - stuff into the skins and if you can leave overnight to bloom, this does make a difference but on my first batch me and the two chldren and the wife polished off the whole 5Lb's (god I used to be so slim). Next day break open a beer, pop on the fire and eat. Satisfaction is complete.

With regards to books, before you buy spend time going through this site for information. Which in my opinion has evrything you / I need to know.

Cheers WW

[mango11]

thanks very much,

i will try that this weekend, i just need to find some skins!


might try pork and apple cider, and maybe a little thyme!


cheers


on which blade should i mince, and obviously mince only once, then mix etc.....

[Nafe]

Hey mango, welcome to the forum!

I have only been makin sausages for about 4 months but this is the place to get your info!

Loads a good recipies and the people are awesome!

the lamb sausage you mentioned sounds nice! I will be trying to do some lamb sausages soon! Made 6 lbs today (pork n leek, boerewors and a firecracker mix (from this site))

My favorite at the moment is Oddley's Chili Willis! (Do a search they are well worth it!)

Only probem is I cant stop making sausages and i rekon i may have to buy another freezer soon!


Have a good one,



Nafe

[welsh wizard]

hi mango11

If you are making pork, apple and cider try reducing the cider in a pan before adding it to your bread / rusk it increases the flavour, or try using apple juice instead it has a heavier flavour and once the cider is cooked out, the alcohol disappears so you are left with apple juice anyway.

Then drink the cider

Cheers WW

[mango11]

sounds good guys, thanks for the info,



if someone wouldnt mind, and if not asking too much,



as i dont have any books etc yet, and am extremely eager to try my first bangers,

could someone take the time to write out a basic step by step guide to make my basic sausage.............


i know its asking a lot, but it can be simplified alot as i am pretty good in the kitchen.

more so the technical aspect, and timings and so forth, etc......





like so,

first steralize everything,

then setup mincer with blade no ????

then partially freeze meats/fats,,,,,,,,

then mince, once or twice?

refreeze (keep cold)

then mix herbs,

add rusk etc.....


try some fried mix.........

then skin?????




with my mincer i got 3 x plates, and an array of other plastic thingies, along with the stuffer.

do i use one of these other plastic things behind the stuffer to create a little back pressure?


once again thanks heaps

[harterz]

Hi mango11

I too am relatively new to sausage making, and have gleaned 99.9% of the advice I needed from this forum, and have been very pleased with the results (bar 1 batch which had way too much salt - caused by mild inebriation rather than poor advice )

Most of what you need will be found in the first posting in Beginners, Sausage Making for Beginners, by Sausagemaker.

As I say I am new to this, but would like to offer my 3 pen'th for a process.

Remember to prepare your casings - I use hog casings that need soaking for a couple of hours prior to stuffing to soften.

I wash all my equipment in hot soapy water, rinse, and then spray with Milton Antibacterial Surface Spray - this goes for the mincer and parts, work surface and my hands.

I use a manual mincer (so I cannot help with guidance on those new fangled things with elastictrickery) with holes of about 4.5mm diameter and mince once. I also use this for stuffing, using the 24mm stuffer.

Then follow sausagemaker's tutorial - and there you go!

The video tutorial on the homepage of this site is great also, and even my first batch were linked. I don't think they would have won any prizes for presentation, but they tasted great.

I have found it is important to mix the meat and spices thoroughly, not just to get an even distribution of spices, but I understand it causes some other chemical/physical reaction to occur -I am sure far more qualified contributors to this forum will explain better, but you get a better texture and flavour.

Good luck.

Let us know how you get on.

harterz

[mango11]

thanks buddy,

i will be heading down to my local butcher tommorrow night after work to try to obtain some skins as i am having no luck sourcing them at the moment, and i need some for the weekend, so i guess ill be buying some pork shoulder, and some pork fat.


how much would you reccomend for a first batch?

i dont want to make too many crappy ones first up.



if i mince the meat, then add rusk etc...

i could then split that mix into 3 different batches and add differing flavourings to see what works true,

or will this give inconsistent stuffabillty due to less volume of each flavoured mix...




so at a 80%/ 20% mix of fat and meat, what overall amount should i start with,

say 6kg of total weight, then split into 3, ie 2kg lots of different flavours???



or should i just make up 3-4 kg of the one type first?

[harterz]

Hi Mango11

I tend to buy about 70% Pork shoulder, 30% Pork belly. Obviously the belly is high fat content and this ratio works for me. My first batch was 1.5kg of finished soss. I guess it depends on how brave you feel and an effective amount for your mincer/stuffer, using a manual mincer, 1.5kgs seemed right, but I now do about 4kgs at a time, maybe 3 flavours split from that, and I just feed one flavour on from the last - the "crossover" ones make interesting eating!

I started with 1 type, and had made a total of 20kgs in 3 months, pork, pork n leek, beef, more pork n leek, pork n sun dried toms, etc etc.

Just waiting for my first back bacon to come ready.... Toms from the garden, HM sauages & bacon. mmmmmmm

harterz

[mango11]

hey harterz, i will probably make a batch thats easy to work from to start, so im thinking 5kg,

this would mean by your ratio, i will be buying 3.5kg shoulder, and 1.5 belly.

then obviously i need rusk etc....?

how many feet of casing at around 20mm dia will i need?

and also do you have some recipies for the pork n leek, etc, i will try welsh wiz's pork n apple, and one more pork recipe will see me through my first 3 batches,

also how many saussies will this make?

[harterz]

Hi Mango11

I tend to make a standard mix and then add my variations on top.

The concensus for a standard recipe mix appears to be

80% (of total weight) Pork
6.5% Rusk
11% water
2.5% seasoning mix.

Based on your 5kg of pork (remember to weigh once you have trimmed it of gristle skin etc) would make about 6.25kg of "mango11's finest", so you could take your calculations for the other ingredients from that total figure.

On top of this I add the variation:
1 decent leek per kg (pork n leek)
1 roasted red pepper per kg, 2% Sun Dried Toms and a goodly smattering of basil (SDT & Red Pepper)
4% Sage (Lincolnshire)



Standard seasoning
50% salt
12% cornflour
10% black pepper
8% nutmeg
8% mace
8% coriander
4% sage

I am trying to reduce the salt even further, but am conscious of need of the preserving qualities.

ref how much casing, I work on around 1.8m per kg, making a dozen or so sausages per kg

Hope this helps - let us know how you get on.

Hey how about MANGO?? Bit of pork, bit of chicken, mango - I feel an experiment coming on!!

harterz

[mango11]

thanks buddy, on my way to the butcher right now,

a little late i know but.

i had a celebratory drink last night in preperation of my first batch, and consequently feel very ill and just got up!

[welsh wizard]

Hi

I have just made a Pork and Mango sausage, using mangos from a tin and adding the juice to the rusk rather than water. But just a word of caution you will need more rusk than liquid (I would say another 10%) becuase the tinned mangos are so watery.

As for the taste it was sweet but really undefineable. Pork and peach last week and they were really good.

Cheers WW