Pork and Apple

[vinner]

I agree with WW that fresh herbs work great. I have used dried sage to good effect as well. I reconstitute the apples in water, throwing the water out. I reduce the cider to mere tablespoons, use no filler, but add a few tablespoons of sweet wine (tokay, icewine, sauternes) for an added dimension.

[Griselda]

Your recipe was an absolute winner!!! I used some fresh sage, dried apples and reduced apple juice, just like you state. We had a BBQ last night and those sausages were the first to be gone. I did not even get any for my freezer.

I used lamb casings and made chipolatas. I think people enjoy that size of sausage because it does not fill them up after just the one�two�three sausages. I also amended your recipe as I used 4gr pepper and about 100gr of dried apples. Initially I thought that they were too peppery, but everyone disagreed (beer was involved).

For my personal taste I thought that these sausages were a little too soft. I would have liked them with a little more bite. Again, all those that tried them disagreed. However, if I would have increased the amount of rusk, would the sausage turned out firmer? It might also have been because the mixture was a little too warm during the whole production process. Anyhow, everyone enjoyed them, which is the main thing.
Thanks for that!

By the way, I am working on translating the recipes from ABZ Spiez, just to keep you all up to date.

Hi Griselda

Ref herbs I suppose I really do look at what is growing and use that. Out of preference I would use some sage & thyme or parsley. However I have used all sorts in the past with different results. I once used fennel - I didnt think much to that.

As a pork and cider sausage I look toward herbs that go with pork as in pork stuffing herbs - this usualy works for me.

Remember though dried herbs are twice as powerful as fresh herbs.

Cheers WW

[welsh wizard]

Hi Griselda

Glad all went well and you enjoyed them.

Ref a soft sausage, I am sure if you increased the rusk they should be a little firmer. I usually consider how much moisture the meat is holding once minced, if it is really wet in its consistancy I add a tad more rusk.

With the aforementioned sausage I tend to add 7% rusk to 7% juice and if the meat is wet as it were I will add another 2% rusk, but that is not scientific!

Come on the BBQ weather - cheers WW

[vinner]

Griselda:

One last note, I use hog casings, but buy the smallest available here (about 28-30mm). They tend to be a little thicker, giving the sausages more of a mouth bite when grilled. I also poach the sausages in water at 180-200 degrees F, to an internal temp of about 160 degrees. That sets them up well, makes for less splatter when grilling and eliminates the possibility of germs being in the links from the grinding/stuffing process. They will grill up nicely after that, whether frozen after poaching or going to the fridge first, or straight to the grill/griddle from the poaching liquid/.

[Griselda]

Thanks for your comments. I will give these sausages another go, possibly with a little more rusk and hog casings.

The poaching of sausages is interesting. I am used to cook sausages in water and eating them then without grilling, but every time I poached my sausages made with lamb casings, the casing went white and very rubbery, a behaviour I do not recall from the sausages my family in Switzerland made when I was a kid. But that certainly did would have an influence on the softness. I assume that the rusk would also stop the fat from forming those bubbles under the skin that are visible when the sausage has cooled down after poaching. I will post my result here. Thanks again for your input.

[Lance Yeoh]

Thanks for your comments. I will give these sausages another go, possibly with a little more rusk and hog casings.

The poaching of sausages is interesting. I am used to cook sausages in water and eating them then without grilling, but every time I poached my sausages made with lamb casings, the casing went white and very rubbery, a behaviour I do not recall from the sausages my family in Switzerland made when I was a kid. But that certainly did would have an influence on the softness. I assume that the rusk would also stop the fat from forming those bubbles under the skin that are visible when the sausage has cooled down after poaching. I will post my result here. Thanks again for your input.

Maybe you can also try to mix the meat at an even lower temp to help it to bind better. I mix mine at about 1-2C, it's a bit painful for the hands in the beginning but after a while you'll get used to it. Have not been getting fat bubbles under the skins for quite a while now.

[alrightson]

Hello,

sorry if this is going to be a dumb question, but I have never made sausages before and really want to try this one. The thing that is confusing me in the recipe is the 7% apple juice, is there any chance that someone can convert this 7% in ml please?

[wheels]

In not sure what it's a percentage of, but 70 - 80 ml per 1kg meat should be OK.

Welcome to the forum.

Phil